I have heard many anglers complain about not doing so well on their recent outings in the Door County area for Smallies. Some of these anglers are new to the area, normally fish for largemouth or just fishing fond memories from trips gone by. The fish are still there in amazing numbers just not always on the obvious structure or community hole. With the introduction of invasive species and increased fishing pressure the fish have altered there ways, you too must adapt and change your approach. With the onset of fall some fish will move into shallower water in the surrounding bays, but until that happens try fishing a bit deeper. Now I realize deep is a relative term when it comes to fishing especially in the spring. But as a general rule when it comes to fishing big smallies in the summer and into the cold water period on large natural lakes like Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie ect. you will need to spend more time in the 14 – 50 ft range than you do in less water. As an example last weekend during a tournament I ran into a huge school of 6 – 8” smallies in 45ft of water. My partner and I fished around them for 10 minutes and finally moved on in search of bigger fish, but during those ten minutes we boated well over 15 of those future 5 pound brutes.
The smallie action is very hot right now if you are fishing the right depths so keep your mind open and move around until you find out what depth they are hanging at and hold on. Water temps are around 70 -72 deg in GB/SB and 68 – 70 on the Lake Michigan side.
If you get up to Door County and tie into these beauties please take the best care possible when handling these fish and let them ALL go for the next person to experience. There are so many better tasting species it is a shame to eat a 4 -5lb smallie that took 10 – 14 years to get that big! If you want some eaters drop me a line and I will point you to some good perch or walleye fishing.
