Michigan vs. Michigan State Walleye Tournament

Submitted by Prof. Brewsington on

The ice has finally melted and it's almost time for finals. This can mean only one thing: Walleye fishing. On April 17th, The U of M Fishing Club and the MSU Fishing Club will compete in their annual "Rusty Reel" fishing tournament. It will feature members of both clubs fighting for the rusty reel trophy on the Detroit River. Last year, the Michigan club nearly doubled (!) the weight of the MSU club by a weight of 47 lbs to 25 lbs. 

I just wanted to make the mgoblog community aware that there is, in fact, a fishing club at the University. Check us out at: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/bassfishing/home or our facebook page: "Michigan Fishing Club". 

MGOFISH!

 

Mich_Faithful

April 1st, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^

http://www.dwfonline.com/images/River%20Map.gif

There is a star where the Dykes are, labeled T dyke. You can see its roughly anywhere between 5 to 7 feet of water with weeds. There is always the possiblity of catching anything including musky. One time I was reeling in a small pike very quickly and I saw the shadow of something MUCH bigger following behind it, don't know what it was but it was something big I can tell you that. A lot of people also fish for perch here as well.  If you head north of the dykes, and to the east of the channel you will see a v shaped bay called Crystal Bay. During the summer it is fairly weed and Yacht logged, a lot of boats go there to tie up and relax I guess, depth is normally on average of 5 feet in there with weeds and rocks.  So it's nice to be able to hit it in the spring before all of that happens.Here you can expect to catch pike, rock, large, and small mouth bass (I hooked the largest small mouth I've seen here but unfortunately he got off). If you travel north up the channel towards the north side of stony island, this is called dunbar, out in front of the island is a large weedy'ish flat. We have caught some pike here, and my uncle caught a 30"ish musky here before on a spinner bait.  You can also try on the south side of stony island and not have to worry about going up through the channel, which let me tell you is a bitch with all the boat traffic through there and the wave essentially having no where to go except back and forth. Use any lures you normally would for pike.  Husky jerks, spoons, or spinner baits have worked. ALSO you will need to check internation boundaries. I know that crystal bay is in Canadian waters, i'm not sure of the cross dykes, but you will need a canadian fishing license.  If anything its an excuse to go across the border and stop at the beer store.

EDIT: also i didn't even answer you question of casting/trolling. You could probably do either in water deep enough, but we always cast just because our boat isn't suited for trolling.

ken725

April 1st, 2011 at 2:30 PM ^

I am an avid fisherman out here in California, but I have never fished for Walleye.  When you say jigging are you talking about football/flipping jigs or are you talking more about jigging blade/spoons type lures. 

Do walleye relate more to grass or hardbottom structure(ledges, rocks, etc.)?

One day I want to get out some of those lakes in Michigan and Florida and catch species that I can't catch out here.

I didn't know there were avid anglers on this site, good to know.

ken725

April 1st, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^

Do walleye hit things like crankbaits, spinnerbaits or topwater lures?  I have to admit finesse fishing is not my forte.  I find fishing the dropshot rig to be very boring, I much prefer the Carolina, texas or shakey head.

Is walleye good eats?

Mich_Faithful

April 1st, 2011 at 3:07 PM ^

Walleye are like a big perch, great eats.  Spoons, husky jerks, crank baits, jigs, swim baits, Mepps spinners anything like that will work for walleye. I will have to admit I've never heard of one being caught on the surface. So I would say no to that, they are normally suspended or near the bottom and are rarely near the surface as far as I know. I have also caught them on spinner baits before, although not conventional.  Anything that looks like, or resembles, a minnow, worm, crawfish, or anything of that nature should be fine for walleye.  As far as finesse fishing I'm sure it could work but I haven't tried it.

ken725

April 1st, 2011 at 3:29 PM ^

Do you guys have a size limit for walleye in Michigan? 

I know in California we consider Pike an invasive species because they tend to harm our trout fisheries.  I know back in 2007 CA DFG poisioned Lake Davis up by Sacramento River Delta to get rid of the pike.  Do they harm the walleye fisheries in your waters?

