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2006: Daily Fishing Reports and River Conditions

June 29, 2006

Hope everyone is having a great day. I realize everyone is probably looking forward to reading a report in anticipation for the weekend. I really do not have more to add to this weeks report. I think the information that I had supplied in yesterdays update provides alot useful information which should get you going.

Trolling Spoons off 3/0 Dipsy's or Big Jon Mini Disks maybe a a new concept to some of you. The rigging is pretty simple however the tricky part is determining what depth your spoons are running. I am in the process of adding a couple of Depth Charts (Website Links) for the Popular Cranks baits as well Dipsy's and Mini Disks. These links will appear on this site as well as on the Interactive Forums as well.

I am not sure how accurate these sites are. They do offer a good starting point. I recommend that you consider purchasing Mark Romanack's Precision Trolling Books to further fine tune your presentations. (8th edition as well as the Big Water Edition). The 8th Edition contains the dive curve data for a wide variety of crankbaits and the Big Water Edition contain the curve data for Diving Planers such as the Dipsy and Mini Disk.

If you are new to trolling spoons you may ask yourself, "What colors/patterns should I buy to start with?" Especially with the large variety of Colors and Patterns available. I have located a great site which details (with a photo) the "Must Have" and "Got to Have" Spoons. It can be viewed by visiting: http://maxedoutenterprises.com/_wsn/page4.html

This will give you a good start and will by all means get you off to a great start. (Do not forget about the colors I listed in Yesterday's report either.) Be sure to check out the Spoon Caddy as well. This is by far the best way to store and transport spoons that I have seen (my opinions of cource).

If you have not already registered to partcipate in the Downriver Interactive Forums, I urge you to do so. This is a great place to chat and interact with other anglers and maybe pick up a few tips. Partcipation in these forums requires membership. In addition this forum is only available to those who register.

June 29, 2006

I would like to apologize for the lack of updated reports. I have bad news and good news.

The bad news is this has been a pretty trying season for me that is for sure. Between work, vacation and taking care of some home improvements, I really have not had much time to fish as much as I have been accustomed to doing in the past. (Probably not too hard to tell by the lack of reports lately?)

I have been out on a couple of trips with Robby targeting the lower Detroit River and a trip out on Lake Erie with Capt. Paul of ProWalleye Charters and had a blast. Caught our limits, had some some fun and enjoyed the fellowship. My wife and I also took a brief 6 day vacation, spending some time on Intermediate Lake which is in the Chain-o'Lakes in Antrim County. Picked the Crestliner up from my dad and enjoyed trolling for walleye in the morning and evening. Combined with a little bit of Panfishing with my wife.

Now for the good news!

My wife and I are now in our home stretch of our pregnancy. According the doctor at her last appointment we should be expecting a healthy baby girl just about anyday now. I am really looking forward to the new addition to my family.

Here is the latest information regarding the fishing on the Lower Detroit River and Michigan Waters of Lake Erie. Handliners are still catching fish from the Lake Erie Mouth to Fighting Island. The best bite times have been early morning until 9:00-9:30 am and then resuming from sunset to after dark.

The program is has been on Spike's Spoons, #5 and #7 Floaters in Hot Steel and Purpledescent Colors, McGinty's, Flatfish and believe it or not Single Hook Crawler Harnesses (Purple #4 and #5 Colorado Blades tipped with a Baby Crawler.

The Western Basin of Lake Erie is still strong. The bite has been consistant from Fermi east to the Sister Islands. A good number of fish have moved to the deeper water (25-27 FOW) Spoons on Big Jon Mini Disks 40 to 60 back still remain the presentation of choice. Michigan Stinger Spoons still remain angler favorites. (Confusion, Mass Confusion, Monkey Puke and Antifreeze have been the colors of choice, do not be afraid to give others a soak.)

A few locals have also excellent success trolling the tried and true GST (Spike's)Spoon behind Big Jon Mini's, 3/0 Dipsy's and/or Jet 20's/30's. This GSC Spoon can be found at Trenton Lighthouse, Bottom Line or Hook, Line and Sinker.

