Wisconsin Statewide fishing report 9.9.10A cold front moved in late last week following additional rain that fell, putting a bit of a damper going into the Labor Day weekend, but conditions improved later in the weekend. Wisconsin continued to receive more rain over the last week, but most rivers have continued to drop and are at or only a bit above seasonal norms, although some central rivers, such as the Black, continue to run high. The Wisconsin River has been fluctuating and rose again last week, leaving very few sandbars available for Labor Day weekend campers. The Mississippi and Kickapoo rivers have returned to normal flow.
Good numbers of musky anglers were out of the long weekend and the cold front seemed to trigger the musky bite on northern lakes. One boat reported catching and releasing a 40 inch musky from a Vilas County lake within 15 minutes of hitting the water. Smallmouth bass and catfish fishing has been good on the lower Wisconsin River. White bass have been hitting on the Rock River and walleyes were being caught on Lake Koshkonong. Fishing improved greatly this week on the Mississippi, with nice sized bluegills being caught in the Prairie du Chien area and perch fishing good in some of the deeper weed edges and in backwater sloughs. Smallmouth bass were being caught on the main channel on wing dams, closing dams, and rocky shorelines and largemouth bass has been really good in all types of cover. Walleye and sauger action has been spotty but wing dams were starting to produce now that the water is down.
Strong westerly winds over the weekend made fishing on Lake Michigan a challenge, but many boats still ventured out. The turbulent weather did a nice job of stirring the lake up and moving some cooler water in toward shore. Water temperatures have been seen in the low 50s to even high 40s. Although the fall salmon spawn usually doesn?t pick up until the end of September, a few fish are already being seen staging offshore, with some reports of fish moving up streams and some salmon showing their fall colors. Some great perch fishing was reported in Sturgeon Bay, with a large number of boats working the weed beds along the shipping channel. Smallmouth bass anglers were out scouting for this weekend?s Fall Open Smallmouth Bass Tournament out of Sturgeon Bay.
Marinette County -
Fishing on the Peshtigo River below the dam has been slow with a few rough fish being reported. Fishing on the Menominee River for trout and salmon is improving with reports of coho, browns, and a few kings being caught off the Government Pier and the Light House Pier in the early morning.
Oconto County -
Stiles Dam was still producing good numbers of bluegills and crappies on slip bobbers and worms or minnows. Some nice perch and bluegill were being caught at the Oconto Breakwater Marina from shore. The walleye and smallmouth bite has been slow but the good news is the perch bite on the bay has picked up. Perch were biting in 8 to 14 feet of water and anglers were using minnows and crawlers on slip bobbers and crappie rigs. Some trout and salmon were also being caught off the Oconto break wall using cleo's, 3/4 oz. in silver.
Brown County -
Bayshore Park perch anglers have been finding limit catches of big perch in 10 to 20 feet of water. Most have been using minnows or worms on bottom rigs. Anglers fishing from shore have been getting in on the action with some very nice fish being caught off the rock pier. Walleye fishing has been hit or miss the last week or so with most fish being caught off two-mile reef.
Manitowoc County - Temperatures in the mid-70s early in the week dropped by the weekend to around 60 degrees making it a cold fishing trip for all the Labor Day weekend salmon anglers. Strong westerly winds blowing at 15 to 25 mph didn?t slow boaters fishing the pier head gaps out of Two Rivers and Manitowoc. Water temperatures dropped as low as 49 degrees by mid-week outside the pier heads and currently remains steady at 58 degrees. Off the lighthouse north of Two Rivers, water temperatures were as low as 44 degrees in 20 feet of water early in the week. Fishing success remained slow for most boats fishing the gaps throughout the week, averaging zero to three 4-year-old chinook salmon. A few boats have landed their two person limit out of Two Rivers outside the pier heads. Salmon fishing has picked up for shore anglers and boaters out of both ports. The chinook have begun staging and boaters have been landing one to four salmon in the 13-20 pound range outside both port pier heads. White J-Plugs and glow spoons on high lines have been hot, but fishing action has shut off after 6 am until the night bite. A few smaller chinook (6-8 pounds) have been landed in 80-110 feet just south of Two Rivers and straight out of Manitowoc. Watch out for the boats traffic out of Two Rivers, over the weekend Two Rivers had 30-40 boats trolling the pier heads early in the morning. Pier fishing off of Manitowoc and Two Rivers has been hit and miss the last week. One morning will bring excellent fishing with six to eight salmon and a few brown trout, the next morning will bring one or two. Anglers have had success on green and blue champs and jigging 3-inch gulp minnows. A few have been caught in both harbors and behind Associated Bank on the Manitowoc River using green champs. One or two salmon have been seen up by the Shoto and Mishicot dams as well. Several of the salmon are showing their fall colors and appear to be slowly making their way up to the dams. Good luck and have fun with the salmon run.
