Oh, one more thing. The Brew City tourney is Saturday August 1st. That’s one weekend I would probably stay away from. Obviously, lake Michigan doesn’t get crowded, and only the McKinley launch will be swamped, but there’s a lot of really good sticks in that tournament. I wouldn’t wanna go try and catch salmon when you’ve got vacuums like those guys out there to compete with.
August Any Time 
…rrr
Mid August would work great for me.
Any port is good for me also.
Would love to give the Sturgeon Bay area a try though:)
Just thinking out loud….When I think back to fishing Aug, other than the browns stacking up , we ran up to Two rivers and Algoma because it was much shorter run out to deeper water (colder water). Might be a good place to look at.
Rowleys Bay would be interesting 
Though i don’t think i could get past all the smallies 
Mid August would work great for me.
Any port is good for me also.
Would love to give the Sturgeon Bay area a try though:)
I like Joel’s line of thinking. Sturgeon Bay is great fun to fish with some structure to target and the King’s are typically found in larger numbers up there later in the summer.
Fishing that time of year, if the thought is deeper, are riggers and such necessary? That late, how are you gearing up? Not changing focus of thread, but defining a little of the gear needed in case others are like me, and just venturing into all this.. so we can determine if we are able to fish that way, then
August works much better for me too. I would be willing to head north of the Milwaukee area as well. Anything to learn a new spot and have some fun!
Dave
Fishing that time of year, if the thought is deeper, are riggers….
Chuck, the true determination is how deep you need to go for colder water. Typically you don’t need to go much deeper than you would around milwaukee. Now if south east wind stack warm water up, then 80…100 feet down can be a reality. However in viewing the surface temp graphs throughout the summmer, it’d common to see colder water near shore in the northern region of the lake. That consider with deeper water closer to shore as well.
Fishing that time of year, if the thought is deeper, are riggers and such necessary? That late, how are you gearing up? Not changing focus of thread, but defining a little of the gear needed in case others are like me, and just venturing into all this.. so we can determine if we are able to fish that way, then
Riggers aren’t always necessary to fish deep. I did it for a few years when I started fishing out there from my own boat. One pound lead balls- aka pump handles, mag dipsy, torpedo weights are all options to get deep. And just because a fisherman is fishing deep water, doesn’t always mean they were fishing deep!
Sounds fun. If a guy can do it in August without downriggers, I’d consider making the trip.
Back before having down riggers, I just used keels and a drop line to 14oz to 24oz lead balls. (Laker rig for wire line) worked perfect on 30# XT mono
In fact, if anyone needs any, I have the 14oz bank sinker and 20oz round ball molds
If you go north the Door/Kewaunee salmon tournament runs July 25 – Aug 2. That puts a lot of boats in the water from Kewaunee to Washington Island. Kind of crazy. As far as deep water its a crap shoot. Off shore winds will keep the water cool near shore and the thermocline high. If you get a year with lots of North East winds the warm water will pile in and it could be 75 deg 100 feet down. I use to run 4 but now I only run 2 downriggers. Dipsy divers and leadcore/copper catch more with the clear water. Rainbows run warmer water than salmon. They can add alot to your fun and enjoyment. Like everything else its off to a slow start. Based on the past years the good stuff looks to be late July through Aug. St.Bay is good but its a long ride to the fishing ground due to the no wake zones. The Bank can get crowded too because of the narrow sweet zone. Algoma/Kewaunee area can spread the crowds out better. The weekend of Aug. 8th looks good. No moon phase helps keep the morning bite good. The full moon can make for a good allnighter, with the salmon feeding under the full moon, but can make the morning bite hit-n-miss. Sucks to get up at 3:30 am and struggle.
Either of the last two weekends in August would work for me as of right now.
Last year off Two Rivers in early august we were getting all of our fish in the top 30 feet. Biggest king of the trip came on a rigger down 20 feet in 125 FOW. You could see the FF spinning behind the boat, and would see big kings porpoising and spooking away from the boat. So, depending on conditions, riggers aren’t always needed.
I’m open after the first weekend!
