Fishing report update
Fishing WisconsinLake Michigan Outdoor Fishing Report - October 7, 2019
In general, fishing reports will be updated once per week, usually on Tuesdays. This may change based on availability of reports and work schedules of field staff.
REMINDER - Anglers must carry a paper copy of their license/stamps while fishing on the waters of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and the WI/MI, WI/MN and WI/IA boundary waters.
- Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
- Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
- Green Bay Fishing Report
Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: October 7, 2019
Sheboygan County
- City of Sheboygan: Wednesday morning was windy and chilly, with rough Michigan waters. The Pigeon River was 60°F and in the flooding stage. The 8th St. Ramp is accessible again, but Evergreen Park has been closed until next year. No catches were recorded. Thursday evening Lake Michigan was calmer, but waters within the harbor and nearshore were turbid. The Pigeon River (58°F) was still very high, muddy, and swiftly running. More anglers were fishing by boat and at the south pier, but no catchers were recorded. By Saturday morning, windy and chilly, the Pigeon River was lower and 56°F. Harbor waters, also 56°F, were still turbid and Lake Michigan had very rough waters. Anglers were fishing on the river, by boat, and at the south pier but no catches were recorded. Sunday evening was milder, but still windy. Boaters stayed within the turbid harbor (56°F) or fished along the Pigeon River, which stayed at 56°F but was lower and slightly less turbid. No catches were recorded.
- Sheboygan River: Thursday evening was cloudy, breezy, and chilly. The Sheboygan River (60°F) was high, muddy, and swift. Few anglers were fishing, but caught several chinook at Kholer Dam. Saturday morning was cloudy, windy, and had a light drizzle. The river was cooler (58°F) and lower, but still turbid and swift. No catches were recorded. A milder Sunday evening
Ozaukee County
- Port Washington: Wednesday morning was windy, chilly, and cloudy with rough Michigan waters crashing over the piers. Waters at the power plant discharge and within the harbor were turbid. Sauk Creek was cooler (56°F) but incredibly high and fast running, making it unfishable. Anglers focused their effort primarily within the marina, with a few chinook catches recorded.
Milwaukee County
- McKinley Marina: Rain throughout the week limited the number of boats launching out of McKinley, but those that did go out had a fair amount of success with kings inside the harbor. Additionally, many anglers fishing off the ramps were having success with kings. A few anglers were also catching kings from the western end of the pier.
- North City Shoreline: A fair amount of anglers were seen fishing the shoreline nesr lakeshore state park during breaks in the rain. Success with kings was hit or miss near the red lighthouse. Most success from shore came from the anglers fishing off the ramps at McKinley.
- South City Shoreline: A couple anglers were seen shore fishing this week on the south end of the city. Anglers were mainly targeting salmon and trout but no fish were reported during survey times.
- South Ramps: The South Shore and Bender Park ramps saw little fishing effort for a majority of the week. No fish were reported.
- Oak Creek Power Plant: The pier at the power plant was fairly slow all week. Anglers were targeting salmon and trout but were reporting little success.
- Milwaukee River: Rain all week led to river flooding, which limited anglers access. Fast moving water from Kletzsch Park all the way to the mouth of the river made fishing nearly impossible and the banks were unsafe to access. Water temps were in the low 60s over the weekend. No fish were reported during survey times.
- Menomonee River: Fishing efforts are still slow on the Menomonee River. Rain and flooding prevented a lot of fishing effort this week and no fish were seen during the survey. River temps were reading in the high 50s this week.
- Oak Creek: Oak Creek was incredibly busy this week, with anglers fishing shoulder to shoulder. All anglers were targeting kings and nearly all anglers saw some action. Most kings were caught near the dam but access was limited during the week due to flooding.
Racine County
- Water levels on the Root River increased drastically over the past week. That wouldn’t stop the fishermen though, as the river saw another increase in fishing activity. As fishing activity on the river increased, activity on the lakefront is still much lower than expected.
- Racine Harbor and Piers: The piers and shorelines in Racine didn’t see much activity this week during survey times. Only a small handful of anglers were seen trying to hook up to a few salmon. The anglers were using a combination of spoons, crankbaits, and spawn in the hopes that they could get something to bite. Unfortunately, fishing success has been low due to the recent rain and cloudy, muddy water that followed. Only one King salmon caught using a spoon was reported. The water temperature off the south pier was about 55 degrees.
