Trailer ramp · Lake Michigan · Wisconsin

Sunset Park Launching Ramp

Name: Sunset Park Launching Ramp
Address: Sturgeon Bay, WI, US
Telephone: (920) 746-2914

A public trailer ramp on Sturgeon Bay in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin. Managed by Sturgeon Bay Parks & Rec Dept..

Directions Call (920) 746-2914 All Michigan launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — concrete ramp
Water: Sturgeon Bay
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: Sturgeon Bay Parks & Rec Dept.
Owner: City
Location: Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 44.8446° N, 87.3859° W

Before you launch

Lake Michigan is big water

The pier-head channel is the dangerous part of the trip. An onshore wind stacks waves where the channel meets the lake, and the run home can be far worse than the run out. Check the wind direction against the harbor mouth before you leave the ramp.

Longshore currents and structural rip currents at the piers. Lake Michigan produces more drowning fatalities than any other Great Lake, and most of them happen to swimmers near breakwalls and piers, not to anglers offshore.
Sudden north-to-northwest wind shifts. The lake runs 300 miles north to south, so a northerly builds enormous fetch and turns a flat morning into a five-foot afternoon on the south end.
Seiche events. Wind and pressure can push water to one end of the basin and let it slosh back, producing fast, unexpected water-level swings — one on the Chicago shoreline in 1954 killed several people on a pier.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Michigan

Our Michigan fishing guides name spots at or near Sturgeon Bay:

Lake Trout · May and June on shallow rock, July through September deep, plus a fall reef concentration

Lake Trout Fishing on Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay and the Door Peninsula: Wisconsin's Door County ports put you over hard bottom in a hurry. Fish the reefs off the peninsula's Lake Michigan side and the deep water outside Sturgeon Bay.

Lake Whitefish · December through March through the ice; October through April from a boat in Grand Traverse Bay

Lake Whitefish Fishing on Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay and the Door Peninsula: Wisconsin's Door County water holds whitefish on hard bottom, with a fall spawning movement onto the reefs and a winter fishery on the bay side.

Muskellunge · September through November, with late October and November the heavy-fish window

Green Bay Muskie Fishing: The Lower Fox, Sturgeon Bay & Fall Trolling

Sturgeon Bay, Sawyer Harbor and Little Sturgeon Bay: Protected Door County water on the east side of the bay. Sawyer Harbor and Little Sturgeon Bay are DNR stocking sites chosen because they hold both fingerling and adult habitat. Weed edges and soft bottom that suit casting.

Northern Pike · May and June, September through November, and January through February on Green Bay ice

Northern Pike Fishing on Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay and Sawyer Harbor, Door County: Protected Green Bay pockets with cabbage in 5–14 ft. Best known for smallmouth and walleye, and they hold pike the entire season with almost no directed pressure.

Smallmouth Bass · Mid-June through early October, with September the peak for size

Smallmouth Bass Fishing on Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay and Little Sturgeon, Door County: The Green Bay side of the Door Peninsula. Warm, fertile, rocky and productive — and by far the most heavily fished smallmouth water on the lake, having hosted major national tournaments.

Walleye · Late March through May in the bays, then late June through August on the reef and open-bay pattern

Walleye Fishing on Lake Michigan

Sturgeon Bay and Sawyer Harbor: The Door County side of Green Bay. Spring fish on shallow rock, and a summer population that mixes with smallmouth on the same structure.

Yellow Perch Brown Trout Chinook Salmon Coho Salmon Steelhead

Michigan by season

SpringCoho in close, browns on the beach SummerKings go deep and the fleet goes with them FallStaging kings and the river run WinterHarbor ice, tributary steelhead, and open water for the brave

Next ramp over

Nearest Michigan launches

Sawyer Park Boat Ramp1.2 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Potawatomi State Park Access3.1 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Olde Stone Quarry Park Boat Ramp4.2 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Lily Bay Park Boat Ramp6.0 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Roadside off of S. Lake Michigan Drive (Clay Banks)6.4 mi · hand / carry-in launch · WI
S. Lake Michigan Drive Carry-in6.7 mi · hand / carry-in launch · WI

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses nearby

Sherwood Point Light4.1 mi
Sturgeon Bay Canal Light4.9 mi
Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light5.2 mi

For the crew ashore

Beaches nearby

Camp or picnic

State parks nearby

Potawatomi State Park2.0 mi

On shore nearby

Worth the stop

Cave Point County Park11 mi · park

Source

Launch facts are from the Wisconsin DNR, Public Boat Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with Sturgeon Bay Parks & Rec Dept. before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theWisconsin DNR.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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