I will be in Sturgeon Bay area the 2nd week of June. I am looking for any general suggestions with bait selections and types of areas to work. I am thinking of trying Europe lake for some smallies. Any other lake recommendations? Will my 18 ft Basscat be enough boat for Green Bay or the Lake Michigan or should I plan on staying in the Bay? I would like to put my kids on good numbers of fish. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I'd go to Eagle harbor and Rowleys bay. Drop shot, wacky rig, swim bait, tubes..
I run it with my 18' Triton, watch the wind forecast real close.
I take my Sabre up there. Just keep an eye on the wind. Cover water with a swimbait like a Keitech or swim a grub. Once you find some fish a senko, drop shot or tube will catch them too. 12' or less should be a good starting point. Should be plenty shallow yet.
As far as Europe Lake, I've always thought about trying it but never have.
I have fished out of a 17'6" javelin and it was fine. Like others said watch the wind you'll probably be bounced around by the wake of the pleasure boaters more then the wind.
2003 Skeeter ZX200
I was there last week. With the water temps being the way they are right now, 45-50* fish will probably still be in spawn/post spawn mode. There's a lot of water to fish so get yourself a Great Lakes or Wisconsin map card for your graph and that should help you weed out much of the unproductive water. Water clarity is 15 to 20 feet so if you find shallow fish, long casts are necessary. Baits in white, chrome, gold/black, and green pumpkin should be your go to colors. Paddletails, squarebills, and jigs. Winds out of the S, SE, SW are good. Anything over 20mph out of the N, NE, or NW will give you 3 foot rollers and if you have never fished the Great Lakes before, the waves/swells are less predictable than on a smaller body of water. Fishing in 3ft rollers is tiring and not fun. Wind over 30 is dangerous in a fishing boat. If it's too windy to be on the lake, you can fish the ship canal. Just make sure you obey the no wake signs because the coast guard patrols the canal
Like everyone else said, you have to watch the weather but I've been out there in 18 and 19' bassboats many times over the years. A forecast of 15mph winds usually means 20. If you have some nice days without much wind you can launch at the quarry (pretty much at the mouth of the bay). If you get a chance you can launch out of Little Sturgeon as well if you want to fish it an Rileys Bay/Snake Island. It's easier on gas and if the weather turns you'll have less of a ride back than if you launched at Sawyer Park.
For baits I pretty much stick with tubes, dropshot, jerkbaits and an Arig year round and I add in a silver buddy in the fall. Green pumpkin or brown is usually my go to with plastics and it never hurts if there's a little copper flake. I've also had quite a bit of luck with a paddletail, but I rig it on a football head and scoot it along the bottom more than I swim it. Bring a lot of jigheads and dropshot weights because you will go through them. I'll shoot you a PM with some specific spots.
Stop at Howies Tackle and get the latest info when you get there, it's on the right side as you come into town. If your looking to bed fish you may have to go north towards Sister Bay.
Little Sturgeon Bay is a good place to fish also. Early in the year get back in the shallows before the weeds take over. Swim jigs and tubes.
The bay drops off into a 20'+ ravine. Work the ledges in the 8'-16' ares all around it for staging bass with shad or blue gill colored crank baits.
Sand bay is good for dragging tubes. It has long shallow areas.
Snake Island can be awesome to fish anything if the bass are in, but be careful if its even slightly windy. The shallows come up very fast. It's a very steep rocky ledge.
I too will be up there this weekend. The wind will determine where I launch, but mostly the Quarry or fish Creek. I will post current water temps and keep you updated on catches if any of you are interested.
2007 Legend Alpha 199 / 225 ProXs
Yes!, please keep us posted. My nephew and I are thinking about heading up as soon as he's out of school. We went up to egg harbor last June and caught a bunch (for usOriginally Posted by Flyjunkie
) of fish.
thanks
Thanks guys for all of info.
First day turned out to tough. We launched at the quarry launch and fished out of the wind a little. Saw some huge smallmouth but nothing was biting. We then tried out the spawning flats in the shipping canal. Lots of boats here with zero catches. Then we went over to sawyer harbor/Potawatomi. Had a huge dogfish follow the spinner to the boat. I counted 21 boats in this little area. Nothing caught here either. We threw spinner baits, jigs, Jerkbaits and lip less cranks. No taker . Water was a little different all over but all around 57 degrees and very clear.
2007 Legend Alpha 199 / 225 ProXs
Call Dale Strochein at Sand bay Resorts in sturgeon bay. Best guide in the area he can put you on some fish or give you some quick tips. His resort is great it has a beach and pool. Firepits around the beach to. (888) 879-5548
2013 Skeeter ZX20, 250 SHO
26 pitch Turbo FXP
The fish are biting in the shipping canal as I am up there right now. I caught a bunch of fish. I would imagine that Little Sturgeon, Rileys, and Sand Bay are popping also.
Steve
2006 BassCat Puma
2006 Yamaha 250 HPDI
Team Daiwa!
I was there yesterday as well. Didn't fish Sturgeon Bay, but did fish LS, Sand Bay, and Snake Island. I only caught a couple of dinks.
For the first time ever though, I actually saw a male and female smallmouth actually spawn.
Thinking of launching in Ephraim tomorrow. Do you guys think it's worth it? Especially with these north winds that are probably dropping the water temps..
We fished out of ephraim today 7am to 2ish. The water had dropped five degrees. The 3 of us fishing caught 15 total (1 5lber and a few 4s). Fishing actually got worse as the day went on. Tomorrow is gonna be better
Jerk bait worked early then a hair jig was all they wanted. Good luck
Any beds? Thanks.
Reply With Quote