For many years, I wrote a column for MidWest Outdoors called “Lake Michigan Shore Scene.” It was all about shore and nearshore Lake Michigan fishing along Wisconsin’s shoreline. For a variety of issues that I have previously ranted about, our shore fishery on Lake Michigan got slow. Not just a bad weather day or something temporary; it got so slow that I stopped writing the column because I had nothing to offer. The problem was mostly a stocking issue, but it was seriously slow. It almost became pointless to fish for my favorite species: the huge brown trout that made this region so special to the shore angler everywhere along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shore.

Browns are homebodies and stay around their home harbors and feed on whatever is there, whether it’s alewives, smelt, gobies, or crawfish. They don’t have that pelagic instinct to go offshore like salmon. Of the salmonids, browns can tolerate the warmest water and won’t leave shore areas until the water gets above 65 degrees or so. It makes them the perfect species for shore anglers on the Great Lakes.

One of the biggest Lake Michigan contests in Wisconsin is Racine’s Salmon-A-Rama. It’s a very unscientific yet large sampling of the pulse of the fishery. Historically, to lock in a top-10 finish, or even be in the top 20 places in the Shore Brown Trout division, you had to have a trout over 20 pounds. Hundreds of trout were entered yearly. Well, I knew there was a problem when, I believe in 2022, one 8-pound brown trout was entered. That’s it! The once-world-class brown trout fishery bottomed out.

Ok, so I think that’s all behind us (for now, fingers crossed). I am excited to report that the 2025 Salmon-A-Rama recorded 11 browns over 20 pounds in the boat division and several in the upper-teens from the shore division. Are we back to full strength? No, but we are headed in the right direction.

Is it time to focus back on some great Wisconsin shore fishing for Lake Michigan brown trout? I think so.

With the inland bass, walleye, and pike fishing ending this month, this is the perfect time to think browns. As you are reading this, a portion of the Lake Michigan browns will be completing their spawning run, and another portion will be getting ready to spawn. Almost every harbor along the Wisconsin shoreline will be hosting a decent variety of browns. This will last all winter if we retain some open water.

Places like Port Washington feature a power plant discharge that offers open water no matter what Old Man Winter delivers. Bigger harbors like Milwaukee have constantly moving ice that shifts with wind directions. A big west wind can clear Milwaukee’s harbor ice in 24 hours. There are a few sheltered bays in Milwaukee harbor that remain frozen on cold winters, but the rest of the harbor, and inner harbor within the city, normally have some open water. I’m not too interested in ice fishing, so this winter Lake Michigan fishery keeps my sanity till spring.

It’s been a while. so let’s do a recap of presentations and talk about a few new ones that have come along in the past few years.

Let’s start with my leadoff hitter, a 3/8- to 1/2-ounce jigging spoon in silver or pearl white. It’s tied on my jig rod anywhere I go. If the water is 8 feet or 30 feet, I can work a jigging spoon shallow, deep, or somewhere in-between. You can also cast them a mile, which plays into the game for shore fishing. Bottom line, it triggers strikes.

If you are new to jigging spoons, learn this bait and you will not only be using them for harbor browns, but smallmouths, walleyes, and everything in saltwater. There are many great jigging spoons out there, so anything about 2 to 2.25 inches long is perfect. Here are a few to look for: Kastmaster, Hopkins, Crippled Herring, Cotton Cordell CC spoon, and the ol’ Swedish Pimple are great jigging spoons.

My number two hitter is a 3-inch white tube jig on a 3/8-ounce jig head. The tube is another very versatile bait that works shallow and deep. It can accept scent which can make a difference in cold water. Unlike fishing a tube on the bottom as you would for bass, you swim a tube for browns. It should never touch the bottom. Keep the tails straight behind the hook and you can get a tube to dart side to side under the water like a Zara Spook. That’s when it works its magic. It’s a numbers bait and a big fish bait.

My number three hitter, fished on a 9.5-foot spinning rod for long casts, is a minnow bait. It all started for me in 1974 with a #9 Rapala. We have come so far since then, but a minnow bait, or jerk bait as they are referred to now, is deadly on browns in water under 10 feet.

Lures are so technical now, with internal weight transfer systems and colors that look incredibly real. I lean towards the suspending ones in winter and cold water, but I also catch a lot of trout on an old-school original Storm ThunderStick. You just can’t go wrong with Husky Jerks, X-Raps, Shadow Raps, Smithwick Rogues, Lucky Craft Pointers and the original ThunderStick. Jerk them, sweep them, pause them for 5 seconds, or straight reel them. You can’t be wrong with a minnow bait from late fall till spring.

My cleanup hitter is a tough choice. I haven’t even mentioned a traditional spoon, blade bait, or a crankbait yet. But, hitting in the number 4 slot, I must go with a soft-plastic, paddle-tail swimbait on a 3/8-ounce jig head. Over the past 6 to 8 years, I have discovered the power and the versatility of a simple paddle tail. In winter, stay with 2.5- to 2.8-inch tails in pearl white or shad color. Strike King Rage Swimmers, Keitech Fat Impacts, Crush City Mayors, and Storm Largos, no larger than 3 inches, are good examples. Browns tend to like a tight tail wiggle as opposed to a wide action. Pair them with a quality jig head and you are ready for a wide variety of opportunities.

After spending most of my life casting for big browns on the shores of Lake Michigan, it was painful to see that fishery tail off for several years. But things are headed back in the right direction. At the end of last winter, I was able to look back and say, “You know, that wasn’t too bad.” There was consistent action and some big trout. Seeing the results from this summer’s big salmon and trout derbies, I continue to feel optimistic about the return of the fishery. If you have been discouraged the past 3 to 4 years, I think it’s safe to get back in the pool.

Let’s go lock up with some big, football-shaped browns!