Are there any Thames River Walleye’s left??

[Red Hering]

I went to find out to see if there were any walleye’s around,after the walleye sanctuary was lifted in Zone 16 above the Keil Street Bridge,(Chatham),on May 11/19.I ended up going out about 8 times within the last 2 weeks,to try and find some walleye’s on the thames river in various areas,with a lot of hiking involved to get to some of my “favourite spot’s.” It was a hit & miss to catch them from each trip out,but without first catching various other species,but eventually I found them,and put a “pattern” together,and I had a great time with hardly anyone else on the river fishing & it was very peaceful on most days!! ❤Unfortunately,there were days were I picked up garbage first left by other anglers by the river!! On another day on a walleye fishing trip,I almost stepped on this snake which I have never seen before.I took a few photo’s of the snake about 2 feet long,and while I was photographing it,it was “hissing” at me,and its head “flared up” like a cobra snake!! Once I got home,I looked it up in one of my Field Guide books,and I believe it was a eastern hognose snake,and apparently they are quite rare and a protected species!! Now for the walleye’s,I did catch some within the last couple of weeks,and I am sure that there are still some residential walleye’s around.My Thames River fishing is over for now,and I am going to be focusing on the St.Clair walleye fishing there,because I have been hearing that the walleye fishing has been,ON FIRE!! I have never jigged for walleye’s on the Detroit or the St.Clair river out of my boat before,and it should be interesting for me to learn!! There are a lot of you tube videos that I have been watching,and I am interested in learning this style of fishing!! Sorry again for my long fishing/adventure report,& tight lines to All!! ???

 

[fireram]

Nice report. And pics.

Was at st.clair river last weekend. North of the closed ferry. We did ok, until the wind and six ft rollers pushed us off the river.
Other boats did much better than us.
We tried worms, minnows, trolling and jigging.
Bottom bouncers with spinner and minnow seamed best. But ya had to get the trolling/drift speed just right.
No bites in less than 20ft of water. Most action was in 25-30ft range.

Winds look light for the weekend.
Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 5866]

I like reading your reports and seeing the pictures you post Red. Lets me know that even thought that river hates me (in my life it's allowed me a total of 7 fish, 6 walleye and a bass) there are fish in it to be caught. Nice gar, never caught one, have seen them under the bridge at the Labatts though swimming around my bait ignoring it lol.

My neighbor was telling me the other day that earlier this week, "you could almost walk across the river at the Fanshawe dam on the backs of all the walleye being caught there. Everyone was walking away with their limit." Not so sure I believe him though. I don't think they're in there as thick as he made it seem and I'm not going to go pay the gate fee to get in and get skunked again. I'd rather put that into my gas tank and get my butt to the lake where although it does happen once in a while, I usually don't get skunked at the lake.

 

[DaveJ]

Nice walleye catch! And, great assortment of other species...which makes the Thames a fishing gem. Some will moan about the garbage fish, but the diversity makes the Thames soooo cool.
That looks like a quill-back sucker..which look like a carp but are suckers.
The Detroit has been great this year, and still going. The cold spring water has helped. The SCR is on freaking fire and I think will be hot all summer!!!

 

[Coontail44]

I live on Lake St. Clair and fish it regularly, trust me, it's not on fire YET! Some guys pulling meat around out there and managing 0-3 fish per trip. The Thames has to stop dumping dirty water into the lake then its go time! There's still a fair amount of walleye on the D and on Erie infront of Leamington is starting to pick up. Cheers

 

[big rod]

The D is on fire still.My buddy is off the rvr by 7 45 this morning.6 fish in 15 min and on with your day.Its also loaded with silvers.What are you waiting for?

 

[Red Hering]

I live on Lake St. Clair and fish it regularly, trust me, it's not on fire YET! Some guys pulling meat around out there and managing 0-3 fish per trip. The Thames has to stop dumping dirty water into the lake then its go time! There's still a fair amount of walleye on the D and on Erie infront of Leamington is starting to pick up. Cheers

Thanks @Coontail44 for the update,and to @big rod and also @Get Hooked (who personally messaged me with some excellent information yesterday & thanks again!!). You are definitely right @Coontail44 about the St.Clair River not being on fire Yet!! I personally found that out for myself yesterday afternoon after taking a drive from London to that area from Pt.Edward to Mooretown.I was also checking out 2 boat ramps along the St.Clair River,(Sarnia Bay & the Mooretown boat ramps),the parking lots were both empty with no vehicles/boat trailers,but this was in the afternoon.I was also talking to the locals along the way about the walleye fishing,and like everyone else was saying here on @stomp go to the Detroit River or on Lake Erie around Leamington if you want to limit out on walleye’s.The river current is quite strong still especially downriver from Pt. Edward due to the higher water levels on the Great Lakes,but the walleye’s will show up in that area,(Pt.Edward),eventually if anyone likes to fish in that area.Thumb UP & tight lines to all!! ?????

