Lake Michigan Fishing Report 9/9/09

[Woody]

Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report:

Kenosha Co.
In Kenosha shore fishing in the harbor for browns has been hit-or-miss. When the browns are biting, spawn sacs and white tube jigs have been taking the most fish. A few chinooks are still being caught on spoons near the mouth of the Pike River. Kenosha trollers have also been catching chinooks in shallow water near the mouth of the Pike.

Racine Co.
Shore anglers fishing off the Racine piers have been catching a few chinooks, and in the harbor a few browns have been hitting silver spoons fished high in the water column. Trollers out of Racine have been finding chinooks, rainbows, and browns east of the reef marker in 70 to 90 feet of water. Glow-in-the-dark or green spoons and pearl J-plugs have been producing. Water levels on the Root River are very low, and there have been no signs of fish in upstream stretches.

Milwaukee Co.
In Milwaukee McKinley pier and the shoreline behind the Summerfest grounds have produced some chinooks and browns, and most fish have been taken on spoons. Trollers out of Milwaukee have been catching a few chinooks and rainbows 25 to 50 feet down in 120 to 130 feet of water; and a few browns have also been taken by boaters in the harbor and around the gaps. Fishing on the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers and Oak Creek has been slow, and water levels are low in all area tributaries.

Ozaukee Co.
Pier anglers in Port Washington have been catching a few chinooks, and shore anglers near the power plant have been taking browns and chinooks on both spawn and green & silver spoons. Trollers out of Port have reported mostly chinooks and coho taken 100 feet down in 125 to 160 feet of water. Green or orange spoons have produced fish, as well as glow-in-the-dark J-plugs.

Sheboygan Co.
In Sheboygan anglers fishing on the piers have been catching a few chinooks and rainbows. Blue or silver spoons have been producing. Sheboygan trollers have been taking mostly chinooks along with a few coho and rainbows, and fish have been found in front of the harbor as well as in 100 to 125 feet of water. Water levels are low on the Sheboygan and Pigeon Rivers, and there has been no sign of fish movement upriver.



Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report:

Manitowoc/Two Rivers
Despite nice weather conditions, fishing was slow this past week in the Manitowoc and Two Rivers area. Chinook salmon could be seen swimming near the piers but could not be enticed to bite. Boat anglers trolling on Lake Michigan near the shoreline had some success this week. Most boat anglers were trolling in 20 to 50 feet water using a dodger with a green fly combination rigged to a dypsy. Some anglers ventured out to 180 to 280 feet of water to target younger Chinook salmon and rainbow trout. Success was limited. Activity in the harbors and off the piers was spotty with the occasional Chinook salmon caught. On the East Twin River, the water level around the Mishicot Village Park area was low. Few anglers were fishing the river below Mishicot. On Labor Day a couple of young anglers fishing near the Mishicot dam with worms were catching panfish. On the West Twin River boat anglers have been launching from the Shoto Public Launch. These boat anglers have been targeting smallmouth bass, northern pike, and catfish. Catch rates were low this past week with only a couple northern pike landed.

Kewaunee Co.
Weather this past week was above average temperatures on most days with lots of sun and no rain. Winds were calm out of the south and the east for most of the week. Some salmon have already begun to get darker as the fall spawning run gets closer, and there have even been some fish being spotted up the Kewaunee River. Anglers have been reporting some 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 most of the fish are being caught at sunrise and sunset. Anglers that have been going out on the lake had a tough week of fishing this week. Kings and steelhead still account for most of the catch with there being more kings than steelhead being caught. Anglers are finding more salmon out farther this week due to warmer water. Water temperatures have risen on the surface this week to the mid 60s. Most fish are being caught in water depths between 75 and 125 feet with most anglers fishing over water that is in the 125 to 200 feet range. Some anglers have been going out to even deeper water up to 500 feet to try to locate fish, but not many fish were caught this last week. Most anglers have been using a combination of dipsies and flies or spoons in various color patterns.

Door Co. (Lake and Bay sides)
The salmon action on Lake Michigan was fair to good this week. The edges of the bank reef north of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal continued to produce fish this week. Anglers trolling spoons and fly and dodger combinations in the top 75 feet over 100 to 250 feet of water were having some success with Chinook salmon and rainbows. More and more salmon are starting to show up off of the piers at the Coast Guard Station and in the canal. Further north anglers reported some fish out of Baileys Harbor, Gills Rock and Washington Island. Smallmouth bass fishing is beginning to pick up throughout most of the county. Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay, Sand Bay and the Sturgeon Bay flats, along with the reefs and points are all producing some smallies. Tube jigs, stick baits, grubs, Katelands and some top water lures fished in 8 to 25 feet of water all were producing smallies. The Walleye action was decent throughout the county. Anglers trolling over Henderson Reef and Monument Shoals as well as around islands such as Chambers Island and the Strawberries reported some success. The perch action was good to very good this week. The areas off of Chaudoir’s dock, the weed beds in Sturgeon Bay and Little Sturgeon Bay, the flats and the area between the bridges in Sturgeon Bay all were producing some nice catches of perch, mostly on minnows and night crawlers fished with a slip bobber. Northern pike were hitting between the bridges in Sturgeon Bay and off of Henderson and Sherwood Points. Large stick baits, spoons and in line spinners were the baits of choice for northerns.
The Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report is updated once a week until October 31.

Green Bay Fishing Report: September 3, 2009
West Shore Water temperatures at the landings are at the 70 degree mark with excellent water clarity. Fishing pressure has been moderate to heavy due to the fact the perch bite has started.

Oconto Co.
The blue gill bite at Stiles Dam remains good with some nice fish being taken on leaf worms and crawlers. Slip bobbering or free floating is the technique that has been working the best. Pensaukee landing, Oconto Breakwater, and Oconto Park II are all reporting some real quality catches of perch. Minnows suspended near bottom in 9 to 12 feet of water is working well at this time. Oconto Breakwater Park is producing some nice chinook and brown trout fishing with spoons, early morning and evenings are the ticket.

Marinette Co.
The Peshtigo River mouth is seeing a flurry of activity for smallmouth using small spoons and spinners. The salmon are biting in the Little River area around dusk. Anglers are fishing on the bottom with spawn sacks and casting cleos. The Menominee River is giving up a mixed bag of walleye and smallmouth from the dam to the turn basin. Live bait and lures have both been working well. Both the Light House Pier and the Government Pier have been fishing well for salmon and trout. Spoons are the preferred lures.