Wisconsin Statewide Fishing report 6.22.12In the north rivers are running high and fast. The Flambeau and Chippewa river systems are up, making canoeing conditions ideal but conservation wardens are cautioning that only experienced paddlers should be on some rivers due to high flows. The Bois Brule River was running at more than four times its normal flow. In the south, the Lower Wisconsin River continues to run at near record lows, though that is expected to change as the high flows from the north begin to make their way down river. Water temps on some southern lakes have hit as high as 80 degrees, levels that normally show up around the end of July or Early August.
High winds made fishing on Lake Michigan and Green Bay difficult, but when anglers got out they were again greeted with excellent fishing. After a bit of a lull in the past couple of weeks, phenomenal salmon and trout fishing of earlier this spring returned, with many trollers returning with bag limits. Anglers have still been catching good numbers of smallmouth bass throughout Door County waters. Walleye continue to be caught along both shores, though action has slowed some.
With the opening of northern zone bass season this past weekend, fishing for largemouth and smallmouth was the highlight of the week in the Northwoods, with smallmouth providing the most consistent action. Walleye action has been fair to good in the later evening hours. Panfish action continues to be very good with some nice catches of bluegill and crappie still being made. Some bluegill have still been found on their spawning beds but all should be finished up in the next week or so. Musky action has been good ? especially just before and after the numerous storm fronts moved through.
Bayfield County Panfishing has still been good to excellent on many inland lakes in the southern part of the county. The walleye spawned for three weeks longer than usual and now the panfish keep spawning, returning to their beds in the shallows and many anglers have stated the bluegills are still leaking spawn. Bag limits of panfish are reported on many lakes. Sightings of Loon chicks were received last week as well as many sightings of goslings, ducklings woodcock and grouse chicks. A reminder that from April 15 to June 30 when on DNR lands dogs must be on an 8-foot leash, which will help protect the young chicks until they are able to fly. Due to recent rain, local rivers are flowing over their banks, with high and muddy waters trout fishing has been slow this week.
Douglas County The bluegills are about done spawning and the bass are moving into the shallows making for some good fishing. It is now legal to keep bass, the size limit is 14 inches with a bag limit of five bass on most waters in the area. Deer fawns are moving now and a lot have been seen in the area. There is also a healthy bear population and it is not uncommon to see bears when out driving around.
Sawyer County Panfish are still biting very well on Lake Chetac. This includes bluegill and crappie. Bluegill seem to be of larger size this year. Garden worms, piece of night crawler, wax worm or ?gulp? all seem to be producing bluegill and occasional perch. Most bluegills are still in shallow to 6 feet of water. Some bigger bluegills were coming in the 8 to 10 foot depth. Crappies are on weed edges in the 6 to 12 foot range. Minnows and ?gulp? are doing well. Crappies are running a little smaller compared to ones this spring. Anglers need to remember there is a 25 bag limit for panfish on Lake Chetac and only 10 of those 25 can be bluegill. Walleye are being very elusive for anglers with only a few individuals being lucky to pull one or two out in the morning or evening time. Trolling deeper weed edges with stick baits seem to be producing legal 15-plus-inch fish. Slip bobbers and leeches or minnows are working also, but seem to be catching more fish under the legal 15-inch size limit. The water on Lake Chetac has already turned ?pea green? from the algae
Baron County It seems that the recent nonstop rains have the fish confused also. Panfish actin has been steady but the big fish bite is slow. Musky anglers on Rice Lake are seeing a few fish but generally the action is quite slow. Walleye action is sporadic on Long and Red Cedar Lakes with most fish being caught on the outside edge of weed beds in 18 feet of water on crawler harness and crank baits.