The action in Kewaunee is starting to pickup the last 2 weeks. Ive been out 3 times and getting 6-9 hits and bagging 3-6 bows and kings a night. Get out there and feel the drags scream!!! I would be interested in the date as well. Kd tournament is July 25- August 2 if that would interest you guys. Cheap fun and daily port prizes up and down door and kewaunee county!!
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Weekend of August 24th was good to me last year out of Sturgeon Bay. Came home with a 2 man limit with one absolute pig. The fish were spread out but generally 50+ down over 100-150 fow. Hottest setup was a 10-color with flasher/fly, what a chore it was cranking those fish in. Im thinking about getting a higher gear ratio reel just for this setup, anyone reccomend a reel?
Since I am over 6 hours away I generally use the door county fishing report page here:
http://www.wdor.com/fishing-report/
Wait until the reports are good for atleast a week straight.
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I’m trying the daiwa sealine slw-60h this year for the first time. Has a 6.1 to 1 retrieve rather than the 4.2 to 1 of my tekotas. Planning to get out for the first time this weekend so no on the water experience with it yet.
6.1:1 ratios rule! Especially for clearing long line during fire drills. Just be sure to extend the handle to get that extra leverage when dealing with any pigs on the end of the line.
I’m trying the daiwa sealine slw-60h this year for the first time. Has a 6.1 to 1 retrieve rather than the 4.2 to 1 of my tekotas. Planning to get out for the first time this weekend so no on the water experience with it yet.
Thanks for the advice John, I just ordered one up from Cabelas.
I’m trying the daiwa sealine slw-60h this year for the first time. Has a 6.1 to 1 retrieve rather than the 4.2 to 1 of my tekotas. Planning to get out for the first time this weekend so no on the water experience with it yet.
I rigged one of these up last year for my copper chute rod. It works very well for that application and what art said about being able to clear it quickly. One thing I will say is that it is not “easier” to reel in. You definitely pick up way more line with every crank, and therefore it is more efficient, but it actually requires more force to make each crank. Sounds confusing, I know, but I guess my point is that if your trying to make it easier to crank while fighting a fish (for kids or similar). A lower gear ratio is actually better. Higher gear ratios really only help with the “speed” in which one can retrieve a line, not necessarily the “ease”.
Best way to make reeling in heavy coppers or leads is to fill your spools to the max, and extend those handles as Art mentioned. That makes a HUGE difference.
You’ll like the Sealine if you want to be able to get the lines in quick, but I think you’ll be disappointed if you think it will make the cranking “easier”. My 300s are on Okuma Convector 55’s, and I’ve been happy with that setup.
1st, Chris, thanx for getting this thread and topic back on the board.
Mid to late August might work for me. I really enjoyed it last summer and meeting a lot of fellow IDOers, putting real faces to names was great.
I was out last week of August last year with my brother. Weather was brutal. High wind/waves but we did get fish. As Nathan K said, some had already started to get their ‘tan’ on, but were great. We lost at leat one well over 20#’s, and resurfaced to try and throw the dipsy-n-spoon. It was a beast……We went out of Sheboygan. But the lake as a whole was slow last year and as Nate is saying, will likely be that way for a while. Still, with great guys, the experience is well worth the trip IMHO.
I’m thinking I could be free Aug 14,15,16… possibly later weekends but not sure of my schedules yet……
I years past, I’ve fished out of Kewaunee, Algoma, Sheboygan, Port Washington, and Milwaukee… doesn’t matter to me….
Just wanted to bump this thread one time, and see what this year’s interest is. Summer is definitely flying by, and free weekends are becoming scarce, at least in our household….
I was able to get out fishing 5 times over the last week, for Salmon A Rama, and I can say that the bite has really improved. It’s still not the constant chaos of years past, but more than enough action to keep a guy interested. I’ve been averaging 6-8 salmon bites in a 4/5 hour trip, and we’ve been landing about 75% of those. Most being solid 3 and 4 year old kings in the 10-18lb class. IF you choose to target lake trout, you can easily double your number of bites, as there is still a large amount of them around. Although they are certainly being educated…There’s also a pretty consistent rainbow bite out deep, if you’re interested in that. Cohos are elusive at best, rare to see more than one or two in a box.
