Wisconsin Statewide fishing report 7.8.10The continued rain has kept many river systems running high, though rivers in the north are again approaching seasonal norms. Some major flowages in the north have returned to near normal water levels. The Turtle-Flambeau Flowage has come up about 2 feet since its low about a month ago, and is now just about 1 foot below full pool. The natural seepage lakes came up some, but many are still very low from the effects of the six-plus years of drought. Major river systems in central and southern Wisconsin, including the Black, Baraboo, Chippewa, Kickapoo and lower Wisconsin were all still running very high this week. The Mississippi also continued to run very high, with a lot of floating debris, except for Pool 6, which is currently undergoing a drawdown intended to improve river habitat.
Panfish and musky have been providing the most action on northern waters. Musky activity has continued to improve with the warming water, with good numbers of 32- to 40-inch fish reported. Bucktails and top-water baits have been the most productive lures. Anglers have been reporting decent catches of crappie, bluegill and rock bass. Walleye action continued to be slow. The increased water levels and dark-stained stained water has really thrown bass fishing off, with typical early summer patterns not producing many fish.
On Green Bay, walleye fishing was good in the southern part of bay and northward near Fish Creek. Perch fishing was spotty, with the best reports out of Sturgeon and Little Sturgeon bays. High winds and high waters made fishing on Lake Michigan difficult at times this week. Large capping rollers at 3-5 feet scattered success of boaters fishing a derby out of Manitowoc last weekend. This wind did help drop the surface water temperatures from a warm 62 degrees down to 51 degrees. Fishing off piers was starting to pick up with both chinook and coho salmon being caught. When trollers were able to get out, they generally reported action had slowed some from previous weeks but many were still successful, with chinook being the majority the catch, but also coho as well as rainbow and lake trout. Fishing off southeastern Wisconsin piers and harbors was picking up, with rainbow trout and, chinook, and coho salmon being caught on alewives.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) - With the warm-humid weather, both recreational boating and fishing activity were very high over the long Fourth of July holiday weekend. Water temperatures have warmed into the low to mid 70s on most lakes and this has made for comfortable swimming conditions and increased fish feeding activity. Water levels on the major flowages in the area are near normal and the water continues to be more darkly stained than normal. The Turtle-Flambeau Flowage has come up about 2 feet since its low about a month ago, and is now just about 1 foot below full pool. The natural, or seepage lakes in the area have come up about 4 to 6 inches in water level, but many still remain very low from the effects of the six-plus years of drought. Weed densities have been variable, with some areas showing thicker densities than normal and other areas seeing much lower densities than past years. Stream and river levels are near normal or slightly high following the inch or so of rain in the last week. And watch out for the bugs - the recent rains have provided for a fresh hatch of mosquitoes, deer flies and 'ankle-biters' and all have become a bigger nuisance in the last week. Panfish and musky have been the main species of interest in the last week and success for both has been pretty good. Musky activity has continued to improve with the warming water and most anglers have been reporting some consistent action along weed edges, drop-offs, and in the light density weed beds. Good numbers of musky in the 32- to 40-inch size have been hooked and boated, with a few fish up to 46 inches also reported. Bucktails and top-water baits have been the most productive lures of late. Panfish action has been fairly consistent, with anglers making some decent catches of crappie, bluegill and rock bass. Decent crappie have been found suspended near mid-depth cover and larger bluegill have been caught along deep weed lines. Rock bass have been especially aggressive and been found near any mid-depth wood or rocky cover. Walleye action continued to be slow, with very little success being reported. A few smaller fish have been caught along the weed edges but the walleye anglers have mostly been occupied with rock bass and perch. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been the real bugaboo in the last few weeks and most bass anglers have been having a very tough time finding quality-sized fish. It seems that the increased water levels and dark-stained stained water has really thrown these species into a funk and typical early summer patterns are not producing fish. Some smaller largemouth have been found near wood in thick weed beds and a few have also been caught near cover along bog edges. But many bass anglers have sworn that the quality-size fish have fallen off the face of the earth!? Smallmouth bass have been even tougher to find than largemouth, and many anglers report catching just a few 8 to 12-inch smallmouth when fishing their favorite early summer spots. Finesse tactics with small plastics have produced a few fish near mid-depth woody structure, but like largemouth, quality-size fish have been tough to come by.
Flambeau River State Forest - The North Fork of the Flambeau River is at a normal level, but the South Fork is still on the high side due to the recent rains.
Marinette County - Fishing for smallmouth and catfish at the Peshtigo Harbor has slowed some but there are still fish to catch. The salmon bite out and around Green Island remains fair to good with most anglers having success around daybreak. Colors and depths vary from day to day.
