06-10-2013, 08:10 PM
MILWAUKEE - Warmer water and winds willing, Lake Michigan anglers are poised to enjoy another fantastic fishing year on the big pond, following on the heels of a top 10 season in 2012 for trout and salmon, according to state angler surveys and state fish biologists.
"We had a tremendous trout and salmon fishery in Lake Michigan the past 10 years, including 2012. This year should be more of the same if we get a favorable warm up and winds," says Brad Eggold, Department of Natural Resources southern Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor.
In 2012, Wisconsin anglers harvested 590,210 trout and salmon, the ninth highest number since DNR started stocking such fish in 1969 to help control alewives, an invasive fish, and up from 430,311 the previous year. That 2012 total included a harvest of 390,385 chinook, the fifth highest such harvest in 44 years and more than double the 2011 total of 169,752, according to the surveys DNR conduct with charter boat operators and anglers at boat ramps, shore and stream sites.
The 2012 steelhead harvest of 75,981 was the 11th highest in 44 years, according to the Lake Michigan salmon and trout harvest tables, 2000-2012 [PDF].
Eggold and Dave Boyarski, DNR fisheries supervisor for northern Lake Michigan, says the strong chinook harvest year likely reflects in part that their food supply is low and the fish are hungry and biting.
It's also a reflection that there are a lot of chinook out there, including a growing number of naturally produced fish from Michigan, where tributary streams are cooler and more suitable for reproduction.
"It appears from our study that up to 55 percent of the 1-year-old chinook salmon are being produced naturally in the system," Eggold says. "That fact puts a lot of chinook salmon in Lake Michigan for harvest."
Eggold says that while forage is low, chinook salmon survival seems pretty high. "Chinook weights are down due to the reduced forage but we are not seeing any signs of disease issues like we did in the late 1980s, so anglers should see plenty of action this summer," Eggold says.
Boyarski, stationed in Sturgeon Bay, says that Wisconsin's cool spring weather provided shore anglers more fish later into the season as the fish stayed near shore in the warmer water.
"The water is a little cold still due to the cooler spring so trout and salmon fishing is not going strong yet but should get going in the next couple of weeks," he says. "The cooler temperatures mean that shore and pier anglers still have fish available to them."
Right now, the best fishing in northern Lake Michigan is for lake trout and brown trout, Boyarski says. "Fishing for northern pike, smallmouth bass, and walleye have been great this year in Green Bay. Smallmouth bass are still shallow and spawning. Walleye and northern pike are in their early summer patterns and fishing is good right now." A recent 8.45 pound smallmouth bass caught during the Sturgeon Bay Open Tournament shy of the state record by about 9 ounces; a day later a 7.54 bass was the big bass of the tournament.
Eggold says that in southern Lake Michigan, coho fishing has really been hot right now from Port Washington to Kenosha. In the past several weeks, anglers from pier sites in addition to boats were catching good numbers of coho. Last week the coho moved offshore a bit so the pier action slowed but reports from this weekend indicate that coho are closer to shore again. In addition to the coho anglers are also catching some of the other species.
Hotline, free email updates provide a line on Lake Michigan fishing
Anglers wanting to know where the fish are biting and what's working on Lake Michigan can call, go online, or receive mobile or email updates with that information. Weekly fishing reports covering northern Lake Michigan waters and Green Bay waters are now available at 920-746-2873 and southern reports can be reached at 414-382-7920.
Similar, more detailed fishing reports for the entire Lake Michigan coast are posted to DNR's Lake Michigan Outdoor Fishing Report From that web page, anglers can sign up to get the updates delivered free to their smartphones and email accounts.
The reports are updated every week with information primarily from DNR creel clerks who interview willing anglers at boat landings and shore fishing areas about what the anglers caught, where and with what methods and baits. The creel clerks gather such fishing information while they are collecting information that helps DNR estimate fishing effort, catch rates and harvest rates to help manage the Lake Michigan fisheries.
"DNR's Lake Michigan Fisheries Team is committed to providing the latest fishing information to the public, which includes not only fishing reports but information on our recent surveys and assessments," Eggold says.
Boyarski hopes the information can help reach a wider audience with information that might help them try fishing Lake Michigan for the first time or help better familiarize them with different parts of the lake to fish.
The 2011 "Sportfishing in America" report generated by the American Sportfishing Association estimated that 178,268 anglers fished 1.24 million days in Wisconsin's Great Lakes waters, the bulk of that spent on Lake Michigan. That generates an economic impact of $185 million, supports 1,883 jobs directly, and produces more than $12.5 million in tax revenues for state and local governments.
