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by: Ron Welch July, August, and September is the time when walleye fishing slows in the Detroit River and almost everyone goes out in Lake Erie where the fish are fairly easy to find and catch The floating weeds & boat traffic make fishing the river difficult at best. Most of the fisherman think that the fish have left the river for the lake because they don’t catch them where they caught them in the spring, but the fact is, there are still lots of of walleye in the river. The walleye follow the bait and once the weeds start to grow, the baitfish head for the protection of the weeds and the walleye follow. The trick is to fish mornings and evenings where the weeds are close to deep water, such as at the head of islands or structure containing weed beds. Handlining is best because you can control your movement and position relating to the weeds more accurately. Work up the bank to the edge of the weeds and work up to and follow the edge of the weed bed. Also, facing the current of the river, work back and forth very slowly across the front of the weed bed, adjusting your speed so as not to advance or drop back into the heavy weeds. In most cases, the weeds will start and be the shortest in about 18 to 20 feet of water. You will want your bait to work just over the top of these weeds. Occaisionally work forward into deeper water or drop back into shallower water and raise your sinker until it just touches the top of the weeds and work back and forth, dropping your sinker down the bank when you come to it. This method of fishing will also work well on the rockpiles (Dumping grounds, U.S. and Canadian) in Lake Erie. The tackle that I use for this method of fishing is a simple crawler harnes that I make and will describe below for you. You will want to be prepared for the occaisional musky or large small mouth that you will catch with this method also. Good Luck!!
12" to 14" of 30 lb. test Berkely XT mono
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