If you prefer trolling Hard Baits Wiggle Warts, Hot-N-Tot's and Wally Diver's have been very productive. Metallic Colors such as Blue/Silver, Purple/Black, Gold/Black have been yielding consistant catches.

Crawler Harness's trolled off of Bottom Bouncer's or in-line weights are also supplmenting catches along with Drifting with Dearie's and/or Weapon's. Walleye are hitting a wide variety of presentations. Do not be afraid to soak a wide variety of presentations paying close attention to your speed and the fish are in the water column you should do just fine.

That is all I have for you right now. I am in standby mode waiting for the baby right now. But, I hope to hit the lake over the weekend/holiday and will post an update. Until then if you have a photo that you would like to post feel free to e-mail me at: downriveroutdoors@yahoo.com

May 11, 2006

Well as much as I hate to break it to you the silver bass have moved into the lower river. They are pretty much biting anything you care to jig or handline at them.

I hit the river tuesday evening with Robbie from 6:45 to 9:45 pm. Surface temp was 58 degrees and the water clarity was good to excellent. After catching a number of silver bass which were promptly released we ended up landing 5 nice walleye and releasing one under size walleye.

Dark colored pencil plugs and Rapalas were the ticket. I tried spoons while there was some day light left but, the only thing that expressed an interest was silver bass.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and could not take a picture of our catch from tuesday. However, here are a few nice pictures taken by Ed, Capt. Paul and Chris.

As you can tell from the pictures it looks like they had a very nice time.

Until my next report.

May 9, 2006

I cannot believe we are already into the month of May. The fishing on both the Detroit River and Lake Erie is still pretty good. jigging and handlining anglers continue to see successful trips from the Lake Erie mouth all the way to Belle Isle.

Here are a couple of pictures from this past weekend with the South Dakota Crew. I hope you enjoy them until I can update you on the river conditions later today.

April 28, 2006

I have been out fishing 6 time since my last report on April 18th. Here is the latest information for those who are planning to fish over the weekend.

If your jigging your best luck will be had around the BASF Wall, Mud Island and the Ambassador Bridges. 3/4 and 5/8 ounce jigs are still producing when tipeed with Brown Plastics or Minnows. The jigging has been pretty slow on the lower stretch of the river (Edison Stacks).

Lower river anglers have been picking up a few fish in front of Humbug Marina, Ford Yacht Club and the Channel which lies between Horse and Celeron Islands.

Handlining has been pretty slow for us. We had landed 3 nice eaters on Sunday and another nice fish last night. Surface Temp is 54 degrees with water clarity being good to excellent.

Our best luck has been on darker colored Pencil Plugs and Rapala's. Firetiger, Clown and Hot Steel have not been too productive for us lately.

I am hitting the river with some guests from Missouri. Hopefully the fish cooperate and I have a good report with some pictures tomorrow.

April 18, 2006

Good Day All! Water Clarity and Surface Temps remain unchanged since my last report on the 18th. Jigging Anglers are still doing well up river. Pier 500/Mud Island, the BASF Wall and Great Lakes Steel are giving up consistant limits. Chartreuse and/or Orange Jigs tipped with either a minnow or dark colored plastics are still doing the trick.

Reports on the lower river are good as well. Jigging anglers duplicating the same program as up river are putting fish in the boat. Handliners are experiencing consistant catches at sunset.

Overall I would say conditions are excellent. Unfortunately, reports of bigger fish being landed are far and few between. All of the action right now are the smaller, milting males.

Here are a couple of photos which I have taken over the last week. The first photo is Scott with a couple of nice eaters caught on Good Friday up river. The second is my good friend Danny with a nice fish caught on the lower river Tuesday Evening.

