Fishing has been really good for this time of year. Many fish are still in the river with good catches coming on BBs deep in the river. Read the last article for bb use. The surprising fish this year is the catfish. Many shore anglers are hooking into these like never before. The river supports so many fish it’s nice to see a new species take off.
A couple of years ago it was the shad that went crazy. Not many were caught by hook and line but the walleye gorged themselves on them. That was bad because in parts of the river the walleye bite stopped, they were all eating the shad. Some of the fish from that year actually tasted like shad, not to my liking. When the walleye go crazy no body notices because they’re so happy catching fish. If you remember the year that a lot of 13” and 14” fish were caught that was the start of some wonderful walleye years. Then there’s the silver scourge, silver bass. Two years ago I was jigging in the river late in the season when my depth finder jumped from the usual 27’ to 20’ and stayed there. I thought the depth finder had bit the dust but no it was a giant school of silvers. It felt like they were playing volleyball with my jig. Needless to say walleye fishing was done for that year.
From all accounts people are catching fish everywhere. In the lake Lil’ Bill says bell bouy from 23’ to 27’, watch the state lines so you don’t go into Ohio. He’s really pushing the Kelly worms for bass. There’s a big bite from these fish closer to shore on Lake Erie. You just have to fight the weeds. There are many reports of muskies also, they’re making quite a comeback. Very fun to catch but the smell turns some people off. Hopefully I’ll get some huge sheephead soon so I can try a new recipe. Good luck fishing…
Get Outdoors Downriver!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Use BBs on Your Summer Quarry
Did the laws change to allow hunting in July? BBs for squirrels or bb shot for geese? No, it’s just a great technique to use for the favorite quarry on the river or western Lake Erie, bottom bouncing. Bottom Bouncers are an easier to use version of the 3way swivels. 3 ways are attached to the main line with a lead to a weight and a lead to your lure. Cumbersome to use, but more versatile in that you can change the length of the lead, to the weight, to change the depth of the lure. However, with the favorite quarry in the area being walleye, the bottom in bottom bouncing is more important. This keeps your lure in the strike zone where the walleyes are, unless you’re Redcan.
The bottom bouncers are very handy when it comes to trolling for walleye this time of year. The gorge on the mayfly hatch is still fresh in their minds and they can’t resist an imitation spinner blade presented in the strike zone. At least that’s a theory and not only are spinners used but also spoons and lipped lures. It’s an imitation of handlining or maybe a precursor (which came first the chicken or the egg?). Both techniques have been around so long no one really knows. The big difference between the 2 is weight. Handliners you 1 -2 lb weights to keep the line at 45 degrees in the water column heading upriver. Bottom bouncers are much lighter and so are more conducive for use in the lake or in the river heading downstream. Many reports are being posted about nice catches of walleye all along the river using bbs and spinners.
In the lake a standard set up for trolling consists of lighter bbs(2oz) on the outside with in-line planer boards, medium weight bbs(3oz) on a rod perpendicular to the boat and heavy bbs(4oz) strait out the back. This will help keep the lines from tangling up unless the old curse of a sheephead decides to take your rig from here to Niagara. For spinners boat speed is 1.5 to 1.8 mph, for spoons 2.5 to 3.5 mph depending on the whims of the fish. On the river heavy weights are needed to keep the spinners in the depths being reported of 25 to 40 feet. Added note from G. Warsaw from the 7/19 DWF meeting, after hooking a fish on an outside rod ecspecially, give the fish some line until it swings directly behind the boat then reel it in thru the chute between all the rods.
Speed on the river is very tricky so a gps is a basic piece of equipment. You can get a floating speed of your boat and try to go the speeds for your lures above the floating speed. You can also troll downriver increasing speed until the blades are spinning or the spoons and crankbaits start wobbling and take note of that speed and maintain it. As in any type of trolling speeding up or slowing down can make a difference until the fish tell you what they want. Or you can just look for Cliff in the Lindberg Crest.
Good Luck and Get Outdoors Downriver.
The bottom bouncers are very handy when it comes to trolling for walleye this time of year. The gorge on the mayfly hatch is still fresh in their minds and they can’t resist an imitation spinner blade presented in the strike zone. At least that’s a theory and not only are spinners used but also spoons and lipped lures. It’s an imitation of handlining or maybe a precursor (which came first the chicken or the egg?). Both techniques have been around so long no one really knows. The big difference between the 2 is weight. Handliners you 1 -2 lb weights to keep the line at 45 degrees in the water column heading upriver. Bottom bouncers are much lighter and so are more conducive for use in the lake or in the river heading downstream. Many reports are being posted about nice catches of walleye all along the river using bbs and spinners.
