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Wisconsin has 1.4 million anglers that annually catch 88 million fish. Those kinds of numbers, combined with great scenery, and record fish - such as the world record brown trout caught in Lake Michigan in 2010 - makes Wisconsin the #2 most popular fishing destination in the U.S.

Fishing isn’t only big adventure here in Wisconsin, its big business - generating $2.75 billion dollars in economic benefits and supporting more than 30,000 jobs. It has been and will continue to be an important part of Wisconsin's nature-based economy.

Sheboygan Charter Fishing Trips by Captain

 Wisconsin Charter Fishing Trips by Port

• Length: Wisconsin record length is 47.5 inches

• Weight:  2 to 35 pounds  (The U.S. record weight is 97 lbs 4 oz from Alaska.)

• Coloring: iridescent green to blue-green on back; sides below lateral line silvery; silvery to white underside

• Common Names: king salmon, tyee, spring salmon, quinnat

• Found in Lakes: Stocked in Lake Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior

Chinook Salmon

Chinook were the first Pacific salmon to be transplanted to other parts of the world, but the only notable success in creating self-sustaining stocks has been in New Zealand.  A key factor in this general failure was that, like other Pacific salmon, chinook salmon seek the stream of their birth to spawn and die.  They have apparently failed to find the right kind of spawning streams along Lake Michigan, so continuous stocking is necessary to maintain the chinook as one of the lake's most prized game fish.

Chinook are generally caught by trolling.  But as winter approaches and the lake becomes colder, they disappear in search of more suitable water temperatures.  Some say they veer south along a route five to 15 miles offshore; others say that, unlike cohos, they simply move offshore into deeper water.

For several reasons, this salmon species is especially popular with fish management agencies.  They can be released five to six months after hatching and therefore are cheaper to hatch and stock than cohos, which require 14 to 16 months.  During their four- to five-year lifespan, chinooks feed on large numbers of alewifes and so put more pressure on the lake's alewife population.

• Length: 11 to 26 inches
• Weight: 2 to 10 pounds
• Coloring: steel-blue to slightly green on back; bright silver on sides; white underside
• Common Names: coho, silver salmon, sea trout, blueback
• Found in Lakes: Stocked in Lake Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior

Coho Salmon

Mature cohos gorge themselves on alewives, smelt, and other forage fish.  In Lake Michigan, cohos attain an average weight of five to six pounds but often top out at 10 pounds or more. In Lake Superior, where forage fish are less abundant, cohos average only two to four pounds.

Though smaller, coho salmon are spawning successfully in most Lake Superior tributaries and thus have developed some limited but self-sustaining populations.  There is some concern that this aggressive fish might disrupt the spawning of other valued species, such as brook, brown and rainbow trout.

Coho salmon ordinarily return in their third year to the streams where they were planted to spawn and die.  They reproduce naturally in many streams on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, but their general population must be sustained with hatchery-reared fish.  Continual stocking has helped to improve the lake's predator-prey balance and given satisfaction to thousands of sport fishermen as well.

• Length: 17 to 27 inches
• Weight: 3 to 15 pounds
• Coloring: light spots on darker background, light underside
• Common Names: Great Lakes trout, laker, namaycush,togue, grey trout, mountain trout
• Found in Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior

Lake Trout

Thanks to sea lamprey control and continuous stocking, lake trout now live seven or more years in the lake, thriving on a diet of chubs and sculpins (their traditional prey), smelt and alewives. As a result, the return of this preeminent native, along with the introduction of Pacific salmon, has created a thriving world-class sport fishery in Lake Michigan. Biologists hope that ongoing research and plantings of these fish on historic spawning reefs will yet restore reproducing stocks of lake trout in Lake Michigan and enhance the few surviving stocks in Lake Superior.

Lake trout are long-lived and do not reach sexual maturity until 6-8 years of age. While the average lake trout in Lake Michigan today weighs around seven pounds, some of the larger trophy fish are three feet long and weigh as much as 25 pounds.

• Length: 20 to 30 inches
• Weight: 2 to 10 pounds
• Coloring: steel-blue, blue-green, yellow-green to almost brown on back; silvery sides; silvery white below
• Common Names: steelhead trout, coast rainbow trout, silver trout
• Found in Lakes: Stocked in Lake Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie, and Superior

Rainbow Trout

This is a strain of rainbow trout that migrates into the ocean before returning to spawn in their freshwater home streams.  Rainbows have adapted well, moving in and out of the Great Lakes much as they would the ocean.  As might be expected, they range widely throughout Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  Tagging has revealed that some migrate as far north as the Canadian tributaries of Lake Superior.

Rainbow trout seldom swim deeper than 35 feet along the Great Lakes shores and are easily located.  In forage-rich Lake Michigan, they grow 30-32 inches long and may reach 16 pounds by the time they are five years old.

Rainbow trout reproduce naturally in Lake Superior's tributaries and in some Lake Michigan tributaries as well.  Unlike Pacific salmon, the rainbow survives after spawning and may spawn two or three times during its life.

• Length: 16 to 24 inches
• Weight: 2 to 20 pounds
• Coloring: light brown or tawny back, becoming silvery on the sides and belly
• Common Names: brownie, German brown trout, German trout, European brown trout, breac
• Found in Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior

Brown Trout

Brown trout, a European relative of the Atlantic salmon, arrived in North America as early as 1883 and were introduced to Wisconsin waters four years later.  These resourceful fish managed well in degraded habitats no longer suitable for brook and other trout.

At the same time, the browns proved they could grow faster and live longer than the other kinds of trout.  Their reputation as a wary fish that tends to feed at dusk or night may account in part for their durability.

Brown trout have adjusted well to life in Lake Michigan.  They spawn in late autumn, sometimes on rocky reefs along shore though they generally prefer the gravelly headwaters of streams.  Wisconsin now stocks about 1.5 million brown trout in the lake each year, with lesser numbers stocked by Michigan and Illinois.

This has brought more variety to the lake's ecosystem and to the lives of many anglers.  Surfcasting for the fish, for example, is a popular sport along the lake's northern shores.

Brown trout are among the wariest of fish, feeding usually at dusk or at night, so fishermen are the adult brown's chief predator. In many localities, surf casting for brown trout is popular.  The record brown trout from Lake Superior -- nearly 30 pounds -- was taken in 1971.