April 27, 2004
I am sure may of you may have been wondering why there have not been updated reports posted here lately. As I mentioned I have been in the middle of a computer upgrade which required a quick trip to Huntington Beach, California. Now that this trip is behind me I can pick up where I left off on the 18th of April. I am planning to fish tomorrow evening and should have an updated report for you all very soon.
Andy and Aaron have been fishing river in my absence. And must say both are doing exceptionally well catching limits. Aaron has been fishing focusing on the Canadian Side. While Andy has been fishing the Michigan Side. Clown #9 Rapala's still appear to be the key to success. Not leaving out the Silver Shiner and Vampire patterns too.
The water has warmed up a bit and the fish are now moving into shallower water. Jigging anglers are seeing the best results during the morning bite.
This is all I have for you right now. Stay tuned for more reports and information.
April 22, 2004
Sorry for the lack of reports the past few days. Been spending my time on an extensive computer upgrade for one of the projects I am currently working on. This project is will be taking the majority of my time and do not plan fishing the river until April 25th. Don't worry, Andy and Aaron will be fishing in my absence and providing some good information. Stayed tuned, more reports to come....
April 18, 2004
Hope you all had a productive weekend on the water. No fishing for me on friday. But, I did get out and fish Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was the most productive day for walleye of the weekend. I hit the river myself since my associates could not make it out. Went 3 for 3 pulling blue/silver and Clown #9 Rapala's. I was hoping to give spoons a try but I got a late start. (Spoons are only productive during the day.) Rapala's seemed to be doing good so why change up.
After being cut off, pinched between boats/out of holes, nearly hit by another boat or having the boat behind me troll directly over my baits I called it quits.
I accompanied Aaron and his two daughters for a morning of perch fishing on sunday. We fished from 11:30 to 2:00 pm and caught 14 perch. A few of the fisherman that I talked to had started fishing first thing in the morning and had their limit by Noon.
After a good dinner Andy and I headed out of a little handlining to conclude the weekend. Since the lower river has seen so much activity we made a run north to get away from the crowds. I picked up one walleye on a Silver/Black #9 Rapala before the wind kicked up. It was a real fun ride back to the launch.
Jigging anglers are still catching fish using 1/2 ounce Chartreuse Jigs with a Stinger Hook and a Smoke (Black)/White Plastic. Some prefer tipping this rig with a live minnow and some don't. That is totally up to your discression. Both methods are catching fish. You might even want to try giving pink and glow colored jigs a try too. The water clarity was excellent and the surface temps vary from 46 to 49 degrees. Small Craft Advisories have been issued for the Detroit River and Lake Erie, I don't see the water clarity holding up well with all this wind. Please keep in mind that this west wind will also make the water levels drop. Please keep this mind operating your boat or in locating water ro structure to fish.
That is all that I have right now until the next report. Here are a couple of photos from the weekend, enjoy.
April 16, 2004
Here is the lastest for you guys that are planning to fish the over this weekend. I fished last night from 7:00 to 9:45 and went 1 for 3. We were fishing out of the big boat tonight and I think the two fish that I lost was due to our trolling speed. We threw 2 buckets and fully lowered the trim tabs to get the speed down as much as we could. The surface temperature is 44.5 degrees, and is pretty much consistant anywhere on the lower river. The water is clean and should continue to stay that way should the weather cooperate. (I just checked the weather forcast and looks like showers and scattered thunderstorms are forcasted for Saturday and Sunday.)
Chartreuse and Glow Colored jigs with a shad or minnow colored plastic tipped with a minnow are still the ticket for jigging anglers. Handliners are still experiencing good luck with #9 Clowns and Vampires.
That is all that I have for you today. Hitting the river this weekend and should have a solid report for you in the near future. Until then here is a picture of the dink I landed last night.
April 15, 2004
Had a pretty busy day yesterday and needed to relax a little bit. Since Andy was working and Aaron had some family things to do I hit the river by myself. At least that is what I thought. I ended up running into a couple of buddies that had the same idea.
I started fishing around 6:45 pm and called it quits at 9:15 pm. I went 3 for 4 pulling #11 Clown's and #9 Silver Minnows. (Two 20 inchers and one 19 inches) I thought the Silver Minnow was a good choice since the jiggers were doing good with Chartreuse Jigs tipped with a silver/black plastic and a minnow for the last week. This combo did really well, I though I made a good choice.
A friend of mine that was out ended the night with 4 nice fish. I know he would have limited out but, he did not have his stern light and had to call it quits just before dark.
The water was clean and fishable. Like you already know I do not have a LCD Fish Finder on my boat so I cannot give you surface temps. Don't worry, were running the big boat tonight and it has a brand new LCD with water temp. I will have a temp spec for you guys planning to fish the weekend.
I would like to mention that I am field testing some Custom Handlining Shanks that are made by a good friend of mine. If all goes well with them I will be selling them on here when I change webhosts. Unfortunately, Geocities does not allow me to sell any products or services with their free web hosting services. If I sell anything here I will be violating Geocities Terms of Service and that would be pretty much the end of this site. (Until I found another host.)
That is all I have for you today. Like I said, I will be heading out this evening and should have a good report in prep for the weekend. Until then here are a couple pictures from last nights trip.
April 13, 2004
I really do not have much of a report for you all today. With easter coming and going this past sunday I spent time with family after fishing pretty hard Friday and Saturday. I can tell you that the weather has been on the chilly side the last two days and the wind is pretty nasty. Your trolling motor would definately get a workout today, that is for sure.