Door County -
As August went out like a lamb September came in as a bear. Some midweek storms hit the county hard dumping good amounts of rain and brought some high winds. The turbulent weather did do a nice job stirring the lake up and moving some cooler water in toward shore, which should help pier fishing action increase. Water temperatures have been seen in the low 50s to even high 40s as anglers prepare for the annual salmon spawn. A decent number of boats fishing salmon were still seen hitting the lake this week and still running out into deeper water. Few reports were gathered from anglers but average catches were between one to four fish. Fishing farther out on the lake has produced nicely colored silver fish where as fishing in toward shore and near the piers has shown some fish starting to darken a bit. Pier anglers have reported a few nice brown trout and salmon being caught of the pier near the canal station, most success has been had on a variety of green spoons. Although the salmon spawn usually doesn?t pick up until the end of September, a few fish may already be seen in toward Strawberry Creek due to the erratic weather and changing water temperatures of this last week. Friday and Saturday brought high winds and small craft advisories to Door County limiting most fishing and boating activity. Stir crazy perch anglers were seen in full force on Sunday as great conditions led the way for some great perch fishing in Sturgeon Bay. A large number of boats were seen working the weed beds along the shipping channel in Sturgeon Bay as well as around the moored sail boats between the Sturgeon Bay bridges. Minnows were the popular choice for anglers and were able to get anglers good sized fish and near limit catches. Fishing has been slow for perch at Chaudoir?s Dock with most fish being caught in 25 feet of water. White perch however have been hitting like crazy with anglers reporting significant numbers of fish being caught. Walleye fishing has continued to be steady out of Sturgeon Bay and north toward Fish Creek and Sister Bay. Fishing slowed some over the weekend due to the high winds and waves that pounded the shores but anglers were still having successes trolling Larson?s Reef. Trolling stick baits around some of the underwater structure off the West shore of the county has also been successful, as well as heading south on Green Bay toward the Dyckesville area. Next weekend the Fall Open Smallmouth Bass Tournament will be held in Sturgeon Bay. Anglers in the area scouting this week had decent success with a good number of big fish being caught. As long as the weather holds up for next weekend, fishing looks promising. There have been quite a few bass anglers out of Little Sturgeon Bay with little to show for it. Most have been saying they were in fish a week ago but due to the storms the fish have scattered. Walleye anglers have been finding good numbers of walleyes trolling rock humps and reefs in the area. Perch anglers have been finding some luck inside the bay with most fish though being to small to keep. One boat out northern pike fishing this week reported a nice catch mid week. Trolling a mixed bag of daredevil spoons and rapalas produced a few nice fish in the canal and inwards towards the highway bridge. Pike fishing should pick up into September.
Kewaunee County ?
Last week started off with beautiful weather in Kewaunee and extremely dense fog in the Algoma area. The fog remained on the water for the entire day Monday and Tuesday. A large storm passed through the area on Thursday and brought with it high winds for the rest of the week. This storm also brought cooler waters and dropped the surface temperature down to 50-52 degree range. The week started off extremely slow with a few kings being landed out on the Kewaunee pier but after the storm system passed through, the bite picked up tremendously with Friday and Saturday being the best days. The fishing did slow back down on Sunday with only a few fish being caught. The most success has been on either green/silver cleos or blue/silver cleos with a few fish being hooked on green/silver cast masters. The majority of the bite has been king salmon with a few brown trout being caught. The fish do seem to be moving up the channel toward the tug boat as a few fish have been landed in that area. There have been a few reports of king salmon being caught up river near the footbridge area and a few fish have been spotted near the Besadney fish hatchery. Once again it was another slow week of fishing for the boaters. The most success has been reported by boats trolling in the waters right off the pier and a few boats have found luck out in 300 feet of water. The average for the week was about zero to one fish per boat. The fishing on the Algoma pier this week started off with a bang. Many anglers found success in the fog on the north pier using spoons and spawn sacs. The catch was a mixed bag with coho and king salmon being caught as well as brown trout and a few northern pike. The most successful lures were green and silver cleos or green and silver cast masters. After the storm passed through the area the fish activity really slowed to a crawl. The fishing out on the lake was extremely slow this week with many boats returning to the harbor with no fish. The majority of the boats report seeing large numbers of fish on their depth finders near the north and south piers but could not entice a bite. The majority of the fish brought during the week were brown trout but one charter did manage to land a 31 inch walleye.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County -
In Sheboygan trolling has been slow, with most boats working the area in front of the harbor. A few chinook have been taken farther offshore in water out to 175 feet deep. Shore anglers in Sheboygan have been catching fair numbers of chinook, coho, and browns off both the north and south piers. Spoons, alewives, and crank baits have produced.
