Salmon & trout cruising near piers, in harbors

Anglers hoping to hook up with a spawn-minded chinook, brown or coho will have a good shot the next couple months.

First up is a wave of chinook salmon and Wild Rose strain brown trout. Next, coho salmon and Seeforellen-strain browns. And, you never know when a Skamania-strain steelhead (rainbow trout) or a rare pink (humpback) salmon may trickle in.

All the salmon species die shortly after spawning (even sooner if caught by an angler, of course!). But brown trout — barring any take-home dinner dates with a fisherman — have a chance to spawn again next year.

The same is true with all species of rainbows, whether Skamanias, Chambers Creeks, Ganaraskas or any other strain the DNR has tried through the years. Most spawn in spring, but Skamanias have been known to run rivers any time from summer through winter.

Peak activity for chinooks is now through the first week of October, when many will be spawning far upstream. The best flesh quality will be in the next week or two.

Some hook-jawed male browns are already in the harbors, but many more will move up the next few weeks. There’s also a later run of Seeforellens, typically lasting well into October and even November. Cohos are just staging now, with most coming into the rivers in October.

Best baits from the pier or shore are spoons, skein (roe) chunks or spawn sacs. From boats, nearshore trollers pull spoons, plugs, stickbaits or flasher/fly combos behind planer boards and Dipsy Divers, or on flat lines and leadcore.

Fish have been caught in as little as 10 to 20 feet of water, but plenty are still staging out deeper, from 20 to 60 feet of water or more.

If you’re not into the fall-run fish, you can go after younger salmon and rainbow trout farther out, typically two to five miles or more off shore.

Hunts to open

Next Saturday is opening day for bow and crossbow deer, wild turkey, gray and fox squirrel and Zone A ruffed grouse.

Prospects are very good for deer, turkey and squirrel hunters, especially. If you forgot to apply for a tag — or want an extra one, or two — there were still more than 2,400 leftover fall wild turkey permits available for Zone 2 as of midweek. Check http://dnr.wi.gov/permits/fallturkey.html for a statewide update, zone by zone.

Hunter safety

A hunter education class will be held Oct. 13-15 at the Black Ash Gun Club. Class hours are 6-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The DNR has completely revised the sign-up process. To sign up for the class, visit https://gowild.wi.gov and look for the link. For questions, call Barry or Quin at (920) 255-0395 or email quin@elnafarms.com.

Turkey banquet

The Door Peninsula Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is holding a Hunting Heritage Banquet Saturday, Sept. 24 at Mr. G’s Logan Creek Grille on Hwy. 57 north of Sturgeon Bay.

You can order online at events.nwtf.org/491791-2016/tickets or call Mark Haen at (920) 333-0201 for more information.

Birding news

The Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative has launched a new eNews service for those interested in staying up to date on the latest bird conservation projects, events, and news in the state. Subscribe at http://eepurl.com/cb9mSL.

Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer. Email him at wildtimes@wizunwired.net.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Salmon & trout cruising near piers, in harbors