SE WI harbors

[msolberg621]

Fished this morning out of racine for browns. Went 7 for 9 biggest being 12lbs. All came on shallow running shad raps on boards in 10 ft of water or less. Glad to back on the water again. Gonna hit a few rivers for steelhead and will report on that in the next few days.

Dusty

[msolberg621]

well not to much to report today... fished both Bender and racine and came up with a couple of hook ups but nothing in the net... seen good numbers of fish jumping in both harbors... fished 6am to 10am.... water was very cloudy from those big north winds.

[msolberg621]

fished from 7am to about 1 pm today. ended up with 9 for 13 on browns and 2 male steelhead for a couple of bonus fish. all on cranks in 7-15ft of water. alot of fish in the shallows and in the river but with the flat calm conditions made fishin a little tough today. Met up with Eric Haataja this afternoon on the river and looked as though he had another great trip fishin steelhead.. must of had 10 silver steelhead on a stringer... So for all you beginners reading this you might want to get with Eric and book a river trip with him while you can. he'll put you on the fish and give you some great tips to help get u fishin on your own..... be back out in the morning so i'll post again after

[msolberg621]

decided to chase steelhead this morning and came up empty.... did end up with 5 browns from shore. all came on spawn sacks under floats. biggest being 17lb male. biggest one i caught from shore this year. with the lack of rain the past week the steelhead and browns are startin to stack up in all the harbors now..

[msolberg621]

fished the afternoon bite today. 12pm-4pm. went 4-9 with a mix bag of browns and steelhead. spawn under floats continues to out produce everything else i've been throwing. this rain should help put more fish in the rivers....

[ripper]

Nice fish! Where can I get spawn sacs around here in Racine??

[BigMusky]

R&R Sport Shop off Layton is pretty close and their is also Pike Creek Outfitters in Kenosha.

[MrWalleye73]

Nice fish. I sent you a PM Dusty, but looking again, I did figure out where you were fishing. I'm gonna brave the cold this Saturday and give her a shot. I gotta pull out my secret Brown spoon spinner. I will post pictures of any fish. How I enjoy fall/winter brown/steelie fishing. Waukegan has slowed a lot, so time to move to the fish. Other than spawn, does anyone use 'crawlers for the browns?
Chris

[msolberg621]

drove past the harbor this afternoon to check out the ice conditions and pretty much most of the harbor had ice on it. there are a few open spots but i'd say 90% is froze over. the boat launch also has ice but its mostly broken up and unfishable from the rocks

[msolberg621]

drilled a few holes and theres about 2 inches in some spots and less in others.. i would recomend to all to wait to venture out. some spots have just froze over and way to risky to fish yet!

[msolberg621]

finally got on the ice this morning for the first time. ice thinkness ranged from 3-4 inches, but will go fast as soon as this rain hits. managed to get 7 browns between 6:30-9:00. tipups and jigging both worked great

[Eric Haataja]

Fished Racine yesterday with a client and he went 5 for 8 nothing huge but all on spinning tackle either casring or on spawn under a float. Water clairity is still a little off give it a few more days and it should be really good!

Eric

[BigMusky]

where do you park to fish the Racine Harbor? Drove down there this morning and it looked all tore up from construction.

[msolberg621]

got out in the wind and cold this morning and drilled a few holes. ice is still very thin. only about 2 inches. fishing was very slow, only managed 3 browns. all came on minnows tight to the bottom.

big musky- most people park down by the main marina parking lot and walk out from there. its the large building out in front of all the peirs. can't miss it!

[msolberg621]

fished the last 2 mornings. fishing was ok yesterday in all that snow, but very slow today. totalled out with 9 browns and 1 rainbow. minnows and spawn worked the best. and also a few hits came jigging. theres almost 5 inches of ice now.

[BigMusky]

how does the glide trax pull in the snow? Does the new pontoon bottom make a difference? Is the ice pretty consistant, or did you have to stay close the piers?

[msolberg621]

the glide trax system is great! for being so heavy it pulls like my one man.. and with the new seats they came out with, its the perfect shack..

the ice is pretty consistent threw out the harbor. just watch out around the aireators.

[BigMusky]

would changing the name of a thread constitute a comspiracy to keep your fishing location secret, or were you not actually at racine when you caught thouse fish :rolleyes:

[Eric Haataja]

Milwaukee harbors (Mckinely and south shore)have some ice however there are a few spots that frooze over much later than expected so be careful if you go. Tip ups with spawn and jigging spoons have worked out very well.

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

a few other browns when I went by myself to check out a spot here in Milwaukee. The smaller one is one of the best looking browns I've caught through the ice, th bigger one was a 14-15 lber, both released.

Eric Haataja

[msolberg621]

fished from sun up to sun down today with not much to report. ended up with only 5 browns and one pike just over 13lbs. my buddy that joined me had a few browns also with one steelhead. all the browns came on spawn and the pike on a shiner. one quick tip for everyone, if you haven't already added the "automatic fisherman" into your arsenal you might want to think about getting at least one. with as quickly as these browns were dropping the baits they really do work perfectly for this style of fishing. it probably accounts for nearly 75% of my hook ups. good luck and stay safe.......

[Eric Haataja]

a few more from this weekends guide trips.

Eric haataja

[Eric Haataja]

Had a customer from the east coast come all the way to Wisconsin to fish for browns through the ice for 2 days. He landed some big fish and good numbers of fish both days out on the water with a couple of pigs! Minnows worked very well along with jigging spoons, spawn caught also caught a couple of fish. Client also caught a bonus small King Salmon.

Milwaukee marina's have plenty of safe just about all over.

Eric Haataja

[Fishin Medic]

Thinking of making a trip over on Thursday. Where can I get spawn and minnows in the Racine area?

[BigMusky]

I am not aware of any places really that close by, I would just get your bait before you get to the racine harbor. You dont need spawn, but if you really want it you can go to Bob's Bait on Highway 100 south of 94 and north of 59, or you can go to R&R's which is off Layton. If you go to R&R's you can take highway 38 right down to Racine.

[flathead100]

Hey guys new to the board. Nice site. I was thinking about heading up to ice fish the harbors. When you guys talk about shiners are you talking about golden roaches or can you get lake shiners from the bait shops up there? Thanks In Adavance
Flathead100

[BigMusky]

bobs bait has both

[Eric Haataja]

I use both at times, I use medium golden shiners or large emerald shiners, emerald shiners die easy so don't hook them deeply.

Spawn , jigging spoons and jiggin raps all work, different harbors, and water clairities vary and techniques also vary in the various harbor's.

Yesterday was fairly slow I had a few customers, We went 3 for 6.

Here's a few pics.

Eric

[msolberg621]

did the usual trip dpwn to the harbor yesterday morning. ended up with 4 browns and one small steelhead in 4 hrs of fishing. jigging took a couple, along with spawn. ice is around 6-11 inches depending where you go. there was about 10 guys or so down there but didn't see much happening. also helped a gentleman land his first brown threw the ice which is always fun to see...

[msolberg621]

braved the wind and cold this morning to find out that i shoulda stayed home! fished for about 3 hrs and managed only 1 fish. couldn't even take a pic due to the fish freezing before i could get the camera out! this weekend should be alot of fun.....:(

[Fishin Medic]

It's been awhile since I have been called a "gentleman"! I'll definitely be back for more!

Thanks Again for your help!

[msolberg621]

lol.... well its better then "DUDE"! glad you had a great time..

[Steve White]

Got out in the harbor on Feb 1 for our annual trout trip the day before the WI Track coaches clinic. Fishing was on the slow side. Ice was a decent 5-12" in the areas we fished. Some thin and open water near the areators.

We had many hits on tip-ups and slammers with only one hookup. Jigged around without seeing anything on the vex. Ended our day early with 1 brown about 8lbs.

Great to meet up with msolberg and watch as he allowd a guy from Madsion (fishing medic) catch a decent brown on one of his tip-ups. Good Job Darren!

With the weather getting warmer and stabilizing a little fishing in the harbors should pick up. Wish I could get down to do a little more fishing. Will be passing right by this coming weekend with Sammy for the USATF state indoor track meet. Just may have to try and stop by the lakefront!

Tight lines,

Steve

[Eric Haataja]

Maan it was chilly out there this weekend, but it did not take long to warm up in the ole frabill shacks for the kids and dads! Fishing was still decent with some nice browns still biting fairly consistently. Minnows, jigging spoons, and spawn worked out well for us.

