Oconto County - Bay is heating up for walleyes with limits reported out of Oconto County North Bayshore Recreation Area and Pensaukee. Fishermen are reminded yellow perch is still closed on Green Bay until May 20.

Catch rates for walleye and northern pike at the Stiles Dam were low due in part to high water and the sucker run. Anglers out of Oconto Breakwater and Oconto Park II were mainly fishing for walleye and trolling was the most effective method using stick baits or crawler/harness in 4 to 8 feet of water. A few smallmouth bass and northern pike were also reported being caught. Boaters were reporting a water temperature on the Bay from the upper 30's to the low 40's. Shore fishermen at Oconto Breakwater are catching a few northern pike using large shiner minnows or dead smelt fished on bottom. Some walleye are being by shore anglers at the Municipal Landing, casting crank baits and stick baits. - David Boyarski, fisheries supervisor, Sturgeon Bay

Shawano County - Trout fishing on area streams opening weekend was down due to high water levels. Walleye fishing on the upper stretch of the Wolf River has been fair. Trees are greening up quickly this week. - Mark Schraufnagel, conservation warden, Shawano

Green Bay creel report Fishing pressure is slowly increasing on both the East and West Shores. Anglers are working hard to catch the few fish they do. Fishing pressure for walleyes has increased on the east shore this past week. The number of fish being caught has also increased over the last week, but anglers still have to work to get a few fish. Most anglers that caught fish were trolling the shore line near Bayshore County Park, however walleyes are also being caught by Potawatomi State Park. Fish have ranged from 18-30-plus inches with most being 23-26 inches. Saturday marked the opening of the game fish season in Wisconsin. Little Sturgeon Bay and Potawatomi State Park saw an increase in fishing pressure as anglers looked to land a few bronzebacks. Unfortunately, cool weather limited the number of fish that anglers were able to catch. The sucker runs at Red River Park and Sugar Creek have both gone past their peak and are almost done. Still, if anglers want to get a bucket of suckers it would be possible. There are one or more launching piers in at Bayshore, Chaudoir’s, Little Sturgeon Bay (Carmody Park), and Potawatomi Park. As of Saturday the fishing pier at Potawatomi Park had not been put in the water. Along the west shore, fishing pressure in the Fox River and along the West Shore declined this week due to cooler temperatures and rain storms. The water temperature was about 48 degrees, down from 54 degrees last week. On the Fox River, boat and shore fishermen were targeting Walleye using crank baits (variety of colors), jigs, and night crawlers. Walleye numbers were low for both boat and shore fishermen. Boat fishermen were fishing in about 10-20 feet of water and a few sheepshead were also caught. Shore fishermen are starting to catch more carp, and more walleye are being "snagged" than caught. There was a Sturgeon sighting under the new walk bridge at Voyageur Park in De Pere. Along the lower west shore of the Bay, fishing pressure was very low. At Suamico Landing, there were a few trailers with boat fishermen targeting walleye. A few were caught (average size was about 24-25 inches fishermen were reporting) on crank baits (chartreuse in color) in about 10-12 feet of water. The docks are in at Geano Beach. - Anthony Rieth, fisheries technician, Green Bay

Brown County - Fishing pressure in the Fox River and along the West Shore declined this week. Water temperature was about 48 degrees, down from 54 degrees last week. On the Fox River, boat and shore fishermen were targeting walleye using crank baits, jigs, and night crawlers. Walleye catches were low for both boat and shore anglers. Boat anglers were fishing in about 10-20 feet of water. Of interests, there was a sturgeon sighting under the new walk bridge at Voyageur Park in De Pere. So look for more sturgeon in tributaries over the next couple of weeks. At Suamico Landing, there were a few anglers targeting and catching walleyes. Average size was about 24-25 inches and anglers reported using on chartreuse crank baits in about 10-12 feet of water. Fishing pressure and success for walleyes has increased on the East Shore of Green Bay this past week. Most anglers that caught fish were trolling the shore line near Bayshore County Park. - David Boyarski, fisheries supervisor, Sturgeon Bay

The fish run in De Pere has slowed down significantly. Water levels are high causing the fishing opener to be slow for catching fish.

Manitowoc County - Trees and shrubs are budding out and filling in woodlots quickly. Wild leeks are covering many forest floors and are ready to eat. Toads started calling just before May 1 and have joined the spring peepers and wood frogs that were already calling. - Robert Stroess, conservation warden, Mishicot

