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May 1st is the official opener to the 2021 open water season. With that said, fishermen have been fishing on the open water for a while now, well over a month targeting Trout, Pike, Walleyes and Bass. Basically, the biggest change for us is that the Walleye bag limit goes from 1 to 5. So really, not much change other than a few more Walleyes in the cooler.
The Bass fishing up until this point has been pretty darn good overall. Obviously we have had to deal with some pretty foul weather in recent weeks which affected some fishermen’s efforts to comfortably get out on the water. Windy, cold, some snow…kind of normal weather for Door County in spring. Generally, this time of year look for those shallow water bottom transitions like rock to sand and shallow channel cuts for example and warmer water pockets. And make super long cast into those areas and fish those areas with extremely slow presentations. When we talk about fishing slow….you really need to tone it down to sloth speeds. That is the main mistake some fishermen make especially if they are relatively new to the area. As for the best baits this time of year Howie’s shorty tubes, ned rigs, paddle tails like Keitech, grubs, suspending jerk baits like Megabass and Lucky Craft along with hair and marabou jigs.
The Walleye fishing has been good here in the county pretty much up and down the Door Peninsula both during the day and at night for the boat fishermen and the shore fishermen alike. For quantities of fish the better would be a bit to the south, from Henderson’s Point south past Chaudoirs Dock. For some bigger quality fish, concentrate your efforts from the Sherwood Point area on up north along the vast shoreline of the northern Door County Peninsula. Trolling with Flicker Shads and minnows, Husky Jerks, Bandits and Salmo Hornets is a good bet. If you are going to cast…paddle tails, hair jigs, rippin raps, blade baits, some tubes and of course dragging around sucker minnows is always an option.
The Pike fishing has been going quite well in recent weeks and we anticipate that fishing is going to stay good for a while as those fish are really starting to go on the feed. Areas to try include Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay, and Sawyer Harbor including the park shoreline and right in downtown Sturgeon Bay in and along the whole ship canal are all good spots in the spring. Casting and trolling large crank baits, spoons and large plastics along with dragging around big ol’ sucker minnows is always a good bet this time of year the Brown Trout action has been a bit on the slower side in recent weeks, but with the recent rains that fishing may start to get rolling again. Both trolling and casting can be very effective and concentrating your efforts in the relatively shallow waters both on the lakeside and bayside of the peninsula along the shoreline structure, bottom transitions, temperature breaks, dirty to clean water transitions and creek mouths for example. Rapalas, thundersticks and mauler spoons just a few of the top baits. There have been some decent Lake Trout reports the past week or so. the best depths have been as shallow as 20 feet of water out to that 90/100 foot range. A mix of crank baits and spoons in the shallower water and a mix of flies, spoons and spin and glows out in the depths.
Thanks again to all the local guides, local fishermen and visiting fishermen that share information with us so we can provide the most accurate and informative report possible.