Ups and Downs of Walleye Fishing on the River

Ups and downs could be referring to the type of fishing being done, jigging in other words. In order to do that you have to get your boat in the water first. Doing this and getting it out can be a downer though. Depending on where you launch.

Here's a video of a great outing on the river, catching fish and having a great time.


There are many reports of limit catches and big fish all over the area.
Even a blind squirrel can find a nut at times. When that squirrel out fishes the guide twice in a row that's a pattern.
Those are some hogs from this family outing.

Then there are the downs of fishing the river and although launching can be troublesome it's just a matter of time getting on the water. People can't back their trailers up easily, or once they get the boat in they dilly dally in getting the boat out of the way for others to use. The biggest problem is returning from fishing because if there's a lineup you have to wait your turn while fighting a 4-5 knot current instead of waiting in your vehicle. When there are 20 to 30 boats in front of you, and the line cutters that shall remain nameless, it can take over an hour to get out. The big lineup occurs just after dusk, a traditional time for walleyes to stop biting on jigs, everyone has the same urge to get back home. So choose your ramp carefully before you launch.
Here's a link to the Downriver Walleye Federation website with a map of some of the launches. http://www.dwfonline.org/images/River%20Map.gif
There's also a lot of other info to be gleaned here about walleye fishing Downriver. This is a group that can put you on fish, let you know how to catch them and get in or out of the river safely and efficiently.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Here's Your Sign For Spring Walleye

No not one of Bill Engvall's jokes. This is important if you're interested in catching walleyes this year. Yes it's only March 20th, well before the normal walleye run. With this warm weather everything is early and the big walleyes are in the river. If you see these 2 signs you can be sure the walleyes are in. The other sign is the forsythia bushes.
So maple buds and forsythia bushes are the things to watch for if you believe in the ground hog or granny from the Beverly Hillbillies. Granny was always predicting weather and other natural phenomenom by signs of nature. Over the last 10 years I've noticed the 2 signs whenever the fish were in. So over the weekend he Lindberg Flash took me out on the Queen's side for a few drifts and we got these.
So don't wait for the start of April to fish for walleyes , they're here now and won't be here forever. Working close to the river also alows me another sign, the sweet smell of fish. Things are popping and many other fish are in the river to procreate along with the walleye. So get out and fish for some of the best tasting fish around. At $12 a pound this is the time to stock the freezer with the tasty delights. Remember it won't be long for the silver death to arrive.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Youth Conservation Corps Job Openings

To any 15 to 18 year old conservationists check out the opportunities at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/detroitriver/YCC.html

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Record walleye caught

A river rat caught his just dues late Sunday morning. Oooh I like the sound of that. With the Detroit River's early walleye season coming up many will be dreaming of a fish like this. A big female that Mr. Zimmerman put quite some time into.

Pending completion of paperwork and verification, Jim Zimmerman appears to have caught the Illinois-record walleye of 15.08 pounds from the Pecatonica River.

Zimmerman was pitching a 1/8th-ounce Northland fireball jig with a 3-inch Berkley PowerBait twister tail and a small minnow when he caught his 31.5-inch walleye with a girth of 20 3/8th inches.

``This guy fishes more than anybody I know,’’ said Dan Palmer, a well-known tournament organizer from the Rockford area. ``He has put in at least two months of 12 hours a day [on the Pec and the Rock rivers]. Last year he caught one that would have been a record, but it lost 10 percent of its weight in the freezer.

``There is not a more deserving guy to have the record. He puts the time in.’’

Palmer received a call from Zimmerman, a Wisconsin man, late Sunday morning asking what to do to certify it. Palmer told him to contact conservation police officers. They met him to witness the weighing at Blackhawk Meats in South Beloit, Wis.

``My daughter [Bobbie Jentz] was working and she said, ``Mom, oh my God, it was huge,’ ‘’ Debbie Jentz said. ``It was a buzz. People were taking photos out in the parking lot. It was huge.’’

``This guy, this was the perfect time, 14 days before the spawn,’’ said Dan Sallee, regional fisheries biologist who was plans to verify the fish and check paperwork this afternoon. ``That fish will be loaded with mature eggs.’’

It was just slightly larger than the record caught by 15-year-old Nick Tassoni on Jan. 7 from the Pec. The Rockford Auburn freshman’s 14-pound, 12-ounce walleye broke what was then the longest-standing gamefish record in Illinois, the 14-pound walleye caught by Fred Goselin from the Kankakee River in 1961.

