Fishing Report Detroit River day 2 & 3 with a Bonus

[G.Mech]

Day 1&2 are in the books, just 3 more to go. Unbelievable weather and very good fishing almost everywhere we have dropped a line basically from the casino down to the bottom end of Fighting Island. We lost count of all the fish caught in the last two days but we kept limits of good quality 18-24" fish for each group so far. Bigger ones and smaller ones are released. Only one female has had eggs so far. We even got @Fishfarmer in the groove today and he boated some nice ones.

 

[Sportfish 2050]

Nice!

 

[Wave Runner]

Sounds like you guys are having fun Greg... great report and photos!

 

[G.Mech]

Okay, day #3 of our spring walleye fishing started off great this morning and we boxed 6 on our first two drifts just above the Ambassador Bridge. Started our third drift and my son Dave hooks onto a big fish. We have hooked them before and were pretty sure it was a sturgeon; after it jumped clear of the water twice we knew for sure. We battled him for 55 minutes and on 10 lb test line we spent most of our time chasing him with the boat, he was clearly in charge. We dodged dozens of fishing boats, two up-bound freighters and struggled to keep him in Canadian waters just to be sure we didn't run into the MDNR. We managed to get his head into our walleye net and got a death grip on his tail to haul him over the side. We covered over 2 miles of river chasing him around, almost down to the new bridge. He was 58" and estimated at 55-60 lbs. @Fishfarmer even jigged up another walleye while Dave tinkered with his sturgeon. Very memorable fight and tons of fun.

 

[Fishfarmer]

Thanks again
Definitely a trip (literally) i will never forget

 

[Centerspin]

Fantastic fish! Seen one caught there and years later one lost after probably 2 hrs battle on the US side when we were fishing the mouth there.

PS. If you hold sturgeon upside down in the water it becomes calm and can be lifted bare hands.

 

[G.Mech]

Fantastic fish! Seen one caught there and years later one lost after probably 2 hrs battle on the US side when we were fishing the mouth there.

PS. If you hold sturgeon upside down in the water it becomes calm and can be lifted bare hands.

That's good to know. I will tell my son for next time....

 

[Porkpie]

We watched a kid in a 14 foot boat between Fighting and Grassy islands fool with one for a loooonggggg time in 2019. He was finally able to land it with the help of another boat! Very cool catch you had there!

 

[Dmanwithnoname]

That’s some fancy maneuvering in all that traffic. I can’t even imagine the shannigans involved . Well done !!

 

[stomp]

Nice @G.Mech and bonus, looks like everyone’s hat made it unscathed!

 

[Toad]

Okay, day #3 of our spring walleye fishing started off great this morning and we boxed 6 on our first two drifts just above the Ambassador Bridge. Started our third drift and my son Dave hooks onto a big fish. We have hooked them before and were pretty sure it was a sturgeon; after it jumped clear of the water twice we knew for sure. We battled him for 55 minutes and on 10 lb test line we spent most of our time chasing him with the boat, he was clearly in charge. We dodged dozens of fishing boats, two up-bound freighters and struggled to keep him in Canadian waters just to be sure we didn't run into the MDNR. We managed to get his head into our walleye net and got a death grip on his tail to haul him over the side. We covered over 2 miles of river chasing him around, almost down to the new bridge. He was 56" and estimated at 55-60 lbs. @Fishfarmer even jigged up another walleye while Dave tinkered with his sturgeon. Very memorable fight and tons of fun.

View attachment 72221

Amazing catch way to go

 

[G.Mech]

Our last couple of days on the D were not nearly as eventful. The weather turned bad and the fishing wasn't as good but we got more walleye and had lots of fun with the last group.

I wished I had taken more photos of the sturgeon and it's release but at least I had the video going for 45 minutes of the fight so it's kind of fun. I won't try and post it since it a little long, way too big a file, has horrible jokes and some adult language so I got a few screen captures from it.

 

[Schmick]

That last pic should be titled ‘Give us a kiss, luv’ lmao… just like dear ol’ Aunt Mildred…

 

[spearfisher]

Be careful bringing a sturgeon in the boat in Ontario waters. They are a threatened species and should be released immediately without taking them out of the water. Posting pics on interwebs could get you in trouble w green jeans. Not lecturing just want to let folks know.

 

[Reardrag]

Good point Spearfisher. Once in the boat I believe it’s considered in possession.

 

[G.Mech]

Be careful bringing a sturgeon in the boat in Ontario waters. They are a threatened species and should be released immediately without taking them out of the water. Posting pics on interwebs could get you in trouble w green jeans. Not lecturing just want to let folks know.

I am not wanting to start an argument because we know that by the letter of the law we may not be 100% right in photographing the fish. That said, your comment is not totally correct either. The regs do not say that the fish cannot be taken out of the water, they simply say that the fish must be immediately released; the rest is left open to (mis)interpretation. Through my involvement with Muskies Canada and our ongoing discussions with the OMNR&F on the newly proposed changes to this exact retention rule (see link to thread below), I am confident that I am clear on the "intent" of it, that is to discourage fishermen from targeting out of season or undersized fish just for photo ops. I think we can all agree that nobody is out targeting sturgeon with 10 lb test line and 3/4 oz jigs on small spinning gear. There is actually a large population of sturgeon in these waters and quite a few caught during this season. Almost all are photographed and posted without issue in fact there were at least 3 others I know of the same day. I am confident that we did nothing immoral here, the fish was caught by accident, handled as carefully as possible with the gear at hand, and carefully released without harm by two marine biologist that were on board. If the 20 seconds it took to photograph the amazing fish makes me a monster, so be it.

Just for clarity, under the current rule, every fisherman who retains a fish to measure it and then finds out that it is too small or outside of the slot size limits is equally as guilty, he has retained an illegal fish. This is the rule we are working on clarifying with the ministry, they are on the same page and have assured us that discretion is being used in these cases.


Proposed Retention Rule Changes

 

[mick]

we debated taking photos was legal with an out of season fish species..I remember somone called the MNR and that was the answer we got back..

if you can land an out of season fish in the boat legally to safely remove hooks, then the moment is right to quickly take a photo and release it..