Southeast Michigan Fishing Report

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources released the following fishing report for southeastern Michigan:

• Lake Erie: Anglers are reminded that beginning May 1, 2012 through April 30, 2013, the walleye limit in Michigan waters will remain six fish. Windy conditions were not helping boat anglers but those able to get out were trolling or drifting crawler harnesses in 13 to 15 feet of water in Brest Bay. A fair number of walleye were caught by those jigging bucktail jigs or blade baits around Turtle Island and the Dumping Grounds. Purple and fire-tiger were good colors.
• Detroit River: Walleye are finally being caught along the entire river including Gibraltar, Trenton Channel, Wyandotte and up near the River Rouge. A few limit catches were reported by those jigging or hand-lining.
• Huron River: Anglers reported decent catches of white bass. Catfish have also been caught.
• Lexington: Trout and salmon fishing was good especially for coho salmon however the water is now very muddy after all the wind. Look for catch rates to pick back up after the weather settles down.
• Port Sanilac: Also had good coho fishing before the waters turned muddy. Hopefully things will settle down by the weekend.
• Saginaw Bay: Those trolling caught walleye in 6 - 8 feet of water off the Bay City State Park and near Spoils Island but high winds have slowed catch rates. The near shore waters are very turbid due to the constant northeast winds.
• Tittabawassee River: The walleye were spawning two weeks earlier than normal this year due to the summer-like weather we had in March. Combine this with the fact that the opener is the end of April so you have walleyes that had two extra weeks after spawning to drop back to Saginaw Bay. There should still be a fair number of walleye in the rivers for opening day, but fishing will most likely taper off quickly after the opener.
• Flint River: Should still have some walleye for the opener. The long range forecast is not calling for much in the way of rain this week so the rivers will be relatively low and clear for this time of year. This will make walleye fishing difficult as they tend to be shy of boats. Light line and small lures may be the order of the day.