- Racine Ramp: The boat ramp saw very little activity this week. Only a few boat trailers were spotted at the ramp during survey times. The boats that did go out were trolling close to shore targeting salmon. None of the boats that went out could be reached for interviews. No catches were recorded.
- Root River – Upstream of Facility: The river upstream of the Steelhead facility saw lots of activity this week. Many anglers were still seen trying their luck, even with the large increase in water levels and water current. Many of the anglers are continuing to target either King or Coho salmon. Anglers also have Brown trout and Steelhead on their radars as well. Fly fishing was the most common fishing method among the anglers. Even with the tough river conditions there was plenty of fishing success recorded. The average fishermen walked away with 1-2 fish. Anglers enjoyed catching a good mix of King salmon, Coho salmon and Brown trout. All of the fish were caught on various fly or fake spawn presentations.
- Root River – Downstream of Facility: The river downstream of the Steelhead facility didn’t see nearly as much as activity this week. Only a small handful of anglers were spotted fishing downstream. They were employing similar fishing techniques to the anglers fishing upstream. The few fishing downstream wouldn’t have any success. No fish catches were reported. Water levels below the Steelhead facility were also very high. Water clarity was very low as well. The water temperature in the river was about 59 degrees.
Kenosha County
- Fishing activity on the Pike River was low this week. Only a few anglers were spotted fishing for salmon at the mouth of the river. Activity at the boat ramp in Kenosha was low as well. Only one trailer was seen throughout the week. There were plenty of anglers who were fishing the shorelines and piers in Kenosha. They were continuing to target salmon and trout
- Kenosha Harbor and Piers: There was plenty of fishing activity seen along the shorelines and piers in Kenosha this week. Many anglers were seen using spoons, crankbaits, or spawn to try and catch some salmon or trout. Even with the increase in fishing activity success was very limited. Only one Brown trout was caught using a spoon. The water temperature was about 56 degrees in the harbor.
- Kenosha Ramp: The boat ramp went virtually unused this week during survey times. Only one boat trailer was spotted. No catches were recorded.
- Pike River: There wasn’t much fishing activity seen on the Pike River this week. Only a few anglers were seen fishing right at the mouth of the river. The anglers were targeting salmon, but no success was reported.
Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: October 7, 2019
Manitowoc County
- Fishing success this weekend for salmon was moderate with a small handful of salmon being caught. In the Manitowoc river there were reports of several chinook salmon being caught by the dam near south county highway J using flicker shad. Unfortunately due to the rain and wind there were no fishermen located near the Manitowoc ramp, piers or harbor. At the Shoto dam many fishermen were successful catching chinook salmon using spoons, spawn sacks and a hook with a fuzzy orange ball usually used in crafts. One angler in particular had success using a spoon with orange, purple and neon green coloring at the Shoto dam. At the Mishicot dam there were reports of a handful of chinook being caught as well using spoons and spawning sacks. One particular observer reporting that spinners with coloring of red/silver and blue/silver seemed to be successful.
Door County
- Northern Door County Lakeside: The number of anglers going out on Lake Michigan has dwindle down to only a handful. A few anglers were seen going out of Rowley’s Bay, however they stayed in the bay itself. No interviews were conducted from the boaters. The few interviews conducted from shore resulted in a couple smallmouth bass being caught using minnows. Bailey’s Harbor anglers targeting salmon from shore managed to catch a few throughout the week. Majority of the salmon were caught on spawn sacs, with a few being caught off of crankbaits. Gills Rock area reported of salmon being caught during the middle of the week at Weborgs Dock however I was not up there when the fish were reported to be there. Heins Creek still is holding the most salmon/trout out of all the creeks that are checked. Only two anglers were interviewed which resulted in one salmon being caught. That salmon was caught near the culvert pipe using a spawn sac. There were fish being reported at the culvert as well as further downstream. Shiver Sands Creek had a few salmon moving upstream as well on Saturday, however no anglers were found fishing the creek. No anglers were found fishing Whitefish Bay this week.
