Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: July 19, 2010
Manitowoc Co.
High temperatures in the mid-80s combined with light winds early in the week created excellent pre-fishing for area fishermen participating in the Two Rivers Kiwanis Fish Derby. By Thursday, the winds picked up out of the west at 15-20 mph, bringing in cold water to help out pier fishermen. Water temperatures varied from the mid-50s to the lower 60s over the weekend which was the biggest challenge for derby contestants. Boats were averaging 7-8 fish during the week with a few three person limits, but fishing consistency slowed for the derby. Pier fishing has been consistent all week, with several of the top fish in the derby being caught off the piers along the lakeshore. Out of Two Rivers, the best action has moved in shallow between 15-30 feet from Two Rivers ranging south to Cleveland. Most boats by the weekend were fishing the gaps of both the Manitowoc and Two Rivers piers. Coolers have consisted mostly of chinook salmon of all age classes, along with rainbows and browns. The brown trout have been relatively big, with many in the 13-18 pound range. The majority of boats have had success using spoons up high with J-Plugs on the down riggers and also up higher on planer boards. Green in both plugs and spoons continues to be the color of choice, but some days any color catches fish. With fishing so shallow, scatter the water column and you will find where the fish are. Keep an eye out for cooler temperature breaks and try working those areas. With the derby over the weekend, the Two Rivers and Manitowoc piers were packed full this past week. The catch has been dominated by three and four year old kings ranging from 12-18 pounds with a few large rainbow and brown trout. Casting with green champs, any type of green spoons, and jigging with gulp minnows have been reported for taking most of the kings, rainbows, and browns. Using alewife on bottom or on bobber four feet down has also been very successful with kings and rainbows. Get out as early as you can, both in the morning and afternoon, considering most fish have been taken near the end of the piers. Good luck and congratulations to all the derby winners.
Kewaunee Co.
Some major storms made their way through the county this week and brought with them varying wind strengths and directions. The wind did not seem to remain blowing in one direction consistently and caused the water temperatures at the surface to change by more than 10 degrees some days. This brought a week of very up and down fishing out on Lake Michigan. Algoma: Once again the pier fishing in Algoma was very slow with reports of only two fish being caught all week. The two reported fish were caught on fire tiger spoons and were both rainbow trout. The fishing all week was hampered by a combination of warm waters and storms that ravaged the area. The average catch per boat this week was down dramatically to only 2-3 fish and the size of the fish considerably smaller as well. Kewaunee: The Kewaunee pier had a few reports of king salmon and rainbow trout being caught, but the fishing continued to be very slow this week. The most productive lures were spoons that were red with black flecks. This week the fishing out on the lake near Kewaunee continued to show varied success. Some days had reports of fish being caught early in the mornings but shutting down around 6 am and remaining slow for the remainder of the day and night. Other days the bite seemed to be pretty consistent throughout the day and into the evening hours. The fish caught throughout the week seemed to vary in depths ranging from 70 feet to about 180 feet of water. The anglers that were able to find water temperatures in the mid 50s had consistently caught fish while any temperatures about 56 degrees seemed to be slow fishing. The fish seemed to be split almost 50/50 on spoons and flies with no particular color doing better than others.
Door Co. (Lake and Bay sides)
The third week of July was dominated by a nasty mid week thunderstorm and inclement weather. A large storm cell came through the area Wednesday and shook fishing conditions up a bit. Spotty showers continued through the week and into the weekend. The mid week thunderstorm had some effect on fishing, however fish were still being caught on both the Lake and the Bay. Fishing the bank reef has been busy to say the least with most success coming on a variety of baits including flies, spoons and j-plugs. Occasional rainbows are being caught in the upper 70 feet of the water column, but most coolers have been dominated by salmon. A smallmouth bass tournament was held over the weekend with around 100 boats hitting the water. Fishing was slow entering the weekend but picked up for the tournament. Plastics were the popular bait, along with some stick baits and spinner baits. Perch fishing has been decent, finding keepers has been the only obstacle. Minnows have been the most productive bait working in a variety of depths from 15 to 40 feet of water. Most anglers report about one keeper per two or three fish caught. Fishing countywide has continued to be productive.
