2023 Brown Trout Update, March 10th

I took a road trip this week with tournament director Cynde Ploor to the southern ports participating in the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament. This gave us an opportunity to meet some of the business owners and staff at the various locations that support the tournament. It also gave me an opportunity to check out the conditions on the lake and several of the launches. It was sunlit day, ahead of this weekend’s snow. 

Our first and last stops were in in Sturgeon Bay. There are three tournament ticket outlets in Sturg, Howie’s Tackle,Greystone Castle, and Cherryland Shell (You know, the one with the Taco Bell and Arby’s.) Although there is open water in Sturgeon Bay and the lake side is open water, the downtown marina had ice on the launch ramp, but may be usable very soon. The last time I checked the launches at Potawatomi State Park and the county park launch at the Quarry, they were ice filled. 

We then headed to Little Sturgeon Bay and Wave Pointe Marina & Resort. Well, the launch at Carmody County Park next to Wave Pointe is still being used by ice anglers. As with most of the bayside launches, it will be some time before boats can be launched.  We now headed east to the lakeside where I was hoping to find a little more promising conditions. After a quick stop at Virlee Gunworks in New Franken (another ticket outlet and tournament supporter), we made it over to Kewaunee and open water. Although waters along the lake are pretty much ice free except of a few floaters, the launch on the Ahnapee River in Kewaunee is still filled with ice and blocked off. When we dropped off tickets at Yacht Works marina, the Kewaunee outlet, I saw that the harbor area was ice free. I did not see any shore anglers along the piers, but I am sure they will be out there very soon if they have not been already. 

Our final stop along the lake was Algoma. I had spotted a boat trolling along the shore between Kewaunee and Algoma and I was interested in where this intrepid angler had put in. After a quick stop at the Algoma ticket outlet, Hooked Up Tackle Shop, We drove over to the downtown marina and sure enough, the launch was relatively ice free and there were signs that it had been used recently. It was a glimmer of hope for early season. 

Thanks to Cynde for taking me along on her “business trip”. She is working hard to ensure a smooth 2023 tournament and has hopes of expanding the tournament for the future.  

I guess I will be spending the next couple of weeks making sure all my tackle is ready to go when that first opportunity to hit lake presents itself. 

Tight lines, The Harbor Angler