Milwaukee's Inner-Harbor Open Water Winter Fishery

Well, I have had a couple requests for some detailed information regarding fishing the Milwaukee Harbor and Inner-harbor during the winter.

I don’t care much for ice fishing so this fishery has kept me sane for the past 21 winters. I’ve been downtown in the winter since I was a kid and always noticed that there was open water. By the look of the water I always thought, “What could possibly live in that water”. Well, as time went on and they stopped using the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers as an open sewer, suddenly the river started to come alive. You may still look at the river these days and think it still looks pretty murky. Ya, it’s not the Deschutes yet but believe it or not it’s much cleaner that it was 20 years ago and it gets a little better each year.

Depending on the severity of the winter, the river from the red light house (the “Milwaukee Pier head “behind the Marcus Amphitheater) up stream to the power plant on the south canal or to about 20th and canal on the Menomonee. The Milwaukee generally freezes up north of the confluence where the Milwaukee and Menomonee meet (about 2nd and Seeboth by the Post Office). If it’s really cold the river under the Hoan will freeze up to that confluence point. The river is kept open by the warm water discharged by Valley Power. Even during the deepest cold snaps of the winter the water will remain in the 40’s in this area from Valley Power downstream to the Milwaukee/Menomonee confluence, and up the Menomonee to about Ember Street. If the winter is mild or even during a January thaw, other areas will open up and the river under the Hoan (the whole stretch, not just under the bridge) can be very good. You will know when the action gets hot because you may see 100 guys in that stretch of river. But don’t fret, its 2000 feet of fishable water so there is always room somewhere.

The clarity of this inner-harbor is generally on the murky side, but also varies with runoff. When we have a big melt or winter rain event, it will get very muddy like coffee. At that time you may just want to wait a few days for things to clear up. I’ve rarely done well when it was super muddy.

In general, the water in this inner harbor area is about 15 feet deep. It is deeper under the Hoan because it is dredged for shipping. In the middle under the Hoan, it is about 25-27 feet and about 15 along the wall. This stretch under the Hoan is a little clearer than upstream and the only place where the action can be from top to bottom (but nearly always on the bottom). As you get further upstream, almost all of the action will be in the top 6 feet of water. I’ll get into that later.

So, what can you catch? Well, it is going to be primarily Brown Trout, a few Steelhead, and an occasional Walleye. It seems to vary year to year. I’ve caught Smallmouth, Largemouth, bluegills, Crappies, some BIG Pike, Catfish, Carp, and even a Whitefish out by the lighthouse. We have a VERY unique fishery here. As the harbor cools (usually less than 38 degrees) you will see a migration up the river. As far as I can figure out it is for two reasons. One, warm water. This area influenced by the discharge at Valley power will be as much as 15 degrees warmer than the outer harbor. Two, FOOD!!! This inner harbor is full of Gizzard Shad. Not Alewives, but a species that thrives in our inner harbor and one of the reasons that Milwaukee’s harbor is such a great Brown Trout fishery. These fish eat all winter long!

How to catch them? Well, I’m going to break this into two parts. First, the area under the Hoan Bridge. This area is deeper and like I said earlier the fish seem to be more near the bottom. You will see the majority of the guys there soaking spawn or minnows on the bottom on a slip-sinker rig, or on a wolf-river rig. It’s very sedentary fishing but it works. These guys catch a lot of fish doing this so you can’t discount it. It’s just not my cup-O-tea. Soaking spawn under the Hoan is a lot like ice-fishing to me. You just kinda sit there and wait for something to happen. But they love it and it becomes a social activity. Get some lines in the water and then walk up and down the wall exchanging lies or complaining about the Packers. For those of you who want a more active approach you will need presentations that work deep effectively.

Lets start with Jigs. White marabou or bucktail jigs about ¼ to 3/8ths ounce are perfect. Jigs and plastic are also good. A ¼ to 3/8th ounce bullet head (with a sturdy hook! Go to Reinkes) tipped with a 4” Gulp! Minnow, Zoom Fluke, or Lunker City Fin-S-Fish are all good choices. Honestly, the Gulp! are hard to beat. Shad colors or all white (or pearl) are all good choices for plastics. Lunker City’s Arkansas Shiner, or Gulp! Watermelon Shiner are two good ones. Cast them out and work near the bottom (within 3-4 feet) with either a straight swimming action or a swimming action with a quick snap now and then. Strikes will be a little thump and then answer back with a quick snap of the wrist. This is where the Gulp! help. The fish don’t let them go and actually try to eat them.

Jigging spoons are also an excellent choice. Silver, pearl, or firetiger are good colors. Spoons around 1/8th to ½ ounce are good sizes. Either jig them vertically next to the wall or cast them out, let them sink to the bottom, and work them back with a lift-and-drop motion keeping them near the bottom. Some regular casting spoons are good for jigging too. The 3/8th ounce Krocodiles and Kastmasters are very good. A Kastmaster is what landed my fishing partner Mike Schwister’s massive 31 pound Brown in 2008.

Blade baits like Zips, Sonars, and Cicadas are also a good option. Again, work them vertically or cast them out and yo-yo them near the bottom.

Another excellent bait that is not very well known is a tail spinner. The most famous is the Mann’s Little George. There are some others on the market that are all good. Like jigging spoons I make my own using Do-It molds, but jigging spoons and tail spinners are available from Cabelas or Bass Pro Shop in Gurnee. Tail spinners are cast out and allowed to get to the bottom. Then reel them in just fast enough to keep them off the bottom and keep the blade spinning. Lift and drop now and then just to change up the pace.