Polk County The panfish spawning is pretty much over. There are still a few lakes where bluegills can be found on the beds but most have moved into deeper waters. Bass and musky fishing has been slow the past week or so. The bass are also done spawning and have moved into deeper water
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) The 3-plus inches of rain received in the last week has brought up river and stream levels and helped fill local flowages and drainage lake to near full capacity in the Ashland, Bayfield, Iron, Price, Sawyer and Taylor county areas. However, quite a few seepage lakes (those without inlets or outlets) still have relatively low water levels and some still have difficult access conditions. Another observation from the recent rains and increase in water levels has been a significant change in water color on many lakes and flowages. The heavier runoff of recent weeks has added a lot of darkly-colored water to these lakes and flowages and resulted in a medium to dark stain returning to many of these waters. This seems to have limited weed growth on some lakes and anglers are also claiming that this has disrupted many of the normal fishing patterns. With the opening of northern zone bass season this past weekend, fishing for largemouth and smallmouth provided most of the highlights for this past week. Variable and almost constant changing weather greeted anglers and action could only be termed fair. The bass seemed to be a bit disrupted in their normal feeding patterns due to the increased water levels caused by the 2 to 3 inches of rain in the last week. Success was best on smaller finesse baits such as small rubber worms and tube jigs, and presentations had to be rather slow. Largemouth still seem to be in a 'free-swimming' mode and have been found along the weed edges and among the developing lily pad beds. But look for them to develop a more 'structure-oriented pattern' as the summer develops, where they'll be relating more to wood, docks and thick weed cover. Smallmouth have been most consistent on the deep edges, in 6 to 10 feet of water and near woody structure along rock and gravel bottoms. A quick bass tip - as soon as you see discarded crayfish skins in the shallows (from their early summer molting), jig and pig and crayfish-type baits will be the hot lures. Walleye action has been fair to good with many anglers having some consistent success on 13 to 17-inch fish in the later evening hours. The mayfly hatches have subsided and this seems to have spurred on the bite on many local waters. The best bait has been a leech on a floating jighead and fished near weed edges and muck/hard bottom break lines. Panfish action continues to be very good with some nice catches of bluegill and crappie still being made. Some bluegill have still been found on their spawning beds but all should be finished up in the next week or so. Crappie have been active along any emergent weed lines and suspended over mid-cover, and a small minnow below a slip bobber has produced some nice catches. Musky action has been good ? especially just before and after the numerous storm fronts that have moved thru the area. The most consistent success has been on medium-size bucktails and live bait (medium suckers), with several fish in the 42 to 49-inch size being reported in the last week.
Vilas County The Boulder Junction area has received some much needed rain in the past week with showers still in the forecast. Anglers are finding good numbers of panfish in shallow weeds and musky hunters are locating fish with a few reports of large muskies being caught. Bass season is now open in the area and anglers are finding a lot of good action on spinner baits and plastics. Walleyes are still being caught in deeper water on crawlers and leeches.
Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters Area Spotty fishing seems to be the norm of late. A terrific mayfly hatch can be the blame or the series of terrific storms passing through every other day. The mayflies appear about over, and better weather is on the way. The rain is keeping the water level near full at only inches below full pool. The high winds blow large driftwood pieces into open water so keep a watchful eye for those.
Langlade County This past Saturday was the opening of the catch and keep bass season in the northern zone. Anglers were reporting success on Pelican and Townline lakes. Top-water and spinner baits were the most successful lures.
Marinette County Drift fishing the mouth of the Peshtigo River is yielding a few walleye and catfish, but boaters are reporting difficulty in maintaining a decent drift pattern due to wind. Low water on the Menominee River has pushed much of the fishing action from the Highway 41 Bridge to the mouth. Some nice walleye were being caught by anglers trolling crawler/harness with catfish and fresh water drum mixed in, from the Turn Basin to the mouth of the Menominee. When weather permits anglers on the Bay were catching brown trout and salmon in the areas of Seagull Bar and Green Island. Browns were being caught in the 40 to 50 range of water while kings were in 70 to 90 feet. White water rafting companies on the Peshtigo and Menomonee rivers were reporting 10 year lows for water flow but due to the recent downpours the rivers are up several inches and will continue to climb through the weekend.
