Walleye World: Downriver waters are an angler’s dream destination
Story by Ken Welsch
Every spring, millions of walleye make their way through the Detroit River, drawing anglers from across the country to experience some of the best fishing anywhere.
They’re down there, millions of walleye swimming the depths of Lake Erie and the Detroit River, and their impact on life Downriver is far-reaching.
Just as off-road enthusiasts converge on the red rock trails of Moab, Utah, and avid downhill skiers race to the fresh-powder slopes of Colorado, anglers from all corners of the country swarm to the Downriver area every year looking to snag a prize walleye.
Charter businesses boom. Hotel rooms fill. The smell of battered fillets fill bars and restaurants along West Jefferson and Biddle avenues while anglers tell endless fish tales.
The broader Lake Erie no doubt earns its “Walleye Capital of the World” title, but Downriver is at the heart of it all, especially every spring when the warm waters and rocky bottom of the Detroit River attract millions of spawning walleye.
“People come from all over the country,” said Mike Rahm, owner and captain at Grosse Ile Fishing Charters. “In terms of quantity and the numbers of walleye, there’s nothing like it anywhere.”
From the River to the Table
During the spring run, when an estimated 14 million walleye swim the waters in and around Downriver, the Detroit River and Trenton Channel play host to competitive tournaments such as the Detroit River Walleye Classic. The area is also a major stop on the ultra-competitive Michigan Walleye and National Walleye tours.
Locally, businesses such as My Place Bar & Grill in Wyandotte have embraced the area’s reputation as a walleye hotbed. This spring they hosted their “Here for the Beer Walleye Tournament” for the 17th consecutive spring, and their year-round “Catch-n-Cook” offer invites anglers to bring in their fillets and they’ll take care of the cooking.
“People bring fish in all year, in fact we just had one earlier today,” said Bryan Natzke, who handles the fry cook duties at the bar. “But spring is definitely our busiest time for (Catch-n-Cook).”
When the walleye are running the river during April and May, Natzke said the fishing crowd brings thousands of fillets to My Place to be cooked.
My Place Bar & Grill in Wyandotte is one of many Downriver bars and restaurants
near the river that welcomes visiting anglers year-round.
Knowing Where to Find Them
Larger trophy walleye weigh in around 9 or 10 pounds. Average catches are about half that size. Regardless of weight, the minimum keep size for walleye in Michigan is 15 inches.
Anyone fishing Michigan waters can legally catch up to six walleye per day, and during the peak season, it’s not uncommon to hit the catch limit in an hour. Success like that keeps the anglers coming back, even during the off-peak months.
With the April-May rush in his wake, Rahn will spend much of his summer taking customers out to the deeper waters of Lake Erie. Others, like Robert Welsch, owner/captain of Wyandotte-based Fish Slayer Adventures, are more likely to steer folks up river to the walleye-rich waters of Lake St. Clair.
“April-May is the real hot time for walleye in the river, and it picks up again in the fall,” he said. “Over the summer, I get a lot of people from down south. They’re looking to escape the heat. And the walleye fishing is still great here, you just have to know where to find them.”
A Shore Thing
And they find them, sometimes without getting out on the water.
All along the Downriver waterfront – from the docks and boardwalks at Dingell Park in Ecorse, Bishop Park in Wyandotte, Elizabeth Park in Trenton, and the pier at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge – the rows of folks standing with rod and reel in hand are constant.
Fishing for walleye from shore is most common at dawn and dusk, when darkness lets the light-sensitive fish stray from their preferred deep waters of Lake Erie and head to shallower waters.
This time of year, or any other, anglers might pull in a yellow perch. Or target largemouth bass. The river is home to more than 65 species of fish, and if you walk the docks and ask a half-dozen folks what they’re hoping to snag, you’re likely to get a half-dozen different answers.
There are millions of them down there, musky, northern pike and catfish. Collectively, they shape life Downriver more than we might realize, but make no mistake: for at least two months of the year, this is Walleye World.