Eric Haataja

[Reel Addiction]

I'm new to ice fishing on the big pond. I've done a lot of boat fishing in the summer but until this year had never tried for Browns in the winter. I braved the cold and wind on Sat. at Mckinley only to lose 2 fish, one on a spawn sac the other on a sweedish pimple tipped with a shiner. Is any one port better than another I see a lot of posting about Mckinley and Racine. I'm within 20 minutes of each and wonder which one may be better for a beginner. Thanks in advance. All your reports / pictures are awesome.

[msolberg621]

any harbor between kenosha to milwaukee holds good numbers of browns throught the winter. i've fished all of them and haven't found one thats hotter then the other. where i fish is 10 mins down the road from my house so it just makes sence to fish there. it all boils down to keying in on the right baits and presentions to getting daily numbers of fish. browns are very picky most times so be versitle and know what works at certian times..

[msolberg621]

decided to give the browns a break this morning and focus on some steelhead. fished for 3 hrs and ended up with 2 small ones around 4lbs each and one brown about the same size. it was so cold my camera wouldn't even turn on! i think i'll give it a day or two before i head back out.....

[Reel Addiction]

Thanks for the info msolberg621!

I live a little closer to Mckinley so I think I'll give that a try again this weekend. From what I understand spawn sacs and medium golden shiners work best on tip ups or "the automatic fisherman". If most browns are so picky than I'm going to guess that the lighter the line the better (6lb-10lb)?

Do most browns seem to hold close to the bottom or suspend, the depth of the harbor itself seems to be about 12-15ft deep all over. Thanks again. Ice fishing for trout is just a little foreign to me.

[BigMusky]

I assume those steelies were through the ice? Was that near Azarians?

[Eric Haataja]

The fish generally will relate mid depth to bottom from what I see while ice fishing however I have caught fish 2 feet below the ice in 6-8 feet of water.

South shore can also be very good along with the summerfest lagoon, this year there's a lot more water to fish in and around the lagoon.

Eric Haataja

[flathead100]

Anybody have the phone number for Bob's Bait or his weekend hours?
Thanks Flathead100

[BigMusky]

BOB'S BAIT SHOP INC, 414-453-2460. 1126 S 108th St Milwaukee, WI 53214.

[HotHead617]

He opens at 4:30.so he says never been there that early.

[tresleggos]

went to summerfest lagoon for a hour and a half or so yesterday, didnt get to fish long because of the construction there, the guys had to kick us out because they were leaving the construction area and had to lock the gate, set up tip ups with medium shiners and spawn sacks and jigged............nothing.....located a ton of fish of the vex.........but couldnt hook up....there were a few shanties over by the mckinley harbor area near the old coast guard station but could not figure out how they got down there from the parking lot, any one know?? im really looking to get one through the ice.

[Eric Haataja]

Treg you have to either drop you gear off at the UW park and ride in Veterans park and climb down the wall (Pain in the ....) or walk off from Mckinnely Marina.

I fished this past Saturday and fishing was pretty slow we went 3 for 4 with a couple of nice fish but fairly slow over all. I fished pan fish on Sunday and heard the harbor fishing was much better Sunday our fish came suspended on minnows and jigging. Water is really getting clear so thinner line diameter makes a big difference and finese baits like smaller jigs and smaller jigging spoons.

Eric Haataja

[flathead100]

Hit the harbor sunday caught 2 browns and steelhead, all on the jigging rods, had a few flags pop but never made it there fast enough. Thanks for the info had a blast can't wait to do it again. Flathead100

[Reel Addiction]

I managed to catch my first brown through the ice this weekend on a small shiner. Using the Auto-Fisherman, that thing works awesome.

Eric, and msolberg thanks for the helpful posts!

[BigMusky]

well I am offically the worst brown trout fisherman EVER...I have been out probably 5 times this winter (summerfest, racine, kenosha) and still have not had a hit. Tried spawn, lake shiners, golden roaches, waxies. Nada. 10lb flurocarbon has been the leader of choice. Oh well, maybe someday I will get lucky.

[BigMusky]

tried Racine Harbor yesterday and the weirdest thing happened. Had a hit on a medium shiner and it tripped the auto fisherman, but no hookup. Minnow just killed (this has happend to me maybe four times this winter). Went to put new minnow on and found out the cold snow I added to my minnow bucket sent all shiners into shock. Grabbed one and revived him as much as possible and down the hole he went. Still wiggled and swam in circles, but good enough for another hit. Again no hookup, but this time minnow did not die, but could see teeth marks. Down the hole he went, then I had another hit where bobber was pulled tight, but no trip.

So the question is, why does not automatic fisherman consistantly fail to hookup? I have tried setting the trip hairline and kind of hard and in between. I just dont know. Maybe I will take that bobber off, but I am not sure that is making a difference, but maybe.

[Reel Addiction]

Big Musky,

I've found it's best to allow the fish at least 8 inches of line before it trips. I caught around 35 Northerns and bass on it last weekend and the tricks I found were.
Use the lower hole for the trip arm and try to get close to maximum hooksetting power since the water really kills the hooksetting ability. Allow the fish at least 8 inches of line to grab the bait and inhale it before setting the hook. Also if you're using a bobber stop as a way of marking your fishing depth make sure that it is on the hole side of the trip arm. If not the bobber stop can get hung up in the v on the trip arm releasing the rod early. I've had great success with this setup, it's also worked on a couple of browns for me.

[BigMusky]

I have had it happen with and without slack in the line...I can do some things to adjust the hook setting power, but I am not convinced that is the problem because it does not appear to be hooking them at all. I am using maybe a #10 or #12 size treble.

[msolberg621]

Big Musky,

i've been using the automatic fisherman for 2 years now and have not had a problem like that yet. i use it with either minnows or spawn and it works great for me.. heres a couple of tips that might work for you.

1. when i use it for minnows i don't use the bobber system at all. the bobber just allows the fish time to drop your minnow. you want a instant hook set.

2. make sure the tripping arm is extended all the way out. i have found that this allows for less false trips.

3. throw the rod away that comes with it! its a great invention, but the rod sucks! go out and get a med. action rod around 30 to 32 inches.

4. lastly, make sure that its set so the slightest hit will set it off.. these browns are like walleyes, if they fell any tension they will drop it before it trips.

[msolberg621]

WARNING TO ALL FISHERMAN!!!


2 people fell threw the ice yesterday walking next to piers at 2 different locations at the racine harbor. the ice is going very fast so use EXTREME CAUTION if your planning on heading out there this week!

[BigMusky]

I saw some places with only three-four inches, and a couple yards over it was 12 inches, so I believe it.

[Eric Haataja]

Yes Be very careful if your going to get out on the Racine harbor the ice is going! I could not believe me own eyes when I saw a guy fall threw right next to a pier in 8 feet of water! There was 12-18 inches of ice all over the place practically but there are always numerous area's that ice goes quickly in Racine. I would not fish here unless you know these area's and I was even surprised to see what happend. The peirs heat up and ice goes quickly right next to the peirs.

Well the fishing was so so had a big group down in the harbor today while filming with John Gellispe and we got a few decent fish and one really nice one for the show but overall it was slow, we got them jigging, on tip ups with minnows and on bobbers with spawn. Pretty soon the boat will be wet again!

On a side note about the automatic fisherman I agree with Msberg except for throwing the rod away the rod is good for pike fishing but the reel is not the best but it will work to start off, I always like the setting as light as possible and i will also try to let out a few extra inches of line so the fish does not feel anything when it grabs the bait, don't give up we all have our bad trips!

Eric Haataja

[msolberg621]

fished for a few hours this afternoon just strictly looking for big pike. ended up with two around 30 inches or so and a small steelhead that crushed a #7 rapala jig. theres a few large holes starting to develop so be very cautious of where your walking.

[msolberg621]

went down to the racine harbor this afternoon to fish for pike again only to find a massive open water spot that has formed out in front of the main portion of the harbor. you might be able to find some spots with good ice still but be very careful. so instead i went up river looking for steelhead. not much action. there were about a dozen or so guys when i showed up and didn't see a fish caught til the end. in 2 hours of fishing only ended up with 1 steelhead and two misses. hopefully this big front turns something on this weekend.

[Eric Haataja]

Great job Chad good to see you putting the smack down on those fish! Nice pics as well!

Eric Haataja

[Steve White]

Blizzard fishing! Some of my favorite. Looks like you got them just before the big stuff hit. Good Job looked like fun. Love the bug eyed pic. Almost says, " Did I catch this?!?".

Thanks for finally sending some snow up north!! You guys in the south seem to be hogging it all this year. Guess it's a little fair since we now have close to 30" of ice on average.