Oconto County The catch rate for panfish at Stiles Dam has slowed considerably this past week, with few fish being caught. Smallmouth bass anglers on the Oconto River were also reporting low catch rates. Walleye and perch anglers on the Bay from Pensaukee Landing to Oconto Park II report few fish being caught due to strong winds and 2 to 4 foot waves. Panfish are active on inland lakes, and being caught in the evenings on poppers or rubber spiders. The area received some much needed rain but local streams and rivers are still very low. At Geano Beach, anglers were bow-fishing for carp in the shallow waters and in the south end of the bay and were reporting good numbers of carp with that fishing technique.
Brown County At Bayshore Park, anglers were targeting walleye and perch, shore anglers were looking for catfish. Walleye caught were about 18 inches in length and about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds. They were caught in about 10 to 15 feet of water. Walleye numbers are starting to diminish, and many of them that were caught were under size limit. Anglers were using crank baits and flicker shads for bait (gold, purple, black, and silver were the best colors). Some anglers were starting to target deeper waters about 20 feet maximum looking for walleye. Night crawlers with jigs were the most used when targeting perch. Lots of sheepshead and gobies were being caught with a few catfish as well. In the Fox River, shore fishermen were reporting catching Carp, Catfish and Drums. The Catfish were being caught on cut baits and night crawlers, while the Carp were favoring corn and dough bait. Boats on the river were catching Walleye occasionally up by the dam, otherwise fishermen are catching smallmouth bass on crank baits. In the Lower Bay, boaters are doing well for walleye, but they numbers are starting to slow down. Seems like the fish are moving to deeper waters, about 10 to 20 feet is where more anglers were trying to target walleye. Perch fishing is slow in all areas, a few are starting to come out of the Suamico River as well as a few northern pike. The weekend of June 22-24 is Operation Dry Water. The effort is a national campaign to keep boaters safe from intoxicated operators and to gain compliance with boating OWI laws. In Brown County, Conservation wardens and other law enforcement water patrols will be out and focusing on OWI enforcement
Manitowoc County The king salmon bite has quickly heated back up. Rainbow trout were still being taken with some increasing numbers of coho salmon and occasional lake trout. The salmon bite has picked up right where it left off a few weeks ago. Some quality fish were being caught with a lot of nice rainbows and kings weighing in the mid-teens. Fly/dodger combos have out-produced spoons for kings. Colors in white and green have been the best. Spoons on leadcore in the top 20 feet are fooling many rainbows, and a good amount of kings are coming from high-lines on some days also. Most anglers have been fishing in 50 to 110 feet of water with fish being in no particular depth or area of the water column. There have been reports of fisherman having success running their lines 30 to 50 feet down. The west winds as of late have been bringing the fish closer to shore. Pier anglers that are putting their time in are doing well with a variety of spoons. Rainbows were being caught pretty consistently in the mornings and evenings with an occasional brown mixed in. Some kings were being taken off both Manitowoc piers, though this is very inconsistent. There have been some four year old salmon, rainbows over 10 pounds, and browns in the 3 to 6 pound range as of late. The best days off the piers have been during and after sustained west winds. River water flows are still very low. Smallmouth bass can be caught consistently near barriers and current breaks on the West Twin and Manitowoc rivers. Catfish anglers are having some luck in Two Rivers and near the library in Manitowoc. With water temperatures continuing to increase on inland lakes, panfish, bass, and northern will be using deeper water at some point of the day. Shallow may be more active during low light conditions or at night. Largemouth bass may be active at night in many smaller lakes and top-water baits could be effective. Large bluegills are being caught on Horseshoe Lake by a few anglers, but most anglers there have had poor luck. Large snapping turtles have been on the move over the past week with a lot of sightings as they cross roadways, apparently searching for nesting grounds. Some sort of insect hatch occurred during the past week, as large numbers of swallows have been seen hunting for insects together, different than their normally observed hunting behavior.