Media Contact
Brad Eggold, 414-382-7921
"We had a tremendous trout and salmon fishery in Lake Michigan the past 10 years, including 2012. This year should be more of the same if we get a favorable warm up and winds," says Brad Eggold, Department of Natural Resources southern Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor.
In 2012, Wisconsin anglers harvested 590,210 trout and salmon, the ninth highest number since DNR started stocking such fish in 1969 to help control alewives, an invasive fish, and up from 430,311 the previous year. That 2012 total included a harvest of 390,385 chinook, the fifth highest such harvest in 44 years and more than double the 2011 total of 169,752, according to the surveys DNR conduct with charter boat operators and anglers at boat ramps, shore and stream sites.
The 2012 steelhead harvest of 75,981 was the 11th highest in 44 years, according to the Lake Michigan salmon and trout harvest tables, 2000-2012 [PDF].
Eggold and Dave Boyarski, DNR fisheries supervisor for northern Lake Michigan, says the strong chinook harvest year likely reflects in part that their food supply is low and the fish are hungry and biting.
It's also a reflection that there are a lot of chinook out there, including a growing number of naturally produced fish from Michigan, where tributary streams are cooler and more suitable for reproduction.
"It appears from our study that up to 55 percent of the 1-year-old chinook salmon are being produced naturally in the system," Eggold says. "That fact puts a lot of chinook salmon in Lake Michigan for harvest."
Eggold says that while forage is low, chinook salmon survival seems pretty high. "Chinook weights are down due to the reduced forage but we are not seeing any signs of disease issues like we did in the late 1980s, so anglers should see plenty of action this summer," Eggold says.
Boyarski, stationed in Sturgeon Bay, says that Wisconsin's cool spring weather provided shore anglers more fish later into the season as the fish stayed near shore in the warmer water.
"The water is a little cold still due to the cooler spring so trout and salmon fishing is not going strong yet but should get going in the next couple of weeks," he says. "The cooler temperatures mean that shore and pier anglers still have fish available to them."
Right now, the best fishing in northern Lake Michigan is for lake trout and brown trout, Boyarski says. "Fishing for northern pike, smallmouth bass, and walleye have been great this year in Green Bay. Smallmouth bass are still shallow and spawning. Walleye and northern pike are in their early summer patterns and fishing is good right now." A recent 8.45 pound smallmouth bass caught during the Sturgeon Bay Open Tournament shy of the state record by about 9 ounces; a day later a 7.54 bass was the big bass of the tournament.
Eggold says that in southern Lake Michigan, coho fishing has really been hot right now from Port Washington to Kenosha. In the past several weeks, anglers from pier sites in addition to boats were catching good numbers of coho. Last week the coho moved offshore a bit so the pier action slowed but reports from this weekend indicate that coho are closer to shore again. In addition to the coho anglers are also catching some of the other species.
Hotline, free email updates provide a line on Lake Michigan fishing
Anglers wanting to know where the fish are biting and what's working on Lake Michigan can call, go online, or receive mobile or email updates with that information. Weekly fishing reports covering northern Lake Michigan waters and Green Bay waters are now available at 920-746-2873 and southern reports can be reached at 414-382-7920.
Similar, more detailed fishing reports for the entire Lake Michigan coast are posted to DNR's Lake Michigan Outdoor Fishing Report From that web page, anglers can sign up to get the updates delivered free to their smartphones and email accounts.
The reports are updated every week with information primarily from DNR creel clerks who interview willing anglers at boat landings and shore fishing areas about what the anglers caught, where and with what methods and baits. The creel clerks gather such fishing information while they are collecting information that helps DNR estimate fishing effort, catch rates and harvest rates to help manage the Lake Michigan fisheries.
"DNR's Lake Michigan Fisheries Team is committed to providing the latest fishing information to the public, which includes not only fishing reports but information on our recent surveys and assessments," Eggold says.
Boyarski hopes the information can help reach a wider audience with information that might help them try fishing Lake Michigan for the first time or help better familiarize them with different parts of the lake to fish.
The 2011 "Sportfishing in America" report generated by the American Sportfishing Association estimated that 178,268 anglers fished 1.24 million days in Wisconsin's Great Lakes waters, the bulk of that spent on Lake Michigan. That generates an economic impact of $185 million, supports 1,883 jobs directly, and produces more than $12.5 million in tax revenues for state and local governments.
Media Contact
Brad Eggold, 414-382-7921