Navigation

Column: Kevin Naze

  • Wild Things: Fish Dismissed: Jury’s Still Out on Whether New Record Will Stand

    Wisconsin pinook mark topped for second time in 10 days by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] The verdict is in: Wisconsin’s newest state-record salmon was a case so unusual it needed a lawyer present.  Without objection, Minneapolis attorney Mark Sondreal found himself answering questions Monday night after the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) certified his 29.5-inch, 12.46-pound […]

  • Wild Things: Angler’s First Salmon Is State Record

    Lake Michigan catch is a Chinook x pink salmon cross by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Two potential state-record salmon were caught fewer than 24 hours apart at Sturgeon Bay and Algoma last weekend. The first – what was confirmed as a new Wisconsin-record pinook (natural pink x Chinook cross) – was reeled in by Miroslav Cigler of […]

  • Wild Things: Angler Reels In Heaviest Salmon in Nearly 30 Years

    44 inches, 40.40 pounds on Algoma charter by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Brian Sollars of East Bethel, Minnesota, found out why Lake Michigan is Wisconsin’s most-targeted body of water July 31 aboard Midnight, an Algoma-based charter-fishing boat. Sollars’ first fish that day escaped, but a second chance produced a 44-inch, 40.40-pound Chinook salmon – thought to […]

  • Wild Things: Kewaunee Fish Tops Record Field in K/D Salmon Tourney

    Next Up, Trout Derby and Shanty Days Contest by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] In his 40 years as president of the committee that runs the Kewaunee/Door (K/D) County Salmon Tournament, Jerry MacMillin of Sturgeon Bay has seen and heard it all. Big fish spooling an entire reel? Uh huh. Would-be prizewinners straightening hooks or breaking lines? […]

  • Wild Things: Door Dominates Early Results

    Baileys Harbor is the hottest spot in the K/D Salmon Tourney by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Four 30-pound-plus salmon were already on the board through the first four and a half days of the Kewaunee/Door (K/D) County Salmon Tournament, which runs through 12 pm on Sunday. At the time of this writing, 23 of the top […]

  • Wild Things: It’s Salmon Tournament Time

    A salmon tournament that hooked hundreds of anglers during its first run 40 years ago now lures more than 3,000 entrants – something its early promoters never envisioned. “It has grown and grown and grown,” said Tom MacMillin, who, along with his brother Jerry, were running Mac’s Sport Shop in Sturgeon Bay in 1983, the […]

  • Wild Things: Green Bay Perch Fishing Heats Up

    Jumbo yellow-bellies hooked off Door County by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Continuing right where it left off last fall, the yellow perch fishery in the waters of Green Bay off of Door County is producing some excellent catches. Lance LaVine at Howie’s Tackle & Archery in Sturgeon Bay said perch fishing has been so good that […]

  • Wild Things: It’s Showtime for Salmon, Steelhead

    by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Peninsula hosts the state’s best action Six months into the 2022 fishing season, it’s finally go-time for anglers hoping to tangle with some of the most prized species in the Great Lakes.  Chinook salmon (kings) and rainbow trout (steelhead) were slow to wake up this year, but with water temperatures finally […]

  • Wild Things: A Great Lakes Cool Down Is Season’s Biggest Surprise

    by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Making predictions is always risky business. Take last fall, for example. Water temperatures on the Great Lakes were much warmer than usual, and a mild start to the winter had many anglers thinking there would be a very fast start to the 2022 Lake Michigan fishing season. Then came one of […]

  • Wild Things: ‘Asian’ Carp to Be Rebranded

    If people take the bait, more will hit the plate A little more than a year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) quietly changed its designation for four species of Asian carp to “invasive carp,” the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will unveil a completely new name next week. After making the soft […]

  • Wild Things: You Don’t Need a Boat to Cash In on Area Fishing Opportunities

    by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Anglers hoping to score some fillets for a meal of fresh fish have a wide variety of options up and down the Kewaunee/Door County peninsula.  In addition to miles of Lake Michigan and Green Bay shoreline, there are at least a dozen inland lakes, rivers and creeks that offer opportunities to […]

  • Wild Things: Get Your Fish On

    School’s not out for finned targets by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] June’s arrival is a welcome turning point to what has often been a cold, windy spring. Warmer air and sunshine will lure spawning panfish into the shallows, where they’ll join bass that are already sitting on beds. Look in fewer than three feet of water […]

  • Wild Things: Set Your Sights on a Safe Weekend

    Properly fitting life jackets are boating essentials by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Door County’s fish-filled waters have already been packed with boats this spring, but things are about to get a whole lot busier.  Many consider Memorial Day weekend to be the unofficial start to summer and the recreational boating season, and as more boaters take […]

  • Wild Things: Giant Door County Smallmouths Hooked

    Local pros Neu, Doering among tournament winners by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] A pair of Sturgeon Bay anglers cashed in on the county’s world-class smallmouth bass fishery last week. Adam Neu and his fishing partner, Grant Ehlenfeldt of Osceola, weighed 10 bass totaling 52 pounds, 12 ounces to win the 142-team North American Bass Challenge’s (NABC) […]

  • Wild Things: Spring Fishing Heats Up as Air, Water Temperatures Rise

    High winds delay bass tourney opener by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Gusty south winds Monday pushed back the two-day Sturgeon Bay Bass Tournament – the first of two major bass-fishing contests in Door County this week – to a Tuesday start. Tournament director Gary Nault said the event, which featured a $10,000 first-place prize, would be […]

  • Wild Things: Cold, Wet and Windy Spring Extends Some Hot Fishing

    Wild Turkey Hunters Having a Blast by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] A cold, wet and windy spring has been less than idea for hunters pursuing wild turkeys, but most anglers aren’t complaining. That’s because there’s been plenty of water in even the small lakeshore tributaries, extending the steelhead and sucker spawning runs. In addition, cool weather […]

  • WILD THINGS: State’s Elk Herd Growing Slowly

    Apply for a once-in-a-lifetime tag by the end of May If you want an outside shot at a once-in-a-lifetime tag to hunt elk in Wisconsin this fall, apply no later than May 31. Despite abundant predators and occasional run-ins with vehicles, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife biologist Joshua Spiegel said the elk population is […]

  • Wild Things: State’s Elk Herd Growing Slowly

    Apply for a once-in-a-lifetime tag by the end of May by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] If you want an outside shot at a once-in-a-lifetime tag to hunt elk in Wisconsin this fall, apply no later than May 31. Despite abundant predators and occasional run-ins with vehicles, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife biologist Joshua Spiegel said […]

  • Wild Things: Gearing Up for a Gobbling Good Time

    Youth turkey hunt is April 16-17; regular season opens April 20 by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] After a two-year absence, Learn to Hunt wild-turkey programs returned this spring. Judging by photos on social media from across the state last weekend, there were many success stories. Next up is the annual youth turkey hunt April 16-17. It’s […]

  • Wild Things: Little Sturgeon’s Squaw Island Looking for New Identity in ’22

    Department of Interior seeking public comment by KEVIN NAZE, [email protected] Little Sturgeon’s colorful history may see another chapter written soon as a popular island is slated for a new name. Squaw Island, located in the south-central portion of Little Sturgeon Bay, is one of 28 geographic features in Wisconsin identified by a U.S. Department of […]