Photo by Ron Sinfelt

By Mike Zielinski

Michigan could call itself "The Great Walleye State" and not be bragging! Walleye fishing opportunities are nearly limitless. As a result, Michigan's portion of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters have become a favorite with serious and novice anglers alike.

While some locations traditionally provide better fishing, new technology and increased interest in tournament fishing has shown anglers how to take good catches of walleyes from areas once labeled as only "mediocre." Newly designed "walleye boats" are now available that provide anglers with small craft that are not only speedy but very seaworthy, especially on the big waters of the Great Lakes.

The following Great Lakes waters represent both the best walleye fishing available anywhere, plus a few quality places perhaps not yet familiar to many anglers. Either way, you can't lose!

"We have known about the Lake Erie walleye decline for awhile and the time to make a change was immediately," said Dr. Kelly Smith, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division chief. "We were at 19 million walleyes. To get below 17 million walleyes in Lake Erie will spell disaster for those fish stocks."

As a result, in Michigan our small section of Lake Erie will be closed to walleye fishing from April 1 through May 31. When the season opens June 1, the creel limit will be five walleyes per person instead of the previous six, and the size limit will be 15 inches instead of 13 inches. These rules will remain in effect until further notice. The good news is that the 2003 hatch of walleyes on Lake Erie was the best in 10 years.

Despite all this, Lake Erie will produce topnotch walleye fishing in Michigan from near the middle of June right into August. Often, this fishery is made up of smaller fish, many of which will not make the new size limit. Look for the walleyes to be schooled up off the Fermi Nuclear Plant in 20 to 26 feet of water at that time of year.

Trolling with crankbaits like Storm Wiggle Warts, Hot-N-Tots and Rapala Shad Raps behind planer boards remains a very effective technique. Recently, anglers have found that trolling spoons like Silver Streaks in 3- to 5-inch sizes behind tiny diving disks can really be effective. If the mayflies are hatching, anglers who like to drift and cast - or just drift and bump bottom - use a variation of the weight-forward spinner commonly referred to as walleye "flies." These lures are tied on 10 to 14 inches of heavy monofilament and consist of a spinnerblade just ahead of a weight with one or two hooks at the terminal end and dressed with a variety of materials, from plastic skirts to colorful feathers. Night crawlers, leeches or minnows are used as bait.

There are a number of public launch sites, including Sterling State Park just north of Monroe, and Bolles Harbor just south of Monroe off Interstate 75.

For more area information, contact the Monroe Chamber of Commerce at (734) 242-3366 or www.monroeinfo.com.

The most popular technique is vertical jigging. Jigs are dressed with soft plastic grubs or minnow bodies from 2 to 4 inches long with huge silver shiner minnows attached. This rig is then allowed to drift within inches of the bottom as the line is kept as vertical as possible to detect the light taps of a feeding walleye and to prevent snagging on the treacherous rock bottom. The most popular weight jigs are 3/8- and 5/8-ounce painted in a variety of fluorescent colors, with chartreuse being the most popular.

There is a general misconception that taking these big spawners is detrimental to walleye populations, but according to DNR biologist Mike Thomas, "Those big old sows are not very good for spawning anymore. Often they don't spawn and just absorb their eggs. They are also major predators, even on their own species."

The entire stretch of the Detroit River offers good walleye fishing, but it isn't difficult to find out where the hottest action is occurring - just look for a pod of 300 to 500 boats on any spring weekend. They will be crowed near the Trenton Power Plant on the Trenton Channel, along Fighting Island in Wyandotte, behind Great Lakes Steel in Ecorse, and at times along the Canadian shoreline below the Seagram's plant and below the salt mines.

"If you are coming to the Detroit River, bring a lot of jigs and a variety of colors," says local charter captain and outdoor writer Jim Barta. "The fish are always here from late March through late May and can be finicky biters, especially in muddy waters. Just keep changing until you find something that works and then make sure everyone in the boat puts one. The bite might not last long and you have to take advantage of things."

For area information, contact the Southern Wayne County Chamber of Commerce at (734) 284-6000 or www.swccc.org. For more fishing information, call Bottom Line Tackle at (734) 379-9762. For guide service, call (313) 388-5847.

The Canadian side, however, has always been a better walleye-producing area, and according to biologist Bob Haas of the Lake St. Clair Research Station, there is a reason.

"There just seems to be a special mix of water, forage and habitat that creates a natural walleye incubator over on the Canadian side," said Haas. "It is amazing. We have found that this water doesn't mix with water along the U.S. side. The force generated by huge Lake Huron draining down the St. Clair River appears to be strong enough to keep the waters from mingling and keeping the lake divided. What we do see is a whirlpool effect by current along the Canadian waters, which serves to keep more forage and nutrients along that side. This is part of that incubator effect."

Night crawlers and spinner combos dragged just over the weedtops has always been an effective method here. Add some planer boards to the game and trolling can really become a productive walleye technique here. Deep-diving crankbaits also work well along the deeper, cooler and often clearer waters near the shipping channel. Buoy 28 can get hot for walleyes during warmer weather, as can the lighthouse situated in the middle of the lake.

For more information, contact the Mount Clemens Chamber of Commerce at (810) 493-7600 or www.central-macomb.com.

"If you like to jig-fish for walleyes," says Kuffer, "late April through early June is the time to be doing it here. The walleyes are migrating out of Lake St. Clair after having already moved out of Lake Erie and through the Detroit River to get this far north."

Kuffer's tools of the trade here are 3/8-ounce jigs on 12-pound-test Berkley FireLine, using a barrel swivel with 10-pound test monofilament as a leader. Like the Detroit River and other quick-running bodies of water, it is important to have a bow-mounted trolling motor to keep your lines vertical in the water.

Some of the better areas on the St. Clair River to jig-fish for walleyes during early June are the long stretch above the Marine City power plant, the twisting waters at the head of Fawn Island and the head of Russell Island. The lower St. Clair River forms three channels, and the long flat ahead of Russell Island is one of the first staging areas for the walleyes on their migration north.

For more information, contact: Angler Rod and Sports, (810) 329-2253); Lakeside Tackle, (810) 777-7003); Algonac Chamber of Commerce, (810) 794-5511 or www.algonacchamber.com.