Cold winter fishing for the first time

Question
Im new to cold weather fishing here in Wisconsin and would like some advice on some good lures to use and when and where are some of the best places to fish in Milwaukee....preferably the Milwaukee harbor and the Menominee and Milwaukee rivers.I have yet to catch any of the good fish I often see other anglers catching and it'd be nice to get your feed back on what you think I should do and try. Also please let me know what it is that I can catch as I am not too familiar with the species that are available in these areas I plan to fish at this weekend on my time off. Your help would be appreciated. By the way. I do have both heavy duty and light duty rods n reels. Thanks

Answer
Hi Ray,

The winter fishing has been slow this year.  Also, the harbor access has been day to day with a lot of ice moving around. The area under the Hoan Bridge will start to produce as soon as we can get in there.  For now, the only guaranteed open water is the inner harbor.  The area near the MMSD headquarters or on the north and south side of the Harley museum are open.  But, I must say that the action has been poor.  Shad or pearl colored spoons, crankbaits, or rattle baits are good choices.  The fishery is primarily Brown trout up there but there will be some migrating Steelhead now too.  An occasional walleye is also a possibility.  

A medium spinning rod with 8 pound test is all you need

There has been good schools of gizzard shad up there all winter so far but not mush activity form game fish feeding on them.

Good luck,

Marc