``It was fun while it lasted,’’ messaged Tassoni, whose walleye was 31 inches long with a girth of 20 1/4 inches.

This might not be the last time the record is broken.

``There is another one in there,’’ Palmer said. ``That [one caught by Zimmerman] was 31 1/2 inches. There are 32-inchers in there. There are bigger walleye in that river.’’

``Oh, yeah, there is always bigger ones,’’ Sallee said.

Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of my nightmares this year. I can still see my personal best walleye popping my jig out of it's mouth and slowly sinking into the depths of the river. All 3 feet of him.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Arkansas Bass Wiped From State Record Books

The state of MI fishing licenses are expiring as of March 31st. Make sure you renew so you don't end up like Paul Crowder of Arkansas.
The new state record largemouth bass announced last week by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has been wiped off the books after AGFC officials learned that Forrest City angler Paul Crowder bought his fishing license after the fish was caught. The commission announced the new record on its website in early March. On Friday, March 9, the AGFC made the following announcement in a press release posted to the site:
“The AGFC discovered that a license was purchased for Crowder three hours after he claimed to have caught the bass. Crowder’s fishing license expired in April 2011. Under AGFC regulations, it is illegal for any person 16 years of age or older to fish without possessing a current Arkansas fishing license. State record fish rules require that an angler hold a valid license at the time of the catch.”
Reached by phone Monday, Crowder did not dispute those facts.
“My license wasn’t current,” Crowder said. “It was just an oversight.”
Crowder said he took the fish to AGFC officials not knowing that his license was expired. “I sent my friend to the store with my driver’s license and she got me a set of licenses, because we was having to wait three or four hours to get the fish weighed,” Crowder said.
The 16-pound, 5-oz. bass weighed one ounce more than the current Arkansas record bass, which was caught caught March 2, 1976, by Aaron Mardis on Mallard Lake in Mississippi County.

AGFC wildlife officers seized the fish as evidence, and Crowder has been charged with fishing without a license. He faces up to a $1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail. Crowder has a court hearing March 19 in Wynne District Court.

“It hurts,” Crowder said. “I’m not proud of it.”

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Cormorant Comments

I've changed my cormorant report page to direct you to the Federal Government’s initiative to collect comments on these birds. The problem is getting bigger and the authority , or lack of, gets passed around to different agencies. When I started the link to the cormorant reports last year the person designated as "The" contact person told me the reports were ignored unless they were of some import. I asked what was important and was told maybe a sighting in a new area, or a large sighting, or something unusual. I informed the person of the large population in western Lake Erie and the Detroit River that's year round. No - doesn't count because those birds are just juveniles and they aren't included in the management plan. A few days later the Ptak nesting site was found in the Detroit River. Now that's unusual, juveniles nesting, so I sent in this picture with a report. Well I still haven't been replied to and "The" contact person has moved on to better things. So I'll be sending in my pic and reporting my sighting over the year. It would be great for others to do this so the agency gets an idea of the problem down here in juvieland. They are fixated with nesting pairs and that's how they report dealings with the birds. It was the US Dept. of Agriculture that reported to the Cormorant Watch Volunteers last year about how many pairs they killed. Oiled nests, however, were reported singly. Confused yet? I'm sure that's a strategy but now you can comment and it will be posted in their database for anyone to see. Don't expect a reply but this will form a benchmark for discussion in the future. Here's the info fro the report link. Scroll to the bottom to get the page to report on. Go to that page and comment on the upper most topic, I believe it's the only one with a comment option. Try to complete in 20 minutes or you'll have to file a comment extention submission.

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Public Comments

We request comments and suggestions on this topic from other
concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, industry, or
any other interested parties. You may submit your comments and
materials concerning this issue by one of the methods listed in the
ADDRESSES section. We will not consider comments sent by email or fax
or to an address not listed in the ADDRESSES section.
If you submit a comment via http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov,
your entire comment--including any personal identifying information--
will be posted on the Web site. If you submit a hardcopy comment that
includes personal identifying information, you may request at the top
of your document that we withhold this information from public review.
However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will
post all hardcopy comments on http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov.
Comments and materials we receive, as well as supporting
documentation we use in preparing a proposed rule, will be available
for public inspection at http:[sol][sol]www.regulations.gov, or by
appointment, during normal business hours, at the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT).

