Part of my job in developing and maintaining customer’s websites can entail formatting and processing a lot of information.  It’s easy to get in the habit of not paying too much attention to the actual content, other than making sure it’s grammatically correct and spelling is right.

In uploading tournament reports for American Bass Fishing Club (www.abcbass.com) last summer, I couldn’t help but take notice of some results from Sturgeon Bay, WI.  With 22 out of 30 anglers weighing 5 fish limits on Saturday, and 28 out of 30 weighing limits on Sunday, and 17 lbs only being good enough for 8^th place, these guys were on some serious fish! 

In my teen years in north eastern Arizona, fishing the Black River I learned what a truly awesome fish the Smallmouth Bass is.  In more recent years, a few fish caught at Table Rock or Bull Shoals had kept the love of Smallmouth alive.  I had to go check out this Sturgeon Bay thing. 

My 13 year old daughter Brooke (member of Hawghawlers.com), 15 year old son Chuck (Jr member of MOBASS and member of Hawghawlers.com), and I dropped the Basscat onto the truck and headed north on Memorial Day 2005. 

Every year, the Smallmouth Bass of Lake Michigan migrate to the bays for their annual spawning ritual.  While spawning times can vary as they do anyplace, this generally happens in the late May time frame in this area of Wisconsin. 

In 3 days of casual fishing (6 hours per day or so), we caught and released a little over 100 fish.  Easily 80% of the fish we caught were above 15”, with many in the 3 to 3 ˝ pound range.  A surprise catch of a 8lb 13oz Walleye on light tackle livened things up one afternoon.  Weather could not have been more pleasant with daytime temps in the mid to upper 70’s, and very little breeze and water temps around 60°.  Absolutely awesome fishing in my book – I believe in those 3 days we had lived the definition of the word “fun”. 

Fishing Details
Depending on the phase of the spawn,  methods will vary.  All of our fish were caught either swimming 4 or 5” single tail grubs (natural colors - we used green pumpkin and avocado S&P) on 1/4oz darter jig heads (1/8 oz for very shallow fishing), or fishing tubes in 2 to 6’ of water. If you fish the bedding fish, please be sure to practice catch and release – and get the fish back in the water as quickly as possible.   While we never got around to trying them, stick baits are also good producers per the locals.  Best fishing was found in the flats area of Sturgeon Bay.  We also caught fish in Riley Bay, and farther north in Eagle Harbor.  The area around Peninsula State Park is very scenic and worth the drive to check out and fish if the weather is nice.  The State Park has an excellent boat ramp at Nicolet Bay - day us is $10 for out of staters.  We fished from Tuesday through Thursday and saw very little boat traffic or other fisherman.  It’s reportedly much busier on weekends and if there are tournaments going on – as you would expect.

Variables
The spawn looked to be winding down towards the end of our trip, with many empty beds by the last days that had fish on them when we arrived down in the Riley Bay area.  Local fishermen were all very helpful and willing to share their knowledge.  Locals reported that fishing in the earlier part of the spawn, in early to mid May was much better than we experienced.  The local that I talked to about the better fishing back in mid May, also said it was not near as warm, so be prepared for cooler conditions.  Weather is key in this area, if the wind blows, you don’t want to be out there – it can turn into an ugly experience quickly.  Have a marine radio in your boat and monitor the weather.  If the weather starts to change or wind picks up – get back to the ramp.  There are numerous private and public ramps from Little Sturgeon Bay on up the Peninsula, generally charging around $5 to use.  Refer to a Fishing Hot Spots or similar map for ramp locations.

 Accommodations / Attractions
The Door County / Sturgeon Bay region is a very popular tourist area with a wide variety of places to stay in any price range.  The local Wisconsin schools had not let out for summer as of June 3, 2005 so scheduling your trip prior to this helps to avoid some of the summer traffic.  If you prefer to stay off the beaten path and want inexpensive ($50/night range), basic accommodations, try the Countryside Motel near Little Sturgeon Bay (920-824-5309).  Plusher lodging with all the amenities is available nearby at Wave Pointe Resort in Little Sturgeon Bay (888-882-WAVE, www.wavepointe.com).  There are also numerous places in Sturgeon Bay, and on up the coast.  Between Sturgeon Bay, Fish Creek and some of the other coastal communities, there is a ton of shopping and tourist shops.  Check out www.doorcounty.com for other lodging options as well as lots of local information, and current fishing reports.

 To see more images of this trip, click here.

Charlie Beach is owner of BeachNetServices.com, providing web and graphics design services, with fishing, hunting, and outdoors related work a specialty .  He is an avid bass fisherman and hunter, handling webmaster duties for Hawghawlers.com Bass club, as well as many other outdoor related websites.  He can be reached by email here.