April 18, 2006

Jigging Anglers are seeing consistant action from Celeron Island North to Peche Island. Chartreuse, Orange and Unpainted Jigs tipped with (Brown) Plastics are still the preferred bait of choice. The best spots still remind around the Salt Mines and Mud and Fighting Island. A few anglers have had good luck making the drifts along BASF and Pier 500.

Most of the fish caught have been younger dink males in from 16" inches or larger. There have been a handful of larger fish being landed but, those are few and far between.

I fished the lower river for a few hours (afternoon) on 4-14-06 and 4-15-06. Surface Temp was 48.5 degrees with Water Clarity being good to excellent. Despite the number of anglers fishing the area, I only seen 1 fish landed while I was out.

The weather forecast is looking good over the next 3 to 5 days which should provide some great fishing for the weekend.

April 12, 2006

Sorry for the lack of reports over the last several days. Here is the report for those planning to fish the lower river in the near future.

Water clarity on the lower stretches of the river has improved drastically since the Sunday. The same goes for the Surface Temperature. Surface temp taken last night in the middle of the river was 45.5 degrees. The temperatures within the discharge area and downstream were 50 to 51 degrees.

The action is picking up for anglers jigging the stacks. Orange and Chartreuse jigs with darker colored artifical plastics seem to be the most productive. Handliners continue to see rather limited results. One fish per boat continues to be the norm.

The action has been consistant on the middle and upper river. Jigging anglers are doing well around Great Lakes Steel, BASF, Mud and the Mill. I recommend the use of stinger hooks for those who plan on jigging. Handliners, you may want to consider doing the same for your Rapalas and Pencil Plugs. Make sure you follow the hook rules and regulations for the area (Michigan or Canada) you are fishing. The fish that Handliners currently are getting are short or light biting and stingers will improve your odds this early in the game.

The weather forecast over the next few days is promising and should help give us the boost in water temps that fellow Handliners are waiting for. If you planning to make the trip from out of state, I would recommend that you consider making the trip as conditions improve daily.

Until tomorrows report. Good Luck.

April 5, 2006

Here is the lastest regarding the conditions on the Lower River. Water temps have warmed slightly and range from 40-42 degrees. I am unable to report water clarity, please check back tomorrow for a clarity update.

Anglers continue to land a few fish jigging Unpainted, White and Chartreuse Jigs with Twister Tails and Minnows. Heard a couple of guys doing good with Bucktail's tipped with smaller minnows.

Handlining action is pretty quiet. Although I expect things to pick up over next 7 to 10 days should the weather cooperate.

If you get a chance to check out the FLW Live Leader Board at:

http://www.liveleaderboard.com

To put things in perspective 22.31 pounds has taken first place in the first day of the FLW Detroit River Qualifier. The tournament pro's are even being put to the test.

Until tomorrow's report, hope for warm weather.

April 2, 2006

Hope you all had a safe and successful weekend on the river. I took a little break from the computer over the weekend and have not had a chance to update my reports. Until I post an updated report tomorrow here is a beautiful Walleye caught by Brian K. from Howell, Michigan. This is Brian's first Detroit River Walleye and tipped the scales at 9 pounds 2 ounces. Congrats to Brian and thanks to Downriver Outdoors Member Robert G. for e-mailing the photo.

I would also like to extend a congradulations to Downriver Outdoors Member and Moderator, Paul Curmi for his 3rd place win in this weekend's FLW Detroit River League Tournament. Great Job Paul!!!!

Update: As I have mentioned last month, Paul is now offering chartering services for the Detroit River and Western Basin of Lake Erie. If you are interested in booking or personal or corporate trip with Paul please visit his website for more information.

If you have a picture that you would like to share, e-mail it to me at: downriveroutdoors@yahoo.com

March 31, 2006

Here is the report for those planning to fish the river this weekend.

Having taken the day off of work, I fished the river this morning for a couple of hours. Only saw one boat land a fish in the time I was out. (I actually just got home about 45 minutes ago.) I would have stayed out a little longer but, the wind was picking up and it was a chore to keep the boat under control. Many of the guys fishing today were using their big motors with the wind as bad as it was. Unless your really good running a bow mount and one with some thrust you may want to consider doing the same.

