Fishing Report

2011 Season
Archives

June 20th, 2011 - I took a charter out today on the Sportcraft. Had a great crew of experienced salmon fishermen which really helped to pull off a pretty good day under tough conditions. The wind has been out of the East for several days now and the may fly hatch is in full swing. The crew worked their butt's off to put together a nice box of fish anchored by a 28.5 incher. Spoons first thing in the morning but that bite died off by lunchtime. At that point we mixed in some good old reliable Wiggle Warts and got them going again. We fished the same area as the last few trips and found the fish going deeper in the water column. Not much action coming within ten feet of the surface at all. Another good day!

June 18th, 2011 - I fished the DWF Tournament today with pal Chris and his Dad. We took the Sportcraft and focused on the spoon program in various depths between Stony Point and Estral Beach. We only ended up with 15 - none of which were tourney winners, but we had a great day anyway. We fished only spoons on the riggers, dipsies and big boards using both Jets and Mini Disks. We never did get much of a program figured out but more fish came on the riggers and dipsies than off the boards.

June 17th, 2011 - After a few days of bad weather and a busy schedule I finally got out again today for the first time in over a week. I went out alone and forced myself to work on my spoon program (left the crawlers at home)! It took me a while to start to get them dialed in, but I ended up boating 8 walleyes, mostly in the last two hours I was out there. Turns out they didn't like something about the mini disks this time, but I started catching them as I replaced those with #30 Jets 50 to 60 feet behind the boards. All fish came in 18 to 22 feet of water in front of Swan Creek/Estral Beach. Pinks with pink or copper backs were the hot spoons today.

June 9th, 2011 - Went out again this evening with some good friends/clients and fished the same program as two days ago. This time we went through over a hundred crawlers as we sorted through many sheepshead, silver bass and a couple of catfish before we had our 18 walleyes. Nice evening - a little windy - but manageable!

June 7th, 2011 - Took a two man charter out on the Yar-Craft this morning and despite a lumpier ride than the weather man had forecast, we had a pretty good day. We pulled spinners downwind at 1.1 to 1.5 mph in 24 to 26 FOW for a nice three man limit of eyes. Had to sort through a bunch of sheepshead in the process, but they are fun too! Hopefully, things will stay stable for a while now.

June 6th, 2011 - I had the Sportcraft out both Saturday and Sunday for several hours each day trying to put a spoon program together. Most of the charter fleet in the marina are reporting good success with spoons, but we didn't get it quite dialed in. I had some mechanical issues with the boat, but should have it taken care of and back out this coming weekend.

June 2nd, 2011 - First trip out on the Lake this season today. We made two long passes out NE of Fermi in 20 to 23 FOW pulling spinners and crawlers on 1 ounce inline weights. Kept 21 nice eyes and threw back a few "non-targeted" species as well. Surface temps are hovering around 70 degrees right now so it should be on for a few weeks anyway.

May 22nd, 2011 - I took my brother and another buddy out this evening. We fished the channel edges between the Wyandotte Golf Course and Elizabeth Park and caught fish all through there. We ended up with out 15 fish limit of eyes plus some bonus small mouth and a bunch of silver's. T-Rex jigs and wonder worms were hot again. We also picked up a few on Arkansas Shiner Fin-S.

May 14th, 2011 - I took two guys out on a charter today and it was pretty non-stop all day. We jigged from Wyandotte down to Elizabeth Park - mostly on the channel edges. Caught at least 8 small mouth, 3 sheepshead, 1 sturgeon and at least 30 silver bass. Oh yeah, we also picked up 8 nice walleye. T-Rex jigs in all colors with brown or black wonder worms were best for us today.

May 12th, 2011 - I was out for a few hours this evening and managed 5 walleyes and a bunch of silver bass. Yes, they're in! Unpainted jigs with brown wonder worms did most of the damage. Fished the channel edges between the bridges in the Trenton Channel. Now is a great time to take the kids out for some fast action with the silvers. We caught 25 or so by accident. If you use lighter jigs and white twister tails you can probably catch hundreds of them.

May 9th, 2011 - I don't want to start calling it a renaissance yet, but this evening was much improved. I caught five on a green T-Rex jig and brown Wonder Worm between 6pm and 8pm between the Wyandotte Boat Club and the Toll Bridge. I think part of the improvement is due to the warm stable weather of the past few days. Water temps were up to 55 degrees and color and clarity were good. It felt good to get out of my slump!

May 7th, 2011 - I had charters out on the River the past two days and it remained pretty slow for me. It was generally slow for most, but by most accounts was improving for many. Lot's of boats reported catching dinner, but few claimed limits. The water temps were still down, but color and clarity were OK. We fished from US Steel to the Gross Isle free bridge with little to show for it. No explanations and no excuses - I should have done better! At least my guests both days were gracious and understanding - not to mention a lot of fun to be with.

