Detroit River

[Muskeye]

Wanting to fish the north end at the mouth of St. Clair. I use to use a ramp at Alter Rd. but my longer boat won't make the turn. Where is a good ramp and where can I find a bait shop.

[Capt. Paul]

Bait in Detroit is tough to come by, better to get it at Lakeside up north or Dip Net down by Wyandotte, depending on where you are coming from. Launches are few in the strech you are talking about, I think you are describing the launch at St. Jean, not Alter, the park above the J.W. Wescott office just below the Ambassador bridge has one, a bit further down next to the Edison plant above US Steel is another, then you hit Wyandotte and Ecorse.

[katfish]

bottom line bait.its on jefferson right in front of the metro park.great place.great guys

[rangerpat]

The best ramp on the Detroit River IMHO is the Wyandotte Boat Ramp, here is their phone# 734-284-6774. Lots of resident bait,& good selection of river tackle. Steve & Kathy will even help you launch your boat. They have a golf cart to shuttle you to & from your vehicle when their 200 stall parking lot starts to fill up. I don't have their website addy in front of me, but they give a weekly report.
They allowed me to park my Motorhome & plug in right there for $5 a day while I was there last fall making our Handlining Video. Good luck Pat

[perchjerker]

The Wyandotte ramp's url is

http://www.wbramp.com

[coopason]

Elizabeth park slips are not in yet,Wyandotte was closed thur am. Both slips are in though. Bottom line Minnows were a little small but they do give you plenty..

Coopason

[LB]

There is a ramp right next to Fort Wayne on the south side. Look for the wire/cables crossing the river over to Canada, can't miss it.It is actually a very nice ramp. Has only one peir and the parking is not real secure much like St. Jean ramp parking. But it dosn't get alot of users and I have never seen it fill up. I believe it is $5 to launch. The attendant sells worms but no minnows.

-LB :)

[goosewa]

The north end is where the fishing seems to be lately. I was out handlining the Trenton Channel (first time for the 04'-05' season)last night with two friends of mine. We fished in the snow from 5:45 pm to 8:00 pm. The water was pretty dirty and had alot of debris floating down. Did not hook anything but had two real solid hits on a #9 Rap.

We really did not anticipate catching a mess of fish but it was still great being out fishing......

I don't know of you guys like Perch or not? But that seems to be the only thing that is biting lately. Well... Besides a 5 and 8 pound brown trout that a couple local guys pulled from the warm water discharge a week ago.....

Were going to head out this weekend and try perchin'. It is still a mite early for eyes.

-goosewa
www.geocities.com/miduckhunter/index.html
(Downriver Outdoors: Detroit River Fishing Reports and Information updated daily.)

[Crow]

Looking for a quick educated answer here....whats the least amount of length and horsepower can one safely get away with on the Detroit River?

Crow

[goosewa]

Crow,

I have seen guys out there in a 12 foot Flat Bottom. (Which I really do not recommend.)

I consider this bare minimum:

Length: 16 foot or larger
Hull Type: Deep-V or Modified-V Jon Boat (Deep-V preferred)
Power: 25 Horse and larger.

We run three different boats on a regular basis:

18' Crestliner Sportsman with a 40 Yam.
18' Crestliner Mod-V with a 25 Johnson (my boat)
16' Crestliner Sportsman with a 35 Johnson

-Goosewa

[Homer]

I spent years in my 14-footer/15HP out there, but also learned to stay away from the Lake Erie mouth when there was a decent S or SE wind. Now that I have a 17 footer, I prefer that because: 1) You don't have to be quite as careful, 2) You can get to different spots faster if a certain area isn't producing.

So, with certain precautions you can safely fish out of a 14, but for all around use what goosewa suggested sounds about right.

[Shadking]

Captain Ron made it out yesterday for a couple of hours and fished around Wyandotte without even a bump. I didn't make it out, spent the day rigging the Tuna boat and admiring the new paint. Will post if I hear of anything today. Will try to get out this week. Hey Paul if you talk to Ron, Ask him if he needs to buy a spare set of keys - he locked his keys in the truck while loading the boat at the Wyandotte ramp. His brother had to come from Livonia with a spare set. I hope this is not setting precedent for the rest of the season.
Scott DeLano

[wheels9080]

Can you tell me if Belinger park ramp is open yet? Thanks wheels