Background

On November 8, 2011, we published a request for comments for
consideration as we revise the regulations governing double-crested
cormorant management (76 FR 69225). We requested comments on a variety
of issues related to double-crested cormorants, and asked a number of
questions for consideration as we develop a proposal to revise the
regulations at 50 CFR 21.47 and 21.48. See that document for detailed
information.
We have received requests from two Flyways for an extension of the
comment period so that they may consider the regulations and management
issues at their upcoming meetings. To accommodate these requests, we
extend the comment period for an additional 60 days, until April 6,
2012.

Dated: January 18, 2012.
Rachel Jacobson,
Acting, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2012-1807 Filed 1-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P

Comment here - http://www.regulations.gov/#!searchResults;rpp=25;po=0;s=FWS-R9-MB-2011-0033

Outdoorlife Info

Information is the tool us humans use to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the beings on our planet. How to acquire food, how to make fire, tanning hides and securing a shelter are all important skills needed for survival and to thrive. Before the printed word started about 500 years ago acquiring this knowledge was by word of mouth for most people. So networking has been important for 3 or 4 thousand years and if you were isolated then you were stuck with a life of reinventing the wheel by trial and error.
Ok, enough with the sayings. Now we have the internet, any info at any time, if you have a smart phone with reception. Sometimes searches work great and sometimes you can page thru hundreds of pages and not find what you want. If you have a specific question it gets harder to get an answer close to what you want. You can twit or post on facebook but your status in your inside group of fiends may take a hit. What to do? Enter the world of forums. These are sites geared toward a certain interest.

Computer repair, auto repair, home repair, golf cart repair and swing help, financial repair and advise, tropical fish help, home brewing help, hobby train help, antique collecting help and of course hunting and fishing help are some of the forums I've visited and bookmarked. The best in my opinion is the Michigan-sportsman.com site(don't forget that dash). My profile says I've been a member with the site for 8+ years. I thought it was longer than that and for some forums it is because of problems these sites were having at the onset. Be it software or servers or viruses many of the forums had problems staying together and online. Mi-sports has been head and shoulders above the rest from my experience. This trouble free environment has allowed them to grow exponentially over the years as has the broadening content.

The many categories cover just about any topic and outdoor person could have and many more that cover everyday life. First there's hunting and fishing broken down into type of endeavor and general area to do it in the state( Detroit River being one) totaling over 30 different tabs. Then there's general info ranging from cooking to politics to buying and selling with choices totaling over 60 different tabs. Don't believe what you've heard about the internet that everything is true. There's a lot of false info given out from people wishing to profit. On Mi-sports, however, the info being shared is from everyday people exchanging ideas and what they know for the betterment of each other. Some try to get on a soapbox or pass phony info on but their usually put in their place by more knowledgeable members.

How could this wonder site start, who could have thought of it. A guy named Steve started the site, Steve is all I could get out of him. Steve has a BS in computer and electrical Engineering from Oakland University and an MS in computer engineering from Wayne State University. He used the knowledge from these degrees along with a love of the outdoors to start the site.

"Founded in 1999, Michigan-Sportsman.com started as a collection of links to Michigan related sites, and a series of manually edited blogs. It was a marriage of my passions for the outdoors and computers.

In late 1999 we started our first message board. After going through 3 different message board softwares, we settled on one in late 2000. Photo galleries, classifieds, product reviews were added in later years. It was a social network before the term was coined. Users held self organized get togethers and formed friendships because of the site. Many are have formed long lived friendships with others who share the same interests in the outdoors through the site.

We got booted off many shared servers over the years because our traffic overwhelmed the other sites that were on the server. We got a dedicated server in 2002. The site boomed.

By 2009 we had become Michigan’s first and foremost outdoor website and celebrated 10 years of existence. Today the site regularly gets over 250,000 unique users per month, has almost 4,000,000 user generated posts and regularly sees over 1000 users browsing the site at any given time. I had never envisioned anything close to this from the meager beginning."

Steve now has help from many of his fiends that act as moderators for the tabs. Steve moderates a lot by himself but for the larger most used ones there's up to 4 people watching. There aren't many rules and the fact there are so many different topics precludes any censorship, but there's no profanity or lewd talk and the truth is appreciated. Deviate from the common sense rules and your threads or posts will be eliminated from the database and sent into no man's cyber space. Enjoy this site as much as you can, but not too much so you can...

Get Outdoors Downriver.