Oconto County - A few panfish were being caught by the Stiles Dam using worms and bobbers. Pensaukee saw some action for walleyes, with anglers dragging crawler harnesses. Oconto Breakwater walleyes were being taken by anglers drifting over weeds in 10 to 14 feet of water using stick baits and jigging spoons. Oconto Park II shore anglers were still catching some nice bullheads fishing crawlers on bottom. Geano Beach anglers have been tolling for walleyes with some good success, most fishing in 20 feet of water. A crawler harness with some purple in it seems to be the bait of choice.
Brown County - Fox River anglers have been doing well from shore fishing rough fish. Anglers have also been catching some big catfish off of Voyager Park at night. Anglers fishing from boats have been catching some nice walleyes jigging or trolling. Bayshore park anglers have been doing well trolling for walleye. Most have been using a crawler harness. Most anglers have been fishing in 10-20 feet of water.
Manitowoc County - Strong southerly winds at 15-25 mph throughout the week slowed fishing for the Manitowoc Salmon Derby along the lakeshore. Water temperatures remained around 63 degrees offshore but dropped to the upper 50s on July 4, creating improved fishing conditions. Air temperatures remained steady around 80 degrees throughout the week. Large capping rollers at 3-5 feet scattered success of boaters fishing the derby, with a limited number of boats fishing the evening hours. Out of Two Rivers, most anglers concentrated in 40-70 feet of water straight out of Two Rivers ranging all the way north to the lighthouse. Other areas with some success include 120-140 feet outside the trap nets and 25-40 feet north of Two Rivers? north water tower to the lighthouse. The fishing straight out of Manitowoc from 50-80 feet remained the hotspot for boaters during the week. Out of both ports, coolers consisted of mostly chinook salmon with a few small rainbow trout. The tough seas significantly slowed down any steady action for rainbows. Most salmon have been ranging in the 14-17 pound range, with many of the rainbows 5-8 pounds. Using a variety of glow spoon colors on the riggers and dypsy have been good until sun up, then green flasher/fly combos has been hot this last week. Depths on the down riggers have varied from the mid-30s to near bottom depths. Retracting information out of anglers this week was very difficult due to their involvement in the fish derby, but very little has changed over the last few weeks. The pier action slowed down this week, with a few rainbows caught off of Two Rivers using crocodile and cleo casting spoons with no color better than another. The Manitowoc piers had more reports of success, with a small number of kings and rainbows caught. For the salmon, green/silver champs remain the top choice of anglers while using alewife on bottom.
Door County - It was one of the wettest Junes in the last two decades as weather stations in Door County reported over 7.5 inches of rainfall for the month. Inclement weather and some days of high winds were had leading into the Fourth of July holiday, but anglers were still able to utilize the many different fishing niches throughout the county. Salmon and trout fishing slowed somewhat this week with the changing weather conditions. Some spotty thunderstorms, rains, and south winds moved water around the lake and bay causing for some varying water temperatures and fewer fish. Toward the weekend, anglers started reporting good numbers as some of the weather moved out of our area. Most anglers were having success with flasher fly combinations, as well as a handful of different spoons. Fishing out of Gills Rock and near Washington Island really picked up, along with fishing out of Baileys Harbor and Rowley?s Bay. Some fish were seen moving into deeper waters due to the conditions, but moved shallower toward the weekend. Walleye fishing reports have been good, most anglers having luck in the southern part of Green Bay and northward near Fish Creek. Working 15-20 feet of water with husky jerks, stick baits and crawler harnesses have produced some nice fish, mostly working in the upper part of the water column too. Smallmouth bass have moved into the deeper water as well. The bass season around Washington Island is now open and some very nice reports have come from that hot bed area. Working tube jigs over rocky structures has been popular along with using crawlers and leeches as live bait. Perch fishing in the bay continues to be spotty. Anglers working the weed edges and along the shipping channel have found some fish, mostly using minnows and leaf worms suspended near bottom. Sturgeon Bay anglers have been fishing perch in 5-15 feet of water. Most anglers have been struggling to find perch of any size. Minnows and crawlers under slip bobbers seem to be working the best. There have been some reports of a few incidental catches of musky mainly from the perch and bass anglers. Bass fishing has been good with some nice fish being caught up and down the ship cannel. Little Sturgeon Bay anglers have been targeting perch with some success outside of the bay in 15-25 feet of water. Anglers are also finding some perch inside the bay but most have been on the small side. Bass fishing has slowed some but anglers still are finding some nice fish. Anglers at Chaudoir?s Dock have been fishing perch with some good success. The best perch bite has been in the early mornings.
