Smallmouth in sturgeon bay are 90% bedded up. There’s lots of opportunity to catch big fish here and they’ll eat just about any finesse presentation while protecting beds. That being said, the bass in this section of the lake are spooky from recent fishing pressure and can be caught best when casting from a distance.
Further north, near Ephraim, smallmouth are still pre-spawn and being caught on slower presentations like swimming a tube on an 1/8oz jig. (upsize if the wind picks up), swimbaits like the Megabass Dark Sleeper, hair jigs, and jerk baits have also worked well fished slowly. Look for bass in 2-4ft across the bay.
Big walleye are being caught primarily on 1/4-3/8oz hair jigs with some of the best locations being near Marinette and up to Bay De Noc.
Find walleye of all sizes using side-scan and forward facing sonar in 2-6ft of water.
The east shorelines along the whole bay have had big schools of walleye up shallow while guys trolling have struggled in deeper water.
Report from Bret Alexander
alexandersportfishing.com