Anyways, just wanted to throw the idea up here one more time, as this thread seems to have fizzled out. Like I mentioned previously, I’d be happy to help facilitate IF people want to come to Milwaukee again. There’s probably only a month or so left for targeting silver fish, so if we want to make this happen, we better get planning pretty quick…
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Im already booked August 8th weekend in Sturgeon Bay. Howies tackle has a motel that caters to fishermen.
Last weekend during the Brew City tournament the kings and bait pods were in the gaps and a lot of guys were catching them jigging. I fished Brew city and didn’t hear of a whole lot of action coming from shallow water for kings even though I had boats to the inside of me (15-25′ of water). A lot of guys did well a little south by the green can and north of fox point. Personally I couldn’t find a king to save my life but did finish 39th with 5 fish for 58lbs, 1 coho 4 very nice browns with one being 19.5lbs. It was a completely different story the week before. Ended up going 4-4 in just over an hour in the same area I started Brew City, 4 16-14lb kings and a 16lb brown. I just looked at the forecast and they are calling for everything but WEST winds this week. If you guys are looking at jigging for the kings I would highly suggest looking at the last weekend of August.
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FYI – Stopped down by south pier in Racine for a couple hours on 8/9/15. 2 Chins, 1-Sheepshead, and a 1-3# smallie on Flukes.eanwhile, friends were trolling the 25 to 40 fow and did well as well as a couple friends in Milwaukee jigging open water less than 50′. Water temps are good with the last string of west blow. If water temps hold, fish will be around.
FYI – Stopped down by south pier in Racine for a couple hours on 8/9/15. 2 Chins, 1-Sheepshead, and a 1-3# smallie on Flukes.eanwhile, friends were trolling the 25 to 40 fow and did well as well as a couple friends in Milwaukee jigging open water less than 50′. Water temps are good with the last string of west blow. If water temps hold, fish will be around.
Let me know dude 
I still have to drop that rod off for ya……
It really is too bad that we weren’t able to get anything put together this year. Had we done it the same weekend as last year, many of you guys may have had the trip of the lifetime….
For the two weeks leading up to the Brew City tournament, we absolutely laid the wood to A LOT of kings, cohos, and browns using nothing more than our walleye rods, jigs and plastics. Bait was stacked up near shore and when that gets coupled with cool water, its game on for the best bite in freshwater!
This is my favorite bite in the world because you always get an A for effort. Meaning, the guy who works hardest, usually catches the most fish. It is truly a game of hunting the fish down with your electronics, and then getting them to bite. The best part though is, hooking the fish is only half the battle. Big kings will absolutely test your skills as a fisherman, and many people hook several before ever getting one to the net.
Unfortunately, a few days before the Brew City, word got out on the bite and the masses showed up. The insane amount of fishing pressure that ensued, coupled with ice cold (too cold\ clear) water. Had the fish hi- tailing for deeper\ safer waters, and they have not returnedin any numbers since…..
I was able to get several friends and even the fiance their first salmon jigging in the time leading up to the chaos, and I am extremely grateful that the opportunity presented itself for as long as it did. Had you guys been down here, I would’ve dialed you all in as well.
Next year, if there’s interest, I’d say lets shoot for late July. The same bite occured last year, the week after our get together, just not as long lived. Unfortunately, this bite is next to impossible to predict, and you’d have to cut my fingers off with a rusty butter knife before I talked about it publicly while its going on, but late July is as good of bet as any. Just gotta keep your fingers crossed that the stars align for you if your an out-of-towner. By the time word really gets out, the bite is usually done for.
As I mentioned, the bite is toast for now, and I really don’t see it firing up that good again until the kings come home to meet their maker later this month… I didn’t write this post to rub things in, (I’m really not like that), but I was kinda disappointed that you guys weren’t around to experience it. I love nothing more than helping people catch their first one “the fun way”. Maybe things will work out again in the future.
Understandably I think, I haven’t been out trolling at all since the jig bite stopped and therefore, don’t have any useful info on that bite for you guys right now. I do plan on getting out for some staging fish in the next two weeks though. If I get on a good bite, I’ll chime in. In the meantime, there’s some big ol’ eyeballs biting up in Green Bay, so I might have to pay them one more visit as well.
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More kings
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Couple more
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Other part of the pond fish
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