Door County Anglers were still catching walleyes on the Green Bay side of Door County although fishing has slowed. Anglers have been targeting a little deeper water trolling crank baits and crawler harnesses using planner boards and super braided line and/or weights to get deeper. Anglers have still been catching good numbers of smallmouth bass throughout Door County waters including Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor, Ephraim, and Sister Bay on the bay side and Bailey's Harbor north to Rowley's Bay. Smallmouth bass fry are now emerging and can be seen off some docks. They appear near the surface of the water and are black in color and measure about a quarter to half inch. A few adults (probably males still guarding nests) are still on beds but for the most part spawning is over. The catches are not like the prespawn flurry that happens every year but are still pretty good. A variety of methods have been working including using jerk, crank, and top-water baits, and live bait but soft plastics remain the favorite. Shore anglers, wading anglers, and anglers using kayaks are also catching smallmouth bass. They key for shore bound anglers is to find a place with adequate depth and cover. A few perch were being caught in the Sturgeon Bay ship canal area. Best catch has been in the 7-15 foot range around the weed edges with minnows being the bait of choice. Other live baits in the form of crawlers and leeches has also been working. Shore anglers have also been catching a few perch. Rock bass have been providing steady action at a number of shore locations throughout the county and have been a favorite of families looking to catch some fish; look for rock piles, docks, or other structure and cover. Chinook salmon action continued to be excellent although winds this past week have hampered fishing efforts. Anglers have been fishing the Lake Michigan side up to Gills Rock, mostly over 120-140 feet of water and targeting a variety of depths with deeper depths working during the day and baits in the upper column producing during sunset and sunrise times. However some anglers have also been finding success in even shallower water (as shallow as 60 feet in some areas). In addition, there were reports of salmon catches in northern Green Bay as well in the deeper water near Gills Rock and Ellison Bay. Colors and choice of lures have varied widely. Like past weeks, the catch has been mostly Chinook salmon with an occasional rainbow trout. Little Sturgeon Bay anglers were targeting mostly smallmouth bass and a few were looking for perch. At Sawyer Harbor, shore anglers were targeting perch, rock bass, and smallmouth. Many gobies were also coming from shore and boats. At Chaudoir's Dock, anglers were targeting walleye and perch. Perch are starting to be seen more, but the numbers are still low. They were using crank baits and spinners for walleye and night crawlers on jig or just night crawlers for the perch. Sheepshead and drum are still very high.
Kewaunee County Chinook salmon continue to dominate the early morning catches, with charters and some private anglers regularly filling coolers. It?s been a bumpy past week wave-wise, enough so that small boat trollers have had a rough go of it or had to pass entirely some days until the winds settled. Even after the storms earlier this week, there was outstanding fishing. Many charter captains are using flasher and fly combos almost exclusively at dawn, with an occasional glow spoon. Many privates are mixing it up more - flies and spoons, mainly, but some are also tying on squids, plugs and cut bait with success. A few fish continue to be caught in the near-shore shallows, but the bulk of the action took place in 70 to 170 feet of water. With plenty of cold water -- surface temperatures were only in the upper 40s to low 50s -- chinook have only been 20 to 60 feet down between 4-6 a.m. and 40 to 80 feet down after. There?s been a good mix of age classes and sizes now, though still plenty of 15-pound-plus heavyweights. In between the peak dawn and dusk chinook bite, rainbow trout (steelhead) are coming on strong, so it pays to have some lines pulling spoons from the surface to 30 feet down. Some nice coho salmon are also coming fairly high in the water column, behind planer boards and dipsy divers in the top 60 feet. The easiest way for beginners to tell the difference between a coho, chinook and rainbow is to look at the mouth: rainbows have a white mouth and gums, coho a gray and white mix and chinook black. Coho also have few or no spots on the tail vs. the heavily-spotted tails of rainbows and chinook. On the inland scene, panfishing has dropped off over the last couple weeks. Bass and panfish are done spawning and are hanging out in and around weeds adjacent to deeper water or suspended in submerged brush or over deeper weed beds, moving shallower at dawn and dusk. A 40-inch musky was recently caught and released on East Alaska Lake, and Krohn?s continues to give up some small trout for those fishing lowlight. Anglers and boaters need to carefully inspect their boats and trailers for aquatic invasive species, both plants and invertebrate life located in the bilges and live wells.
