The variable weather this week made for some erratic fishing success. In the north, the most consistent action has been with musky. Bass fishing has been inconsistent -- with some days producing good action while other days find the bites hard to come by. Walleye fishing has been fair, with many anglers using leeches and crawlers along the weed edges and in weed pockets. Northern pike action has been good in the last several weeks and panfish action continued to be fair.
Some nice walleye were being taken from the Menominee River at Marinette. Perch and walleye fishing improved a bit over the last week on Green Bay, with good catches reported from Sturgeon Bay south along the east shore of the bay. Bass fishing has also been very good over the last week. Fishing out on Lake Michigan was fair early in the week because of favorable weather conditions, but dropped to poor over the weekend because of windy weather. Anglers trolling on the lake reported mixed catches of chinook salmon and rainbow, with some brown and lake trout also landed. Some salmon have already begun to get darker as the fall spawning run gets closer, and there have even been some fish spotted up the Kewaunee River. Shore and pier anglers at Port Washington have been catching brown and rainbow trout. Milwaukee and Racine angers have had success with chinook salmon and brown trout, and Kenosha anglers were still finding a few perch along with brown trout and some chinook salmon taken near the mouth of the Pike River.
The Mississippi River rose some and was at 7.7 feet this week at Prairie du Chien. The rise slowed bluegill fishing a little, but some nice sized bluegills were still being taken off the wing dams along the main channel. Walleye and sauger action was fair, with early morning and later in the best time for walleye action. Smallmouth and largemouth bass have been very active.
There were 4,224 applications for the 2010 Upriver Lakes sturgeon spearing license lottery, with 500 successful applicants authorized to purchase an Upriver license for the 2010 season. People who applied, but did not get authorized to purchase an Upriver license for 2010, earned a preference point, and can still buy a license for the Lake Winnebago season. Whether buying an Upriver Lakes or Lake Winnebago license, they must be purchased no later than Saturday, October 31.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) -
Variable and almost constantly changing weather in the past week has made for some erratic fishing success in the Northwoods. The most consistent action has been with musky, with anglers having a lot of sightings and follows, as well as quite a few hook-ups and catches of fish in the 34 to 42-inch size. The mid to late afternoon hours have produced the best action, and the favorite lures have been plastic jerk or crank baits and top-water baits fished near the deep weed edges. Bass fishing has been real inconsistent -- with some days producing good action while other days find the bites hard to come by. Largemouth have been found in thick lily pad beds and near mid-depth structure such logs/stumps, weed lines, and bog edges. Soft plastics and frog imitations have been the lures of choice and the late afternoon period has produced the best action. Smallmouth fishing has shown some consistency on the local rivers and flowages, with the best success coming on finesse plastics fished near rock and woody cover along deeper water areas. Walleye fishing continues to be fair, with many anglers using leeches and crawlers along the weed edges and in weed pockets. Some anglers have also found walleye on the deeper gravel and rock bars in 12 to 18 feet of water. Northern pike, an often overlooked fish in the summer, has produced some good fishing in the last several weeks. Continued cool water temperatures seem to have favored this species and action has been good around the near-shore weed beds. Spinner baits and small crank baits have worked the best - but a wire leader should be used to minimize the bite-offs. Panfish action continues to be fair, with some decent catches of crappie, bluegill and rock bass being reported.
Marinette County -
Smallmouth bass are feeding in and around the Peshtigo Harbor, crank baits and spinners are working well. Little River is seeing some success with perch in 12 to 14 feet of water south of the landing, look for the weed beds. The Menominee River smallmouth bite from the Light House pier to Stephenson Island has been good as of late, minnows are working best. Some nice walleye are also being taken from the Menominee drifting crawlers in the holes from the train bridge to the turn basin. Salmon anglers are congregating on both the Light House and the Government piers before first light and are starting to catch salmon on spoons.
Oconto County -
Fishing pressure remains moderate to heavy on the weekends with light pressure during the week. Temperatures at the landings are running from the mid 60s to the low 70s with good water clarity. Perch anglers have been reporting some success from Pensaukee to Oconto Park II. They were finding fish in 8 to 14 feet of water adjacent to weed beds. Minnows and slip bobbers or crappie rigs were working the best. The dam at Stiles was still producing some nice bluegills on crawlers and leaf worms. Anglers at the Oconto Breakwater were reporting some brown trout activity on the north side of the causeway in the pre dawn hours.
Green Bay
Brown County - - The perch and walleye fishing have improved a bit over the last week at Bay Shore Park. There was a few good catches of perch reported last week. The walleye were hitting crank baits in 20 feet of water.
Manitowoc County - In the Manitowoc/Two Rivers area trout and salmon anglers had a slow to fair week of fishing. Fishing early in the week was fair because of favorable weather conditions and dropped to poor over the weekend because of windy weather conditions. In Manitowoc boat anglers targeting trout and salmon had mixed success trolling on Lake Michigan. Most boat anglers were trolling in 20 to 70 feet of water near the harbor mouth or along the shoreline south of Manitowoc. Anglers used a variety of baits such as spoons, stick baits, or J-plugs to land fish this week. On the piers, anglers had a slow week as well. Early in the week pier anglers fishing the early bite landed some large chinook salmon and a couple nice brown trout. In Two Rivers, most boat anglers also trolled in shallower water depths this past week. Catches this week were mixed with chinook salmon and rainbow trout dominating the catch, although a couple of brown trout and lake trout were also landed. On the piers anglers had a slow week as well. Catches were small this week and mixed between chinook salmon and rainbow trout and couple brown early in the week.