Keep up the good work,

Steve

[cmontiho]

Is there still fishable ice in the harbors (Racine and Milwaukee)?

[msolberg621]

despite the brutal winds and blowing snow on saturday still made it out to guide a family from missouri on there first ice fishing experience. ended up doing very well with steady action throught the day on both browns and pike. by days end we had 6 browns laying on the ice and a pike with a few other misses. ice depths ranged from 6-13 inches, but a few large holes were developing. there was also alot of standing water on the ice making walking very slippery.... learned that the hard way after slipping and breaking my digital camera! still salvaged a few pics of the guys though

[Fireman58]

Nice browns, not into the icefishing but cant wait for open water at racine. I havent fished it yet but have boat will travel. When are wis. licences for new ones for the year?

Fireman58/Dave

[Reel Addiction]

I also braved the winds on Saturday and ended up catching a couple of browns, both released. We forgot the spawn and it seemed like that was the ticket. It's amazing how fast the ice has went when compared to a couple of weeks ago.

[msolberg621]

you have to renew your fishing licence every year on the 1st of april

[Fireman58]

If I wanted to fish this weekend could I get and use a 2007 lic. or would I need 2006? Thanks for the info.


Fireman58/Dave

[BigMusky]

2007 licenses I do not believe are available.

[Fireman58]

thanks

[Eric Haataja]

For all you guys thinking about ice fishing the harbors this weekend I would not do it. Dirty water!!!! I'm done for the year as far as the ice fishing the harbors go!

[msolberg621]

i'll second that! already starting to put away the ice fishing gear for the year... thats all she wrote!

[msolberg621]

after seeing how muddy the rivers were i decided to pull some ice fishing tackle out again and head down to the harbor with a buddy of mine. what a good idea that was! weather was perfect.. by the time i left, i was down to just a sweatshirt and jeans. as for the fishing, it was probably the best trip of the season! started this morning at around 6:30 and was off the ice by 11:00. between the 2 of us we iced 11 browns and 1 rainbow!! with one measuring out at 35 1/4 inches and weighing in at just a hair over 20lbs! it was the biggest my buddy has gotten threw the ice which made the whole trip down worth it.. the rest ranged from 3lbs to about 12lbs. spawn and jigging took the bulk of the fish with only a couple on minnows.

i'll post pics of that big one as soon as my buddy develops his film and gets a cd made of it so check back later for it. the pics i took didn't give the fish any justice...

[msolberg621]

thought i'd start hitting the harbors for the first time this year for the browns. pretty slow start. a buddy and i did manage a couple casting the last few days but all in all there just not going to good right now. the water is to warm i think...

[dennis]

its sure taking them a while to get back there...'bout time...last fall spoiled us all!

[Eric Haataja]

Still a good bite going on in the harbors and lower rivers for browns and steelies on cranks, waxies and tubes, spawn and skein. Get out and have some fun!

Eric

[msolberg621]

fishing has been steady for browns and steelhead for the past week now. averaging 4+ fish every morning. everything from spawn sacks to casting cranks have produced fished. fish have been ranging from 5lbs to some in the upper teens. will posts some pics when i have more time

[Cbangler]

Decent bite this weekend for Browns/Bows - seemed to be a little steadier in the late morning hours, with a noticably "slower" bite in the afternoon. Cranks and Spawn. Water temp was 38/39 degrees. A little rain wouldn't hurt......
Here are a few pics - Stevie with a double, and my brother doing his best uni-bomber imitation.

[Eric Haataja]

This past week we had some fantastic fishing!! Caught some moster browns and a monster steelhead. Steelhead had to weigh in the upper teens being almost 40 inches long. had a few ginat browns as well 2 over 20 lbs one close to 25 lbs. and a big hen that was in the upper teens that we let go. I hate killing these big fish just for the skin or for the eggs so we let them all go for someone else to catch.

Trolling was good with cranks and stick baits, also casting was very good along with fishing spawn and tubes under flots in the harbor and the lower rivers where a lot of fish are stagging.

Eric

[Eric Haataja]

These guys had just a crazy day with huge fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Eric Haataja]

Here's a few giants from this week. Browns over 20 lbs and a steelhead in the upper teens maybe 19 lbs?? All released after a few quick photo's.

[Eric Haataja]

Opps I posted the steelhead pic twice here's the other brown pic I wanted to post.

[Reel Addiction]

Is there any Ice in Racine's harbor yet?

I'm really starting to get the itch:)

[msolberg621]

theres anywhere from 2-4 inches of ice in most spots in the harbor. In some spots theres less then that so use EXTREME caution when walking out. I put my leg threw in several different spots while checking different areas. i did end up fishing down there sunday and did ok. Several browns and a couple small pike.

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out for the first time on the ice this past week and to my surprise there was more ice than I expected locally here in Milwaukee. Fished for a couple of hours and landed 4 browns and missed anice steelie at the hole, stillsome fairly shady spots out there so if you've not done thiswait another week or two. Best bait was a small gold and chartruse pimple tipped with fathead, also caught 1 fish on spawn 4 feet under the ice.

Eric

[Timber]

Thanks for the report Eric! I've never ice fished the harbor but hoping to get out this winter. Any advice on good access points?

[Eric Haataja]

South shore, McKinnely and Summerfest all have pretty easy access along with Racine harbor, they vary a little bit depending on the harbor some you park and walk 30 feet, other harbors you get out and walk 1/4 mile

[mops7]

Nice Fish. Mops

[FIRSTMATE4LIFE]

doors nice fish. was wondering where abouts you were will be going off to boot camp after christmas and would like to ice some trout.

[Reel Addiction]

I'm in the market to get a new jigging rod, with trout in mind. Any recommendations for length, reel ...etc.? The one I use now is a $25 cheapie that's caught fish in the past, but is pretty much designed for white bass and fish of that nature. Thanks for any help!

[msolberg621]

i use one made by frabil and its one of the best rods i've used for jigging. its right around 40 inches long, softer tip with plenty of backbone. i have several custom jigging rods that costed me plenty to be made and i don't even use them anymore do to the sensitivty and feel of the frabil. best part is there only about $30 or less.

[Reel Addiction]

When using spawn on Tip ups or Automatic Fisherman do you guys use a single octupus hook, if so what size. Or do you use a treble, if so what size. Last year I caught almost all my trout either jigging or on shiners with a small treble. I didn't have much luck with spawn, maybe it was since I was using a small treble??

[Fish247]

I have Genz stix predator series spinning rod. It's 42 in. mh action but has a soft enough tip. I have caught trout, pike, largemouth, and walleye on it and it handles them all great. I has big A** guides so it doesn't freeze up. Great all around big fish rod. Sportsmans Warehouse had them last year don't know about this year though. I think it was like 30 bucks. I also use a couple of First Ice rods. one mh one ml. They are shorter and good for the shack.

[FIRSTMATE4LIFE]

hey to all of you that fish the racine harbor what is the easiest way to access the harbor i will probably be coming down there this weekend and was wondering how to get there. info would be appreciated. tight lines to all.:)

[Cbangler]

Great Stuff Doors!

Nice lookin steel (especially that buck), and the Eagle - Wow!

[BigMusky]

bagged a nice steelhead on mini might at racine today. No action on coho skein on tipups

I really need a pak shack for xmas because I froze after three hours of fishing out in open!!!!

[Eric Haataja]

First off nice fish Doors!!!!!!! Awesome pics as well!!!!

Here's a few from this past week, spawn, skein, minnows and 1/8 ounce dater head jigs with gulp dd the trick.

Eric

[collinfishes]

got out today and got a brown and a steelie jigging nothin on tip ups today

[collinfishes]

went out today for a while nothing tried everything i could think of :( leaving for las vegas tomorrow for a week... save some fisheys for me when i get back :p good luck collin

[Browning3]

So anyone in Racine today? Just wondering how the ice is holding up there.

[BigMusky]

it was terrible yesterday...but should come back quick with this cold

[msolberg621]

kinda late reprt but fishin has been slow to steady last few times out. browns, steelhead, and a few stray pike to finish out the year. did take the outdoor writer out for the racine times the other day with a few guys from work and did ok. these are the pics from that morning

[Eric Haataja]

Be caerful the ice was good but is now bad in a few places I'd wait at least a solid week for things to freeze back up cold temps coming should help! I won't be on the ice for a solid week or so now, tip ups were working with minnows along with spawn and jigging spoons here in Milwaukee.