Mich_Faithful

April 1st, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^

I haven't really been able to fish lately because of school, but a quick search on Michigan's DNR website shows a minimum size of 15" for walleye and you can keep 5 per day per person.  As far as the pike hurting walleye numbers, I do not believe that this is a problem here. As far as I know, I'm sure walleye eat pike minnows and pike eat walleye minnows so it goes both ways.  I think the two species have been around long enough in these waters where both species are stable. I assume, I could be wrong though.

ken725

April 1st, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^

I love fishing senkos, but I tend to fish them weightless with 5/0-6/0 EWG depending on the size I use.  That pattern has been working well for me at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet.  I have tried all type of senko style baits, but none of them have the fall and action that I get out of a Gary Senko.

readyourguard

April 1st, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^

It's called vertical jigging and it requires either a bow mounted electric trolling motor or some mad skills on back trolling with the transom mounted engine.

I use 3/4 or 1oz painted led jig heads with a brown rubber worm, threaded with a stinger hook (known locally as the Wyandotte Worm).  In the river, it's all hard bottom (sans the occasional discarded anchor line, 1000s of feet of busted off fishing line, a tire, a tree, or a dead body). 

It's just about time to hit the river again.  The last remnants of Lake St. Clair ice should be flowing out of there now. 

Mich_Faithful

April 1st, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

We will normally use a dark green grub or a rubber minnow (silver, black, silver and blue) and then tip it with a brown worm. Even though it usually doesn't matter, you have a better chance of snagging them on the jig up than them hitting it on the way down. Best part of jigging is you have a free hand to hold your beer with, in between fish that is.

profitgoblue

April 1st, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

This is outstanding!  Thanks for the information.  I read in BASS about the southern schools that have fishing teams and are sponsored by big-name fishing brands (supplied with bass boats, equipment, etc.) and always wondered whether Michigan had the same potential. 

How can we help with sponsorships funding?  Tap into the MGoCommunity - we want to help!

 

 

readyourguard

April 1st, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^

I used to go out of St. Jean's most often.  The best day I had last year was out of Bellanger and fishing right under the Ambassador Bridge.  I hooked into a giant sturgeon that I fought for 3.5 hours, from the bridge all the way down to Mud Island.

Love jiggin the DR.

Mich_Faithful

April 1st, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^

Did you catch it or did it get off after 3.5 hours? My uncle hooked into something he thought was a sturgeon, I forget how long he fought it for. We eventually saw this large mass coming up from the depths of the river, was about 8 feet down before the hook straightened and we see this think sort of float back down towards the depths. To this day we still give him shit about his 'log' sturgeon haha. You never know what you will catch on the river, I think once we hooked up with a drum set.

readyourguard

April 1st, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

My buddy was in the boat with me so I can safely say this is not just another fishing tale.  lol

About 45 minutes into the fight, the thing surfaced and breached about 10 feet from my boat.  Both my buddy and I yelled loudly because neither of us had seen anything like it before.  It was well over 100lbs and 7feet long.  It was huge.

After 3.5 hours, the line just went limp.  The jig/hook/stinger were all in tact.  It probably just wore out the mouth and tore out.

 

Mgobowl

April 1st, 2011 at 9:27 PM ^

I wish I had known about this when I was there...

 

I'm more into trolling for salmon out on Lake Michigan, but where I'm going to school for the next few years is going to crimp my style a bit. I just picked up a fly rod and plan to try that out this year. Anyone know anything about fly fishing or have some websites they might recommend?

 

Also, April Vokey can teach me how to fly fish anytime:

 

ken725

April 2nd, 2011 at 4:55 AM ^

Not to deter you or anything, but in my opinion fly fishing is probably the most expensive in terms of equipment.  

I personally don't fly fish, but I know many people who do, they are much older than me and can afford the expensive equipment.  It is normal for fly rods to cost upwards of $600.  This is one of the reason why I haven't gotten into fly fishing yet.  I plan on getting into it someday, but for now I will stick to long-range trips from San Diego.   

Where is your school going to be?  If it is in the Eastern Sierra Mountains I know some sites, but other places I might have to defer to my friends for advice.  

Mgobowl

April 2nd, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^

I have noticed the prices on equipment. Luckily I found a decent starter rod/reel combo for ~250. I figure I'll try it and if I like it I can get better equipment in the future. I'm actually in NE Ohio. Apparently this area is called Steelhead Alley, but again I don't know a lot about it.

ken725

April 3rd, 2011 at 2:35 AM ^

I think you might have the same rod/reel combo that I was looking at.  I think you made the correct pick with the equipment, you can always upgrade when you get better and get into it more.  

I'm sorry, but I wont be able to help you specifically with the NE Ohio area.  If it was California or other West Coast areas I might have been able to help you out.  

The following is what I got from google:

http://www.steelheadschool.com/river_report_page.htm