Ozaukee County -
Trollers in Port Washington have found some chinook, coho, and browns scattered in 30 to 125 feet of water. Fishing has been slow overall, but spoons J-plugs have taken the most fish. Shore anglers in Port Washington have been catching chinook and coho both off the pier and at the power plant. Spawn sacs have produced the most fish near the power plant, and spoons and alewives have been effective off the pier.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee fishing has been relatively slow for trollers. There are some mature salmon in and around the harbor, but they have not been hitting. Trollers out in 150 to 200 feet of water have had some limited success on glow spoons and J-plugs for chinook, coho, and rainbows. Shore fishing has also been slow, although the near-shore waters have now cooled off. The rivers around Milwaukee have shown very little evidence of upstream salmon movement, but 14 to 18 inch smallmouth bass have been hitting twister tails below Estabrook falls.
Racine County -
Fishing effort in Racine has been low, but those venturing out have had some occasional success. Off and on trollers have been catching some chinook in 50 to 60 feet of water, but when the fish are not biting in close, chinook and rainbows have been found in 220 to 240 feet of water. Shore fishing remains relatively slow.
Kenosha County -
In Kenosha trollers have been catching some chinook in 60 to 80 feet of water, but fishing there has been hit-or-miss. Rainbows have been hitting somewhat consistently out deeper, around 250 to 270 feet of water. Shore anglers in Kenosha continue to catch occasional browns in the harbor. Fresh skein has taken the most fish, with white tube jigs also producing some. There have been a few chinook taken on spoons near the mouth of the Pike River as well.
Grant County -
Water levels have finally returned on the Mississippi River to near normal level. Last year low water levels in the fall made for difficult backwaters travel for duck and goose hunters. Fishing over the holiday weekend was slow. A few catfish were caught on the lower portion of pool 11, with an 8-pound catfish caught off the Eagle Point fishing barge below lock and Dam 11 at Dubuque. Bluegills are spotty. The only good fishing news was from a fisherman fishing smallmouth bass along the Grant River, although he noted the mosquitoes were as "big as the fish." The loose grass floating throughout the pools continues to be a problem for anglers and boaters. According to the river biologist, it will continue to be a problem until frost kills the plants.
Iowa County -
Smallmouth bass have been biting in the Spring Green area in the evenings just upstream of the railroad bridge near Hwy. 14 on the Wisconsin River on night crawlers, stick baits and spinners. The walleyes are starting to bite just down from the Mazomanie beach on the Wisconsin River on minnows and the bass are picking up again after a brief slowdown in action. The smallmouth were biting on half a night crawler; anglers have been saying that a whole night crawler has not been producing fish in the river. Hunter?s are reporting some territorial scrape activity taking place on logging roads and trails.
Dane County -
Panfishing around the Madison Lakes has seemed to slow a bit. A few anglers had some luck on bluegills over the weekend but fishing was generally slow. Anglers out in boats were catching bluegills suspended in deep water on the north end of Lake Waubesa by drifting. Shore anglers had some success with bluegills at Monona Bay and on Wingra Creek at the Vilas Park dam behind the zoo. Game fish especially walleye and musky have slowly started to bite a bit. There has been increased fishing pressure on game fish during the last week and this will continue into the late fall where chances of catching larger fish increase. Northern pike have been biting on Lake Koshkonong. Dove hunting seemed to be pretty popular with last week?s opener. There was a decent amount of success in areas around northern Dane County on both public and private properties. Overall the dove population seems too good. Another cold front has pushed birds out of the area. Goose hunters that did some scouting found local birds feeding in fields and had some decent action. Mosquitoes have diminished a little bit but are still present.
