Door County Vacation in July

[Mitch f]

White and chartreuse bait colors, or a combination of the two seem to work best in the tannic water up north. I would go with a reaction type bait and seek out any stray logs on the river, they should be holding a good fish.

If you throw a crankbait, use one that you're guaranteed to bang as many rocks as possible. That might mean fishing a deeper diving crankbait than you would usually fish for a certain water depth. Those fish are beasts. I'd be reluctant to throw 8 pound test, IMHO it's a tad too light. MoSmallies buzzbait would also be a good choice. Bring the mosquito repellant!

[rangerman]

bring plenty of watermelon/pepper flake tubes...drop shot baits in the same color. 4 inch gulp minnows are a good goby imitator. Some Johnson thinfishers in 1/2 ounce weight. Golds and gold sunset are good colors. Might want a few rippin raps, however I haven't used them this much this time of year they are usually hot. Gold shiner/ green craw colors. Stop at howies tackle in sturgeon bay on way up. They have everything you need. You should be able to wear them out. Braid with a 12 floro leader is a pretty good combo.

I'll be heading up in a couple of weeks. Then again in September. Love that place.

You should take the yak up for the fall Salmon run and let them tow you around. That could be a blast.

Good luck!

[rangerman]

Cant get intimidated by the big waters of Green Bay. There are always smallies in the sturgeon bay canal but most are in the 2.5-3.5 pound range. Big girls like being out in the bay..as far as sturgeon bay goes the outer edge of larsens reef are good but could be a good paddle. The whole point around sawyer point lighthouse is good.

The sweet cherries should be ripe right now. Fill'er up. ;-)

[ColdWaterFshr]

Looking forward to heading up there in 2 weeks. Should I fish around Peninsula SP or on the main lake side? I will be on foot or probably some leaky rental kayak. I'm not hiring no #$&@ guide, so someone please PM me some tips, GPS coordinates, or good advice. I will repay in kind with barbituates and peyote.

[rangerman]

Haven't fished the upper peninsula. Never had too..the shallow water gig is done I believe. I guess you could catch a few shallow but not real sure. Just view above post anything goby related bait is good.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Shallow water gig is done, as in, too late in to summer? Is it too shallow even in a kayak? What is a goby?

[rangerman]

A goby is an invasive bottom feeding baitfish.. Somewhat like a sculpin..they are plentiful and the gamefish up there all gorge on them. Watermelon, brown and such colored tubes are good imitators. Gobys lacks swim bladder which only allows them to hop along the bottom..that's why tubes are so effective, you can basically drag them and hop them once in awhile. On your way up make sure you stop at howies tackle in sturgeon bay. They are very very helpful with reports fro the entire peninsula. Out of a yak, you will just have to feel out the winds. They can kick up pretty good. Get a lake map and see what reefs have the closest drop near shore. They like hanging around the drops on the edge of the reefs. The shallow water gig where I fish, starts around May spawn and ends post spawn around end of June. A lot of fish then move out onto the reef edges. But my knowledge of the upper pennisula bite is limited and there may be some shallow fish. Can't tell until you get there. I will be up there the July 31 and on for a couple of days. Doubt if I'll fish much though. Taking kids up for the cherry festivals.

[ColdWaterFshr]

Okay, thanks for the good info! Will try to stop in at Howies Tackle. My fishing time will be limited too as the family will be in tow. We plan to do some cherry picking as well.

[sean c]

CWF I love Door county we spent a week up there around the time you are going last year. Weather/wind will definitely be a factor especially in a kayak I took my 15ft jon and basically played around in the bays anything main lake will likely be a no go. I spent most of my time trying to chase carp on the flats with my fly rod but they weren't up did pretty decent on smallies. My favorite areas were Ellison bay, Baily's harbor and the far north end of Newport sp where the kayak launch is. Didn't get to fish peninsula sp the wind never allowed it plus it was a pretty busy area. Avoid egg harbor and fish creek way to crowded you will be there during peak season. The fish weren't up shallow when we were there but we had crap weather a lot of the houses on the bay with boat docks have blown out channels in the flats to get in and out of the bays any time I found one smallies were stacked up in them. Bailys harbor is worth doing for the kayak trip alone there are some pretty good ship wrecks there to view but its a decent paddle and beware of the wind. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

[Riverwhy]

I fished Door County a couple of years ago in late May. I caught a several over 20 inches but even the 18 inchers are absolute beautiful fish. My buddy calls them popcorn bass because you could catch a bag full of the 18 inchers. We found the Goby imitation baits very effective but also had good luck on big Mepp spinners.