Lake Michigan

About Lake Michigan

Wisconsin holds about 320 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, from Marinette at the head of Green Bay down through Door County, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Port Washington, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. The surface area and total shoreline figures in our survey cover the entire lake across four states, not Wisconsin's share, so they are best read as a reminder of scale rather than as a local statistic.

Forty-five public landings are on record on the Wisconsin side, and they are a different sort of access from anything inland: marinas and harbour ramps at Algoma, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Port Washington, Racine and Kenosha, city launches at Milwaukee and Oak Creek, and smaller town ramps through Door County at Egg Harbor, Gibraltar, Jacksonport, Liberty Grove and Sevastopol.

The state's inland fisheries designations do not apply out here — Lake Michigan is managed separately, as a Great Lake, with its own assessments and its own rules.

Great Lakes regulations differ substantially from Wisconsin's inland rules, and they differ again by zone and by species. Check the current DNR Lake Michigan regulations before going out.

Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 20.

Fishing license

Wisconsin sells them online. Buy one from the state. We don’t know whether you need one — that depends on your age, where you live, the water, and what your guide’s own license covers.