The hot weather early in the week raised water temperatures significantly, especially on the Manitowoc River, which reached the mid 60s but has fallen since. The East Twin, West Twin, Branch, and Little Manitowoc Rivers all still hold steelhead. Fair amounts of steelhead are being caught around the dams on the East and West Twin Rivers. The best action has been early in the morning on clear days and throughout the day during overcast conditions. Fly anglers are having success with egg or insect imitations in bright colors. Spawn, soft plastics, and bright jigs are also producing fish when presented under a float or near the bottom. The East and West Twin Rivers are running fairly low. Trollers are starting to have some luck with brown trout. Fish have been caught in 10 to 45 feet of water trolling stick-baits, crank-baits, and spoons. Successful areas ranged from north of Two Rivers near the power plant discharges to south of Manitowoc. Most boats are catching under a fish per hour and catching large fish with some browns in the 25 inch range and even a king close to 18 pounds. Very few kings have been reportedly caught thus far. Water temps range from the upper 40’s to some reports of surface water in the upper 50s. - David Boyarski, fisheries supervisor, Sturgeon Bay

Door County - Most of Door County came to life this week, with many part-time residents and business owners returning from their winter hide-a-ways. Many of the piers in the county had a few anglers fishing for bass with really good success using a variety of lures. Northern Pike action has been great in the Sturgeon Bay Canal, but the trout bite seems to have slowed quite a bit. Tributaries are all running low and clear and are seeing very little fishing effort, but there are definitely trout in the water and, although there are still a ton of them, the number of suckers seems to be on the decline. The Sturgeon Bay City Dock has been fairly busy, with 20-40 trailers at a time over the weekend. The Northern Pike bite has been excellent, but the trout anglers have not been as successful lately. Anglers are finally launching from the Green Bay side, mostly from Stone Quarry, but Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim and Ellison Bay all had at least one trailer spotted over the weekend. Early reports are that the bites are good, but we have not been able to verify any real catch data yet, except that the bass fishing has been good off the piers. On the Lake Michigan side, Rowley’s Bay saw some good action over the weekend. It seemed to be mostly resort dwellers fishing for bass, and doing really well. Baileys Harbor was not busy at all however, and the report in town was that everyone was fishing over on Kangaroo Lake for the opener. Inland, Kangaroo Lake is doing very well for perch fishing. Walleye surveys of Clark Lake have concluded and the spawn is now over. Some decent walleyes both in numbers and size were surveyed this spring. - David Boyarski, fisheries supervisor, Sturgeon Bay

Potawatomi State Park - The ice is out and the fishermen are on the water. Two fishing tournaments over the next two weekends have prompted many anglers to launch in Sawyer Harbor and Sturgeon Bay. Mushroom hunters are finding a few morels. Some trees are starting to leaf out. All park facilities are now open for the season except the tower and accessible fishing pier. The pier should be in the water on the park’s south shoreline by the middle of May. We hope the tower will be repaired by the middle of the summer. - Lois M. Hanson, visitor services associate

Rock Island State Park - Reports of northern pike and brown trout have been coming in around the islands. The bass season doesn’t open until July 1 here but they’ve been fun to look at as they enter the warmer waters of the harbors. Still some snow drifts under the cedar trees. Migrating birds are filling the air. Broadwing hawks in kettles numbering in the hundreds have been overhead all week. - Randy Holm, ranger and assistant property manager

Kewaunee County - Fishing on the Kewaunee and Ahnapee rivers has really slowed as of late, and not even Stony Creek has seen much effort in the past week. There have been a few boats launched at both town ramps, but not what we expected to see for opening weekend. It could be that many anglers moved to inland waters for the opener. There are still lots of suckers in the Kewaunee River water, but numbers are on the decline. Bruemmer Park still sees a lot of fishing effort, and some of the upstream locations, like Clyde Hill, are seeing some effort now that word has gotten around about the fish that were passed through the hatchery and the stocking that took place a couple of weeks ago. Anglers that know what holes to work are still able to catch a few fish. There was even less effort on the Ahnapee River and Silver Creek than the Kewaunee, except that anglers have started fishing above the dam with some success. The few anglers on the river have been able to catch and release some trout and are not reporting seeing any suckers. Effort has dropped significantly at Stony Creek, and the few anglers that have tried have not been catching anything. Effort has mostly been focused on the Kewaunee Pier but there have been a handful in Algoma as well. They haven’t been catching much in either location except bottom feeders in Algoma. Neither of the ramps has been as busy as we expected with the fishing opener, and the boats we have surveyed have not reported much success. From the sound of it, they are not even getting many strikes, but there were so few surveyed it’s hard to tell for sure. Inland, anglers have been fishing and catching bass and panfish on the Forestville Flowage. - David Boyarski, fisheries supervisor, Sturgeon Bay

Waupaca County - Anglers on Waupaca area lakes have been enjoying good crappie fishing. Most anglers have done well near downed trees and stumps. “Green up” has been occurring very fast this year. Softwood trees are now leafing out. Early woodland flowers are also emerging. Trout anglers have not been very successful on opening weekend. Anglers did not offer any reason on why the trout were not biting very well. - Ted Dremel, conservation warden, Wautoma

Waushara County - Warm temperatures have brought folks out to area lakes. Opening weekend fishing started off relatively slow due to some early rains, but folks were able to enjoy time on the water once the skies cleared up. Overall pressure on the trout streams has been light and with warmer days the streams should be warming up as well and potentially making some lightly pressured fish more active.