reply to the Detroit river info

[nlcatfish]

Hello Pepperoni I am from Cincinnati I am trying to match up with a
person from the Detroit area that has a boat but NO partner. That
would allow me to have a person with Local knowledge of the river. I
was concerned about the ships running up and down the channel. I am
sure they really do not watch out for fishing boats very well. <BR>
So if you anchor a boat how heavy a sinker do you need to keep the
bait on the bottom, 2 or 5 oz.?

The boat will launch from Lake Erie Metro Park. One of the hot spots
mention is Sugar Island another is the power plant on the Detroit
side. I am thinking that would be a great spot since the water is
cold in the river and that place has HOT water discharge into the
river. You mention the shad will be running so The Huron River would
that be a good spot as well. Where is the best spot for finding both
Channel and flatheads in the same area? <BR>
As for the hot dogs that is something I was going to bring along. Do
you add any strawberry or cherry flavoring to them. I have seen a
number of different was of seasoning them. I was also thinking of
french fries, shrimp, chicken livers and bits of seasoned stake for
bait. <BR>
How do the zebra muscles mess up mono line? It think the line would
only
be in the water about 15 mins. a cast.<BR>
<BR>
Thanks again for the help nlcatfish<BR>
<B>http://www.cincinnaticatfishing.com</B> P.S. I book marked both of
the links for future reference.

[Pepperoni]

"nlcatfish" > wrote in message
om...
> Hello Pepperoni I am from Cincinnati I am trying to match up with a
> person from the Detroit area that has a boat but NO partner. That
> would allow me to have a person with Local knowledge of the river. I
> was concerned about the ships running up and down the channel. I am
> sure they really do not watch out for fishing boats very well. <BR>
> So if you anchor a boat how heavy a sinker do you need to keep the
> bait on the bottom, 2 or 5 oz.?

In the main river, the current flow is unbelievable. They troll for walleye
here using 1-2 pound weights just to take the lures to the bottom. This is
no place for the small boat fisherman. Things get out of hand quickly when
problems occur. This is big water with a lot of huge freighter traffic. All
of the heavy traffic is concentrated by the narrow pinch point through the
Detroit River passage.

>
> The boat will launch from Lake Erie Metro Park. One of the hot spots
> mention is Sugar Island another is the power plant on the Detroit
> side. I am thinking that would be a great spot since the water is
> cold in the river and that place has HOT water discharge into the
> river.

Those sites depend on the activity of the power plants. The warm water does
attract fish and these are the first sites to see spawning activity. This
is also the area favored for trolling for carp with crank baits. It's an
unusual activity, and almost unheard of in other areas.

>You mention the shad will be running so The Huron River would
> that be a good spot as well.

The Huron River does get runs of Channel Cats, but almost always at night.
The river is fairly shallow and flow depends upon melt runoff and discharge
rates at the various dams upstream. I wouldn't count on this area too much
for a daytime catfishing trip. Almost anything is possible offshore
trolling lures, however; salmon, walleye, bass, whitebass, striper hybreds,
and pike or muskie. Fantastic perch and other panfish also available.

>Where is the best spot for finding both
> Channel and flatheads in the same area? <BR>

Your guess is as good as mine. See if you can find some online reports.
Catfishing isn't really the most popular here, but there are monsters out
there.

> As for the hot dogs that is something I was going to bring along. Do
> you add any strawberry or cherry flavoring to them. I have seen a
> number of different was of seasoning them. I was also thinking of
> french fries, shrimp, chicken livers and bits of seasoned stake for
> bait. <BR>

Small shad or cut bait may be your best bet. I favor hot dogs in the rivers
for channel cats up to about 10 pounds, but I'm not very familiar with the
cat fishery on the big water. I prefer the more sedate fishing in Lake Erie
for mixed bag bait fishing.

> How do the zebra muscles mess up mono line? It think the line would
> only
> be in the water about 15 mins. a cast.<BR>

Fishing over the mussels is like pulling your line over very coarse
sandpaper. Mono does not handle this very well. The zebra mussels coat the
bottom in mats. They will cover any hard object, and given time, will even
cover sand, once enough shell debris acumulates. They are small, but at
thousands per square foot, they become the main bottom cover in most areas
now. They cement themselves together, and you will pull up clumps of them
in heavy masses. Their sharp shells and attachment to structure make them
very abrasive; they will cut your line easily. I switched to a braided
superline years ago, and never regretted the change.

> <BR>
> Thanks again for the help nlcatfish<BR>
> <B>http://www.cincinnaticatfishing.com</B> P.S. I book marked both of
> the links for future reference.