Surf Fishing Door County

Standing on a sun-drenched beach, barefoot, up to my knees in cool saltwater, I slowly draw back an 8-foot saltwater spinning rod high over my head. With a steady swing of my arms, I send a 3-ounce pyramid sinker and circle hook draped with some bits of shrimp I bought a a local bait shop arching against the cobalt blue sky. The bait array splashes into the roiling ocean just beyond a set of breakers. I take up the slack line, feeling for the tell-tail “bump” indicating a feeding fish. I set the hook and sense life at the end of the line. Slowly I work the fish toward the beach. I spot a silvery flash just under the surface. Soon a foot-long whiting is writhing on the beach. I bait up and send the rig back out into the surf. A few more and I‘ll have enough for supper. 

This is what most anglers think of when you mention “surf fishing”. I have casted beaches in Florida, Texas, and Alabama. Surf anglers target striped bass all along the Atlantic coast, pompano in the Gulf of Mexico and rockfish off California beaches. It is an excellent way to access game fish without the need of a boat or even a kayak.  However, these days, the term “surf fishing” is taking on a new meaning and importance to Midwest anglers. It’s not surf as a noun, as in “fishing in the surf”, but as a verb. Anglers are increasingly “surfing” the internet to obtain valuable information about local fishing from current weather conditions to near real-time fishing reports.  

Things have changed dramatically in how anglers gather knowledge about local fishing conditions. Sure, Door County anglers can still stop at our local bait shops to gain insight on the recent bite. Howie’s in Sturgeon Bay, Stevenson’s Pier in Little Sturgeon or Lakeshore Adventures in Baileys Harbor are all great venues to find out about the local action. They are gathering spots for local anglers and visitors alike. However, the information you obtain depends on the knowledge and veracity of whoever is working the shop that day. And these places are becoming fewer. More often tackle is purchased at large stores or online and bait is being sold in gas stations or convenience stores. Good luck getting any meaningful information from the twenty-year-old behind the counter working their third job. 

It’s a brave new world for obtaining fishing information these days. I don’t have to wonder what the conditions are on Hedgehog Harbor, Sister Bay or Sturgeon Bay. I can access real-time web cams at all these locations from my living room and see for myself. Further south, I can check out who’s launching at Bayshore County Park or observe the current conditions on the south end of Green Bay where the Fox River enters.  On the lakeside, there are webcams at the Algoma and Kewaunee marinas. Sadly, except for the camera showing the causeway at Cana Island, there are no webcams on the lakeside in northern Door. However, Robert, the harbormaster at the Baileys Harbor marina, assures me that one is coming soon.  

As for the weather, the National Weather Service produces detailed forecasts that predict changes in temperature, sky conditions and winds hour by hour. You can even get projections of wave heights and swell direction on the big lake. I use the Windy app on my phone to see how winds and waves will shift throughout the day. Another app, RadarScope, will warn me of any approaching rain showers or thunderstorms. On more than one occasion I have been on the water catching fish with one eye on my RADAR app and returning safely to the marina just ahead of a thunderstorm. Sometimes just barely.

Actual fishing reports can be obtained from a variety of internet sources. One of those that has been around a long time is Lake-Link. I have referenced Lake-Link for years. It provides fishing reports for just about every active fishing stop in the state. However, I have learned that you must read each report with a healthy dose of skepticism. Sometimes anglers lie. Some posts are trying to sell stuff. Often guides or local businesses will post and make the fishing in their location sound much better than it is. I tend to look for people who post regularly and ones that have provided good information in the past. At the very least, the fishing reports can give you some sense of who’s catching what and where. 

Speaking of guides, many guide services will post fishing reports through their websites, as well as on Facebook, Instagram or other social media platforms (maybe even Tik-ToK). Locally, besides Lakeshore Adventures, if I want to get an idea of how the salmon and trout bite is going, I will take a look at the Facebook page for Silver Strike, a Baileys Harbor guide service. During the summer they will post pictures and reports of their catches. For current bass and walleye action, primarily on the bay, I check out the sites at  Late Eyes Sport Fishing and Wacky Walleye, both reputable local guides who regularly post during the season. In the winter, my go to connection for the whitefish and perch bite is JJ’s Guide Service. J.J. Malvitz is a local guide who posts winter fishing reports and will respond to inquiries about the local bite. The Facebook site Door County WI Fishing Reports also a good source. 

One of the very best “surf anglers” I know is my good friend and fishing partner Terry. He amazingly seems to have the pulse of the local action. Terry lives in the Fox Valley and fishes a lot in the southern end of Green Bay, primarily off Door, Brown and Oconto counties. When we are planning a trip to target walleyes or muskies in the bay, Terry can usually find a contact with information about the bite, right down to locations and which baits are being most effective. He will send me videos of recent catches at the same locations we plan to hit. Sometimes I get the impression that Ter spends more time “surf fishing” than on the water. One time he sent me a video of some guy catching huge walleyes “some place in Door County”. The angler did not identify the exact location, obviously. Terry asked if I could recognize the spot, seeing I spend a lot of time along the shorelines in the Door. Sure enough, I easily recognized some landmarks and knew exactly where this guy was fishing. We were there the very next day and put some monster ‘eyes in the boat along with a nice pike. We fished this spot for several days and did well, all thanks to Terry’s surf fishing. 

Terry recommended the following sites if you are looking for information about the bite in Green Bay; Alexander Sport Fishing, and  Finfanatic Charters who post fishing reports almost daily during the season. Other reputable sites for information on Green Bay fishing are Wisconsin Fishing Guide Service with Brett Jolly, Doug Wegner Fishing, and The Green Bay Fishing Junkies. Two very informative seasonal sites are Swamp Donkey Bait & Tackle, which posts during the spring walleye run in DePere and, of course, the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament Facebook page. As we approach the tournament, which this year runs April 18th – April 24^th, there will be fishing reports on the site by several local anglers, including yours truly. During the tournament, there will be updates on results along with reports on local weather and water conditions. 

I must strike a note of caution whenever you read fishing reports, either from casual anglers or professional guides.  As I have written about in this space, there is typically a “good news bias” in fishing reports. Most guides are honest and they won’t tell you they are catching fish when they are not. However, they may not be totally open when the bite is terrible and they are getting skunked. One of my rules of thumb is this, If any angler, amateur or pro, claims “they always catch fish”, you can be assured that they are lying and any information they might provide is suspicious.

The availability of this tremendous volume of information about fish and fishing in Northeast Wisconsin can be useful and make your fishing more successful and enjoyable. However, as has been true since the days of Issacs Walton, the best information is gleaned from time you spend on the water. 

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Bruce