I am sure the big question on everyone's mind right now is the river conditions. Water Temp still remains between 37 and 38 degrees, with water clarity being fair to good. It is still to early to tell how this wind and rain in the short term weather forecast will effect clarity. You can already already see a significant color change occuring in the shallows.

Aaron and I had fished last night for a few hours. Most of the boats fishing the river called it quits right at dark leaving us and 4 to 5 other boats with alot of river to fish. Unfortunately, the fish did not cooperate. We had fished hard and pulled a variety of baits and colors in search of bait that was going to put some fish in the cooler. There have been a few fish caught. Knowing that we are doing nothing out of the ordinary, I really have to blame the water temp. It is still on the cold side.

If you are planning to fish the river I highly recommend that your check the NOAA weather forecast for the Detroit River and Lake Erie. Things were pretty snotty out this morning and even the bigger boats were getting knocked around.

In addition please note that today is March 31st and Michigan Fishing Licenses expire. Be sure to support the local tackle shops if you need licenses and other tackle for your trip.

March 30, 2006

My reports have been very quiet the last few days and it is not because the bite has turned on. For the lack of a better explaination I just have not been out on the water. The clarity has improved and the surface temps still hang in the mid to upper 30's. The warm weather forcast should help as conditions are slowly improving. Hopefully the T-Storms forcasted for this evening and Friday do not impede the process. It will definately not make things easy for this weekends FLW Tournament.

Anglers from across the country have made the trip and are in town all competing for the first place purse. If you are planning to fish the river over the weekend please remember to take your time at the launch and plan for delays.

I will be hitting the river this evening for a little while to check things out and see if I cannot hook my first walleye for the 2006 handlining season. Please check back tomorrow for an updated report for the weekend.

March 24, 2006

Hope you had a great weekend. Here is the latest regarding the lower river from the weekend. I took a boat ride with Adam and Josh to check things out friday evening. Aside from the brief sleet/snow squall we had move through the river was still pretty dirty. Water clarity is improving and should clean up as as long as mother nature cooperates.

The surface temps still remain in the mid to upper 30's. (Temperatures were around 40 degress in the area of the warm water discharge.)

A few fish were caught over the weekend, again nothing to write home about. Capt. Paul hit the river sunday afternoon with a friend for some jigging and ended up landing a very nice 8 pounder. This fish won him the jigging rod give away that was Sponsored by Bottom Line Bait and Tackle. Paul, nice job!

I know many of you are getting the itch, but with the water clarity and temps the way they are right now were are still early. I will continue to update you on River Conditions as the week progresses.

March 24, 2006

Here is the latest information for anglers planning on fishing over the weekend. I took a ride down to the river (Elizabeth Park) this morning to take a look at the current conditions.

Surface temps still remain as they have over the last week or so. There has been no significant warming to increase temps so, I would anticipate the temperatures to remain as they are for a while.

Water Clarity is still an issue. The river was still pretty dirty, there has been no significant improvements with clarity over the last couple of days. As long as we do not get hammered with wind and see minimal rain activity things should improve.

While I was out, I dropped by The Trenton Lighthouse Bait and Tackle shop to talk with Frank for a couple of minutes. I did not want to drive to Gander Mountina and I had to pick up some beads so I can tie some Crawler Harnesses up over the weekend. Right now is a good time to tie up some harnesses for the lake since the conditions on the river are not the best.

Frank is geared up and ready to provide you with just about anything you would need for a day or weekend on the river. Please remember to support your local bait and tackle shop, if you are in the area be sure to stop by his shop and tell him that you Downriver Outdoors sent you.

I will be hitting the river this evening for an hour or two. If there are any significant updates, I will be sure to let you know. I would really like to develope further interest with the Downriver Outdoors Forums I rolled out earlier this week. Please feel free to register and actively partcipate.