Green Lake County Many father and son/daughter groups were out fishing on father?s day. Walleyes were biting on the weed edges on Big Green Lake. Little Green Lake continued to produce good numbers of panfish. Fox River anglers have been very successful catching good numbers of catfish.
Outagamie County The walleye bite on Lake Winnebago has slowed significantly; however, the crappie and white bass were still biting strong in many areas. Take precautions with the warm weather to avoid swimming in the blue green algae blooms and as always, please have PFD of proper size along when on the water.
Winnebago County With a hot summer upon us individuals enjoying water activities on the Lake Winnebago System should use some caution for blue green algae. Blue green algae, or Cyanobacteria and is commonly referred to as ?pond scum.? Blue green algae, occurs in surface water that becomes warm and is enriched with nutrients. In most instances it is difficult for health officials to determine blue green algae blooms but they happen on a lot of surface water areas including Lake Winnebago. People should use common sense and if a scum mat is observed then avoid the area or water altogether. Also, try and keep pets from the water as well as blue green algae can also have an adverse effect on pets. For more information on blue green algae go to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website or contact your local DNR Service Center. Currently the DNR is not doing any routine monitoring of blue green algae but in some areas local health departments may be doing some sampling.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County Trollers in Sheboygan have been catching chinook and coho salmon and rainbow trout in 50 to 140 feet of water. Spoons and flasher and fly combinations have both taken fish. Anglers fishing off the Sheboygan piers have been catching a mixed bag of brown and rainbow trout and chinook on spoons and alewives. A few whitefish have been caught off the piers as well.
Ozaukee County In Port Washington trollers have been catching mostly chinook, along with some coho and rainbow trout in 45 to 115 feet of water. Spoons as well as dodger and fly or flasher and fly combinations have been productive. Port Washington anglers fishing off the pier have been catching a mix of brown and rainbow trout, and chinook, as well as a few perch and whitefish. Alewives have taken the most trout and salmon, and perch have been taken on small minnows or plastics.
Milwaukee County In Milwaukee west winds have brought fish closer to shore in recent days. Trolling for chinook and coho has been productive, and a few lake and rainbow trout have been picked up as well. Most trollers have been focusing in 50 to 105 feet of water with baits about 30 to 60 feet below the surface. The best baits have been spoons of various colors and dipsey divers with flashers and flies. Flasher/fly combos of white, blue, and watermelon have produced the best. Fishing on McKinley pier has picked up recently with a mix of coho and chinook salmon and brown and rainbow trout caught on alewives. The shoreline along Summerfest is producing a few small browns with minnows catching the most and a few additional fish being caught on spoons. Perch anglers have been successful off of McKinley pier within an hour and a half of sunrise. Most perch were taken on minnows under a slip bobber or shrimp. A few small browns have been caught off of Grant Park and along the Oak Creek power plant fishing pier, and a few perch have been caught off the power plant pier as well. Perch fishing for boaters at the boils and off of Oak Creek has yielded fish, but the bite seems to slow down about an hour and a half after sunrise.
