With forecasted highs in the upper 30’s this past Saturday
and needing to scratch an itch to use the long rods one last time in 2013, a
nice long ride along the lakeshore was in order to Port Washington to tangle
with some Brown Trout.
There is a warm water discharge from the WE Energies Power
Plant which keeps Port Washington’s Harbor open all winter long, and also
attracts Brown Trout from Lake Michigan where they like to hang out in the warm
water. Shad are also attracted to the
warm water, which offers these Trout an abundance of food at times. All of these variables put together can offer
some intense open water fishing action in the middle of the winter!
This was our first time fishing in Port Washington, so we
didn’t know what exactly to expect. As
the sun hit the horizon, we began fishing along with quite a few other
anglers. It was surprising to see so
many other people open water fishing as well, since we are in the midst of ice
fishing season here in Wisconsin!
The morning started out slow for us, but we watched a few
Brown Trout get caught by others in the area before we made a small move which
paid huge dividends! Once we moved, it
was instantly game on! Jigging Gulp on
darter head jigs was our presentation of choice, but we witnessed fish being
taken on spoons, spawn, shiners, and even crankbaits.
In the first 30 minutes we easily landed 10 Brown Trout and
lost just as many light biters and fish that escaped before we could get them
to the net. It was astonishing to me the
sheer numbers of Brown Trout in the harbor, as well as how aggressive these
fish seemed to be. At one point, I
caught 3 Brown Trout in 4 casts! The
fish were really hitting our Gulp as we slowly popped it along the bottom.
As the morning wore on, we continued to land Trout after
Trout, primarily in the two to four pound range. Chase managed to land a seven pounder, which
was fun after catching so many cookie cutters.
I also had a large Trout on briefly before it shook the hook.
We also landed five Northern Pike throughout the day that
were mixed in with the Brown Trout, and ranged from 24”-30”. It was fun to land a few Pike, as we didn’t
expect to find them here.
By noon the non-stop action had subsided, so we decided to
make a move to the other side of the Harbor.
This move never yielded another fish, but we were able to learn a new
spot for another day! Overall we had a
great first experience in Port Washington, and hope to get back again
soon!
The only negative aspect of Port Washington seemed to be
everyone’s desire to keep everything they caught. There were lots of 2-4 pound Brown Trout
taken out on just this one day, which puts things into perspective for me. It’s no surprise that large Brown Trout are
rare these days, as many of our stocked fish never even make it to be 5
pounds! I totally understand that anyone
with a license is entitled to keep their limit, but I also see the big picture
of less big fish being caught in the future.
Keeping a few fish for dinner or the smoker is great, but letting a few
fish go to grow up is even more rewarding for me.
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