Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: April 19, 2010
Kenosha Co.
In Kenosha trollers have started catching coho. Look for coho to start moving further north as the spring progresses. In the Kenosha harbor steelhead and brown trout fishing has been slow, but anglers have been catching a few crappies on small fatheads near the boat launch. Steelhead fishing on the Pike River has been slow.
Racine Co.
Root River: Water levels are still slowly dropping and are now are just about at "normal" levels. Clarity has improved greatly in the past few days and sight fishing is now again possible. The weir is now closed and fish have an open passage upstream. As a result, no area has been proving best. Steelhead fishing is starting to slow down noticably as most fish have completed spawning, but there are still a few finishing up. Most of the steel left have been actively spawning on gravel beds with good current flow. There have been a few fish as well holding in the deeper pools, most of these fish have completed spawning and are recovering in the river before moving back to the lake. Flies have been best when fishing for spawning fish. Small natural flies as well as egg imitators have been working best. For the fish holding in the deeper areas, spinners and drifted spawn have been producing a few fish...Sucker numbers are also beginning to drop slowly. Fish were processed at the Root River Steelhead Facility on Wednesday, April 14, and the facility has been shut down. An additional 32 steelhead were passed upstream, for a total of 363 this season.
Milwaukee Co.
In Milwaukee anglers fishing the Milwaukee River along the wall under the Hoan bridge have been catching a few browns on spawn and shiners, but overall fishing has been slow. In the Milwaukee River anglers have been catching a few steelhead on yarn flies at Kletzsch Park, but numbers of fish have dropped here in the past week. Steelheading on Oak Creek and the Menomonee River has been slow. Boaters working in and around the gaps in the Milwaukee harbor continue to catch browns and lake trout. Both jigging and trolling small crankbaits have been effective.
Ozaukee Co.
There was very light fishing effort from the ramps, pier, harbor/shore, utility and on Sauk Creek. There was action to report from the pier. The temperature was in the low 40?s, skies were clear and there was a light wind to the east. Port Washington Ramp: The water at the ramp was 46-48? F, blue green with moderate clarity. No anglers were interviewed. Port Washington Utility: The water was blue green with moderate clarity. Undersized brown trout and suckers were caught. Port Washington Piers: The water outside the pier was a little choppy, 42-44? F, blue green with moderate to good clarity. A brown trout was caught on a minnow in the early morning on the harbor side of the pier. Port Washington Harbor/Shore: The water in the harbor was blue green with moderate clarity. No anglers were interviewed. Sauk Creek: The water was low and the current was moderate. The water was brown with good clarity and was 48-50? F.
Sheboygan Co.
There was moderate fishing effort from the ramps, light effort on the piers and very light effort from the shore and on the Sheboygan River. There was no effort from Edgewater Power Plant or on Pigeon River and Weedens Creek. There was action to report from the ramp, piers, and Sheboygan River. On the 15th, the temperature was in the 60?s, skies were mostly sunny and there was light wind to the north in the early morning and moderate wind to the east later in the morning. On the 17th and 18th, the temperature was in the 40?s, skies were clear and there was a moderate wind to the south and southeast. Sheboygan Ramps: The water at the ramp was 52-54? F, brown and a little muddy with low to moderate clarity. On the mornings of the 17th and 18th, mostly brown trout were caught but lake trout, rainbow trout and Chinook salmon were also caught. Most fish were caught by anglers trolling in water less than 30 feet. Fish were caught on spoons, plugs, stickbaits and shad wraps on planar boards, dipsy divers and down riggers. Sheboygan Piers: The water off the lakeside of the north pier brownish blue green with low to moderate clarity, on the 15th the water was calm but on the 17th and 18th there were waves crashing on the pier. The water off the lakeside of the south pier was calm, 48-50? F and blue green with moderate clarity. The water in the harbor was 50-52? F and brown and muddy with low clarity. Brown trout were caught throughout the morning on the 15th and 18th on the lake side of south pier on minnows and a Swedish pimple. There were also reports of lake whitefish caught early in the morning on the 18th. Sheboygan Shore: The water in the marina was brown and a little muddy with low to moderate clarity. Pigeon River: The water in the river was 52-56? F, brown with moderate to good clarity, the water level was moderate and the current was moderate. Sheboygan River: The water at the mouth of the river was 54-56? F, brown with moderate clarity and upstream the water was 54-56? F, brown with moderate clarity, the water level was moderate and the current was moderate. Undersized rainbow trout and a smallmouth bass were caught on the morning of the 18th at Esslingen Park on a spinner. Weedens Creek: The water in the creek was 52-54? F, brown with good clarity, the water level was low and the current was moderate.
WDNR