 

[Red Hering]

The D is on fire still.My buddy is off the rvr by 7 45 this morning.6 fish in 15 min and on with your day.Its also loaded with silvers.What are you waiting for?

Thanks @big rod for the very convincing update. ??? I am actually waiting for a wheelbarrow to put all of those walleye’s in that I will be catching down your way in Lake Erie.The hardware store only had yellow wheelbarrow’s,?? (like yours),but I wanted a red one. I put in a order for a red wheelbarrow,they will call me when the wheelbarrow arrives,& save me some walleye’s please!! ? ?

 

[DaveJ]

Thanks @Coontail44 for the update,and to @big rod and also @Get Hooked (who personally messaged me with some excellent information yesterday & thanks again!!). You are definitely right @Coontail44 about the St.Clair River not being on fire Yet!! I personally found that out for myself yesterday afternoon after taking a drive from London to that area from Pt.Edward to Mooretown.I was also checking out 2 boat ramps along the St.Clair River,(Sarnia Bay & the Mooretown boat ramps),the parking lots were both empty with no vehicles/boat trailers,but this was in the afternoon.I was also talking to the locals along the way about the walleye fishing,and like everyone else was saying here on @stomp go to the Detroit River or on Lake Erie around Leamington if you want to limit out on walleye’s.The river current is quite strong still especially downriver from Pt. Edward due to the higher water levels on the Great Lakes,but the walleye’s will show up in that area,(Pt.Edward),eventually if anyone likes to fish in that area.Thumb UP & tight lines to all!! ?????

I wasnt referring to LSC, I m talking about the SC River. LSC has been muddy.Going out of Pt.Lambton fishing along Walpole...its been great.

 

[Red Hering]

I wasnt referring to LSC, I m talking about the SC River. LSC has been muddy.Going out of Pt.Lambton fishing along Walpole...its been great.

Thanks for clarifying that @Coontail44 to me,because I misread that.Lake St.Clair will even be more muddier now after last nights thunderstorms,because the thames river is flying high again.It will take awhile now for lake St.Clair to clear up again!! Thanks for the tip about Walpole Island on the St.Clair river being great & tight lines & walleye’s ON!! ?????

 

[Red Hering]

Nice report. And pics.

Was at st.clair river last weekend. North of the closed ferry. We did ok, until the wind and six ft rollers pushed us off the river.
Other boats did much better than us.
We tried worms, minnows, trolling and jigging.
Bottom bouncers with spinner and minnow seamed best. But ya had to get the trolling/drift speed just right.
No bites in less than 20ft of water. Most action was in 25-30ft range.

Winds look light for the weekend.
Good luck.

Thanks @fireram and a nice report/photo’s from you as well. ? ?There are lots of pike in the area as well,as you found out.I caught a pike 10.6 lbs. (photo) recently,(April 27/19),off the rock pier in Sarnia Bay,by casting lure’s,while I was fishing in a trout derby,hosted by the Bluewater Anglers Club.I have yet to try the St.Clair river out of my boat for walleye’s,but the season is still very young!! Thanks also for the great tip’s,and the St.Clair river is a totally different river for fishing then most of the river’s that I have fished on.Like everything else in sports,the more you do it,the more experience a person will get if you put the time in and want to learn.Tight lines & good luck to you and others the rest of the fishing season.????

 

[Red Hering]

Nice walleye catch! And, great assortment of other species...which makes the Thames a fishing gem. Some will moan about the garbage fish, but the diversity makes the Thames soooo cool.
That looks like a quill-back sucker..which look like a carp but are suckers.
The Detroit has been great this year, and still going. The cold spring water has helped. The SCR is on freaking fire and I think will be hot all summer!!!

@dave w thanks?? and you are right about the Thames River being quite diverse in the fact that it has sooo many different species of fish living in it.A angler sometimes doesn’t know what will be on the end of the line,till it is landed!! I never expected to catch all of these different species,especially when I was targeting walleye’s only.It’s good to know that the SCR will be hot all summer,and the SCR around Pt.Edward is less than a hours drive away from my house.Tight lines & walleye’s on to you and others this year.???

 

[Deleted member 5866]

That gator looked like it wanted to take yer arm of Red

 

[Coontail44]

No problem guys! I misunderstood and thought you were talking about LSC, so take that info for what its worth!
On another note, head down to Leamington, it will not disappoint
easy limits this morning