Die-hard musky anglers have mostly been dragging suckers around and action has been fair. This is generally known as trophy time for musky, but there have been no recent reports of any exceptionally large fish. Walleye fishing has become very slow and most anglers have winterized their boats and just waiting for first ice to begin trying their luck again. There has been a large influx of whitefish into the Lower Menominee River at Marinette.
Fishing on Lake Winnebago has been slow, and there have been some large numbers of dead gizzard shad in the bays due to falling water temperatures. The Winnebago system is at the northern most range of their habitat, so many of the fish become stressed and die off in colder temperatures.
Lake Michigan anglers have been catching rainbow and brown trout and coho salmon on both spawn and crank baits in harbors. Fair numbers of coho, browns, and steelhead are also still being caught on the Sheboygan River and Sauk Creek. Some coho have also been caught in the Milwaukee River and steelhead have been holding in the deeper pools on the Root River.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) -
Hunting has pretty much replaced fishing as the main form of outdoor recreation in the Park Falls area for the past several weeks. Grouse have been receiving some attention but with the deer about in full rut right now, a lot of bow hunters have really been targeting the woods. But there has still been some fishing activity and musky have been the main species of interest. These die-hard musky anglers have mostly been dragging suckers around and action has been fair. This is generally known as trophy time for musky, but there have been no recent reports of any exceptionally large fish from the area. Walleye fishing has become very slow and most anglers have winterized their boats and just waiting for first ice to begin trying their luck again. The best fishing success has been for trout on Patterson Lake, the popular local trout lake. Some nice catches of the larger brood fish have been made in the last week, with some 15-plus-inch brook and brown trout caught over the weekend.
Woodruff
Smaller lakes, bays and ponds continue their trend toward ice up; however, warmer temperatures this past week are slowing this process considerably. Anglers have only another couple of weeks left to get out onto the larger lakes and enjoy the final days of fall fishing in the area. Open water fishing activity continues to remain constant with muskies aggressively feeding prior to ice up.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County -
In Sheboygan shore anglers have been catching rainbows, coho, and browns on both spawn and crank baits in the marina. In the Sheboygan River anglers have been catching fair numbers of coho, browns, and steelhead between Esslingen Park and the Kohler dam. Most fish have been taken on flies and spawn.
Ozaukee County -
Shore anglers in Port Washington have been catching good numbers of browns, coho, and rainbows near the power plant and in the north slip. Both skein and spawn sacs produced fish. Anglers fishing Sauk Creek have taken a few browns and steelhead on spawn near the mouth and steelhead and coho on flies further upstream.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee shore anglers have been catching browns on spawn in McKinley Marina near the Sailing Center. Fishing has been slow in the Menomonee River, but some and coho have been caught in the Milwaukee River in Estabrook Park. Black flies and spawn have both been productive. In Oak Creek, anglers have been catching a few coho on yarn in orange, green, or red.
Racine County -
Shore anglers fishing in the Racine harbor have been catching a few browns. Crank baits and spawn have produced the most fish. On the Root River, downstream of the weir, browns and steelhead have been holding in the deeper pools and on the current seams. Yarn eggs or drifted spawn sacs have produced fish. The salmon have been holding over the gravel beds in the current as they finish up their spawning. Large black or olive flies, like the whooley bugger, as well as egg imitation flies, have taken fish. Small, dark colored flies have taken the most fish upstream of the weir from Quarry Lake Park to the Horlick dam. Fish were processed at the Root River Steelhead Facility on Thursday, Nov. 5. So far this season, a total of 1,688 chinooks, 998 coho, 83 steelhead, and 37 browns have been passed upstream. The next processing day will be Thursday, Nov. 12.
Kenosha County -
In Kenosha a few browns have been taken in the harbor on skein under a slip bobber. Fishing on the Pike River has been slow.
information compiled from the WDNR Outdoor Report and private sources
