DNR FISHING REPORT FOR OCT. 24, 2017

Manitowoc Co.

• Throughout the past week, there have been very few boats launched out of Manitowoc and Two Rivers Harbors. Rough water has made it very difficult for fishing off of the piers and in the harbors. A couple of anglers interviewed stated that the warm water throughout the summer was the cause for poor fishing off of the Manitowoc piers. They also had no luck this week, but enjoyed the nice weather Wednesday morning. The Branch and Manitowoc Rivers have had few Anglers this week, however no interviews were obtained. The West and East Twin Rivers were targeted the most throughout the week. At Shoto Dam, many Anglers were finding success and catching salmon. The biggest one recorded was 24 lb and there was an average of about 16 lbs. There was also quite a few Salmon being taken from the Mishicot Dam.

Kewaunee Co.

• Kewaunee has had some ups and downs in salmon fishing this week. Fishing upstream in the Kewaunee River has been the most consistent, with most anglers having caught at least one fish and many catching 4 or more. The low-light times have been the best, and anglers using flies or other artificial-egg lures have done the best fishing the pools around bends. Some anglers have also reported catching a few cohos and brown trout. Fishing early in the week was the best, and things slowed drastically toward the end of the week but seemed to pick up again toward the end of the weekend.
• Anglers fishing in the harbor had a good start to the week also. Spawn was the best bait this week, and anglers caught chinooks, browns, and rainbows through the week, although fishing also slowed here toward the weekend. Fishing was best with east winds and waves crashing onto the shore. When the weather was calm, anglers reported maybe one or two fish for hours of fishing.
• No anglers were interviewed from either the pier or boats this week.

Sturgeon Bay

• Chinook can be seen jumping on the east end of the canal as they make their way to Strawberry Creek. Anglers have been trolling the canal with crankbaits and spoons with limited success, one fish per boat or less. The same can be said for pier and shore fishermen. The hot weather and warm water temps are likely to blame for the salmon’s lack of appetite. A few boats traveling out to 400-500FOW in search of immature salmon and rainbows have had a little success but warm water and winds out of the south have not helped. In the canal a few anglers are still finding perch but action seems to be slowing down. Early morning is best. Walleye fishermen have had some success trolling flicker minnows and jigging on Larson’s Reef and other offshore structure. Most activity at the boat ramps over the weekend was from pleasure boaters taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.

Algoma

• Algoma has had both extremes for salmon fishing—fishing has been good all week upstream on the Ahnapee and on Stony Creek, but no fish were reported anywhere else. The Ahnapee River has had quite a week, as every angler interviewed has caught at least one fish, and almost all anglers interviewed who were finished fishing left with more than that. Many have even managed limits, and many anglers that have been fishing in groups and sharing a cooler at the end of the day have found that cooler hard to close. Most successful anglers were fishing in Forestville below the dam and down past the Highway J bridge.
• Anglers who fished on Stony Creek also caught fish, and fishing pressure was much lower than on the Ahnapee. Most anglers interviewed were fishing the pool at the mouth, and all the fish recorded from there were cohos, which were very fresh and active according to anglers. Anglers reported that only cohos were seen heading upstream, so that may mean the chinooks are toward the end of their run up Stony Creek.
• No anglers were interviewed from boats fishing the lake this week, and one angler on the Ahnapee reported catching perch, but none that were much bigger than seven inches. No anglers were interviewed from the piers either, partly due to wind and waves.

Green Bay Fishing Report: October 23, 2017

Door Co.

