Lake Michigan, Sheboygan (all postings)

Windy conditions didn't slow us down any as we did bring enough fish back for a cook out during our riverfront store and condominium ribbing cutting today. A huge thank you to our Mayor, television host Dan Small, all of the Chamber members, my family, friends and the entire Dumper Dan crew for your support today in celebrating our big day of making history here at Dumper Dan Charters of Sheboygan.

The larger Kings for us lately are coming north of town in 45 to 60 feet of water while better numbers of trout and salmon are being taken working east and west from 130 to 300 feet of water straight out of the port of Sheboygan. Spoons seem to be doing the best for my boats on downriggers, leadcore on the boards and diver rods. Have a great yet safe Labor Day Weekend!

Dumper Dan's Six Boat Charter Fishing Fleet of Sheboygan. www.dumperdan.com

Do you run faster than 2.1 when running spoons and J plugs versus flies and flashers?

The Fishing in Sheboygan remains very good. We had a father / Son team out and had good action with most fish coming in 60 to 100 fow. We had a spoon bite for the most part with 30 to 60 down doing well. We caught fish on orange, green & UV spoons. The divers and riggers did well, with a chute rod holding its own. The guys did a great job and we all had a great time. Its was Nick's ( 10 yr old ) first trip to Lake Michigan, I think his arm is sore !!! Great job guys

It’s been another great day on the water here in Sheboygan. We caught all Great Lakes sport fish except the brown trout during both trips yesterday. We fished the morning trip in 70 feet of water where our diver rods did most of the damage. We fished with a couple of seniors that had an exciting experience battling our sport fish one after another. Our afternoon party caught their limit in 120 to 130 feet of water. The surface water is still warm but down deeper it is as cold as the mid 40’s. Here is a short video of some of our fishing action and catches over the past couple of weeks:

Capt. James Schlegel, Sea Dog Sportfishing Charters, http://www.fishsheboygan.com

Went 4 for 6 tonight lost a big screemer Worked inside of most of the boats in 35 to 50 FOW. Plugs and mag spoons got the bites.

Went out from 11:30a.m.ish till 2:00p.m.ish. 1 king, about 5 pounds, 55 down on a rigger on a standard PK white w/orange ladder back in 90 fow. Went in to 50 fow off North Point got 1 king, high teens, missed two on the same spoon 36 down. Also knocked a few with the rigger ball, so I'm guessing they were in there a little thick. Ran out of gas on the main tank, switched to the reserve and went in or I would have stayed longer. Oh well.

We went out mid day yesterday after the storms rolled through and worked in close from the gap to a half mile north. We did not fish the evening but still did ok. We picked up a couple hot spoons from Russell at Anglers Ave and went 4 for 5. We had 3 kings and 1 brown working 25 to 45 fow. Moonshine uv spoons did well and orange stingers had action as well. The 22.9 lb king pictured came on a 2 color lead off the board. Dipsy's & riggers got hit as well. Good luck to everyone.

North pier in Racine. They never say you can't 'fish' from the pier. They always say something like, " you can't be on the pier after dark" or " you can't park here after 10pm" or "the road is closed after 10pm" which means members of the RYC have no access until 6am or "you can't ride your bike on Columbus parkway" (which is south pier access) or you can fish on the pier, but you can't be on public property after 10pm until 6am, which means you could be airlifted to the pier and then airlifted off the pier if you're between those times or even swim on and off the piers.

Unless you have visited every public pier along the lake several times at nite, please don't make silly comments like that. Someone's liable to believe you and waste a trip.

Smoke - Could you name 1 pier in Wisconsin that has banned fishermen? I've fished from Kenosha to Sturgeon Bay and haven't come across one yet. Not to diminish your message that sportsmanship and tolerance is needed by all. I have seen trolling boats present navigation hazards and have seen pier fishermen do some crazy things. Both have everything to lose.

Luvtohunt&fish "Besides there won't be fish left to catch soon if these charters don't get some kind of regulation on either how many times they can go out or impose some kind of limits. Have a good day I'm done with my 2 cents."

That makes no sense what so ever. Charter boats are held to only being able to catch limits for the people with lisc on the boats. Each customer that buy a lisc has the same amount contributed to the fishery for stocking, research, ect. The customer that buys a lisc and goes fishing once a year and only catches 5 fish does more to contribute than the person that buys a lisc and goes 10 times catching a fish each time. Charter boats are under a lot of strict regulations including turning monthly trip logs into the DNR. They watch those numbers and use that to help determine the amount of fish that are out there. A lot of boats are contributing the heads of stocked fish this year including where they are caught to help the DNR figure out how to get the most bang for their buck for everyone on stocking.. Also piers are built for navigation so everyone including boats, shore fishermen have a right to use them. I personally don't fish the piers from boat or pier so I don't have a direct opinion on it. However do a little research about what you're talking about. I hope this helps to clear up your misunderstanding.

It’s been a busy August and the crew has been on the water for days now. We have been catching a good variety of Kings & Rainbows daily, while fishing anywhere from 60 to 300 feet of water straight out of the harbor. It doesn’t seem to matter where you fish lately, as these fish seem to be scattered all over under current conditions. Weighted flat lines trolling either silver or red rattlesnakes or Pro kings behind planner boards and wire diver rods with flasher flies, have been the most productive for us this week. This year is a real challenge because it has been difficult to see consistent fishing patterns from day to day. The surface water may be 70 degrees but it is still cold down deep. The good news is there seems to be plenty of good sized fish all around the port of Sheboygan this past week! Here is a short video of some of our fishing action and catches over the past couple of weeks:

Capt. James Schlegel, Sea Dog Sportfishing Charters, http://www.fishsheboygan.com

Your two cents isn't worth a penny! Read the sign at the start of the pier or I can get a recording if you are not capable of reading. Trying to get the point across that they are meant solely for navigational purposes only. Not that complicated. If your don't like dealing with boats get yourself a boat and get off the pier. It's people like yourself that will ruin pier fishing for everyone. Fishing was great the last few days again, still wide spread. I hope everyone else gets the point. I have been fishing the pier for 20 years and there's only a few people that have problems over and over. Who's to blame the respectful fisherman or the undereducated beings

After the Southeast blow the water has cooled some and the fish have moved in. Kings were caught from the harbor mouth out to 70ft or so today along with the boats that are still doing well in 250ft and out. Its a great time to fish as you have many options on where to go and what species you want to catch. For the kings that are in the inside water plugs and mag spoons have been the best. Out deeper a mix of standard spoons and flasher flies have been best. Stop in and stock up on some of the huge assortment of plugs and Pro Kings new glow painted spoons have been on FIRE!!

3 for 5 last night trolling in 100-120fow, both North and South of the gap. Ladderback spoons and jplugs on riggers set down around 60fow. Largest fish caught was 18.5lbs.

Smokem there are boaters out there that don't have the common courtesy and think they have every right to troll close to piers! If that's the case why not just fish from the pier? I have lost several fish I had on due to boater cutting my line. One was a big fish during SAR back in the day and it pissed me off big time and I see why pier fisherman get mad. We don't walk on water and go and fish by them so show us the same respect stay away a 100 yards or more otherwise we will get a law pass saying no boat trolling should be within a 100 yards of what you call a navigation pier I always wait till a boat passes before I cast. Besides there won't be fish left to catch soon if these charters don't get some kind of regulation on either how many times they can go out or impose some kind of limits. Have a good day I'm done with my 2 cents.