Racine County In Racine trollers have had great success with dipsey divers and flies along with spoons 40 to 80 feet down in 50 to 105 feet of water. Anglers were focusing mainly on coho and picked up chinook as well, though the fish have seemed to be more spread out in recent days. Those fishing from shore have been catching browns and coho from the pier and in the harbor. Casting spoons while soaking alewives on the bottom has produced, and success has picked up in recent days with west winds bringing bait fish closer to shore. Perch fishing is relatively slow from shore in Racine with the best bait being minnows under a slip bobber. Those jigging for perch from boats have done well off the rock breakwall south of Meyers Ramp, however fishing slows considerably about an hour and a half after sunrise.
Waukesha County Water temps on Oconomowoc area lakes and rivers have hit levels that normally show up around the end of July or Early August. Fish activity has mirrored this trend. Be aware of low water levels particularly on area rivers such as the Fox when boating. Musky fishing remains slow on Pewaukee Lake, with only some anglers reporting having follows. A mixed bag of reporting for panfish, as there hasn?t been any obvious spawning quite yet.
Walworth County Fishing pressure has slowed considerably. The warmer weather has kept anglers off of the water and those that are contacted while fishing seem to be frustrated with their success. Water temps are in the mid to lower 80s on most area lakes. Recreational use of lakes also seems to be low this year, boat landing attendants state boating traffic is down compared to other years.
Grant County Water levels on the Mississippi River were beginning to get back to normal. Reports are that north of La Crosse the area received 8-plus inches of rain, which means that the lower pools will be back on the rise once again. Caution is still advised as the river continues to have a variety of floating debris from the last period of high water. Schleichers landing is beginning to dry out once again, as the lower areas were flooded. Fishing had begun to return to normal with reports of hand-sized and bigger bluegills caught near the lock and dam 10 spillway, as well as small and largemouth bass by jigging with artificial lures along the rock rip rap below the spillway. A few small sauger and walleye were caught near Cassville on the local wing dams. Panfish were really biting on the Wisconsin River. Lots of folks were out fishing along the river for catfish, bass and panfish. Woodman Lake near Boscobel is a great location to catch fish. With the continued dry spell, the Lower Wisconsin River has been at about half of the normal flow rate for early June.
Dane County Madison area lake levels are low and the aquatic weeds are growing fast. Be sure to remove weeds from your boat and trailer before transporting your boat down the highway.
Sauk County Smallmouth bass fishing on the Wisconsin River between the Wisconsin Dells and Portage has been excellent. The long dry hot weather has slowed traditional lake fishing during the early summer, somewhat, but fishing activity on Lake Redstone continued to be good. Walleye, bass and bluegill were active. Walleye were biting on leeches and worms. Trolling with stick baits has also been very successful. Bluegills were biting on worms and leeches in shallow breaks and humps. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been active around piers and breaks using either live bait or lures. Bass have been biting on Dutch Hollow Lake around the shorelines.
Jackson County Fishing on the Black River has been fair, with several anglers reporting catching smallmouth bass and northern pike on spinner baits or bucktails. Warmer temperatures have brought increased boating traffic on Lake Arbutus.
Trempealeau County Anglers report that the bluegill action has been good in 2.5 to 3 feet of water, especially in lightly weeded areas. Bobber and worms have been very effective. The hot and sunny weather is making the weeds grow in the lakes and ponds. Since aquatic invasive species are spread in water sources, boaters are required by law to drain all water from boat bilges, live wells, motors, etc., after trailering and before leaving the boat ramp. Wisconsin law also prohibits the possession of or the transporting of live fish from the banks of lakes, rivers, and ponds. All fish must be transported in dry containers. Anglers are encouraged to use ice to keep their catch fresh, instead of water.
Marathon County In the Wausau area, approximately 3 inches of rain fell recently and rivers are seeing high flow rates. A reminder to boaters (especially canoes and kayaks) to be careful during the high water. With the hot and stormy weather fishing success has been moderate on the Wisconsin and Big Rib rivers. Increased current and sediment loads in the river have made fishing difficult.
Minocqua area fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htmLake Michigan Fishing Report and tipshttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htm
Wausau Area fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htm
Information compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