- Northern Door County Bayside: Anglers fishing on the bayside were mainly targeting smallmouth bass with a few anglers targeting salmon. The main place that anglers were targeting smallmouth bass were in Ellison Bay and in Fish Creek/Peninsula State Park. The anglers targeting salmon/trout were located in Sister Bay. The smallmouth bass anglers had decent success last weekend with fish being caught ranging from 15 to 18 inches. There were a total of 6 smallmouth bass caught by one angler. That angler was using minnows and night crawlers with minnows producing the most fish. The anglers fishing for salmon had little success in Sister Bay, however they did manage to catch a few yellow perch.
- Sturgeon Bay Canal: The number of shore anglers and anglers targeting salmon from a boat were fairly low throughout the week. There was a group of five anglers who tried off of barge road floating spawn sacs with no luck. However, a group of anglers fishing for northern pike from barge road had some success. The pike were caught on sucker minnows under a slip bobber. The key for the fish being caught was that the current in the canal had to be minimal. An angler fishing near the Michigan Street bridge targeting northern pike had no luck when the interview was conducted on Wednesday. However, that angler reported catching a few northern pike on Sunday. The pike on Sunday came off of a crankbait.
- Chaudoir’s Dock, Sawyer Harbor, Little Sturgeon Bay: No Report is available this week. Please check back again next week. Thank you for your patience.
Kewaunee County
- Kewaunee: Fishing pressure was moderate during the week and increased towards the weekend. Many of the anglers interviewed this week were fishing near Bruemmer Park. Those who had success, typically caught 1-2 chinooks. Anglers had luck casting spoons, as well as floating spawn sacks. Recent rainfall has caused the water level to stay high and the clarity to stay very low.
- Algoma: Fishing pressure was moderate this week, the majority of anglers interviewed were fishing in the Ahnapee. Early in the week, a decent amount of chinooks were caught below the dam off of the county road J bridge. Green/silver and orange/silver spoons seemed to produce the most fish. The water level is still high due to recent rainfall, which has caused low water clarity as well.
Fox River and Green Bay Creel Report: October 7, 2019
Fox River
- Fox River: This week was very slow for these landings. The only launch that was being used was metro. During the week there was an average of just 2 to 3 boats launching. Then on October 5th there was an average of 5 to 10 boats. The only day I got interviews was on 9/30 and only 2 of 4 interviews I got were anglers. One of the anglers were targeting smallmouth bass. He has success catching 3 but released them all. The other angler caught 1 walleye but he released it due to the size being to small. The other two boats I interviewed were duck hunters.
Oconto County
- Very little activity this week with rain, wind, and high water seen across the county. Only a few shore anglers seen at Oconto Park II with bluegills and bass being caught off the docks but size was small. Some brown trout and pink salmon were reported seen at Stiles Dam on the Oconto River. Catch rates were low as anglers reported fast currents making the fishing difficult. Water temps dropped in the river from around 60 degrees early in the week to the mid 50’s by the weekend.
- Geano Beach: This landing has been slow all week during my shifts. The average count of boat trailers was between 2 to 5. I didn’t get a single interview during my shifts from this landing.
Brown County
- Duck Creek, Longtail Point: On October 3rd and 5th there was an average of 5 to 7 boats launching between the two sites at Duck Creek, but most of them were duck hunters. There was nobody shore fishing from these sites during my shifts. On October 5th I got 4 interviews, but they were all duck hunters. Nobody seems to be using Longtail.
- Suamico River: It was slow during my shifts with an average of 4 to 6 boats launching from here. The only interviews I got were from a couple shore anglers on October 5th. They were both targeting perch but neither of them were having any luck.
- Bayshore Park: No Report is available this week. Please check back again next week. Thank you for your patience.
Marinette County
- Rain and high winds kept angling efforts down this week. A few anglers targeting chinook salmon were seen at the Little River boat launch fishing from shore and upstream at the Little River Road crossing. Spawn sacs were taking a few fish at both spots. The Menominee River was producing a few brown trout from shore anglers and from fishing off the Hattie St. bridge just below the dam. Anglers reported hooking both chinook and pink salmon also but not being able to land them. Boat anglers fishing upstream from the Highway 41 bridge were catching smallmouth bass and a few walleyes on crankbaits. The water temps in the river were at 60 degrees early in the week and dropped to the mid 50’s by the weekend.
Last revised: Tuesday October 08 2019