Baileys Harbor is located in the northeastern part of Door County on the Lake Michigan side. This area has some spectacular views to go along with a marina, a variety of accommodations, rocky coasts and sandy beaches. Baileys Harbor has quite a few fishing charters that operate here as well to help you experience some of the excellent salmon & trout fishing that Door County has to offer.
Baileys Harbor is known for its excellent salmon and trout fishing. The salmon typically start to arrive in good numbers during the month of June and they can be caught all the way through the fall. The summer months of July and August tend to provide some of the best fishing for both numbers and size of salmon, but the fall can be a good time to fish as well. The 4 year old mature King Salmon are located close to the shorelines in the month of September, so anglers can often troll for fish in the 20 pound range fairly close to shore.
For the steelhead anglers, fishing tends to be best in the month of June and boats can often be found trolling 10 to 30 miles offshore for these acrobatic fighters. Brown trout anglers do very well during the spring when water temperatures range from 35 to 45 degrees. It may be cold out on the water in the early spring, but the huge brown trout make it worth a trip on Lake Michigan in the month of April and even into May. Late fall also brings some very big brown trout closer to the shorelines making these fish more accessible to anglers. Check out the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout tournament if you’re into competitive fishing.
Most of the smallmouth bass anglers that fish this far up north in Door County tend to stay on the Green Bay side or around Washington Island, but it is not unheard of to catch smallmouth bass in Baileys Harbor. Most anglers don’t come to Baileys Harbor to fish for northern pike, but the fishing can be very good out of Baileys Harbor for pike as well. Fish in the 10 to 15 pound range are not uncommon.
