Horseshoe
04-19-2005, 10:13 PM
Sorry I'm a little late on the report, but didn't get a chance to go online until today. Some of the reports I've seen aren't too encouraging, so here is one that might light a little fire in some of you that might be thinking of making the trek.
I made the trip with a couple of my bud's, (Roger and Jeffro) for our annual Detroit River walleye outing. I think this makes 16 years running for our trip. (Only 51 more weeks til we hit it again)
We left St. Joseph at 3:15 AM and arrived in Woodhaven round about 6:30. Picked up bait, a bite to eat and hit the water. We started at our usual favorite spot, down from the stacks, drifiting straight back from the point. First fish of the year netted me $15.00 from the "first fish pool", on our second drift. We battled a stiff East wind in that area for five fish, then moved up by the stacks and got ten more for our limit by about 3:00. Most fish up by the stacks were smaller fish. One of the fish caught by Jeffro was a banded walleye, which was pretty cool. Here is our day 1 catch.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/medium/Walleye_trip_05_day_1.jpg
Day 2, April 12, we started behind the point again. The wind was howling out of the East even worse, but not so bad that we couldn't fish. The water was quite clean as well, and the fish were biting. We got 7 below the point before moving up to the stacks and getting the rest of our limit. Most of the bigger fish were lower, in the 8 to 9 foot deep water. There were lots of fish up by those stacks, but those rocks take a heavy toll on your jig box. Jeffro and I got a double header, which we captured on film. Also pretty neat. Here are a couple of pix. Jeffro's big fish for the trip, which was 7 lb 9 oz., and the catch for the day.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Jeffro.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_day_2.jpg
Day 3, April 13. The wind had switched around to the North on Tuesday eve, and the water had turned the color of a cup of coffee, heavily creamed. Actually a grayish murky cloudy mess. You couldn't see your jig more than 4 inches deep in the water, and the fishing was equally poor. We jigged til noon with one fish caught. I don't think anyone was doing very well. (Even saw Babe Winkleman out there, and he wasn't catching any either) There was one exception. One guy was trolling #7 Clown Shadraps through the area and told us he had 13 fish in the boat. We quickly adapted our program to a trolling routine and were quickly into a fish. It was fighting a little strange to be a walleye, and what do we pull up but a steelhead. Just a little 2 pounder, but certainly a surprise. When we were done fishing, we ran all over town trying to find some Clown Shad Raps. Thanks to the guys down at Metro Bait shop, for ending our quest before I burned a whole tank of gas out of my Suburban.
Day 4, April 14. We started off trolling our brand new shiny Shad Raps. I had a hit right away and Jeffro caught a fish in short order. We trolled until somewhere around 3:00 and had 5 walleye to show for our efforts. The water seemed to be clearing up a bit, so we decided to switch back over to jigging. We were seeing some fish caught on jigs, and that is what we came over to do anyway. Roger banged a couple on our first drift and we thought we had them going. We did catch two more before we gave up about 6:00. 11 hours on the water is a long time. Most of the 9 fish we caught were caught between the point and the stacks. Pretty tight to the rocks.
Day 5, April 15. April 15 has always been a lucky day for us and today would be no different. We started jigging along the rocks where we had caught the fish the day before. The water was much cleaner and were getting fish on pretty much every pass. It was good until some time around mid day. I think we had 9 fish before we moved up to try by the stacks again. We didn't get any bites right by the stacks, but hit a fish out from that cut with the boat docks. We kept making that drift and were hitting a fish on most every pass. We got our final 6 out of that spot and were done by 1:30. Plenty of time to get back to the hotel, clean our fish, have some drinks and lounge in the hot tub. Another group of our friends limited today as well and here is a pic of their catch. Danny captured that 9 pounder in the middle. Very nice fish.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Ken_Kent_Danny.jpg
Day 6, April 16. It's always nice to go home, but it sucks to leave too. We knew it would be a busy day at the launch, so we had all our gear ready to go and hit it early. Got to the launch at 6:00, and we were still backed up to Jefferson. Conditions were absolutely beautiful in the morning and we hit it until noon. Roger caught the last fish of the trip right at noon, and it was a dandy. This gave us 8 fish, which wasn't bad at all. Didn't see all that many fish caught on Saturday morning, considering the conditions. Too much boat traffic I'd guess. Here is Roger's wrap up fish. http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Roger.jpg
All in all a great trip. Some great days, some days not too great. But always a great time. I've heard rumors that they are going to shut it down next year. I've heard the same in the past, and I hope it is nothing more than rumors.
