Lake Michigan
Smallmouth bass
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Great Lakes · Lake Michigan (Green Bay) · Sturgeon Bay, WI
Sturgeon Bay fishing conditions
Sturgeon Bay, in Door County, is known for trophy smallmouth bass on the Green Bay side and a strong fall walleye bite. This page shows live wind, waves, water temperature and lake level from NOAA stations, the National Weather Service forecast, and a rough daily bite estimate for smallmouth bass, walleye, yellow perch.
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Bite estimate
Rougher estimate · 0–9Rough estimate
Lake Michigan
Walleye
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Lake Michigan
Yellow perch
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Conditions now
Wind
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Waves
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Water temp
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Barometer
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Lake level
NOAA CO-OPS Sturgeon Bay Canal, WI (9087072), feet above Low Water Datum (chart datum). The Great Lakes have no real tides; level swings come from wind setup, seiches and the seasons.
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NWS forecast
National Weather Service point forecast for Sturgeon Bay, WI.
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Stations used for Sturgeon Bay
| Source | Location | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDBC 45014 | South Green Bay GB17, WI (UW-Milwaukee) | nearshore buoy · seasonal (pulled for winter) | 16 nm |
| NDBC MNMM4 | Menominee, MI (NOS 9087088) | harbor station · year-round | 18 nm |
| NDBC KWNW3 | Kewaunee, WI (NOS 9087069) | harbor station · year-round | 23 nm |
| CO-OPS 9087072 | Sturgeon Bay Canal, WI | water level (ft above Low Water Datum) | near spot |
| GLERL GLSEA | Daily satellite lake-surface temperature at 44.92, -87.52 | water temp fallback | on the lake |
| NWS forecast | Point forecast for Sturgeon Bay, WI; gridded wave forecast on the lake | forecast | at spot |
| NWS LMZ521 | Nearshore marine forecast: Green Bay south of Cedar River to Rock Island Passage, north of Oconto to Little Sturgeon Bay | official marine forecast | zone |
Where they fish: Smallmouth on the rocky shoals of Green Bay; walleye along the reefs and in the bay as water cools.
FAQ
Where does the Sturgeon Bay fishing data come from?
Wind, waves, water temperature and pressure come from NOAA NDBC stations 45014, MNMM4, KWNW3 (first station with a recent reading wins; seasonal buoys are pulled for winter). Lake level is from NOAA CO-OPS station 9087072 (Sturgeon Bay Canal, WI). When no station reports water temperature, Swelldex uses NOAA GLERL's daily satellite analysis (GLSEA). The forecast and wave forecast come from the National Weather Service.
What does the Sturgeon Bay bite score mean?
It is a rough 0–9 estimate of how good conditions look for smallmouth bass, walleye, yellow perch, based on wind and waves, surface water temperature, the time of year, the barometer trend and forecast storms. It does not count fish and it is not a safety rating.
Why is there no tide table?
The Great Lakes have no meaningful tides. Instead, Swelldex shows the lake level against chart datum and how much it moved in the last 24 hours; fast changes usually mean strong wind setup or a seiche.