Kewaunee County - The week began with temperatures averaging around the mid to upper 60s and increased toward the end of the week. Unfortunately as the wind increased as the week grew on and caused a few small craft advisories in Kewaunee County during the weekend. This wind did help drop the surface water temperatures from a warm 62 degrees down to 51 degrees and has helped the fishing. Fishing on the Kewaunee pier was starting to pick up with king and coho salmon being caught each day off the end of the pier. The fish were caught on cleos and green spoons. A few steelhead have been caught this week as well but the numbers have been down compared to the last few weeks. The best times to fish were between 10:30 p.m. and midnight. The Kewaunee ramp has seen some on and off fishing this previous week but the fishing in the early part of the week was very successful. It was not uncommon to see boats hauling in limits. The fish seemed to be biting on both flies and spoons with almost any color ranging from purple to blue to green to orange working. The majority of the fish caught were king salmon with a few lake trout being caught as well. There was an increase in Algoma pier fishing pressure toward the beginning of the week but the high winds drove most of the anglers away during the weekend. Most anglers tried their luck with cleos, green, and fire tiger spoons for rainbow trout. Fishing out of the Algoma Ramp was much more successful earlier in the week with the average catch per boat being about 4-5 fish with a few boats limiting out in the morning. There wasn?t one specific color that worked the best but blues and greens seemed to be the most popular choices. The fish caught were found in waters around 90-110 feet and about 50 feet down.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County - In Sheboygan trollers have been catching chinook, rainbow, and lake trout. Most fish have been caught in 60 to 100 feet of water, from the surface to 50 feet down. Shore fishing in Sheboygan has been good, with rainbows, chinook, coho, and a few browns caught off both piers. Spoons and alewives have taken the most fish.
Ozaukee County - Trollers in Port Washington have found a mixed bag of fish between 50 and 200 feet of water. Good numbers of chinook, coho, rainbows, and a few brown and lake trout have been hitting spoons or flashers and flies, and fish have been throughout the water column. Shore anglers in Port Washington have been catching perch on jigs and minnows fished off the harbor side of the pier. Anglers fishing the lake side of the pier have been catching rainbow, chinook, and coho on alewives. Boaters fishing for perch in Port have been catching fair numbers on fathead minnows at the south pier.
Milwaukee County - In Milwaukee trollers have been catching mostly chinook, along with a few coho and rainbow. Fish have been caught in as little as 40 feet of water or out as far as 120 feet. Spoons have taken the majority of fish, although a few have been caught on flies. The best colors have been blue and white. For shore anglers in Milwaukee, the most consistent spot has been McKinley pier. Chinook have been caught off the pier after dark and before dawn. Most have been taken on alewives, but spoons have started to produce as well. Some perch have also been taken off McKinley pier on small shiners just off the bottom. Boaters launching at Bender Park and fishing for perch have been catching good numbers at the boils off South Milwaukee and near the Oak Creek Power Plant. Small shiners have produced the best.
Racine County - In Racine trollers have been catching good numbers of chinook and a few coho and rainbow. Fish have been near shore, with the best action in 30 to 50 feet of water. Shore fishing in Racine has also been good, with decent numbers of chinook taken off the north pier before sunrise. Both spoons and alewives have taken fish. Perch fishing from shore has slowed, but for those fishing in boats, the perch bite has been fair, with the breakwalls and the bubbler providing good action at times. Minnows and crab tails have both produced, as have jigs.
Kenosha County - In Kenosha the trolling bite remains consistent, with good catches coming from as shallow as 40 feet of water, to as deep as 100 feet. Nearly all methods have produced fish at times. Fishing in the Kenosha harbor has been fair, especially in the evening hours and into the night. Silver & green spoons as well as glow in the dark have been catching fish, as have tube jigs. Most fish have been brown trout, and activity has been good from the Best Western all the way out to the ends of the piers. Perch fishing has been slow from the piers, but better from Southport marina, especially in the early morning hours. Live bait has accounted for a large number of perch. Boats out for perch have been having a good bite in the mornings. Minnows have been the most consistent producer, but others are having luck with jigs and plastic.
Nelson Dewey State Park - The Mississippi River waters are still 5 feet over normal. The debris is heavy in the main channel, so watch out boaters. Several landings are under water. Fishing is slow, due to high water level, but striped bass are being caught at O?Leary Lake.
Minocqua Area Fishing Reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htm
Chippewa Flowage Fishing Reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/chippewaflowagefishingreport.htm
Lake Michigan Fishing Report and tipshttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htmCentral Wisconsin Fishing reporthttp://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htm
Information compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
