Anglers have a lot of options for catching quality-sized fish of so many different species here. Whether you launch your boat out of the marinas on the lake or the boat ramps in the rivers below the dams, you have a lot of water to fish here and the fishing can be outstanding at times.
Spring & Fall – Fish the River Mouths
The spring and fall offer such good fishing in the river mouths of Peshtigo River and Menominee River. If you want to take advantage of the seasonal spawning runs up the rivers, but you want to stay out in Green Bay, then come here to fish the river mouths. At the beginning of the runs, you’ll find a lot of heavy female fish filled with eggs as they move into the rivers and on the back end of the spawning runs, you’ll get another shot at fish coming back out of the river as they return to the bay.
In the spring, it starts with northern pike and steelhead followed by walleye and smallmouth bass. From ice out until early June, you can find some very big fish in these spots. In the fall, Chinook salmon & brown trout will move into these areas as they stage to spawn as well. As a bonus, you can find some very big muskie in these same areas in the early summer and then again in the fall. Some fish will be found near the river mouths during the summer, but these spots are so good because they are transition spots where fish stage to move in and then they have to come back through to get back out to the bays, so timing the spawning runs is key to experience better fishing near the river mouths.
Fish the Rivers
Many anglers come to Marinette and Peshtigo to fish the rivers. Whether you come to fish the open waters of Green Bay or the rivers, you have a lot of options. The rivers offer good fishing in the spring and fall with some very big fish moving up to the dam in each town. Above those dams, you have a lot of options to catch a variety of fish in rivers or on the flowages in between the dams. Take a look at our Menominee River & Peshtigo River pages to learn more about the excellent fishing here.
Out in the Bay
The bay is home to so many different species of fish and so many huge fish that fishing the bay can be very appealing. However, the Marinette area attracts so many fish due to the 2 major rivers here that are spawning rivers for so many different fish. While you have a good stretch of fishing in the spring and the fall, the summer can be a lot tougher since the fish aren’t congregated here as well as they are in the spring and fall. Some anglers do fish the offshore waters out of Marinette in the summer, but most of the guides and charters will move into the Marinette area during the peak runs and then back out to other areas during the summer. The walleye and muskie guys will spend a lot of time in lower Green Bay in the summer and the bass guys will spend a lot of time in the Sturgeon Bay. Consistently catching fish here in the bay is definitely a timing thing, but you can catch fish out here in the summer too. Walleye, bass & perch will usually be the targets in the offshore waters of Green Bay in the summer.