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me and a bud went out to trenton yesterday to try our luck on a few walleyes.
we had more wind than we wanted 10 - 20 miles per hour, and no shortages of boats on this cold and misty day, must have been a 100 of them all working the smoke stacks.
the eyes were coming up few and far between, I my self only breifly hooked up for a second a couple times, in 5 hours time we ended up fish less, not even boating one. we did see some fat mommas boated tho'.
this was my first time in that area, fishing under these circumstances. I was geared for the north end of the river, this was a new experience for me. any one heading out to this area will definatly want a heavy duty electric troling moter and a heafty battery to navigate around the hundred of other boats in the area.
even tho I came home with the perverbial "goose egg" (dont want any one thinking I came home with a goose egg, it is that time of year) I had a great time and learned a new method of hooking up with the eyes.
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tee hee hee , been there , done that [  ] !
it is a learning experiance indeed , but the sweet rewards of catching a trophy waleye are worth it in the long run [cool] . i've had a few of my cheep rods snapped in two by some of the fish that pick that area to feed in before they make there big runs in to the weedbeds along the islands .
now , if getting in and out of the trenton boatlaunch was a little harry , try launching from the point moulie dnr launch site , it adds a couple minutes to the trip but it takes the agrivation out of manurving into position for docking . and if the detroit isn't giving up fish , it's just a few minutes to the mouth of the huron river (south) by going around the break wall . thats one spot that can get you some big eyes too .
sure fun tring to hold your spot in line with that current , huh ?[  ]
how about jigging with thoes rollers comming in ?
we went to suckerfest and tawas river yesterday , will post a report after work .
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now fishing the rollers is my specialty, that is the first thing I learned about walleye in the north river, It some getting used to when the rollers go over your head and you sink in to a swell.
it was a big eye that I had hold of, I thought it was the bottom. I grabed the line to try to break my leader off the bottom and brought it in only to find my leader in tact and half my bait to be missing. I was using method for the north river with an extreamily short leader 8 - 10 inches. we were using the troling motor (electric) to manover around the croud and slow us down.
we were going to slow for troling and to fast for jigging. If I go back out that way again I will grab some smaller blades.
I wasnt the least bit worried about my rod breaking. I was using my Bigfishtackle.com custom fishing rod I ordered from the [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/bigfish_gifts.htm"][size 1]BFT Gift Shop[/size][/url] With 20 pound Sigma Mono and 12 pound Trileine leaders. I was going with a slip sinker to give me the best feal of the bottom. I only lost one leader to the bottom and it broke so fast there was hardly any time to react.
I do my leaders this way because I want the leader to go with out loosing my egg sinker. In the last 20 years I have only lost 2 egg sinkers. I have yet to loose one off my bft rod.
but now I know what I am dealing with I beleive my next trip out will be truly a profitable one. and the next time I think I have the bottom I will know it is a fish because the bottom hookups snap on my setup asap.
deffinatly a big learning curv from the north to the south. ofcorce we did not go over in to the shipping lane on the other side of grosse island. I would emagine that the conditions there are about the same as the north side of the river.
Scott said he liked the Erie Metro park launch much better than state launch. we had over heated his 25 horse motor running it on low spead. had we done that and gone down river from the state launch insted of going up river from the metro launch and we lost the engine we would still be floating some where down by Cedar Point right now.
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now on going to the other side of grosse isle , theres an old submerged railroad grade near the north end , only a foot or so below the surface . there once was a carnival type park on the next island back in the 1800's . all that remains is that railroad grade , it has smashed many a hull ..
the down channel for the freightors , dangerous !! but out in the lake on the u.s. side ho;ds some awsome fishing , nuttin but huge fish of every species there .
big eyes can be cought on that side close to shore near the canal inlets twards the southern end .[  ] . another holding area is below the pilings under the bridge , tons of fish there , but boating regulations forbid anyone from holding a position there .
dollers to donuts the snag that robbed you was that power cable across the bottom , i figure it has more jiggs on it than bft has free contests and give-a-ways for it's members , well it would be close anyway [cool] .
man , i miss fishing that strech of water .
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speaking of amusment parks, boblo island was in eyes site just to the south of where we launched from.
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i'll try to locate some charts but the river is pretty safe as long as you treat her with respect .
no drift socks , the current is kinda fast . a trolling motor is used to help you keep your position .
forget fishing the ambasitor bridge , swift current there .
you will need to drift the channels by the factories and freightor docks . best areas are ;
behind the detroit marine termanals docks , cross streets nearest the location are fort and green streets.
the s.w. corner of the rouge river outlet , this is the begining of a streach that runs past great lakes steel to mud island , alwawys good for a lot of good sized eaters . troll/drift downriver bottom jigging or hand-lineing about 40-50 feet from shore .
south of mud island is the B.A.S.F. (Wyndotte chemicals ) plant . it's channel is along the steel breakwall , (look for the big red indian ) same as the detroit city area , drift and jig .
the trenton channel , south of the "free bridge" (southern end of the detroit river ) trophy eyes there .
