Detroit River vs Ludington: All Night Drive, All Day Grind
There’s way too much fishing to be done right now and not nearly enough me to do it. I’m sitting here thinking this might actually be my last walleye trip until fall which makes zero sense. I feel like I fished twice as much this spring compared to last year and somehow caught half the fish. That math ain’t mathing.
So yeah…pressure today. I needed a big one. