Wisconsin Statewide fishing report 4.15.10
The 2010 sturgeon spawning run has begun on the Wolf River. The sturgeon moved into the Shawano Dam spawning site Wednesday in large numbers and started spawning this morning at daybreak. Biologist say this is the big final push of the sturgeon spawning season and one of the biggest sturgeon spawning shows on earth. Given the warm weather, fish are expected to spawn out quickly, most likely finishing with the majority of their spawning by Saturday morning. Sturgeon spawn each spring at approximately 20 or more sites on the Wolf, Little Wolf, and Embarrass rivers. The Winnebago System is home to the largest sturgeon population in the world, estimated at more than 58,000 fish.
Walleye anglers on the Wolf River are also finally finding some cooperative. Apparently it took a little warmer water and a little down time after spawning to get the walleye actively feeding, but some very nice size fish were reported in the Shiocton and New London areas this week. For River walleye have finished spawning for the most part and fish have returned to a post spawn pattern, but fishing was slow over the last few days due to the severe drop in water temperature.
Strong winds and gusts all week created waves 2 to 4 feet high on Lake Michigan. Rain and snow last week raised water levels and increased flows on tributaries, but temperature dropped on many of the more northern rivers. As a result, steelhead fishing slowed on many rivers. Sucker numbers were still high on tributaries, and dip netters were have had no problem getting fish.
Anglers have been trolling lower Green Bay for post spawn walleyes with mixed results. Brown trout fishing has continued to be productive on both Lake Michigan and Green Bay, with reports of anglers taking five to 10 fish off Baileys Harbor, Ellison Bay, outside of the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal, and along areas of the Sturgeon Bay shores.
In the southeast, anglers fishing the Pigeon, Sheboygan, Milwaukee and Root rivers have been catching a few steelhead. Wednesday was the last processing day at the Root River Steelhead Facility, with a total of 331 processed this season. Shore anglers in Port Washington have been taking fair numbers of browns and rainbows. Boaters working in and around the Milwaukee harbor continue to catch browns and lake trout.
Peshtigo
Water temperatures this past week have dropped into the mid to high 40s. Fishing pressure on the weekends has been high with most of the action at the river mouths and into the bay trolling and jigging for walleye. Jigs and minnows and zip lures have been working well in the mouth of the Peshtigo and Menominee rivers. Many anglers are trolling stick baits in the bay with mixed success. A few anglers are trolling crawler/harness in 4 to 6 feet of water and doing great. Suckers are still up in the dam areas but starting to thin.
Brown County -
For River walleye have finished spawning for the most part. Most fish have returned to a post spawn pattern. The fishing has been slow over the last few days due to the severe drop in water temperature. Most anglers have been catching a few drum and a sporadic walleye here and there. Anglers have been trolling lower Green Bay for post spawn walleyes with mixed results. Most anglers are spending a lot of time on the water and only managing a few fish. The right anglers are catching northern pike in good numbers.
Manitowoc County -
Strong winds and gusts all week started diminishing by Saturday afternoon. The winds created waves 2 to 4 feet high on Lake Michigan. Rain and snow throughout the week raised water levels and increased flow while the temperature dropped 8 degrees in local rivers. Temperatures ranged from the upper-20s to mid-60s throughout the week. Fishing pressure remains relatively high on the East and West Twin rivers, with little pressure on the piers and Lake Michigan due to strong winds throughout the week. Anglers fishing for steelhead near the Mishicot dam on the East Twin River had scattered success this past week either fly fishing or using spinners and spawn sacs. Anglers had the best luck downstream near the fire station. Suckers have been caught by the dozens up and down the East Twin using night crawlers, spawn, and plastic jigs. Water temperature dropped to 46 degrees by the weekend. Steelhead fishing has slowed down recently on the West Twin River as water levels rose and the water temperature dropped from 56 to 46 degrees. Anglers had the greatest success using spawn sacs with a few split shots for weight. Most of the landed steelhead were still spawning. A few anglers tried their luck catfishing, but the fishing was fairly slow. Fishing was relatively quiet this week on the Manitowoc and Branch rivers, most likely due to the strong winds and the high, fast flowing waters. A few anglers ventured out for catfish and carp, landing a few small fish. Anglers used a variety of bait from night crawlers to even spawn sacs on bottom. A few fly fishers on the Branch River, near the golf course saw slow action with the high waters. Silver Creek water levels have risen roughly 5 inches since the mid-week rain. A few steelhead have been observed but there has been very little fishing pressure. The sucker numbers are still high throughout the area. A few dip netters have had no problem getting their desired amount. Calmer winds later in the week provided great opportunities to fish lakeside. Using spawn off the bottom and orange casting spoons, a small number were hooked with little success landing the fish. Early season anglers had limited success during the week for carp and catfish. The Manitowoc and Two Rivers boat ramps heated up over the weekend with light southerly winds with water temps around 44 degrees. Boaters averaged one to three brown trout with the most success coming between the Two Rivers Hospital and the South Manitowoc Pier in 8-13 feet of water. Spoons and crank baits of various colors worked best on high lines. A few steelhead have been taken using spawn near the Little Manitowoc River mouth but fishing pressure remains relatively low due to strong winds. Dip netters also have had success taking abundant amount of suckers.
Door County -
For the people who were dreaming of a white April, the wish came true last week. A heavy dumping blanketed the county on Thursday and stuck around until the weekend. Winds were heavy out of the west for part of the week, increasing the number of anglers on the lake side. Overall the weather was pleasant enough to allow anglers to hit the water all over the Door. Brown trout fishing has continued to be productive on both Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Reports of anglers taking five to ten fish were common off of Baileys Harbor, Ellison Bay, outside of the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal, and along areas of the Sturgeon Bay shores. Some nicer fish have been taken in the fifteen pound range, good news for anglers looking forward to the brown trout tournament being held this weekend. Fire tiger stick baits have been popular for results, along with fishing in more turbid waters. Northern pike fishing along the channel in Sturgeon Bay has been somewhat slow. Most anglers having success have been drifting along the shipping channel edges using live bait suspended off the bottom with floating jig heads. The walleye spawn looks to be right around the corner in Sturgeon Bay. Many fish have been reported of the train bridge and along the shoreline out towards Potawatomi State Park. Clown colored stick baits have been the popular choice for anglers. Good luck to all anglers fishing in the brown trout tournament.
Potawatomi State Park -
Above average temperatures and some needed precipitation have resulted in green ground cover and trees beginning to bud out. Anglers are catching walleye and northern.
Kewaunee County -
This week's conditions were a little more favorable for the anglers. Last week?s rain and snow has helped raise water levels in all of the streams considerably. The winds were strong for the majority of the week but tapered off during the weekend. The melted snow has lowered the temperature of the Kewaunee stream down to 38 degrees. Lake Michigan has been seeing high waves due to the high winds coming off the lake and has kept most anglers from launching. There has been high fishing pressure at Stony Creek, Brummerville (Silver Creek), and Footbridge. These locations were also the places reporting the most steelheads being caught. All of the reported fish caught have been hooked with spawn sacs. Forestville is starting to see some increasing fishing pressure as a few steelheads are starting to be pulled of out the stream there. The Algoma and Kewaunee piers are still experiencing slow fishing action with a few brown trout and catfish being caught off the Algoma pier with spoons and chunks of sucker, respectively.
