Bob Devine

Some anglers managed to get out this past wknd with some success. For many the bite was slow and will only get better as the water temps warm up. Most anglers fished the Michigan side and south of the Ambassador bridge. Chartruese jigs with real minnows or Gulp minnows caught most of the fish. The water temps are around 36-38 with some warmer water found shallower. The last few days we have had a cold front come in and with it N winds. N winds muddy the Ontario side and having a Michigan license will keep you on the water. More cold weather is forecasted for this wknd and will keep things tough. Look for action to start heating up the 3rd wknd of April as we will have walleyes in all 3 periods of spawn. Also keep a close eye on the water as you drive the river, there will be a number of hazards floating.

Went by the river tonight and there is still lots of ice flowing out of LSC. The satellite image is no showing much ice but there is still a bit on LSC. It will be all gone by the beginning of next wk. http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/mod...ie.143.250m.jpg

Thanks for the kind words guys. The DR is almost ready to do some early season walleye fishing. I will be at a trade show in Grand Rapids Mich this wknd. Boat control is the key to catching fish, keep your line vertical for the best results. Jigs from 3/8 -3/4 will be best. Many use chartruese coloured jigs tipped with a plastic trailer, minnow or worm. The are only a few boats ramps to use, Lakeview Park in Windsor at the N end of the river and Gil Maure Park in Lasalle. During the early season you will be looking for the water to warm up and usually the warmest water produces fish first. Find the boats and keep an eye on them for action, check, jigging action, jig colour and depth they are fishing. The early season can bring numerous days of N winds which will muddy the water. You can buy a Mi license online for only $8/day. If fishing on the Mich side have some ID. If you have a safe place(dry) for you passport that would be good. It is not necessary but always good to have. If you have any questions you can give me a call. http://www.mdnr-elicense.com/welcome.asp

I have used the palomar knot and have tied direct for yrs for jigging walleyes on the Detroit River. I also use Flame Grn braid line so I can see my line and clients lines while fishing. If a walleye is going to hit a green, orange or white jig they are not going to be concerned about being line shy. And the DR does get quite clear at times, a N or NE will send sand and particles down river making it look muddy.

Rattletrap and others this yr the new venue will not be allowing GUNS so you may not see all the exhibitors as you have in the past. I still enjoy shows, it is a chance to meet new people and chat to those I dont regularly get the chance to see. Next show for me is the Outdoorama in Novi Mi Feb 25-28.

Here is a note from Greg Horoky co chair of the annual derby. For those looking for a great 1 day walleye event with very little cost, during an incredible time of fishing in the western basin of Lake Erie. The annual derby only cost $20 per entry and has a big fish top prize of $1500 paying 10 spots with 10th getting $100. After the derby there are numerous door prizes a beer tent and food. This event usually kicks off the season for walleye anglers in SW Ont. For those looking for a little bigger tourney the shoot is for you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been the front man for the Colchester Derby for the past 17 years. This Derby, as many of the members of this Board can attest, Is the largest best Derby in Ontario. We usually draw 550+ participants each year and pay out over $6000. in cash and prizes, with cash payouts to the top 10 anglers. Like all derbys it is a 1 big fish derby. Anyone can win, so this is a big fun day for all entries. For the last 3 years someone from a charter boat has won the derby. You know what happened, people started complaining that the playing field was not even. We decided, to keep the integrity of the derby, we have agreed in principle to create the Colchester Shootout, a tournament within the derby. We are going to allow 25 boats to enter The Shootout @ $210.00 per boat. We will payout 80% of the fees so the payout will be $4000.00 for a Winner Take All payday. The date for the Derby and The Colchester Shootout will be 12 June 2010 at Colchester Harbour. The applications will be posted on the Derby website on or about 15 April 2010. The basic rules will be 4 walleye by length. All boats must leave and return to Colchester Harbour and be subject to inspection. No alcohol allowed in the Shootout, although it will be encouraged afterwards at the Kinsmen Tent. A tie will be broken by the longest walleye of the four and if still tied it will be broken by the use a balance beam. Check out the derby website at www.derby.hcslions.com Looking for any feed back. Greg Horoky CoChair

No live feed yet, but it is in the works. www.ckxsfm.com I will keep you all posted.

For those in the Wallaceburg area there is a new radio fishing show on 99.1 CKXS FM-Wallaceburg. The show is hosted by Eric the "Pirate" and airs live Monday nights 7pm-8pm with call ins welcome. The show is only 2 wks old and it quite informative with chats on products, fishing reports and special guests.

Steve and Barrys went bankrupt. Get store with those prices and the quality of the aweatshirts and many items were quite good. I know I have a few hoodies that are 5 yrs old.

On Tues Jan 5- 2010, there will be an online chat with Lowrance technician Lawren Wetzel and Jack Summers of Radio World. They will be answering your questions about using your graph and new products. Learning to use your electronics and trusting them will make catching fish easier. They are marking something on the screen for a reason, whether it is debris, bait or fish trust it. This chat will be taking place from 8-9pm at Big Fat Bass http://www.bigfatbass.com/viewthread.php?tid=13969.

