Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 7/7/12



First 50" Muskie of the season!

Muskie

Muskie fishing is starting to heat up. Casting is producing a few fish in prime feeding times during low light conditions or weather changes but trolling is producing 4 to 8 strikes per outing. Top trolling speeds are very fast to superman fast. The key for this time of year is to fish open water and pass the bait right in front of their noses and forcing them to make a decision. This past week produced the first 50 inch fish of the season. Good fishing and keep cool.

Nice walleyes--just a part of the limit caught!

Walleye

Walleye fishing is continuing to be very good.  Small eating fish are shallow in and around weeds and small reefs. When fishing shallow water, expect other species to be present like catfish and the annoying drum. Stay away from shiny spinners and flashy crank baits. Bigger walleyes have been deeper in 20-26 ft of water. Look for presence of baitfish and fish around, but not through the school. You will have far less drum and catfish to contend with but far few bites from walleyes.

Top baits have still been spinners with crawlers, but some bigger fish have come on crank baits. The best thing to remember is to fish well above the fish right now they are willing to chase your bait to eat it.

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 6/16/2012

The walleyes are starting to get into the summer peak patterns. The bite is much tougher than has been in the last several weeks. Sheep heads, northern, muskies, and catfish are competing with the walleye for the same forage, so expect them to be there also. One suggestion I would give to first time Green Bay fisherman is if you catch a lot sheep and catfish, look for walleye somewhere else---they are much faster to your bait than a walleye, except at night.

The best location is flats in about 15 feet of water near reef that are fished heavily. The boats will force fish off of reefs and the fish will move laterally. Fish have changed their moods and prefer spinners right now and probably will continue this behavior for the next 2 months. The best colors have been changing daily so feel free to experiment and find what works best for you in the current conditions.

Best speeds have been 1.2 to 1.4 with a lot of S-turns. Remember, if they hit the inside board, slow down, and if they hit the outside board, speed up.  Good fishing!

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 5/19/12



A Proud, Young Walleye Fisherman from Indiana

Fish are still scattered in the bay. You may have to hit several spots to find fish but the schools are much denser than the previous weeks. Look for fish to be relating to any warm clear water and if that water is near a reef or weeds have fun because fish will be there. One thing I would look out for is the sheepheads moving into the areas in the coming week. Some of the spots I have enjoyed are now over-run with these fish. I usually do not waste my time in these areas unless I am forced to do so because of bad weather.

Best baits are still crank baits in natural colors such are Flicker shads in perch, Shad raps natural shad, and Rapala tail dancers in creek chub pattern. Water temps are in the 60 degree range allowing you to move much fast. Spinner crawler harnesses are starting to produce just as much as cranks but you have to go much slow. Top speed has been 1.5 to 1.8mph for cranks with 1 to 1.2 mph for spinners. Happy fishing!

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 5/13/12

Nice Catch!

Fishing on the Bay of Green bay is on fire. Night fishing with 2 clients this week took just 2 to 3 hours of fishing to limit out on walleye. Most of the fish came on crank baits but the spinner crawler harnesses are starting to produce. Day fishing continues to heat up on the mud flats just out of the rivers but slowed down a little because of the heavy rains. The East Shore continues to produce small fish with bigger fish coming at night. Suamico Bay is a little slower than Genos Reef area.

Walleye Dinner!

Gold blades seem to produce fish when the crank baits slow down but cranks continue to produce the best. Hot colors are fire tiger, perch, and natural shad. Top bait for day fishing is Shad Rap and Flicker shads. Night baits includes dark backed deep diving rattling rogues and Rapala husky jerks.

Water temps are reaching 55 to 58 degrees. Top trolling speeds are 1.2 to 1.4 on cranks with slower speeds on spinners. Good luck fishing!

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 5/6/12

The fish are starting to move out from spawning grounds in the rivers and lake shores. Look for the males to still be there but the females to start looking for food. I have had good success on the east shoreline and the mud flats just out of river mouths. Look for all these fish to be shallow in less than 10 feet of water with most fish coming 4 to 7 feet. The mud flat fish will turn on when it is sunny and flat calm look for these conditions for fishing this pattern.