Andy's cousin made it out yesterday morning. He and his partner ended up limiting out. I do not have specific colors/pattterns or sizes at this time. My cell phone died in the middle of my conversation with Andy. (I am guessing he was running #9 Raps) There has been a little bit of action on the lower part of the river very near the Lake Erie/Detroit River Boundary. Again, glow or Chartreuse Colored Jigs Tipped with Twister Tails (White or Silver/Black) and Minnnow seem to be the ticket. Nothing regarding handlining yet......
Since were on the subject I would just like to mention a couple of things if your planning to fish the river, both handlining or jigging. I you happen to snag jigging, please make an effort to free the snag by motoring up toward the snag to retrieve it. If you can't get the snag free at least you will not have 200 feet or more of Mono or Fireline out so other fisherman (handliners or jiggers) can snag it. It is not only bad for the river, but it also costs you valuable fishing time rerigging.
In addition if your handlining, please do not cut off or immediately troll behind or next to the boat near you. There is more than enough river and fish for everyone to enjoy. This not only spooks the fish for you but also for the guy(s) fishing near you. Guys, we are all out on the river for the same reasons. 1.) To relax and have a good time 2.) Put a couple of fish in the cooler for a meal. A little courtesy goes a long way.
Until tomorrow, have a great day.
April 12, 2004
Sorry that I did not post a report over the past couple of days. Andy, Aaron and I spent the weekend fishing the river with some guests from South Dakota. Aaron and the South Dakota guys perched fished canadian waters. I jigged the area south of the Warm Water Discharge from 12:30 pm to 4:30 on Friday and had missed quite a few fish on a Chartreuse/Lime Green Lake Erie Jig tipped with a minnow. There were some fish being caught but the action was pretty slow when compared to last Thursday. The only fish that I landed jigging was a nice sized Carp. The water was clean and very fishable. I could not tell you the surface water temp again since I do not have a LCD Fish Finder.
I had a bite to eat with the South Dakota guys and we headed out to handline the remainder of the day. Things started out slow but, we ended up going 13 for 17 on Friday Night. The fished we landed were from 15" all the way up to 27". Andy had taken the big fish for the day which measured 27" and weighted in at 8 pounds. #11 Raps in blue/silver, orange, or White seem to work the best.
We headed back out fishing Saturday and went 8 for 10. Andy got lucky and snagged a handlining weight, a shank, a fireball jig tipped with a sluggo, a #7 Blue/Silver Rapala and a #9 Clown Rapala on one pass. That made his day after losing the lip of a raplala fishing the previous day.
I hope the Dave, Donald and Chris had a good time, I know I did! Hope to see you for some Pheasant hunting in South Dakota this fall. Here are a couple of photos from oour weekend and two pictures sent to me from Tom at Walleye Central of his trip on the upper river. That is all I have until next report.......
April 9, 2004
I had some problems yesterday and my reports from April 1st to April 7th have disappeared. I am in the process of getting those back up for you all. We are not setting any records the past week but, the water temp and clarity information is always useful.
We did not fish last night due to the fact that someone had decided to steal the 35 Johnson off Aaron's boat. It is kind of funny how things disappear and then mysteriously reappear a month of two later for sale on the street. 35 Johnson's pretty much look alike. But, there is something unique about this motor that will make it stick out in a crowd. It will be a matter of time before we see it. Now that we are one boat short we are trying to work out contingent plans for the weekend.
The surface water temp is hanging around 41 to 42 degrees and the water clarity was good. Jigging anglers should have no problems fishing this weekend.
A couple associates of mine handlined yesaterday evening and finished with a two man limit. They would not go into detail what color/size combo's they were running. It would be a safe bet to say they were pulling #9 or #11 Firetiger or Holographic Rapala's.
Jigging anglers are still finding success with Charteuse or Glow colored jigs tipped with a Twister Tail/Minnow Combo and a stinger hook. We will be fishing pretty heavy the next few days (weekend) so I should have a good report for you some time over the weekend.
Have a great weekend. And don't forget to take your kid(s) fishing.
April 8, 2004
Good Day All! Fished the river last night with my Girlfriend. It did not take too much persuasion to get her to go. She actually enjoys fishing. The river was a little bit choppy with the brisk south wind. I fished my boat last night (instead of Aaron's) I cannot tell you what the surface water temp was since I do not have a LCD Fish Finder. However, I can tell you that the water was suprising clean.
As you can tell from the photo that I took last night jig fisherman are still targeting the area immediately south of the discharge. The action appeared to be pretty slow when I was out on the river. I talked to several anglers as I passed them pulling wire. They had 2 to 3 fish per boat (two to three anglers per boat). and I only saw on fished boated from 6:30 to 9:00 pm when I was out.
Many of you sent me e-mail's wondering what happened on the river yesterday. The United States Coast Guard had closed an area of the river to boat traffic yesterday near the old McLouth Steel Plant. This closure was so a Demolition Contractor could demolish Blast Furnaces #1 and #2. The demolition of Furnace #1 had went smoothly. Unfortunately, the demolition for #2 did not go so well and could not be completed. This one is soon to be demolished in the near future. Be prepared for another temporary closure of the river.
That is all I have for you until tomorrow's report. As promised here is a look at the photo I took during last nights trip.
Got Questions? E-mail me at: downriveroutdoors@yahoo.com