In the lake a standard set up for trolling consists of lighter bbs(2oz) on the outside with in-line planer boards, medium weight bbs(3oz) on a rod perpendicular to the boat and heavy bbs(4oz) strait out the back. This will help keep the lines from tangling up unless the old curse of a sheephead decides to take your rig from here to Niagara. For spinners boat speed is 1.5 to 1.8 mph, for spoons 2.5 to 3.5 mph depending on the whims of the fish. On the river heavy weights are needed to keep the spinners in the depths being reported of 25 to 40 feet. Added note from G. Warsaw from the 7/19 DWF meeting, after hooking a fish on an outside rod ecspecially, give the fish some line until it swings directly behind the boat then reel it in thru the chute between all the rods.
Speed on the river is very tricky so a gps is a basic piece of equipment. You can get a floating speed of your boat and try to go the speeds for your lures above the floating speed. You can also troll downriver increasing speed until the blades are spinning or the spoons and crankbaits start wobbling and take note of that speed and maintain it. As in any type of trolling speeding up or slowing down can make a difference until the fish tell you what they want. Or you can just look for Cliff in the Lindberg Crest.
Good Luck and Get Outdoors Downriver.
Monday, July 5, 2010
What A Weekend
Here’s hoping this finds you hale and hearty. After this weekend everyone should be. Thanks to all that served, thanks to all that volunteered and thanks to the weatherman. After reading the fishing reports on the web the boys and I went fishing Saturday morning. We got 6 walleye in just a few hours before the wind made it a chore to fish. I’ve never witnessed this before but a boat about 40 yards up wind from us caught a fish. In less than 2 minutes we all knew what was caught, musky. The fish of 10,000 casts has a very distinctive odor. Much like their cousin the pike they release a slime when stressed and the musky is the worst smelling of the 2. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. I was impressed by the amount of boats out on the river and lake. That was probably the reason we didn’t get checked by the Coast Guard of either country, the Border Patrol , the County Sheriff or the MDNRE which is rare these days.
Now with the official start of summer, schools out and the temperatures rising, now’s the time to get the boat summerized. That’s right if you haven’t been out fishing in the spring you’ll need to get the boat ready for the boating season. According to Al Anderson from Aquamarine Boat Brokers in Ecorse you need to summerize. Checking the spark plugs, the air filter, the gas filter, all gas lines and fitting, all belts and on the larger boats the bilge blower among other things. There was a boat fire recently at a gas station on the river. The blowers were on but unbeknownst to the captain an animal built a nest or winter home in the blower system. Add leaking gas lines to the mix and there was a little explosion and fire that could have been a lot worse Thank God no one was hurt. So summerize, summerize, summerize to try to catch those hidden dangers.
By the looks of things there must be fish biting out there. The river had plenty of takers and the lake was also populated with many boats. I understand the lake has seen a prodigious mayfly hatch and the walleye bite is off for a while. So in Michigan stay in the good old DR. It’s hard at times, especially this weekend with all of the parades, fireworks and cookouts, to get out and fish. My buddy Rick only gets out for 1-2 hours at times and does very well. He does it often though and gets to know his spots and how the fish react to weather and water clarity. So get out and fish and don’t forget Luc at Lake Erie Metro Park. He’s the injured eagle that needs fish to survive. The fish can be of most kind but must be frozen. Call first to see if they'll take your catch.
Get Outdoors Downriver.
Now with the official start of summer, schools out and the temperatures rising, now’s the time to get the boat summerized. That’s right if you haven’t been out fishing in the spring you’ll need to get the boat ready for the boating season. According to Al Anderson from Aquamarine Boat Brokers in Ecorse you need to summerize. Checking the spark plugs, the air filter, the gas filter, all gas lines and fitting, all belts and on the larger boats the bilge blower among other things. There was a boat fire recently at a gas station on the river. The blowers were on but unbeknownst to the captain an animal built a nest or winter home in the blower system. Add leaking gas lines to the mix and there was a little explosion and fire that could have been a lot worse Thank God no one was hurt. So summerize, summerize, summerize to try to catch those hidden dangers.
By the looks of things there must be fish biting out there. The river had plenty of takers and the lake was also populated with many boats. I understand the lake has seen a prodigious mayfly hatch and the walleye bite is off for a while. So in Michigan stay in the good old DR. It’s hard at times, especially this weekend with all of the parades, fireworks and cookouts, to get out and fish. My buddy Rick only gets out for 1-2 hours at times and does very well. He does it often though and gets to know his spots and how the fish react to weather and water clarity. So get out and fish and don’t forget Luc at Lake Erie Metro Park. He’s the injured eagle that needs fish to survive. The fish can be of most kind but must be frozen. Call first to see if they'll take your catch.
Get Outdoors Downriver.
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