March 22, 2006

Sorry no report today.

March 21, 2006

Now that the first day of Spring 2006 has come and gone anglers are really getting the itch to hit the river. My plans were to fish friday, saturday and sunday last weekend. Was a great plan since I had some vacation time that I had to use before the end of the month so I took friday off of work. I made a quick drive in the truck friday morning to check out the river conditions.

Water clarity was an absolute disaster and it was not the warmest of days so I stuck around the house and finished a couple of projects I started. I will concentrate on the fishing when things improve.

So far the reports on the lower river have been very quiet. The perch fishing was in full swing until the dirty water set in which resulted in a big change from the previous weekend. Some anglers caught nothing some guys finished the day with 20. Pretty frustrating for the guys that went home with limits the previous weekend.

Current water conditions for the lower river remain unchanged from last week. Water Clarity still remains poor and the surface temps outside the discharge areas remain in the mid to upper 30's.

March 16, 2006

I have not been on the river since Sunday. Conditions have not improved much and I have not heard of any walleyes taking the bait just yet.

The heavy rain we received a couple of days ago has done nothing for the water temp and clarity. Surface temps remain in the middle to upper 30's and the clarity was fair to poor. It was not as clean as you would like it but, it was not like chocolate milk either.

Until my next report and jigging season being around the corner here is a tip that you can try to put more walleye in the cooler if you do not do it already.

Some of you saltwater anglers may know this one. When baiting minnows on your jigs try hooking them upside down. It may look a little ackward but, by using this method you are natually forcing the Minnow to swim in an effort to right itself. Your not giving the minnow much incentive to move when you are hooking them like they swim. The increased movement of the minnow should trigger more strikes.

When fish are finicky give this a try on your next trip.

March 15, 2006

Sorry no report today. The fishing and Conditions remain unchanged since the weekend. If there are any significant changes I will update this page.

For those interested my good friend, Downriver Outdoors contributor, and professional/tournament angler, Captain Paul Curmi will be offering Charter Services for the Detroit River and Lake Erie Western Basin for the 2006 season. Currently, Paul is running a tournament rigged Lund Pro-V 2025 nicely equipped with the lastest in Fish Locating and Navigation Electronics. Capt. Paul is a accomplished angler and has no problems putting fish in the boat.

Paul is working diligently to complete his website. However, if you have an interest in booking a trip or require additional information please send me an e-mail and I will forward your request to Paul. You may recognize this photo as it was proudly housed in my 2005 Reports.

Here Paul with a nice pair of Lake Erie Walleye:

Until my next report. Tight Lines.....

March 13, 2006

Just a reminder the Michigan DNR has reopened Lake Erie for Spring Walleye Fishing in 2006. If your interested please visit the following URL for more specific information: MLIVE Article: Lake Erie walleye April-May fishing will reopen next spring

To answer the question that many people have asked me. Yes, I am going to update my site. Here is the first report for the 2006 Season.

Aaron and I had handlined the stacks for and hour and 20 minutes on friday evening (3-10-06). This was our first of many trips planned for the 2006 Season. The surface temp was 37 degrees with excellent water clarity. There were no Ice Flows to report through out the weekend. (Which is amazing considered how much ice made the trip south on Thursday.)

Even with the lack of ice I recommend that you navigate the river with caution. There is a large amount of debris floating with the thaw and run off. Some of it you can clearly see, some of it you cannot. Logs and other larger pieces are floating beneath the surface.

With the Perch bite in full swing Aaron and I put the Handlining Equipment away and broke out the Light Action Rods for some perch Sunday Morning. The area we fished saw minimal activity and produced around 200 perch. You had to throw back a few but, we came home easily with our limits. Many of the other area hot spots were producing excellent catches of perch.

Things should continue as long as the weather cooperates. Good Luck.....Until my next report.

Got Questions? Have a picture you want me to post? E-mail me at: downriveroutdoors@yahoo.com


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