Oshkosh
The 2010 sturgeon spawning run has begun on the Wolf River. The sturgeon moved into the Shawano Dam spawning site Wednesday in large numbers and started spawning this morning at daybreak. This is it - the big final push of the sturgeon spawning season and one of the biggest sturgeon spawning shows on earth. Below the dam at the west end of Richmond St in Shawano is a public sturgeon viewing area (Sturgeon Park). Given the warm weather, fish are expected to spawn out quickly, most likely finishing with the majority of their spawning by Saturday morning. Sturgeon also started spawning Wednesday evening at a number of other sites south of Shawano on private properties. Fish can still be seen spawning today at Bamboo Bend near Shiocton. A handful of females had been spawning with their harems of males along the Wolf River Trail on County Highway X west of New London earlier in the week, but the remaining 3,000 or so females in the river that need to spawn yet had been waiting for the water temperatures to get a little higher. Large number of fish moved into the Bamboo Bend spawning site on Highway 54 west of Shiocton and were vigorously spawning Monday morning, the same morning high flocks Canadian geese were heard migrating north. Every spring when we first see the high large V-flocks of Canadian geese heading north (not the low local flocks), crews know they will be working spawning sturgeon that day. Sturgeon spawn each spring at approximately 20 or more sites (out of about 60 known sites) on the Wolf, Little Wolf, and Embarrass rivers. Once fish start spawning at a particular site, the activity lasts there about three or four days, with usually two days of peak activity at that site. Most of the nearly 60 different spawning sites on the Wolf River and tributaries are man-made, with only about 10 natural sites. The man-made sites are typically rip rapped areas on outside bends adjacent to deep water that people rocked to protect their river banks from erosion. Although erosion is a natural event on rivers, most of the erosion today is caused by boat wakes crashing into soft shorelines, which causes erosion rates to be much higher than normal. The best spawning site on the river is a natural site below Shawano Dam, which has always attracted large number spawning sturgeon, even before the dam was built in 1892. Thousands of fish spawn at this site every year. In many years we also will see a "second run" at several of the main sites, typically a small number of females that need higher a temperature to induce their ovulation, that spawn about a week or two after the main spawning event.
The Wolf River walleye bite is finally on
Walleye anglers on the wolf River are finally finding some cooperative fish to catch - and very nice size fish at that, in the Shiocton and New London areas. A boat of anglers fishing Wednesday, near a private sturgeon spawning site we were working near Shiocton, caught a limit of 16 to 26 inch walleye in less than an hour mid-day. Tag returns from fish tagged this spring are now pouring into the DNR office from anglers fishing from Shiocton down to Fremont. Apparently it took a little warmer water and a little down time after spawning to get the walleye actively feeding - whatever the reason for their lockjaw till this point - anglers are thankful it?s over.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County -
In Sheboygan, anglers fishing both the Pigeon and Sheboygan rivers have been catching a few steelhead. Flies and spinners have taken the most fish. Some northern pike have also been caught in the Sheboygan River near the Kohler dam. Fishing off the piers has been slow, but boaters casting crank baits in shallow water have been taking decent numbers of browns.
Ozaukee County -
Shore anglers in Port Washington have been concentrating on the area around the power plant discharge. Fair numbers of browns and rainbows have been taken, and spawn has produced the most fish.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee anglers fishing the Milwaukee River along the wall under the Hoan bridge have been catching a few browns and rainbows. Spawn and small shiners have produced the most fish. In the Milwaukee River anglers have been catching a few steelhead on yarn flies at Kletzsch Park. A few steelhead were still being taken out of Oak Creek and the Menomonee River, but numbers have been diminishing. Boaters working in and around the gaps in the Milwaukee harbor continue to catch browns and lake trout. Both jigging and trolling small crankbaits have been effective.
Racine County -
In Racine the Root River is still holding good numbers of steelhead. Upstream of the Root River Steelhead Facility, most fish have been concentrated below the Horlick dam, and downstream most are in Lincoln Park. Large black or fluorescent flies have been productive in faster moving water, and spawn sacs have worked well in the deeper pools. Suckers are also abundant in the river. Fish were processed at the Root River Steelhead Facility on Monday, April 5. Both Chambers Creek and Ganaraska eggs were taken, and 148 more steelhead were passed upstream, for a total of 331 this season. The last processing day was Wednesday, April 14.
Kenosha County -
In Kenosha steelhead fishing on the Pike River has been slow. In the harbor anglers are catching a few steelhead and browns on white tube jigs or spawn sacs.
Willow River State Park -
Panfish catches are being reported at the dam area. Trout angles should not see much change in the Willow River from the recent rains.
