Manitowoc DNR Report - August 26th, 2011
Air temperatures remained in the low to mid-70s with winds steady at 10-15 mph, changing throughout the week back and forth from southeast to southwest. The Two Rivers and Manitowoc areas have gone several weeks now without any significant rainfall, leaving the tributaries for the upcoming salmon run very low. Water temperatures outside the pier heads dropped to 67 degrees by Sunday, with temperatures remaining between 71-72 degrees offshore for surface temperatures. Boaters continuously were hampered by the strong southeast/southwest winds that created 2-4 foot waves. The numbers have picked up slightly for chinook salmon with coolers consisting mostly of jacks (small chinook salmon less than 3 pounds) and an occasional 20-plus pound chinook. These large, four year old chinook have started turning their dark fall colors with many observed around the pier heads. Boaters continue to land a few rainbow trout, but numbers are considerably lower than the last few weeks and are much smaller fish. Anglers appear to be having success in two different water depths including 120-200 north and south of the trap nets and also along the lakeshore in 50-60 feet of water. Boaters have had success on a variety of glow spoons early on, with more fish coming on green/green flasher fly combos later in the day. Riggers, dypsies, and high lines down to 90 feet have worked throughout the week, seeming to change from day-to-day with the constantly changing winds out of the southeast and southwest. Those boats that find pockets of colder water at the surface appear to come in with higher amounts of fish. Pier fishing remains slow, but a rainbow and chinook were caught off the piers this week. It’s a good start and can only get better for pier anglers. On Sunday, water temperatures were nearly 5 degrees cooler around the piers than out in deeper water.
(courtesy of Wis DNR)