Here is a new idea for the guy who has a transom mount electric motor and would like to use it as a bowmount or foot control. I have heard rumours that they MAY be making their way into Ont in 2010. Not sure on the price point but would give an angler another option. http://www.procontroll.com/

For 2010 Off Shore has gone green with all products now being 99.9% lead free. This is a major step as we try to make things more enviromentally friendly. The new Pro Weight system replaces the snap weight system and the new lead free weights can also be used as an inline weight. The other great new product is the OR36 Resettable Diving Weight (Tadpole). The Tadpole comes in 2 sizes and can be used with harnesses, spoons or to get your cranks deeper. I field tested the Tadpoles in 2009 on Lake Erie walleyes with very good success. I just picked up my shipment of the annual Off Shore Release newsletter and will drop them off at a few local dealers here in Windsor and surrounding area. _________________

Dave, great to see a host(public figure) not afraid to say Merry Christmas. Wishing you and your family Merry Christmas too.

I was accepted this past wk. I am glad I was chosen to highlight the great fishing here in SW Ont. Not sure how many were chosen or locations picked??

Mike, since you are close to Michigan try Cabela's Bargain Cave for Cabelas Guidewear. In many cases guys have used it for a wk and returned it because that was their plan. You will save $$ in the Cave I have BPS 100mph jacket and Cabelas bibs, just don't like being a billboard for BPS. Cabelas has small writing that does not look as gaudy. IMHO

Great catch Jen, I had my perch Sunday and it was mmm good !

KFP- that is a great one too. perch or pickeral works great .. LOL

I am glad I use the electric knife, it makes it so much quicker and easier. It took less than 1.5 hrs to get them done by myself. Even though they are smaller than walleyes I find I have to be move careful as not to cut thru the backbone. The average walleye about 20" takes about 15 seconds to clean. Lotsa practice with the knife and actually have an American Angler electric that I bought in 1993. It has 2 speeds and and low speed works great for perch cleaning.

Hit Leamington Sat and started at the tomato with the rest of the 20 boats. Things seemed slow so we headed south and found a good school west of Grubbs Reef. We were the only boat on the spot and it did not take long to get our 100 (9"-13") keepers. It was a very soft bite and they did not want any resistance. It was a beautiful flat day on the water and you could run anywhere you wanted. We fished next to some nets so becareful if you are out there. Looks like we will be having some water chicken tonite !

Chad congrats on the big fish award. It must have been tough hearing about the big bags that were coming to the scales. Roy when there is $25K on the line most guys will not hold back. We fished 1 spot knowing that running anywhere else would just eat up time. Fortunately we had 7 bites and landed them all. Last yr we had 6 bites and only boated 4 -22lbs and we did not want to repeat that performance. Great job by all volunteers, CSFL, Dave Mercer emceeing and Melanie Frost on the fizzing.

Jedi, the Windsor area has a great fishery that starts in April with perch and crappie fishing from shore areas and walleye jigging on the Det River. The walleyes continue on the river for most of the yr but April-early June is best. May is the start of lake fishing as the walleyes migrate back to Lake Erie with excellent catches being caught close to shore from Colchester to Leamington until Nov. There is also a great perch bite in this area too. June starts the beginning of musky fishing on LSC which is probably your best spot if you have never caught one before. Mid June thru the end of August is steelhead fishing from the ports of Wheatley and Erieau which are about 45-60 minutes away. Here using downriggers, Torpedo divers and dipseys catch fish. A boat is necessary for this type of fishing but I think it is the most fun, depsite not being a steelhead eater. June-Nov bass fishing on LSC and Erie is excellent with some opportunities from shore. Basic bass stuff, tubes, drop shotting, spinnerbaits and cranks work well. We are now into the final months of fishing and musky fishing both from shore and from boat is in full swing, walleyes are starting to migrate back to the westrn basin of Erie and bass have moved to the shallows of LSC. Perch fishing has heated up on Erie from Leamington to Colchester. Ice fishing can be done in the Mitchells Bay area which is the NE corner of LSC, perch and crappies, with some walleyes a little bit further offshore. I have had many compliments from clients who did not know the great fishing opportunities that Windsor has with no traffic jams on the 400-69 or 11 to contend with as they travel south and all others are headed north to cottage country. It is only a bit more than 3 hrs from TO or Hamilton with great shopping in Michigan and the airport is only 30 minutes away with some deals on flights. There is not a lot of scenery but the fishing makes up for it. If you have any concerns about eating the walleyes of other fish in the area, the largest fisheries that supply restaurants and supermarkets are located in Kingsville, Wheatley and Erieau.

OK Mike here is one from Aug I boated a personal best of 7lbs on an X-Tool scale. The fish came from cottage country.

The western basin fall bite is turning on, not like it ever really stopped out of Colchester to Leamington. Some of the bigger fish are starting to return with some larger 6-10# being caught. We are still running harnesses as the water has not cooled off too much yet. Fished Leamington today boating 18 walleyes in 2 passes. No real pattern on colour but speed was key with strongs winds blowing today a drift sock made it more managable.

Musky fishing has been good this yr. In 2006 VHS hit the musky population hard but like always mother nature came back. We are seeing a lot of small fish 24"-30" and the ones that beat the virus are big, healthy and have an attitude(similiar to GCD) but muskies have teeth. LOL This trip could be casting, jigging or trolling. I will let the winners know what is best at that time.

I have my riggers mounted with 6" Berts tracks for quick and easy on and off. You can mount the bases in a variety of locations and it will should not interfere with other types of fishing.