[collinfishes]

finally got back to fishing after a week of vacation went out today and got skunked haha ice was horrible only about 1-2 inches where i was water is also very dirty :( did see some other guys with a fish though and one shanty out there must be safe where he was

[collinfishes]

got on safe ice today one hole had about 8in. of ice but 4-5in. everywhere else fished from about 430pm-to 7pm and got skunked :(

[collinfishes]

went out today 1230 to 630 got one northern jigging that had another smaller northern and a minnow in its stomach which was really neat to see but other than that we missed one fish on a bobber and spawn

[collinfishes]

got out today all day and no fish on the ice :( lost one at the hole and had one other flag

[flathead100]

How's the ice in Racine?

Thanks Flathead100

[collinfishes]

almost every hole i drilled had 7in. a few had 8in. one had 5in.

[collinfishes]

went out from 830-330 and nothing to show lost one at the hole everybody around me had flags flying everywhere all day but i got nothing i tried skien and sacks and minnows in a variety of sizes i also tried spoons jigging raps and tubes with not even nibble. :( collin

[Cbangler]

Good fishing in the harbors this weekend. Had to work a little, but certain groups of fish bit well. (Others wouldnt even look at it). Areas where you had some depth change seems to hold the "biters". Sundays warm up with the Fog was very pleasant. Here are a couple of cuties......

[Eric Haataja]

Had a decent day saturday morning clients caught 7 browns and 2 decent pike. Minnows, jigging and spawn all worked. Lost battery power of my camera so only got a few pics...

My good friend morgan and I also checked out another spot and he caught this giant steelhead along with a few others. Ice is all but gone now!:confused:

[Fishin Medic]

Nice steelie Morgan! WOW! These are the times that I wished I lived closer to the "lake"!

[collinfishes]

went to the harbor (racine) for a few hours should of stayed in bed haha
ice was not safe for walking so i stayed on the piers and the water visability was a whole inch you couldnt see the scoop a couple inches under water itll be awhile before it clears and gets safe
collin

[Lenda]

Here are a couple from saturday.

[jballgame]

Went out yesterday morning. 3/4 of the harbor was still ice-some open water. The ice appeared to still be pretty strong along the piers-I couldn't break it with the butt end of my fishing pole.

Caught 2 browns and 1 shaker steelie, all on tubes. Was pretty slow all things considered-but didn't get there until a little after 8, so the early AM bite may have been better.

[collinfishes]

went down to check the ice today at least 60% of the harbor was open water the back area right behind the condos was still froze over with about an inch or two im guessing itll be at least a week or two before its some what safe water was still the color of choclate milk :(

[TIMMM]

went down to the racine harbor today 11 to 12. landed a nice little eater brown:D:D:D caught him casting a green glow in the dark cleo.real cold and snowing.sorry no pics. godd luck tim

[collinfishes]

got down to the harbor with a friend today ice was 3-3 1/2 so we stayed on the piers also had to use my 6in.auger because my 8in. wouldnt even cut. had an amazing day got consistent flags all day but not many hook ups they would take just long enough to set the flag then spit it also had my slammer out there and had one on that but broke me off on something and a few other hook ups but came off ended the day with 5 fish between us 3 browns 2 bows biggest brown was 13lbs which barely fit threw our small hole :D collin

[collinfishes]

got out today from 730-12 got one brown on the slammer :) and missed a flag. ice was 4-6in. but still pretty thin around the piers only about 3in.

[collinfishes]

heres the one from today

[collinfishes]

went out today from 9-5 and nothing to show my buddy lost one at the hole jigging some nice guys out there got one i just wanna thanks again to the guy who let me use his auger :) collin

[TIMMM]

went out today from 11 to 1 had three tip-ups out with no luck. thats probably why i was the only one out right:cool::cool:. thats it good luck tim

[BigMusky]

caught a huge male brown and female steelie full of eggs. both caught on spawn sacks on automatic fishermen. I did not see anyone else out. Summerfest lagoon has 8+ inches of ice

[collinfishes]

went down today from around 8-2 ended the day with 2 browns and my buddys got 2 northerns overall it was a beautiful day to be out. lots of guys down there but fishing was really slow.

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out both saturday and Sunday, saturday for better action than Sunday. On Sat we went 16 for 25 with browns and steelies, and on Sunday we went 8 for 15. I forgot my camera on Sunday so sorry no pics....

We caught our fish on gulp 3 inch minnows, minnows, and spawn best color gulp was the white and chartruse and best jig was a 1/8 ounce darter head jig. Lots of guys all over both days but we were lucky enough to have found a nice pod of fish in a spot that we had all to ourselves. Overall fishing was good and a big thanks to Morgan for helping me out on the trips!

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

A few other fish from Sat..

[BigMusky]

fished 630-800 am at Summerfest lagoon. Alot of water moving in and out now but ice still good. Caught two jigging gulp minnow on darter jig head....I wish Eric would stop copying me:rolleyes:

[Fish-N-Time]

Bigmusky,
Where do you park and how do you access the summerfest lagoon? Would like to give it a try on sunday 2/3/08. How much ice is out there? It will be the first time ice fishing on the big pond. So if anyone has some helpful info please share it with me.

Thanks,
Fish-N-Time:)

[BigMusky]

It is right by the RIPTIDE restaraunt off Erie St. You basically take Erie to river and then drive down little road that goes along river back to lagoon. You park on side of road. There should be at least 6+ inches of ice there, maybe more after this cold snap.

[BigMusky]

on another note that might be obvious to some....Gulp Alive will freeze.

[collinfishes]

got to the harbor today and got the skunk :( all this snow made it pretty messy out there

[blitzfish]

I will be down in milwaukee tomorrow morning around 9 or so. I'm not quite sure if I will try the lagoon or the marina. If i go to the lagoon, I may try the part by the discovery world place, depending on ice conditions, or if I go to the marina, I may try by the mouth there, also depending on conditions. This is a real toss. Any place you guys think is better? This will be my first time I am fishing for trout through the ice, just don't want to get skunked!:p

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out with 2 groups today and we did pretty between Morgan and myself we landed a total of 11 fish and we missed at least 11 other fish... Spawn, minnows and jigging all worked.

[Eric Haataja]

A few other fish clients caught.

[blitzfish]

Went to mckinley and had 2 tipups, one dropped the other we missed, saw a few come up to our jigs though. I had an aquaview pointed vertically down, two hit, but spit it out right away:mad:. Anyways, don't know where I am going yet tomorrow:confused::p

[jmorgs]

sorry for late report, went out Friday after snow, fished tip-ups and jigging rapalas , got 1 small pike on jigging rapala. not a flag. Ran into Eric and he had clients who did way better than us. I believe they had 9 or 10 , was my first time out and Eric was more than willing to give me some good advice , thanks again Eric. ice was a solid 8" .

[Eric Haataja]

Show'd up in the Racine Harbor with clients at 9:30 and fished until 2:30 had a great outing landed 10 trout and lost 7 others in 5 hours of fishing. A couple steelhead and the rest were browns browns. Salmon Skein and jigging were the methods that caught fish for us. I did not see much action by other angler near us. Sorry I do not have any pictures, as I let John (client) take most of the pics... Hopefully he will post them!

Eric

[collinfishes]

got out today with my buddy fishing was ok we did alot of moving around and ended up gettin one brown and missing three others one even broke my hook but it was a cheap hook and lesson learned :o ill post the picture later :) collin

[BigMusky]

was out monday and went three for four in down poor rain. Caught two on spawn with AF (male brown and buck steelhead) and then a nice female steelhead on jigging rod. Had another steelie on but lost it on power run. Ice was about 8 inches think noon on monday

[collinfishes]

got out today and had a decent day. got 1 brown in spawn. overly it was a fun day only went for a few hours. sorry for the bad picture the snow and wind made it blurry

[collinfishes]

got down to the harbor last friday (sorry so late my computer is down) got one brown on a tip up right away did some moving around later in the day and ended up getting 2 flags both missed and then as we were packing up for the day had one hit on a bobber but lost it at the hole.
also there was like a crust of frozen slush on top of the slush hiding previously drilled holes and i went thigh deep in someones 10in. hole was pretty funny. collin

[gootchje]

I'm assuming the ice is good every where in the harbor? I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow morning. I'll report on how it goes.

[BigMusky]

Got poured on at Kenosha today meeting some Illinois folks there....only one brown and small pike on gulp to show for my freezing four hour effort. Nothing in spawn. They showed up for the afternoon bite and had a shiner flag go off right away...so maybe that is the trick.

[rickyracer]

Hey Eric; When ice fishing on and or around the harbor what is good bait to use. I know how to fish up north lakes but just trying the harbor this year.

