Green Bay & Door County: HOT Walleye and Salmon Action!

With the 30th Annual K/D Salmon Tournament steadily approaching, my fishing partner Captain Brett Jolly decided it was time for me to knock the rust off in regards to fishing on Lake Michigan, and I suppose start to regain my "sea-legs" - fishing inland lakes just doesn't do the trick. Brett, who owns Captain Jolly's Charters (www.captainjollycharters.com) guides full-time on the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We had both been hearing reports of how exceptional the salmon fishing has been this season, but busy schedules have kept each of us unable to team-up on the "big pond." The plan was to pursue some drag-screaming king salmon Monday, although I headed to Green Bay a day earlier after another phone call from Brett.

I knew the walleye fishing in the Bay of Green Bay had been on fire as well according to Jolly, but with the arrival of musky season, I'd been too busy chasing toothy critters for the time being. My phone rang Sunday morning - it was Brett. He was done guiding for the day as they caught their 4-man limit of walleyes in about 2 hours, yes, he was still really on the fish! If I wanted to come over a day early and get a few for the freezer, well it wouldn't take too long and be a nice addition to the salmon fillets we'd be getting Monday. That sold me - I hastily finished grocery shopping with my wife, ran home to grab a few clothes, then picked up my father-in-law and we were "East Bound and Down" Hwy 29 to Green Bay.

For the past week or so according to Jolly, the walleyes have been absolutely attacking crankbaits on the Bay. The 7cm Berkley Flicker Shad has been the ticket, with colors of chartreuse pearl, purple tiger, and a few "secret" patterns steadily producing fish. Rock humps and fingers as well as tapering points have all been holding walleyes. We launched mid afternoon, ran to one of Brett's "hot spots", and set our lines. I have been privy to some exceptional walleye fishing over the years, mainly during the spring run, and I will tell you this - that bite is on is as solid of a bite as I have been witness to. It took us roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes to boat a 3 person limit; it would have been much less, but the never-ending barrage of Aplodinotus grunniens, the freshwater drum or "sheephead", along with a few channel catfish, and some walleyes too large to keep to eat, keep us constantly re-setting lines. We were back at Brett's before long, cleaned our catch, and prepped the boat and gear for salmon.

2:15 AM comes mighty fast, and before I had much time to dream, I was rubbing my eyes and stumbling towards the truck headed North to Algoma. We began our set in 90 feet of water: downriggers, Luhr Jensen Dipsey Divers, and both 5 and 10 color lead outfits, all rigged with either spoons or flies. Our first four fish grabbed glow spoons with either green or blue patterns - the first on a downrigger, the next two came as a double on Dipsey's (although the larger of the two tore itself free), and the fourth on a 10 color lead outfit. As the morning progressed, 130-150 feet of water was the 'zone'; green became the color of choice for the kings while orange was the preference for some acrobatic steelhead that added additional excitement with their aerial displays. 9.8 miles later, although the fish were readily biting, the wind had become a bit much to handle so we pulled our set and proceeded to bounce our way back to the marina. A stop at the fish cleaning station, then the Steelhead Saloon for lunch, and we were on our way. If only every Monday could be the same way. I'll see you on the water...

Tight lines,