Drifting the D

My father loves to fish for walleye, though he doesn't get many chances to do it. For the last few years, he's come somewhere over this way to meet me and go chase a few. For the last three years, we've hit the Detroit river, though we had yet to actually boat a walleye there. Having gotten a tip from a local tackle shop that the first week in May was the time to go, he called me about a week ago and proposed another outing. Being in the middle of finals week, I didn't have a lot of time to spare, but I figured if we're going to make the trip we might as well do it when it counts.

So I met him yesterday morning at a boat launch in Wyandotte and we set out onto the big,blue Detroit. The lauch we used was situated between a steel mill and a chemical plant, and there is comparable scenery along much of that part of the river. To the north you can see the Ambassador Bridge and the RenCen. It isn't quite the north branch Au Sable, but I find these environs curiously appealing. That broad (and surprisingly clear) river with a quiet but powerful current, pocked with scrubby, undeveloped islands, home to legions of fish and wheeling squadrons of gulls and terns, gives nature a formidable presence in this hyperindustrialized place.

Solitude certainly isn't part of the Detroit river fishing experience. Traffic passes constantly along Jefferson Avenue, train cars rumble in and out of the steel mill, freighters pass by further out in the river, and scores of other fishermen drift along beside you, at least sometimes. Fishermen will flock to whereever they've heard the latest hotspot is, and other fishermen will flock to where they see other fishermen. Early in the day, there must have been at least thirty other boats working the same drift as we were. Walleye fishing, at least on the Detroit, doesn't seem to be a sport for solitary explorer types. But not being very familiar with the water and having our own ideas about where to go, my dad and I played follow the leader too.

We didn't catch a coolerful, but my dad did land two nice walleye jigging a combination of artificial and real worms just off the bottom. The fish in the top picture is actually the largest walleye he has ever landed.






I only caught a few small white bass that I threw back. Still, I was happy my dad got some fish. And I enjoyed my day on the water. Even without a fly rod.

As we said goodbye at the end of the day, we got to wondering about what the fishing would be like if we went out in the afternoon and evening instead of the morning and early afternoon, as we usually do. It seemed like a question that demanded answers, so if our schedules give us an opening, we'll try that sometime next week.

Tags: Fishing ; Detroit