Sorry for the looonnnnggg report, but hey, it was 6 days.
I made the trip with a couple of my bud's, (Roger and Jeffro) for our annual Detroit River walleye outing. I think this makes 16 years running for our trip. (Only 51 more weeks til we hit it again)
We left St. Joseph at 3:15 AM and arrived in Woodhaven round about 6:30. Picked up bait, a bite to eat and hit the water. We started at our usual favorite spot, down from the stacks, drifiting straight back from the point. First fish of the year netted me $15.00 from the "first fish pool", on our second drift. We battled a stiff East wind in that area for five fish, then moved up by the stacks and got ten more for our limit by about 3:00. Most fish up by the stacks were smaller fish. One of the fish caught by Jeffro was a banded walleye, which was pretty cool. Here is our day 1 catch.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/medium/Walleye_trip_05_day_1.jpg
Day 2, April 12, we started behind the point again. The wind was howling out of the East even worse, but not so bad that we couldn't fish. The water was quite clean as well, and the fish were biting. We got 7 below the point before moving up to the stacks and getting the rest of our limit. Most of the bigger fish were lower, in the 8 to 9 foot deep water. There were lots of fish up by those stacks, but those rocks take a heavy toll on your jig box. Jeffro and I got a double header, which we captured on film. Also pretty neat. Here are a couple of pix. Jeffro's big fish for the trip, which was 7 lb 9 oz., and the catch for the day.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Jeffro.jpg
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_day_2.jpg
Day 3, April 13. The wind had switched around to the North on Tuesday eve, and the water had turned the color of a cup of coffee, heavily creamed. Actually a grayish murky cloudy mess. You couldn't see your jig more than 4 inches deep in the water, and the fishing was equally poor. We jigged til noon with one fish caught. I don't think anyone was doing very well. (Even saw Babe Winkleman out there, and he wasn't catching any either) There was one exception. One guy was trolling #7 Clown Shadraps through the area and told us he had 13 fish in the boat. We quickly adapted our program to a trolling routine and were quickly into a fish. It was fighting a little strange to be a walleye, and what do we pull up but a steelhead. Just a little 2 pounder, but certainly a surprise. When we were done fishing, we ran all over town trying to find some Clown Shad Raps. Thanks to the guys down at Metro Bait shop, for ending our quest before I burned a whole tank of gas out of my Suburban.
Day 4, April 14. We started off trolling our brand new shiny Shad Raps. I had a hit right away and Jeffro caught a fish in short order. We trolled until somewhere around 3:00 and had 5 walleye to show for our efforts. The water seemed to be clearing up a bit, so we decided to switch back over to jigging. We were seeing some fish caught on jigs, and that is what we came over to do anyway. Roger banged a couple on our first drift and we thought we had them going. We did catch two more before we gave up about 6:00. 11 hours on the water is a long time. Most of the 9 fish we caught were caught between the point and the stacks. Pretty tight to the rocks.
Day 5, April 15. April 15 has always been a lucky day for us and today would be no different. We started jigging along the rocks where we had caught the fish the day before. The water was much cleaner and were getting fish on pretty much every pass. It was good until some time around mid day. I think we had 9 fish before we moved up to try by the stacks again. We didn't get any bites right by the stacks, but hit a fish out from that cut with the boat docks. We kept making that drift and were hitting a fish on most every pass. We got our final 6 out of that spot and were done by 1:30. Plenty of time to get back to the hotel, clean our fish, have some drinks and lounge in the hot tub. Another group of our friends limited today as well and here is a pic of their catch. Danny captured that 9 pounder in the middle. Very nice fish.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Ken_Kent_Danny.jpg
Day 6, April 16. It's always nice to go home, but it sucks to leave too. We knew it would be a busy day at the launch, so we had all our gear ready to go and hit it early. Got to the launch at 6:00, and we were still backed up to Jefferson. Conditions were absolutely beautiful in the morning and we hit it until noon. Roger caught the last fish of the trip right at noon, and it was a dandy. This gave us 8 fish, which wasn't bad at all. Didn't see all that many fish caught on Saturday morning, considering the conditions. Too much boat traffic I'd guess. Here is Roger's wrap up fish. http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/542/Walleye_trip_05_Roger.jpg
All in all a great trip. Some great days, some days not too great. But always a great time. I've heard rumors that they are going to shut it down next year. I've heard the same in the past, and I hope it is nothing more than rumors.
Sorry for the looonnnnggg report, but hey, it was 6 days.