DNR FISHING REPORT FOR LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE BAY OF GREEN BAY

Northern Lake Michigan Fishing Report: April 10, 2018

Kewaunee Co.

• Kewaunee Ramp – Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning brought heavy snow. Snow fall on Friday afternoon did not help. Thin ice sheets started forming while river tributaries remain open.
• Kewaunee Shoreline – Recent snowfall and wintery weather kept anglers in the river systems and off the shoreline.
• Kewaunee Pier – Heavy sleet and ice along the piers prevented many anglers from making the journey out.
• Kewaunee River – A few brave anglers who stayed out during this week’s snow storms reported low fishing pressure and high catch rates. Anglers had success at the footbridge and the shoe using jigs tipped with wax worms and with spawn sacs. Hopefully some rain and warmer weather will come mid-April to clear out the ice and snow and improve conditions.
• Algoma Ramp – Brown trout catches picked up by Saturday and throughout the weekend with most folks coming to shore with good numbers. The best bites seemed to be on anything chartreuse color.
• Algoma Shoreline – No anglers were observed, possibly due to poor weather conditions throughout the week.
• Algoma Pier – No anglers were observed, possibly due to poor weather conditions throughout the week.
• Stoney Creek – Low water levels and ice cover made for very poor fishing this week.
• Ahnapee River – Early week snowstorms kept many anglers home but fishing pressure picked up again by the weekend. Fly anglers were having success with steelhead directly south of the Forestville Dam.

Door County (L. Michigan)

• The Sturgeon Bay canal has been producing some northern pike and brown trout for anglers trolling and shore fishing with spoons and crank baits. Boats in the canal need to watch for floating ice depending on the wind direction. The area of the canal west of the Michigan Street bridge still has a lot of ice. No walleyes have been reported yet.
• Boat landings on the Lake Michigan shore are all open and a few anglers have been out in search of browns. There was a good brown bite in Baileys Harbor over the weekend with good numbers of fish and a couple over 10 lbs. Natural colors fishing dirty water was the best pattern. West winds have since blown the dirty water out making the bite difficult. A few browns have also been caught off the piers. Steelhead fishing has been picking up with anglers having success fishing spawn sack in local creeks. Heins Creek has been a popular spot. Rain and warm weather in the forecast should melt the remaining ice blocking the streams, increase flow and bring in more fish.

Green Bay Fishing Report: April 10, 2018

Fox River

• Although the water temperatures have been varying throughout the week, approximately 37-44°F, more walleyes have been caught and spotted in the shallows. The latter of the week has produced the highest numbers of walleyes caught this week with one group catching in the upwards of 60 walleyes. They have been biting on just about anything according to anglers, from jigs with plastics to live bait. There has still been hundreds of shore anglers and boaters out to catch a trophy walleye. Fairgrounds and Fox Point saw high numbers of boaters on the warmest days, along with shore anglers at Voyager, numerous Whitefish have been caught while shore angling at Voyager. Due to the high size limit the few walleyes that were caught were then released.

Green Bay East Shore – Door County

• All Door County boat landings to Green Bay are still locked with ice. There are pockets of open water in some near shore areas but the harbors are still frozen solid. There have been no ice anglers to report on fishing or ice conditions in the protected areas. Anyone planning on ice fishing in these protected near shore areas should proceed with caution. Ice conditions will deteriorate quickly with the warm weather in this week’s forecast.

Green Bay West Shore – Brown, Oconto, Marinette Counties

• Duck Creek to Geano’s Beach Road – Locations from Suamico up to Geano’s Beach are still mostly ice covered with patchy open water. No anglers were observed at either of these locations on the days that were surveyed. Locations from Longtail to Duck Creek are mostly open water with only a few anglers observed but no interviews were taken.
• Marinette County – The number of anglers is slowly beginning to increase along the Menominee and Peshtigo Rivers. However, the number of fish being caught is still low. A handful of brown trout have been caught between Stephenson Island and the Hattie Street bridge over the past week. The Menominee River water temperature has stayed at about 35°F throughout the past week. A handful of Walleye have been caught at the mouth of the Peshtigo River and near the Peshtigo dam. The Peshtigo River has increased to 37°F over the last couple of days.
• Oconto County – Despite the cold weather, fishing pressure has increased over the last week. Although angler catch rates have been low, some anglers found success fishing for walleye at the Stiles damn over the weekend. Other anglers have had some success catching northern pike and the occasional walleye at the Oconto Breakwater Park to Oconto Park II. The Oconto river was at temperatures of around 35-37°F throughout the weekend.