Door County -
Perch fishing has been fair over the last week at Sturgeon Bay with a few limit catches reported. Anglers were having to sort through a lot of small perch, most anglers were having the best luck on worms. Also the bass fishing has been very good over the last week with some nice sized bass being reported. Also a few walleyes have been caught. Anglers at Little Sturgeon Bay reported some nice sized perch being caught off Henderson Point. Also the walleye fishing has picked up over the last week with anglers catching walleye and a few bonus brown trout in 40 feet of water. The perch fishing continues to improve at Chaudoir?s Dock; there has been a very good morning bite for perch over the last week with a lot of fish being caught. Most anglers were running north in 12 to 40 feet of water.
Kewaunee County -
Weather this past week was warm and humid to start the week and then it became rainy and cooler as the week went on. Winds on most days were light out of the south, but strong winds moved in for the weekend, which made for unfavorable conditions on the lake. Some salmon have already begun to get darker as the fall spawning run gets closer, and there have even been some fish spotted up the Kewaunee River. Anglers have been reporting some good success casting spoons for trout and salmon off of the piers in Algoma and Kewaunee. Fish are starting to be taken at all times of the day, but more were being caught at sunrise and sunset. Anglers that have been going out on the lake had some good fishing to start the week, but fishing became difficult as the week went on. Kings and steelhead still account for most of the catch with there being more kings than steelhead being caught. Anglers were finding more salmon in close to shore this week. Most fish were being caught in water depths between 30 and 70 feet with most anglers fishing over water that is in the 50 to 100 feet range. Most anglers have been using a combination of dipsies and flashers and flies, but spoons and J-plugs have also been having success as well. The most common colors seem to be either a bright green or blue.
Oshkosh
There were 4,224 applications for the 2010 Upriver Lakes sturgeon spearing license lottery, with 500 successful applicants authorized to purchase an Upriver Lakes spearing license for the 2010 season. Letters were sent to successful applicants last week. The number of applicants has seemed to level off just over 4,000 (4,224 this year and 4,031 in 2009). Successful applicants can only purchase an Upriver Lakes license. People who applied, but did not get authorized to purchase an Upriver Lakes spearing license for 2010, earned a preference point, and can still buy a license for the Lake Winnebago season. Whether buying an Upriver Lakes or Lake Winnebago license, they must be purchased no later than Saturday, October 31. It appears there was a fairly decent shad hatch this year on the Lake Winnebago system, which could have implications for sturgeon movement and behavior come February.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report 8.28.09
http://wisconsinoutdoor.com/smf/index.php?topic=2751.0Crawford County -
Last week the river began to slowly rise. As of August 27 the river was at 7.7 feet. The forecast for the Mississippi River is to remain steady. Boaters on the Mississippi River are still urged to use caution, even though the river rose some what. Wing dams and closing dams could cause damage outboard motors. Additionally sunken logs and rock piles outside of the main channel pose a serious danger to lower units. Boaters unfamiliar with the area should stay in the navigation channel or slow down and trim up their motors. The Wisconsin and Kickapoo Rivers have settled down and are in good shape. The sand bars on the Wisconsin River are in great shape for camping. All trout streams in the area are in good shape with normal flow and water clarity is fair. The rise in water level on the Mississippi impacted the bluegill fishing a little. Action slowed somewhat. Even so, some nice sized gills were being taken off the wing dams along the main channel of the Mississippi River. Try fishing the shallower portions of the wing dams closest to the main channel. The Ambro Slough, Black Slough, Fish Lake, the Upper and Lower Doubles and Big Missouri and Gremore Lake might begin to produce better as the water rises. Try fishing the ?snags? on theses backwaters and sloughs or find weed edges. The most popular bait has been a chunk of night crawler or garden worms. Fishing at Cold Spring continues to be slow. Cold Spring is considered inland water, not boundary waters. Different fishing regulations are in effect there and non-residents must possess a non-resident fishing license. Boaters should also be aware that Cold Spring is a designated slow no wake area. Perch fishing was slow again this week. Try fishing a chunk of night crawlers along deeper weed edges, or in 4 to 5 feet of water adjacent to the weeds. Walleye and sauger action was fair. Generally the early morning hours and later in the day has been the best for walleye action especially during the weekends when recreational boating traffic is the heaviest. Trolling and casting crank baits or drifting with live bait is the primary method of taking walleyes. Jump around on wing dams to find active walleyes. Night crawlers and leeches have worked well too. Smallmouth and Largemouth bass have been very active. Smallmouth can be found on closing dams and wing dams or rock shorelines on the Main Channel. Largemouth bass can be found in a variety of habitats. Plastics, spinner baits, and crank baits have worked well. Bass anglers report catching a lot of undersized fish. Catfish, both flathead and channel, activity was spotty. A variety of live baits have produced cats. Move around until active fish are located. Channel cats have been a bit more active than the flatheads. Sheepshead have been very active. A piece of night crawler fished off the bottom has been the best tactic. White bass action was very spotty. Watch for surface feeding fishing and work those areas in the Main Channel. Northern pike action continued to be very good. Look for northerns where small feeder streams enter the river or try fishing the weed edges. Many popular bass baits have worked well for northerns including spinner baits and plastic top water baits. Trout fishing has been very good even though vegetation and insects are staring to make fishing a bit more difficult. Many local streams produced some very nice brown and brook trout.
Minoccqua area fishing report
http://wisconsinoutdoor.com/smf/index.php?topic=2748.0Chippewa flowage fishing report
http://wisconsinoutdoor.com/smf/index.php?topic=2743.0Information compiled from the WDNR outdoor report and private sources
