Sturgeon Bay

The answer about the spawn is this...it depends on where you are fishing.
Earlier in the week, we found pre-spawn fish up north.  But Sturgeon Bay fish were either on beds, or just starting to spawn and get on beds.

Now?  When we left, fish started bedding more up north.  And I didn't fish Sturgeon Bay for the last couple of days, so odds are that fish are still on beds but getting ready to leave.

So it really does depend on where you are fishing.  And really, really pray for some rain and wind up there.  They need it badly.

Great report Vegas! I've been wondering why this link has been pretty quiet as of late. So is the SM spawn over or at least close? Thx Steve 

Wife and I were up for a nice long extended vacation in Door County.  The fishing was....frustrating and amazing at the same time.
Water temps were anywhere from 52 to 67 depending on where we fished and when we fished.  Some spots would be 65 degrees one day, then drop to 58 a day later, if there was any wind.
And there wasn't much wind, and no rain.  The bite was tough.

We fished enough, but not as much as past years.  Typical trips were 4-5 hours, with a couple longer ones in there.

We typically would catch between 4-10 bass apiece.  But, we had two great days where we each boated around 20 apiece.  I'd say for the week, I had her by about 5 bass total.  The last time we went out, I just really guided her and she got about 20 and I got about 8 to make the numbers look better for her.... LOL!

But, here are my takewaways if you are up there.

1) Forward facing sonar is making anglers stupid.  I saw so many guys using it and being oblivious to their surroundings.  Many ended up right on top of other boats.  Or making blind casts at fish and darned near landing baits in someone else's boat.
2) Which leads me to this...bed picking.  I've never seen so many people picking beds.  It was disgusting.  Those fish on the flats have been caught more times than Madonna has had....well...relations.  I watched boat after boat pull up to the same beds and pitch little baits for 20 minutes or more just to catch a bed fish.
3)  If you can see the bass, they aren't going to bite.  The key to getting bites was making loooooonnnnnngggg casts.  And with no wind, it was long casts with tubes or ned rigs.  Just letting the bait sit on the bottom was getting the bites.  
4) Crowds.  I've never seen it so crowded on spots up there.  We ended up having our best luck and best bites by simply getting away from other boats and fishing new areas.  New islands, new shorelines....etc.
5)  Baits.  As said, most fish were caught on tubes, then neds.  Paddle tails caught a few, but they really wanted a bait they could pick off of the bottom.  Sadly my favorite x-rap only caught 3-5 fish in all our time up there.

We did a lot of exploring up north far away from Sturgeon Bay.  We saw hundreds of bass.  And if we saw them, we'd catch 2 or 3.  If we stayed far away, we'd catch more.  Again, long casts.

So, if you can't make super long casts?  Go to Howie's, they have Suffix Nano-Braid.  8 pound.  Go get some.  Nothing casts better or longer.  It's amazing the difference that stuff makes.

And finally?  Wind.  All those areas up there really need some wind to stir up the water and get those fish going.  Usually when we are up there, we catch an average of 30-40 fish a trip.  This time?  30-40 was a good day, with a normal day being half of those numbers.

We did go to the reef once.  Didn't see much on it.  But, we had a few walleyes follow the baits in.  In fact, most every spot we fished we would find a walleye or two, very shallow.  Like 2-4 feet of water during the day.  I think those things are still shallow hunting the alewives down.  We saw quite a few large school of baitfish that I can only assuming were alewives.

Here are a few of the fish that my wife caught.  What I can say is that when we caught them good, fish were smaller.  When we'd get one or two in a spot, they ended up being huge.  I know she got about 10 fish between 19 and 20 inches long and two that we actually measured at a tick over 21.  And no beds were picked.  No need to.  

Good luck if you are up there and happy hunting!

As of !2 noon today the water temp at Menominee buoy is 57.4 degrees on the nearshore west side of Bay, according to the 
National Data Buoy Center.
The water temps in the Northern part of Bay are 43.4 degrees according to NOAA Coastwatch Satellite interpretation !

Anybody got surface temp Sturgeon bay or North bayside?

I am at Potawatomi State Park( less than 1/3 used) Less than a 2/3 use for boat launches(Quarry and Sawyer). From Sturgeon Bay you have Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and Lake Michigan to fish.   Smaller Launches hardly used. You are one cast away from a near record(size)catch. With adjustments where you fish you can make adjustments for wind( WindFinder) With your fishing equipment you can find your fish. With your video camera you can find your species and presentation.  You will always enjoy Sturgeon Bay on the water or and visiting on land. Check with  Howies for fishing information and needs and your local Fishing Guide for even more fun. 

I kind of fished the opener for walleyes.  And it'll be the last time I do that.  Way too many ?boats up there.  ?Gotta find new places to fish and get away from the crowds.

Water was cold, wind was east then flipped to northwest and then north.  Water was 48 in some parts, 44 in other parts.

We caught fish, for sure, but trying to find fish under 25 inches was tough.  We probably got 25-30 fish while trolling, but only 4 under 23 inches were kept.

Jigging bite didn't pan out for us.  Found pods of fish, but no eaters.  Heard of a few fish caught early on Saturday.  
Ended coming back early from my vacation, hoping that the water warms back up and then I'll be back up there.  

Piers are now in at Potawatomi State Park. 

The piers at Potawatomi State Park are not in yet as of 4/20/23. Last week fisherman caught a 26 pound pike launching from Water Front Mary’s ( pier in ). Sawyer Harbor Boat Launch piers in for Sturgeon Bay. 

Must Have Lures when chasing Green Bay Walleyes!