[gootchje]

went out to racine yesterday and got away from the crowds. Ended up catching two browns one around 5 lbs and the other around 12lbs. They were both caught on tip ups using med. shiners. All I can say is next time i'm bringing the gas auger because there was atleast 16" of ice.

[BigMusky]

after a 100% season on the automatic fishermen I went 0-5 today!!! One I had had hooked but lost at hole...but four trips today I got nothing except a chewed up spawn sack. I think ice freezing in hole was culprit. Lost another on a jigging rod...so what should have been a decent 6 fish day turned out to be zilch. I had only lost one other fish this entire winter, so I guess odds had to swing back to normal in a hurry sometime soon.

[Reel Addiction]

Fished down at Racine Harbor Saturday. It was quite slow in about 4 hours we only managed to catch this one lone steelhead. He ate a small white marabou pink jig head tipped with waxies. There's over 15" of ice so hopefully will be able to keep getting out for awhile.

[BigMusky]

took boat out of National Avenue today. Had to break lots of ice to get out. Fish were pretty aggressive early but slowed by midday. Ended day with 12 browns and some snagged shad as well. After doing my best "world deadliest catch" imitation I am not sure I will go out with that much ice again.

[collinfishes]

got out today for awhile and my buddy ended up getting a nice male steelie on a shinner and missed a few other flags everyone i saw down there had a fish on the ice so it seemed like everyone was doin fairly well. hopefully this melt doesnt ruin things to much

[rickyracer]

Hey I went down to Racine harbor on sat. only seen one fish caught. I hope the ice holds out. Plan on going down sat again

[collinfishes]

went down to the harbor today and had an amazing day. we had a brown on the ice with in ten minutes and the guy next to us was chasing one flag after another and he ended up with a brown and a northern and we ended up with my buddy getting one brown and i got a giant 33in. male brown and a 31in. steelie. and we missed quite a few had flags going pretty consistent all day. the ice was in very good shape with some sketchy spots. :D collin

[collinfishes]

oh also the brown the guy next to us got coughed up a little largemouth bass and some eggs that was very neat to see

[collinfishes]

fished the harbor for the last week and a half and the fishing started out very good with flags flyin all over but the action has slowly stopped and the water clarity is pretty bad as of today the ice is pretty bad theres still plenty of safe ice but the bad spots are getting worse and more of em so be careful if you plan on goin out there. collin

[kayakfisherman]

Fished this morning got a few it was pretty slow the water was dirty all browns on gulp and cranks



Rob

[kayakfisherman]

got out in the kayak this weekend caught some cohos on dodgers and flies around the harbor and along the shore line. All fish were in less than 25 feet of water


rob

[Eric Haataja]

That's cool rob and they are tasty!!!

[kayakfisherman]

I got the kayak out for some browns and had some luck. All fish came on small cranks and spoons. Spoons were near the bottom and cranks were about 15ft down in 25 ft of water. fish ranged from 4 to 15lbs

[Eric Haataja]

Both Racine and Kenosha are also going well for the browns. Racine in the harbor, up the lower river and by the boat launch.

Eric

[cycleguy]

New to the site and really like it! Long time LL guy. Sorry, not a report.

I have lived my entire life in the Racine area, and never fished the harbor or actually Lake MI for anything but perch. Just to go down to the river this time of year and fish a little for C&R... Can I use a regular 6.6 medium rod with 10#PPro? Keeping it simple, do I have any chance of catching anything throwing a couple crank baits, or maybe medium jig and twister? I'm an inland guy, just looking to get out a couple times and mix it up between work. Thanks.

[brookiereleaser]

fished milwaukee today ,

Had a number of hook ups on small jigging spoons again in a copper/orange pattern, , i tried the whole gamut today including cranks etc but the water was very clear and little chop so the fish were able to scrutinize my presentation, you could watch them come out of nowhere for a follow , stare and then run away scared.

For some reason the goldish/copper worked above all else today.

Also had skein under a bobber but im not use to fishing it , i did manage to actually get a few bobber pull downs this time but was never able to set the hook, i think i might have had the skein sagging too far off of the hook and they were able to pick at it.

Some absolute monster browns were seen today and it was just like teasing a dog with a piece of meat. I am so jealous of any of you that land these suckers, ive been trying for years to land a double digit pounder , its my fish of choice at the moment just for the thrill of a slob .

For those fishing bender are you guys staying inside that marina type structure or is there fish to be had out in the open water, i was thinking of trying the plant but ive never fished it and dont really know what to use???

For the power plant if i dont want to use live minnows what else could i try , and is it primarily jigging type fishing or casting etc?

Im seriously getting the itch for some browns but for some reason i seem to never get the big ugly fall ones, only the spring silver footballs.

[blitzfish]

I've been to the power plant in the past but not so much recently. Many people troll there. Dipsys or behind planners, with spoons etc. Other than that I haven't done anything else other than troll there. We just hammered them when we went though! :D

[Eric Haataja]

The 6'6" will work with Power Pro but use a floro leader with 8 lb test and a bobber (float) with a 3-4 foot leader fish about 3-4 feet down with chartruse spawn sacs. Fish right off of the boat ramp or the rocks or up in the river. By your sacs from Jalensky's or Bob's bait!

Bendor you just fish in the Marina, it's going good!

We also did great today for trout I'll post after I down load the pics.

Eric

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out yesterday and we caught salmon, Steelhead, Browns, and coho's all in the same day. It took a while but we absolotly crushed the fish once we found them. We had to move a round a bunch to get on the the pod of fish at times it was every 5 seconds you had a fish on as fast as you could cast out.

Gulp, power tubes, spawn, spinners and hair jigs all worked for us. Some of the browns are loose and some are still tight so the bite is just getting going.

It should only get better and all the harbors from kenosha- Sheyboygan are yeilding good catches.

Good fishing!

[Eric Haataja]

More pics from yesterday we landed over 30 trout.

[Eric Haataja]

few more pics

[blitzfish]

those underwater pics are amazing. What camera system is it that you use?

[Eric Haataja]

Olympus that I bought from best Buy last week.

Thanks,

Eric

[brookiereleaser]

fished milwaukee yesterday,

Saw a bunch of browns , cohos and even some kings still,

Most salmon are extremely nastified looking now but theres still a good number in solid spawning color condition.

Fished for a while but i think the unseasonably warm weather in the early afternoon and virtually glass like water surface contributed to my lack of real success.

Later on had 4 hookups and landed one coho , fairly dark but still pinkish.

I could see fish checking out my lure and then run away so I figured they wanted tiny presentation. Used tiny white tubes under a bobber and got a few hook ups but no landed on that, i need work on my bobber fishing hook sets.

One i did land was caught on a 3 inch smelt gulp alive just twitching it near the bottom.

question.....

what pound test is ideal for these browns at least for the leader. I feel that they are extremely wary and ive never had one of the huge ones so much as look at my lures , including spawn sacs , im assuming when i can see them that it isnt a good thing either but still.

Should i be going down to like 5 pound or less flouro , i have 8 pound mono on my reel right now, just changed it, and havent tested it, use to have 10 pound. either that or power pro with a 10 pound tipped on there.

when you guys fish spawn under a bobber or tubes do you work the bait at all by twitching it or bringing it back to you, or do you just set it and forget it til something hits??

thanks and good luck

[luv2fish]

Brookie~~

Im not sure they make a 5 pound fluro, 6 pound would be a step down from 8 but regardless I don't think you would want to go that low...I usually use 8 lb and that works fine for me. If you hook up with one of the bigger browns it'll spool ya with 6....As for the spawn under the bobber just experiment.... Cast out one time and let it sit. On your next cast try retrieving it back in with slow, light twitches and see what happens. It can't really hurt anything and will give you a better idea on what the fish want for a presentation.

Good Luck

[blitzfish]

Brookie~
I normally use 6 to 8 lb test year round for just about everytihing. It is very universal. Not too strong and yet not too light. It doesn't need to be fluro either. I just use regular 6-8 lb trilene for just about everything, except for panfish of course.

[brookiereleaser]

went out today

windy as hell in milwaukee, saw surfing caliber waves crashing over all the way to the inside of the breakwall.

Tried along the walls today, marked a bunch of fish, saw many fish jumping early , both salmon species and brown/steel were all seen.

Fishing quality was zero for us today , tried absolutely everything in the arsenal.

plastics, spawn, skein, spoon , spinners , and cranks.

Fish were just not interrested and it was hard with my boat to keep a solid position.

The one funny thing that happened. I was retrieving a gulp minnow so i felt a snag on the bottom and saw my bait about 10 feet from the boat with a leaf on it, as soon as i got near the boat a trout came out of nowhere and was just going nuts around it so i started twitching it etc and he was just pissed off , finally spooked right at the motor.