April 30th, 2011 - Fishing has been tough for most the last two days. I took out Steve and Tom from K-Zoo on Friday and we only managed 4 in the boat, and one of them was short! In addition to the 20mph winds, the River was very dirty from the storms all week and still cold (< 50 degrees). I went out again today as one of six boats chartered for the Paul Bunyan Club outing. The water clarity had improved, but not so much the fishing. We boated a total of five in five hours of fishing. No excuses, but the fishing should have been much better today! I did hear, however, that the bite improved in the afternoon.

Both of my trips focused mostly on the Mud Island area with a few drifts at 2-Rocks, US Steel, and Fighting Island. I did hear that fishing was slightly better yesterday all the way up River between Chene Park and Lake St. Clair but I did not venture up that far.

April 27th, 2011 - I have cancelled my trips for the first three days of this week due to weather or at least the forecast. Wishing now I would have gone yesterday as reports were the fishing in the middle river was on fire for those willing to deal with the high winds. I drove by and saw a broad band of blue/green water running down the middle and knew it was probably good. When I talked to some buddies and colleagues who were out, they were grinning from ear to ear saying "It's on now!" Hopefully, it wasn't a fluke and things are generally picking up. I won't find out for myself today due to the heavy rain now falling and lots more on the way.

April 24th, 2011 - HAPPY EASTER! I had the chance to get out with my brother Randy and my pal Chris for a few hours this morning before the family got together for a meal. We headed to the Trenton Channel in the hopes of finding a little clearer water and it paid off. Visibility was about a foot, even though temps were still in the mid forties. Those two guys schooled me though. They caught 7 fish with 6 of them being between 5 and 8 pounds while I only managed one good skunk! I need to find more generous people to fish with I guess. T-Rex jigs with ring worms and FinS Fish in darker colors were working best today.

April 23rd, 2011 - Tough day for most today! The water was dirtied up from all of yesterday's rain/run-off and the fish were far less active than 24 hours ago. A few boats figured something out, but most ended up with very light baskets. Tomorrow is another day!

April 22nd, 2011 - I took out an afternoon charter today with Bob, Bobby and David. It rained the entire trip with a cold NW wind, but we still caught some fish. Ended up with 14 nice eaters caught on T-Rex jigs and mostly black worm bodies between US Steel and Mud Island. Reports were that fish were going in the deeper water (30' plus) this AM, but most of our success came in 18' to 22' this evening. Water clarity was decent - about 8 to 10 inches of visibility - but still cold: 43 to 46 degrees!

April 18th, 2011 - Today I provided one of three boats for a group of guys who had come in from out of State for some Detroit River walleye fishing. We headed out at 7am in a bona-fide winter storm! I had over 2" of snow in the boat by 9am. The water was the color of wet cement everywhere we went from Celeron Island to Fort Wayne. The Canadian side looked like you could walk on it. NO FISH! The guys were great sports though - they've been doing this for a number of years and know what April in Detroit can mean!

April 15th, 2011 - I was out today with Steve and Brad - a couple of good sticks from Chicago. We struggled with the 20+ mph East winds but still managed to put some nice fish in the box including a new personal best 11.5 pounder for Brad. We fished the Trenton channel using T-Rex and current buster jigs with 4" FinS Fish and 4" Wonder Worms. Color didn't seem to matter, but when the bite slowed in the afternoon, tipping with shiners produced a few more fish.

April 11th, 2011 - Some really nice eyes have been caught in the River over the past week, just too few of them. Fishing remains slow for most, but a few boats did manage to pull some decent baskets. That leads me to believe that things should get going pretty well any time now. To my point, only 5 limits were weighed at the MWT Saturday, compared to close to three times that in zeros! Most teams weighed one or two fish. Day two of that tournament (Sunday) was cancelled due to heavy fog. The boats that did well were able to find a small active pod of fish and stay on them while the bite lasted - usually less than an hour. Those teams reported that the rest of their days were pretty uneventful.

I know this all sounds a little depressing - but I have to think when it does open up it's going to be awesome!

April 3rd, 2011 - Hi All! Well this would be my first report for 2011. I had a good show season, and am getting busier by the day, but did manage to get out on the water the past two days.

I fished the Detroit River with my Buddy Chris Saturday & Sunday. Water temps were in the 36 to 38 degree range and the clarity was just about perfect for jigging. We fished the middle River on Saturday with one 27" seven and a half pounder to show for it. That one came on a Black T-Rex jig with an Ice Shad FinS minnow between Mud and Fighting Islands.

On Sunday we fished the lower River. Not a bump and we did not see a fish taken around us. We fished along Calf Island and out in Front of Humbug Marina. We then moved over East of Gross Isle and stuck a very fat 22" male between the Island and the "Hole In The Wall." We also tried over on Ballard's Reef but nothing there.

I'm thinking we are still a week away from any consistency on the River, but I have been hearing some decent reports from out on the Lake. Water temps are a few degrees warmer out there and it may be the difference. I'll probably get out there at least once during the coming week.

It's nice to be back in the game though!