Rock County -
White bass were still biting at the Indianford Dam on the Rock River, but anglers are also starting to catch some bluegills and perch with night crawlers at this location. Walleye have been hitting on Lake Koshkonong on crank baits. Dove season opened last week and hunters were having luck in the Evansville and Lima Marsh Areas near sunflower fields. Early goose season also opened with hunters having luck in fields south and north of Janesville. The water levels on the Rock River have been dropping fast and are back to normal levels.
Crawford County ?
Flooding on area rivers has subsided considerably. The Kickapoo and Wisconsin river are still high and running dirty. River stages as of Sept. 7, were as follows: the Kickapoo River crested two weeks ago in Gays Mills and Steuben around 15.6 and 13.4 feet respectively. Currently the Kickapoo in Gays Mills is at 8.95 feet and falling. Like wise in Steuben the river is at 8.91 feet and falling. Swift current and dirty water can be found in the Kickapoo right now. The Mississippi River was at 8;58 feet and slowly falling. The amount of vegetation floating downstream has lessened making fishing a bit easier. The Wisconsin River has been on a roller coaster ride. Last week it dropped about 2 feet but rose again this past week. Most of the sand bars are under water. The river stage at Muscoda was 3.11 feet and falling. Most trout streams are clearing up nicely. Some are still, running a bit high and a little cloudy. They are expected to settle down and clear up within a couple days, that is if no more rain falls. Fishing has improved greatly this week. Bluegill fishing has been very good. Some nice sized bluegills are being caught in the Prairie du Chien area. Some anglers report taking limits. Anglers have been finding some pretty decent bluegill action in the backwaters usually in deeper water adjacent to the weeds. Some anglers have found gills in the back water snags. Perch fishing has been very good in some areas. Perch have been taken along the deeper weed edges in light current and in backwater sloughs in deeper water. Primarily anglers are using a chunk of night crawlers on a dead line. Crappie action has been spotty. Some of the best crappie action has been in deeper water weeds. White bass action has been very spotty but keep an eye open for surface feeding fish and cast into the school. Action for both smallmouth and largemouth bass has been pretty good. Look for smallmouth bass on the main channel on wing dams, closing dams, and rocky shorelines. The Wisconsin River has seen some very good smallmouth bass action too. Largemouth bass has been really good and are being caught in all types of cover. Top-water baits have produced very well. Also look for bass in the timber and weed edges. A variety of artificial baits have worked. Walleye and sauger action has been spotty. Wing dams were starting to produce now that the water is down. Probably the best bet is some of the deeper back water sloughs. Drifting with live bait (leeches or nightcrawlers) and trolling are the most popular tactics. Action has been pretty good up on Pool 9 near Lynxville and Ferryville try the Deer Island complex and the area of the main channel by Lansing. Most anglers were targeting northern pike by trolling in back water sloughs and lakes. Check for northern where feeder streams enter the main river. Most bass anglers report catching northern incidentally to bass fishing. Sheepshead (freshwater drum) remain active and were being caught on night crawlers throughout the area. Catfish, both channel and flathead had been spotty. However fishing conditions are improving. Catfish fishing on the Wisconsin River is still very good. Trout fishing conditions are improving. There still is a variety of insects to deal with and heavy shoreline vegetation. Fly fishers, spinners and live bait are working well even with the high water. Black bear sightings have tapered off although there are a few still roaming the area. Some tree leaves, especially the walnuts and elms, are turning color and dropping. Sumac is also turning color. Most of the cool season grasses have died off and now the warm season grasses are starting to change. Gnats, deer flies, horse flies and mosquitoes are still out even though the temperatures have moderated somewhat. River bottoms are especially bad. The gnat hatch as slowly diminished. Deer and horse flies are really bad in some areas. Poison ivy and stinging nettle are also out. Parsnip is dying back. Black raspberries are no longer available. Most of the nut producing trees have dropped their crop. Oak, hickory, and black walnuts can be found scattered all over the place, that is unless the squirrels got to them. It appear to be a spotty crop for the mast producers this year, however many areas have produced very well.
Minocqua Area Fishing Report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htmChippewa Flowage Fishing Report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/chippewaflowagefishingreport.htmLake Michigan Fishing Report and tips
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htmCentral Wisconsin Fishing report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htmInformation compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