I think that sums up a day when nothing is working and then you get some crap on your lure and that provokes more of a response .

Believe me i was tempted to rig up a leaf after a couple hours of nothing but then i just said, nope , next time

[brookiereleaser]

nice fish doors,

im jealous, i cant seem to get a fish to hit a spinner for the life of me, i feel like when i use them they are just way too close to the surface

good stuff , were you out of milwaukee or racine or port today, milwaukee was rough with the wind today

[blitzfish]

I feel the same way about spinner brookiereleaser. I can only ever get the little ones to hit the spinners!!! Nice fish Doors.

[BigMusky]

the art of spinner fishing....

1) use weighted spinner
2) cast perpendicular to river flow
3) let spinner sink and drift into hole letting current spin blade more then your retrieve
4) I have had days when steelhead would not touch a spawn sack, tie on a spinner and caught 2-3 out of that same hole. Many times you see fish rolling when a spinner bite will be hot

[brookiereleaser]

yeah spinners work fine for me in the river but using them on open water in the harbors i have little luck with.

Talked to a guy today that said he was doing well at the Pump???? in milwaukee

What and where is this pump structure, is it inside the harbor or out in open water.

My guess is whatever it was was inside because his boat was small and last day or so was absolutely savage outside the breakwall.

[avid1010]

Took advantage of the clock changes to do an hour of casting before work. Finished 2 for 2 with both fish being bows. One about 4lbs the other around 8lbs. Both were caught in the last half hour I had (6:30-7:00am). I was tossing a JB Casting Spoon, but I have had luck fishing spinners in harbors and when casting to shorelines...both in Port and Sheboygan. Obviously we all agree they work well in the rivers. I can't say I've used them in water deeper than about 10ft though.

[blitzfish]

brookiereleaser~ from what I know there are multiple "pumps" but he is probably talking about the boils. Normally a great perch spot and sometimes lots of trout from time to time.

[brookiereleaser]

is that within the breakwall in milwaukee, whatever the structure i doubt he was in open water because it was a perfect storm like condition out there that day,

[luv2fish]

Made it down today @ 5:45...Sunny skies put a damper on the bite and the fish seemed to shut off early. Landed one female brown and missed a couple other bites...Spawn about 3ft down...Might have to give good ole Jones a try:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Hothead knows what im talking about:D:D

[HotHead617]

Yep Sure do dude......i will be down there saturday morning to give it a shot.....havnt fished in awhile..... will report when i get back ,
See you down there!!!

[avid1010]

Managed to land a few (3) bows yesterday in the hour I have before and after work. I decided to toss tubes with my walleye jig stick witch resulted in one break off (6lb. Magnathin isn't real abrasion resistant on the pier footings). Nonetheless tossed them all back but one female for eggs.

Anyone care to state their egg preferences? I always use brown trout eggs, but thought I'd try rainbow eggs for a change. I've played with Coho and Chin, but always have liked the brown eggs best.

[blitzfish]

I found that brown and rainbow eggs for sacs work well for catching browns and bows. I do like coho... well skein neways, not too much for sacs. I always did well on cured skein (pink) for bows.

[HotHead617]

I usually tie up some brown eggs and bow eggs and take em all some days one is better than others but ive had some great days with bow eggs.

[avid1010]

Put on my true winter clothes for the first time this year and found a spot out of the wind to jig in the harbor for a bit (6:00am - 8:00am). Ended with four browns (C&R) all about 3-5lbs on a jig and lake shiners I had salted/froze last fall. I still seem to do better with the salted/frozen than I do with Gulp. Maybe it's just a confidence thing. Much more confidence in live bait, but this is much easier.

I didn't miss a hit this morning...they seemed pretty aggressive.

[Eric Haataja]

Was out today with clients and we went 15 for 22 in 5-6 hours of fishing. Good thing is that we had 3 big browns today over 15 lbs what a blast on the light spinning tackle. Our fish came on gulp and power tubes, skein and spawn. Lots of fun and got some more eggs!

We laneded 1 king a couple coho's, 2 steelies and 10 browns Great day today with great weather!

I'll post pics when I get more time.............

Eric

[SheHateMe]

Could someone explain what type of gulp and what the presentation that is used?

[deno b.]

fished the racine harbor today for about 5 hrs. Mainly used spawn and skein ended up getting one male rainbow. Been seeing more rainbows in now over the last few days. Saw guys casting, would of had better luck casting but to hung over. Good luck

[Eric Haataja]

Pretty good day for us today with clients landing over 20 fish. It took a while and near the end of our trip we got lucky and stumbled into a nice pile of browns and some steelies. All on spinning tackle, with skein, spawn, gulp, and jigs working for us.

Here's some pics from the pasy 2 trips a couple of giant browns clients caught and released.

[Eric Haataja]

A few more pics from today.

[brewcityfishr]

Took the boat out today with my pop's and hothead in search of early winter browns. fished several different places and really had to work for them. we tried jigging spoons, gulp, spawn, fatheads, spoons, and cranks. we managed to find 2 rainbows, 1 brown, 1 walleye and a rockie and missed a few short hits. water temps were between 46-60deg in lake/river. a few more cold days and the fishing should be on fire! cant wait to get back out......good fishin'

[BigMusky]

this weekend was much tougher harbor fishing then I expected. Got 7 browns, a dink walleye and a nice fat 33 inch pike. I trolled some with really no nice fish trolling expect one fat brown on a small Kavorkian spoon 18 feet down over 19 feet of water off the art museum. Tried jiggin with gulp/spoons/zips by the discharge and we had several fish follow a cleo up to boat and then turn away...so it seemed only fish high in column responded to lures there. Then went and explored inner harbor and that is definitely where I marked more fish and caught the pike and other decent brown of day.

Marked alot of fish near river mouth, but no takers. No fish on cranks trolled...but got one to take a Lucky Craft pointer casting.

[HotHead617]

Here is a couple photos from the Sunday out with brewcity and his pops....
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing201.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing200.jpg

[deno b.]

Fished the racine harbor from 2:30-4:30. I figured it would be good because as soon as i got there fish were jumping everwhere and i could see them swimming because the sun was real bright. First spot i tried i was tying on a hair jig and i had a slip bobber out with spawn heard my rod scrapping on the pier, bobber down hooked the fish and it broke me off. Sat there for about a hour nothing more. On my third spot i tried ended up getting three browns all females on chartruse sacs. Awsome time to be out with very little wind.

If anyone could give me some tips on catching rainbows with slipbobbers it would be appreciated. Browns seem to take the bobber right down. Have only gotten one rainbow so far with many trips to the harbor. At times I see my bobber go down but then pops right up.I beleive the bows feel the tug and let go. good fishing

[Eric Haataja]

My advice is fish up the river a bite more and be patient the rainbows will come! I would fish about 6 feet down for the bows. Thanks for the good report!

[Eric Haataja]

Today was another one of those magical days! I had a client fly in from Oregon who has fished all over the world in pursuit of a brown trout over 10 lbs. When I say all over the world I mean it like new Zealand and Paragonia (Sp?) etc..

We are fishing together for 2 days and in the first 2 hours of the trip we smashed his personal best record brown trout with a 14 lber. This guy went nuts with enthusium, which is why I love this job! Getting to see this guy experience his fish of a life time was as cool as it gets! But wait it gets even better! We were just pounding the browns and steelies non stop all day when at about 3 PM an even bigger brown smashed his bait. He starts to go nuts again this time a 17 lb huge male, but wait it gets even better 30 minutes later a huge big hen close to 20 lbs and fights like crazy!

So it was a fantastic day and he agreed that we have by far the best big fish brown trout fishery in the world!

Overall we had close to 25 browns and a dozen steelhead. I did not even take any pics of steelhead since he's from the west coast and he really did not want to target them.

Here's his pics of a life time from today's trip.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.......

Eric Haataja

[brookiereleaser]

holy crap eric that is amazing,

I get excited when i don't get skunked lol, and i never have had a 10 fish day for great lakes stuff. just awesome,

have you found the time of day right now to matter that much, in other words is the bite much better at sun up than it is during mid day or anything?

[Eric Haataja]

Did not matter today at all had a little lull around 1-2 PM but after a few adjustments bang bang bang!!!!!! Hopefully they will be snapping like this again tomorrow!

Eric

[brewcityfishr]

That's amazing Eric... awesome looking fish! maybe I'll see you down there tomorrow.

