Our trip to Detroit River was definitely that… a trip. Dad and I didn’t know much about “The Dirty D” besides lots of numbers of walleyes and a chance to catch the elusive 30 incher. (Which Dad and I have not caught yet) We both have been hearing about this river for a number of years now. Dad and I finally made the decision to travel the 600 miles from Ames, Iowa to Detroit and try it.
The planning started back in February when a friend and his Dad said they go every year and we should come along. So we could absorb as much knowledge from them on how and where they catch these fish. That didn’t work out as planned. My buddy and his Dad after looking at the extended forecast decided to go a week before. Since it was calling for crummy weather the week we had planned. They caught nice fish but in Lake Erie pulling boards with cranks. The fish weren’t in the river yet. I couldn’t switch my vacation in that short of time span. So Dad and I decided to take the chance and go fish the river with no knowledge besides using 3/4 to 1 ounce jigs and rubber worms with stinger hooks. They said make sure you bring lots of them too because she is a snaggy SOB.
The river threw everything she had at us. Swift current, high winds, rain, cold, and dirty water. It forced me to learn boat control to a new level. The first day Friday, April 12th we caught 5 walleyes biggest being 24 inches. All males. Didn’t see a lot of nets flying either in other boats. The dirty stained water definitely wasn’t working in our favor. The wind was a strong South wind. I needed to figure out the current speed and the wind to be able to stay vertical while jigging. This was a task for me since I’ve never delt with both fast current and strong wind at the same time while controlling a boat. My boat control wasn’t ideal the first day.
Saturday at least was sunny. But once again a strong Sout to SW wind. The light finally went off in my head. I figured out how to control the boat with confidence with tons of boats around and able to stay vertical jigging. It paid off. We ended up with 12 fish between me, my Dad, and Brother in Law. All nice quality fish with only 1 being a female. I was soaking in as much knowledge as I could those 2 days of fishing.
Then Sunday she threw a curve ball. Rain, cold strong North wind. Now another challenge to control the boat with a different wind direction. Didn’t even know if we would fish that day. With my Dad saying “Hell no I ain’t fishing in that” so my Brother in Law and I decided we would try it by ourselves. We put on our Guideware Raingear and ice fishing suits as well and lots of layers. We only saw 5 other boats all day. It seemed like we had the river to ourselves. I had to learn a new way to control the boat with the high North winds. Took me about 10 mins to figure out and then we were in business. We went to the normal spots. By the steel mill and by mud island. Within the first 15 mins of fishing we hooked up with a nice 20 inch male. My Brother in Law and I ended up catching our limit in just under 4 hours.
So all in all it was fun to learn new water. I believe this will be a yearly spring trip for Dad and I and hopefully my Brother in Law too. It was different in most phases of fishing for us. It was very different scenery fishing as well. One part of the river your fishing next to beautiful homes. The next you are fishing by a steel mill and big manufacturing industries. The next you are right downtown Detroit fishing next to skyscrapers and people walking the Detroit River Walk. So I would recommend it to anyone if they want a different walleye fishing experience. Next time we go I sure hope one of us catches that elusive 30 incher. Until next time keep the lines tight and the fryer oil hot.