One last technique worth mentioning is a Carolina rig. This is the same technique used by deep water bass fishermen. Thread a ½ ounce (or more) bullet sinker on the line and tie on a #7 swivel. To the other side of the swivel, tie on about 4 feet of 10 pound mono or fluorocarbon. On the end tie a #1 or 1/0 circle hook. This rig can be fished with a live or dead minnow, salted smelt, or a 4” Gulp! minnow. Cast the rig out and let it settle to the bottom. Now reel 4 turns and let it settle back, watching the line. Wait about 4-5 seconds before you repeat. Strikes will nearly always come as the bait is settling back to the bottom. You will see a jump in the line. Since you are using a circle hook, just start reeling and you will hook up. The Carolina rig is a good choice if the fish are hugging real close to the bottom or are very inactive. Start with lures and go to the Carolina last.

OK, now let’s talk about the inner-harbor. Once you get past Erie street the fishery changes. Now you get into murky water and fish that are feeding higher in the water column. The reason is the clarity and the Gizzard shad. And 180 degrees from the rest of the fishery, the bite actually gets higher in the water as the day progresses. If the sun is out, you will actually see Browns feeding near the surface in the afternoon. I have actually had the opportunity to get Browns to hit a topwater plug in the afternoon. The only problem with topwater plugs is that in about 15 seconds after casting them, you will have 20 seagulls trying to pick it up.

The lures in the inner harbor are all about sound and color. The water is murky and they need a little help zeroing in on them. Crankbaits, rattle baits, minnowbaits, spinners, tail-spinners, and blade baits are all good. Spoons can be good in the afternoon if they throw a lot of flash.
I like plastic cranks like Berkley Frenzy divers, Flicker shads, Flat Normans, Bomber Flat A’s, Storm Flat Warts, Rapala Shad raps (the plastic ones), and anything else about 2 1/2 “ long that runs about 6-8 feet deep. About any rattle bait works. For minnow baits I like Thundersticks, X-Raps, Husky Jerks, or the Dave’s Deep Ka-Boom. For colors, Chromes, Shads, or Firetiger will fit the bill. All white is good too.

A #3 or #4 Mepps Aglia or Aglia long is also a great inner-harbor bait. They like that whirr of the spinner blade. That makes the tail-spinner great too. They cast a mile and can be reeled up near the surface too. Nothing fancy here, just chuck them and reel them.

Here in the inner-harbor too, the fish love the wall. Vertical jigging with a blade bait or jigging spoon worked right next to the wall can be deadly. Most of my vertical jigging everywhere else is done near the bottom. Not here. In the inner-harbor, jig down about 4-6 feet. Jigging near the bottom will get you hooked up with a catfish now and then.

If you want to use live bait, a medium to large golden shiner fished 3-4 feet below a slip bobber can be good. But honestly, casting with lures will out fish a shiner if they are really aggressive on shad.

The shad are anywhere from 1” to about 3 pounds. Yes, I have caught them on crankbaits and they are huge. The ones they seem to seek out are from 2”-4”. These are almost always what I find in stomachs. They can’t be caught on a gold hook like an alewife. They are filter feeders and would have to be netted with a smelt net. But honestly, I have caught some and thrown them out on a float and never caught anything on them.

So, where do you fish? Let me start first by saying that there really are no “public fishing spots” in the inner-harbor. There are some spots where the businesses are gracious enough to let us fish there and don’t ask us to leave. I can’t emphasize this enough…. treat all these spots with the utmost respect! Don’t leave garbage, dead minnows, make warming fires or pee on their property. And I know it isn’t your problem if you see garbage left behind, but if you can throw something away do it. These businesses could very easily say, NO FISHING--- KEEP OUT!!! And they have every right to do it.

Lets start at the lake. The harbor behind the amphitheater and the river under the Hoan are very good spots and wide open to fishing 24/7 all winter. The problem is that these will sometimes freeze. Once they freeze it doesn’t mean that they will stay frozen though. It doesn’t take much to get it to reopen. Sometimes just a barge and a west wind and it will be open again.
Moving west, there is a parking lot between the Hansen condos and the new Bostrom condos (next to Riverfront pizza). You can’t park in the lot, but they have let people fish there for years. Up from that is a small area next to the Hoffmann shoe polish factory (1st and Erie). For those of you familiar with the area it is where they used to park the Deluge Fire Boat. Right across from that is a new spot that I haven’t explored yet. On the west side of the river right at 1st street and north of Pittsburgh is a new walk way in front of some new condos. It looks like public walk. Looks like it could be good.

On the north –west corner of the river right at the Milwaukee/ Menomonee confluence is a spot where the rail road crosses the river and there is a parking lot for the Post Office trailer storage(2nd street). There are always a few guys fishing there. West of that is our first premier spot, the MMSD headquarters building (2nd and Seeboth). Here there is 500 feet of wall to fish facing north along the Menomonee, and another 600-700 feet facing west along the canal that heads towards the power company. The next premier place is right across from there and is the new Harley museum. Through the negotiation of the DNR (thanks, Matt Coffaro!) and Harley we are now allowed to fish both the north and south sides of the Harley property. The one on the south gets even closer to the power company. This area is accessed via 6th street at Canal Street. Up Canal Street is one last area up the Menomonee. At canal and Ember is a company called Sigma Environmental. The Hank Aaron trail starts there and extends all the way up to about 26th and Canal (across from the Milw. Co Skate board building). All of this is fishable, but now you are getting into areas of the Menomonee that freeze from time to time.

These are some of the easier accessible places. There are others that I can’t really mention. Not because they are secret, but because you really aren’t supposed to be in there. You can usually fish there early on weekends but not during the week when they are conducting business. They will ask you to leave or have the MPD ask you.

Well, there is winter fishing in the inner-harbor in a nutshell. If there is anything I could elaborate on send me a comment and I’ll be glad to do so.

Till next time, tight lines and smooth drags. And best wishes on a great New Year.