[Hunter5]

Good job Eric and good luck deer hunting everyone

[Eric Haataja]

Well this A.M was not as good as yesterday but still a great day! First fish of the day my clients hooks up with this beast big buck male in the upper teens.

We fished for 3 1/2 hours and landed about 10 fish.

Fishing was solid with a fish every 20 minutes or so but not as crazy as yesterday! Time to get ready for the deer hunting this weekend!

Eric

[deno b.]

Made it out at the harbor this morning. Kind if slow using spawn got one nice brown male. Then moved down got two more nice males right away. Fished till about 10:00 then headed home. buddy called me he wanted to meet me down there, as i meet him he had a huge male brown in the net,biggest one i've seen so far. Few minutes later a even bigger male. Must of been fifteen pounds. He was using my favorite bait so far, a 3" storm swim shad. Lots of fun but cold. Deno.

[luv2fish]

Gave Jones a try today...

Soaked spawn all morning (i was too chicken to cast anything...IT WAS COLD!!) without a bump. Guy next to me got one brown on spawn. No winter brownies yet and they provide a bulk of the action down there....Things should only get better with the cold temps...

Good luck

[brewcityfishr]

luv2fish-

give summerfest a shot by the red lighthouse. guys picked up a few there yesterday on spawn off the bottom. fish on the southside of the lighthouse.

[luv2fish]

Will do thanks for tip... Probably head out Monday morning...

[SheHateMe]

What launch does everyone use to tie up to that wall the I see in everyones photos? And does the "wall" or that area have a name? Also is there still break in problems down there? Lastly I'm off work for the next nine days if anyone wants to go fishing down there I am more then willing to take someone.

[brewcityfishr]

SheHateMe-

Check your messenger

[brookiereleaser]

went out friday morning,

tried a few places, started at bender, was the only one down there as the sun was coming up but it was super rough and all the muddy water was being forced into the harbor so i quickly picked up my things and left.

Next i went to the river to check out a few usual spots, and many of them were either iced over or there were big chunks of floating ice , i had really not expected there to be as much ice as i saw early this morning, im not sure if some of that light ice chunk stuff melts by mid day or anything but i didnt feel like dealing with it.

I then went down to summerfest and this is where i actually got some fish. I landed 3 browns in about and hour and missed most likely 2 more hits. All were on a jigging spoon 3/8 oz size i believe.

There were a bunch of seasoned vets out there that are there every day and were fishing shiners right off the wall and saw the whole group of about 5 guys get 2 while i was there.

Went over by the lagoon and saw an absolute monster just sun bathing in about 10 inches of water thew a little hair jig by him and he bolted.

To land the first fish i actually had to do some acrobatics because i left my net in the car not expecting to catch anything i climbed down the emergency ladder "stupid" and hung off iwth one arm while grabbing the fish with the other, got a bit of a soaker on the foot and my shoe and jeans turned into stone shortly after so i left.

I was planning to take my boat out tomorrow morning for the first time ever this late in the year on lake michigan and was wondering how you find the discharge areas along the wall, are they obvious?? or waht do you look for.

Any suggestions as far as safety out there and what you need to look out for as far as ice etc. im not sure exactly what to do to avoid going down like the edmund fitzgerald. thanks for any help and good luck

[SheHateMe]

Brookie check your messanger.

[brewcityfishr]

Hit the big pond this morning with my pop's. fished 8:30am - 1pm. the bite is starting to pick up with the cooler weather and water temps. we managed 3 bows, and 7 browns and missed a handfull also. big fish for the day was a 12 pound bow and 14 pound german brown. gulp and spawn did the damage today. all cpr'd. water temps were 36-41deg. be back in the a.m. good fishin'

[brewcityfishr]

Took the boat out this morning with my pop's and hothead. perfect day to be out! west winds 5-10 air temps chilly around 22-35 deg. did some casting and soaked some spawn at first and the bite was on! managed 21 browns in a couple hours fishing. my pop's just smoked us this morning...lol...the bite soon ended when the shad moved in so we packed up and went trolling for the last couple hours and managed to go 12 for 20, one nice bow and 11 brownies, lost a few giants. flicker shads behind boards did the damage . speed- 1.4-2.2 gps. great day on the water! good fishin'

[HotHead617]

And here's a few photo's from this morning's fishing.....
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing202.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing203.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing204.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing205.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing206.jpg

[brewcityfishr]

Went out again this morning with my pop's and hothead. we tried soaking some spawn and casting and did ok on the brownies, pops smoked us again! trolling was the ticket today for the big guys! we lost more then a few giants today also. flatlines and 2 and 3 color leadcores with spoons and cranks did the damage. kept a couple for eggs and the neibors. cpr'd the rest. will post pics later. good fishin'

[luv2fish]

LATE REPORT ****

From Wednesday :o

Fished from 6-10 and ended up with one brown. This thing had a weird growth on its mouth...Not sure if it had its jaw broken when it was younger and thats just how it healed up or what but it looked like a mini spear comin out of its mouth. Shoulda taken a pic. Anywho, the brown was caught on a shiner next to the wall...Also had a couple short hits on spawn ( on the bottom) but none stuck. Tossed some flicker shads and gulp for a while with no luck.

It was a nice day to be out...Now i just want a nice cold snap so i can get out on the ice pronto!!!:D:D My cousin lives in the muskego area and said that Big Mo was iced up, Little Mo was almost completely iced up, and Wind Lake was all iced with the exception of the river channel that runs through the middle of the lake....I think the long cold nights are helpin us out:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Good Luck Everyone

[SheHateMe]

Recap: Took the week off of work to fish. Did pretty well over the 4 days that I did fish. Caught around 50 trout. Most we caught on spawn or gulp. It seemed that the hour before sunrise was the most productive. No huge fish to speak of. I even got the girl friend out for a while. All in all a good time, I fished every where from Sheboygan to Racine. A couple in the mid to high teens were taken but no monsters. Just waiting for ice now.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Brownies003.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Brownies004.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Pipe1129001.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Pipe11290031.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Browns002.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t274/FinAddict91/Egss.jpg

[HotHead617]

Ok here goes a few photos from yesterday while out with brewcity and his pops by the way great day fishing!!!!!!
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing207.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing208.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing209.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing210.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing211.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing212.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing214.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj201/HotHead617/Fishing213.jpg

[BigMusky]

we had a pretty good day out as well - couple big fish in that 15lb range, but most of them were pretty small - but numbers were there. I did most damage on Spoons - both riggers and dipseys. My boards with cranks were not as productive as hotheads.

[brewcityfishr]

BigMusky- how far back are you running your cranks? I'm running pretty short leads with the cranks. long leads for spoons.

[brookiereleaser]

was out saturday morning ,

saw quite a few of you out there.

Did alright caught a few steelies actually, no browns , and impaled about 15 big ugly is it "shad" and if so what kind, i have never gotten any of these guys snagged out there before, it was wierd because the previous few times fishing out there, fishing the same exact way, i had no problem with those nasty things, what can you guys tell me about them and how to avoid that whole issue,

anyways, managed to snag eric once as well......sorry about that man...i am a newbie and i got a little too close out there with my POS.

I would have tried trolling but my diver rods got jacked from my backyard inside my boat, big bummer, im sure they got sold for about 5 bucks quick cash out of a van.

For guys fishing those boards out there , are you weighting your lures down at all behind them or do you just hook your boards up to the lure on plain line, i was thinking of picking some up but never used em.

careful for that ice on the launch in the mornings for those of you new to this cold weather lake mich boating like me. i was slipping a bit at the pitt launch. do any of you guys bring stuff down there like ice chisels or sand or what have you.

I feel like the launch should discount the fees this late in the year especially when they take the docks out, its bullshizz paying the fee this time a year . i actually saw quite a few cars with no sticker or launch fee slip so maybe im just an idiot, do you all still pay that thing for those that dont have the sticker???

good luck all,

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee317/3snakes1charm/steely1.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee317/3snakes1charm/steely2.jpg

[luv2fish]

Bring Salt, Sand, or ....DAMN i forgot the name of it...Eric recommended it last year and it worked really well:confused::confused:. Its like salt but better. Bring alot of salt or sand and an ice chopper.

Im jealous...i put the boat away for winter :(:(

Good Luck Guys

[HotHead617]

Hey Brookie, if im not mistaken you dont have to pay anymore launch fees for the year!!!!

[brookiereleaser]

sweet no launch fees is that true???

its funny because theres still plenty of envelopes in there, and during the summer many times they were all out so there really wasnt a way to pay anyways.