• Despite the warm weather, wind and rain has kept most anglers home in the last week. Anglers willing to brave the elements have not had much success either. Stubborn bass fisherman have been targeting offshore structure in 15-30 feet of water with live suckers, plastics and crankbaits. Anglers have reported low catch rates of 10 fish or less per trip but some are averaging 4-5lbs per fish. Most bass action has been in Northern Door County in Sister Bay and Gills Rock. The Ellison Bay ramp is closed for construction. The walleye bite has been slow but a few fish have been caught at or after dark in the canal and at Stone Quarry. Perch fishing has been slow in the canal. The Chinook run is slowing down but they can still be found around the mouth of Strawberry Creek, Baileys Harbor Marina and in other local streams. Look for cohos and browns to move in soon.
• Chaudoirs Dock – Chaudoirs was very slow throughout the week averaging 1 or 2 trailers. One interview was taken and the angler reported targeting yellow perch with hardly any luck. One yellow perch was caught along with a hand full of white perch and freshwater drum.
• Sugar Creek - No angler’s observed
• Rites Cove - No angler’s observed
• Little Sturgeon Bay – The lot was empty all week and no interviews were taken.
• Sawyer Harbor – An average of 8 trailers were observed during at the beginning of the week. Anglers reported targeting yellow perch and came in with 10-20 total and few freshwater drum.

Brown/Kewaunee Co. - Bay side from Sturgeon Bay area south

• Bayshore - The During the beginning of the week the ramp was pretty slow, but fishing began to pick up a bit on Friday and Saturday with the nicer weather. Nearly all anglers were out for walleye this week with little luck. Anglers were lucky to come in with 1 or 2 fish and were mostly catching a handful of freshwater drum, white bass, white perch, and round gobies. The lot averaged about 15 trailers over the weekend.
• Suamico – The parking lot had a fair amount of trailers in it over the past week averaging at least 5 for the time spent there. Around half the interviews taken were of duck hunters but there were a few anglers out on the water. Those out were in search of either walleye or musky. Musky anglers came back with their heads hung low while walleye anglers reported catching 2-4 fish for their freezers.
• Longtail Lauches- no anglers or trailers
• Metro launch – An average of 8 trailers were observed at the beginning of the week and nearly 60 trailers over the weekend with the warm weather. At the beginning few boat anglers reported targeting walleye and caught approximately 6 fish for a half day out. This weekends unseasonably hot weather brought out more recreational boaters than anglers, though the anglers which were out had fairly consistent luck as anglers earlier in the week.
• Fox River Mouth – High trailer counts all week which ended up resulting in high number of interviews from pleasure boaters. With the nice weather we have had lately the public is getting on the water and enjoying the sun. As for anglers, walleye has been the main target with anglers launching from the mouth and running a couple miles north usually. Walleye angler have had a tough time finding decent numbers of walleyes and they are also struggling to keep the non-target fish off their lines, many times white perch or freshwater drum will hit their baits before a walleye has time. Shore anglers from the river mouth have still been doing good catching freshwater drum with the occasional channel catfish mixed in. The river’s water temperature is quite high right now with many anglers reporting 82-85 degree surface temperatures.
• Fox River- Almost all of my interviews from the upper portion of the river came from pleasure boaters with most of the anglers targeting fish out in the bay right now. Fish species that have been caught by anglers in the upper portion have been, freshwater drum, and channel catfish.
• Fox Point Launch – There was one trailer observed over the week. No interviews taken
• Fairgrounds – 1-2 trailers observed over the course of the week. No interviews taken.
• Duck Creek - There were plenty of trailers in the various launches that connect to duck creek but boaters interviewed were all duck hunters. 3-6 trailer average between the two launches.
• Voyager Park – The Park averaged 2-6 anglers over the time spent there during the week. Those out fishing were in search of walleye and yellow perch. Anglers reported catching a few walleyes per trip of average size. Perch anglers caught a few small fish. Nothing notable was reported.
• Red River - No anglers observed.
• Bay beach launch- Plenty of boats were out over the past week, but most were in search of the feathered variety for the freezer. There were some fishing for musky but all anglers interviewed came back without catching a fish. Few anglers were also out on shore in search of walleye or whatever would bite. The only fish that was caught was one white bass. During the time spent at the launch there were at least 5 trailers in the parking lot.