Another mud flat walleye from Green Bay

The best colors of the week were crank baits in fire tiger, natural shad, and perch. Shad raps, Storm Thunderstick jr. and of course Flicker shads were the best. Spinners with crawlers produced but not as well as crank baits.

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 4/28/12

Kids love to fish, too!

This week the fishing was good, but the bite has changed up a little. Fish are starting to find warmer water. Look for scattered walleyes in very shallow water during the day and night. Most the time it is typical for me to find one walleye that will give away a school. Troll a little faster to contact fish looking for a bite or a hooked fish then turn the boat around and go through the school much slower to trigger more strikes. Currently, I have been fishing mostly the East shoreline until a Judas fish gives away the school and tells me what to use and where they are. Most of the schools are relating the baitfish not structure.  Again, troll faster than normal, 1.5 to 1.8mph, until contact is made, then slow down (1mph to 1.2).

Walleyes for dinner in the nighttime fog!

Most of the action has been in the day due to the color of water I am fishing. Night fishing has had some success but not enough to commit a lot of time to. Top crank baits have been Storm Thunderstick Jr. in natural colors, Shad raps with a shad color, and of course fire tiger. Most of the fish at night have been coming on dark backed Thundersticks.

Fishing Report (Green Bay) Week Ending 4-21-12



45" Pike

Out on the bay of Green bay fishing is definitely heating up!  Most of the fish are spawned out. Fishing has been very good on the east shore north of Bay Shore Park.  Fish of all types are feeding on a very large population of perch, you will notice these schools on your graph and will probably snag a few with your crank baits, when you find perch fish well below, the school near bottom is your best bet.



Brown Trout

Crank baits continue to be the top producers with water temps in the high-40s. The main producers were storm Thunder Stick Juniors in metallic blues and perch, Thunder Stick deep diving stick baits in uv green and perch, and Flicker Shads gold and red colors. I have tried some spinner harnesses, but had limited success.

As aforementioned, the water temps have been in the 48-49 degree range but the bad weather we experienced on Thursday night has had a negative effect on water temps making them come down by 2 or 3 degrees. Look for the fish to move deeper and trying to find dirty water that is warmer like by river mouths and back bays that have mud like Vokes point and Geanos reef. Fishing has been fair at night but the action has been better around 3pm till just into the dark. Most of the fish this week 6 lbs up to 9 lbs have been coming at this time. If you want to try for bigger fish earlier in the day before 3pm your best shot is to fish the second or 3^rd break watching your electronics for signs of life trolling between 1.1 to 1.3mph with cranks to cover water. The fish both shallow and deep continue to be spooky make sure your boards are far from the boat.

Fishing report (Green Bay) week ending 4-15-12

           This week we found a very good night bite that was successful on the East shore near Bay Shore. You should find good success with eaters using shad raps, flicker shads, and stickbaits taking the larger fish. Trolling was the most successful option with speeds of .9 to 1.3 at the top end. Remember to always troll in 's' pattern to change it up the speed and location of the bait.

Day fishing has been a little tougher with fish coming out of the rivers from the spawn. Still trolling but successful speeds were more at the 1.5 range many small fish with just an occasional large fish thrown in.

Water temps were at 48 to 49 degrees winds were mostly out of the East. Still getting some pre-spawn fish but not as many as a week ago, mostly post spawn fish were caught. The best colors were natural bass, perch and firetiger.  Most fish came in 14 feet of water; they were also very spooky and the boards needed to go far away from the boat at about 150 feet minimum.  

Pre-spawn Walleye in Northeast Wisconsin

Walleye are starting to spawn in the rivers like the Fox, Oconto, and Peshtigo. While Walleye out in the bay of Green Bay are still in pre-spawn.

Fishing has been good outside these rivers trolling very slowly at night for bigger fish up to 10 lbs with stickbaits. Productive colors have been black and whites, purple prisms, and of course, firetiger. For 'eaters' with an occasional larger fish, try fishing during the day with Shad Raps, Berkley Flicker Shads, and Wally Divers. Hot colors are firetiger, shad and blue with a chrome body.