I had a bit of a scare at the launch on saturday, the previous day i went out i checked it and no ice at all, this time i kinda looked , and it was pretty clean in appearance, i backed in put my suv in park and started sliding back im like shit my tranny is slipping or something, nope, just on an ice skid, thank god for 4 wheel drive.

[BigMusky]

BigMusky- how far back are you running your cranks? I'm running pretty short leads with the cranks. long leads for spoons

I had mine opposite!!

Both Cranks I had about 125-150 LOC which put them about 15FOW.

The Spoons I had the riggers about 20 feetback and the dipseys just a standard 3ft lead. The dipsey I had best action with the smallest size with no ring set at 35-45LOC which is again about 15FOW. The riggers I ran staggered about 2 feet off bottom and then 5-7 feet off bottom depending on where I was.

I only ran two boards, instead of six like you did.

Brookie - i was the guy that told you that you had a Gizzard Shad snagged.

[brewcityfishr]

BM- That sounds like a good set-up. I ran 4 boards with cranks and a 2 color and a 3 color right off the back with spoons. cranks were running shallow- 7-12' down. spoons 10 and 15' down. I havent used the riggers this winter but I'm gonna put them back on for the next trip. maybe try some floating raps on them with long leads near the bottom. rainbow trout and black/metallic red cranks have been best for me. I havent even tried the bottom half of the water colum yet. the brownies better watch out next time...lol...good fishin'

[Eric Haataja]

Made it out everday except for thanksgiving and the bite has been pretty good just about everyday! I fished up in Port,in Racine, and in Milwaukee and we caught aome really big browns this past week mainly on cranks for the big fish! Spawn and gulp was also working but the cranks got us our big fish all over 15 lbs. trolling and casting.

I was going to try and post some pics but we're having problems with the site posting pics now.

Eric

[brookiereleaser]

eric ,

ive been fishing some shad raps and such lately out there, i really liked the xrap series when we were fishing for salmon,

do you find that the larger sized lures that worked in the summer are too big for these winter fish or will they still hit,

I did well on those xrap baits with the little bit of rooster tail attached to the back end on them, I feel like they have a bit more weight to them and cast much longer than the regular shad raps and frenzy etc.

Is it very common fishing around the walls to snag a bunch of those gizzard shad with lures, i was quite suprised this weekend how many i was snagging just with really slow spoon retrievals ,

plan on going out this week during the week, will report,
again sorry for snaggin ya eric im a hack of a fisherman out there
good luck everyone

[Eric Haataja]

For me I did good on the frenzy's, rouges, husky jerks, and lucky craft's. Some days it matters what you use other days it does not. Just depends on the fish! We left the discharge and caught some good fish elsewhere away from the crowds which was nice for a Saturday to have a few spots all to ourselves!

No problem about the line snagging, it happens no biggy! It was just as much my fault!

[deno b.]

Made it down to the harbor from 2:00-4:00. Kind of slow with alot of wind. Ended up getting one nice male rainbow on char. spawn sac. Had to be 8lbs or so. Fishing lately has been pretty steady. The browns that I have been getting have been spawned out. Most of the catch have been rainbows. Sure is a blast.

Eric I look forward to seeing the pictures when you were in racine. Good fishing.

[Eric Haataja]

Themilwaukee harbor is still a bit dirty, give it about 2 more days of these west winds and by the weekend the bite should be great again. Found some nice pods of fish in Milwaukee and in Port and clients had fun catching steelies and browns on cranks, jigs and gulp and spawn.

Brrrr it was cold out there today and I had to shovel out the boat tonight to get rod of all the snow!

Going to be chilly as well the next few days but that should only make the bite better!!!!!!!

[Eric Haataja]

Out in the harbor today and we managed 8 browns sloooow bite for us and totally dead at the dishcharge, i talked with hunter 5 who also fished the discharge and he caught zero fish there as well. The water is still too dirty in the harbor and in about 2-4 days the bite should be back on track! We caught our fish up the river , in the summerfest lagoon and in Mckinnely but most of those are's will now be frooze over soon ice will be upon us!
I'll post pics when I get time .......

Eric

[BigMusky]

is McKinnley launch open still or with just skim ice that I can break though? I hate launching at national.

[vdubdipr]

i havent been down there in a couple days but it was doable last weekend, last weekend the wasnt even a dock on nat. and their was still one @mckinley so id definately try thier first, but i bet the river is still more open...

[brewcityfishr]

Mckinley has a good 3 inches of crap ice. a couple guys had tip-ups out in the maria. WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS YET!!! wait for a few more days of singal digit temps. flags will be flying soon!!! good fishin'

[BigMusky]

yeah....McKinnley is unlaunchable. Fishing sucked today anyway. One brown in four hours. Did have a pike though that was sticking its head out of water like Flipper begging for sardine. Drove over and netted him. 34 inch big guy and was in good health expect had reddish markings that might have been VHS. Swam off fine, but was funny that we netted a pike.

[Eric Haataja]

Nice fish Chad!!! You dah Maan!

[NOBADDAYS]

The discharge hasnt been pumping lately is why no bite there? very few fish and water temp is just as cold there as it is anywhere else in the area.....

[deno b.]

Caught this beatiful rainbow last week. Love the silver. Lots of ice down there now.

[Eric Haataja]

Well finally got a day off to catch up on some fishing reports now that we have a blizzard! The bite has been very good for the most part the past 2 weeks with some very big browns being caught by my clients. cranks skein, spawn, minnows, and gulp have been working the best for us. Trolling has also been good along with casting and float fishing. We've landed numerous fish the past 2 weeks over 15 lbs and a couple breaking the 20 lb class. ice is on it's way but I'll be ut in the boat for a while yet here in Milwaukee!

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

A few more pics

[walleyewackr]

pure slobs eric, dont have fishable water or fishable ice in sheboygan-sucks pretty bad

[Eric Haataja]

Here's a few more

[Hunter5]

Great job Eric, you the Man...Those are some real nice fish you guided those guys to....Wow

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks Greg! you also da Man!

Here's a few more from this past week from Port, Milwaukee, and secret spot # 23 "-));)

[John S]

Eric / Anyone - is McKinley locked in yet?

[Eric Haataja]

It is but I personally would not head out there myself! I was open water fishing there just this past week breaking up some of the ice you would want to walk on. be careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deadeternity]

Just to be safe I would wait for Janurary and steady icefishing reports from the harbors before going out. At this point some ponds still show signs of weak ice and open water pockets so the harbor is definately a risky thing with waves, current, snow cover, and so on.....

[John S]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I was thinking about launching the boat. I had problems at the other launch last winter, and was hoping to use McKinley instead.

[deadeternity]

John, always remember safety first. I am a sissy when it comes to ice ever since I fell through at a park pond a few years ago. It was'nt deep water but it was very cold, miserable, and I had to drive home soaking wet,freezing, and I got pretty sick for a few days.

I own a Lazer 6" hand auger and I was wondering if this auger makes a large enough hole for winter brown/steelhead fishing? I have fit 32 inch pike up the hole but, browns have a very broad body mass at times. It is the only auger I have because I got rid of the junky, blue, strikemaster 8" auger I use to own. The blades and drill rusted to no end. I really would hate to have to but another auger, and the 6" Lazer slices like a dream.....

[collinfishes]

Awesome day today. Got 5 browns and 2 steelies. biggest was a steelie bout 14lbs. Lost a giannnt brown at the hole :(:(:( deadeternity I would definetly go with a bigger auger. the steelie I got today barely fit in my 8in. hole. Joe I actully hooked into one as I heard you pull off haha. Lost it though.

[.Pan Handler]

Take care of your auger DE and your blades won't rust. Dry off your blades with a towel when you're done fishing, and maybe spray a little WD-40 on there. I would definitely go with an 8" hole for Lake Michigan fishing. I wouldn't even use a 6" for pike, then again, where I fish, a 32 is a baby ;)

[deadeternity]

I was doing fine with Pike last year with the 6" hole but, I am definately dropping the extra moola on an 8" auger. I bought the 6" for walleyes and panfish but, I will have to get a new auger.

I was looking online and augers went up in price alot. I bought my 6" Lazer for $50.00. Now they are well over that price and it is upsetting. Are there any 8" hand augers that are quality built and sharp for under $60.00? I seen one online by LL BEAN but I am not so sure about that......

[deno b.]

Forgot the camera, its a good thing i did other wise would not of got this fish.
Fun catching them through the ice.

[Eric Haataja]

My best advice to you is buy a good Power auger like a jiffy STX you will never regret for as long as you live ecspecially in Mid Jan and feb.

For around here a 32 inch pike is a very nice fish!