there's a couple local baitstore that can give you current fishing conditions , i'll post there addresses and phone numbers later this afternoon , along with additional information .
the wife wants to use the computer for a bit . talk to you real soon.
your pal , al
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[size 1]Dip Net Bait & Tackle 4464 W. Jefferson , Ecorse, MI (313) 388-5811
Lakeside Fishing 25110 Jefferson , St. Clair Shores, MI (810) 777-7003
Trenton Lighthouse 3021 Jefferson , Trenton, MI (734) 675-7080
Wyandotte Boat Ramp 711 Biddle , Wyandotte, MI (734) 282-1180 [/size]
the trenton lighthouse bait and tackel store will give you the best information availible . explain where you are calling from , for best results .
another source for a contact would be gander mountin . com , taylor michigan store . send an e mail to the head of the fishing department asking for advice and info .
"fishguide" on our ohio board is a walleye charter captin , don't let the "ohio board " throw you off , he's a michigan resident too and knows the eye's better than most .
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when I was there a couple weeks ago I stoped at a bait and tackle shop across the street from Erie Metro park where we launched at, I cant remember the name of that shop, do you know what it is.
when I was in there the men working there were eager to aid in letting any one know how what and where to do the eye thing.
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I wanted to ask your opinion.
While on the trenton branch I noticed that we were drifiting much faster than the other boats.
my question is when jigging there is it better to keep your line drifting in front of you or behind of you?
I have always been troling. the guy I was with has always been jigging. what is your opinion on how fast you should be drifting there? or were you being litteral when stateting that you are attempting to just hold your position on the river?
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i'll e mail my cousin to see if he can get me the stores name and addy .
trolling speed varies there .
you saw the rock wall that extends into the river from the plant and the small shallow bay area , spawning grounds ! (great catfish area , hmmm, maybe our buddy from uscats knows the stores info )
from the shallows to mid river is a shelf/ drop off area , the current is actually slower on the sides than in the middle . as for speed , you have me there . i didn't have anything to judge speed . i would use my humminbird 3-d fishfinder to locate the fish and stay 30 feet ahead of them and rod jig . lift up , peel off some line and lower . kept repeating the process untill i was right in there faces . from then on i just reeled them in and sorted them out .
late commers always ended up further out in the river with the swifter current . i would always hand line if i was a late arival . i used a crome collored torpedo jig tipped with a large minnow on braided copper wire .
the oppisite shore is one of the best bass fisherys south of lake st. clare . mant tournamets are fished there .
elisibithe park area of the river is the white bass heaven of michigan .
fighting islands west side to it's southern end holds monster rockbass and crappie .
mud islands southern shore is a great spot to watch spawning stergon and muskeys .
the north east end of mud island has a calm area to anchor in with a steep dropoff . there is a spring hole that goes down 200 feet at the channels edge . around that hole is every kind of fish imiganable . it is not uncommon to spend a few hours there and limit out on all kinds of fish at one time . use a walleye crawler rig .
i have had to beach my boat there several times due to thunderstorms that came from nowhere .
as far as trolling , use the same set-up as the st.clare river . pencil plugs off a cannonball or a dipsey diver and a slow troll . but only in the spring . once the pleasure boats start getting out on the open water the weeds are churned up and end on your line nonstop .
breast bay in monroe is always a good area for walleye , trolling the mudline with erie dearies has always been my favorite way to spend a weekend day .
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hey , saw this report from a pro on how to fish the river and where to fish it .
Spring fishing on the Detroit River means huge numbers of spawning Walleyes and a chance at a once in a lifetime trophy.Fisherman are reporting varying success thru out the river.Water temps are still hovering around the mid to upper 40's and the best fishing should break loose as the temperatures continue to rise. If your going to give the Detroit River a try you will most likely employ one of two methods, vertical jigging or handlining.If you are going to jig you will need jigs varying in size form 3/8 to 3/4 ounces depending on the depth and current speed. Tip your jigs with minnows or plastic shad and twister tail bodies. You will need a bowmount or transom mount trolling motor to control you downstream drift.Keep your jig as vertical as possible so you can detect bites and keep from getting snagged. Hot colors include Chartreuse,Orange, and Pink. If you are going to hand line plan on using weights in the 1 to 1 1/2 lb. range depending on the depth and the current speed. Original Rapalas in sizes # 7 and # 9 have been good producers. Hot colors are clown,firetiger,chartreuse,and fluorescent orange. If you don't have handlining equipment you can try running three way rigs with heavy pencil weights or bell sinkers.Consistent areas on the Detroit River have been the Trenton Channel, The BASF wall at Wyandotte, Zug Island at River Rouge and Great Lakes Steel. Focus on the channel edges and the flats adjacent to the channel. Depths will range from as shallow as 10 feet to as deep as 35 feet.Be sure to check regulations and remember that the half of the Detroit River is in U.S. waters and half is in Canadian waters, so if you want to fish the whole river you will need two licenses.
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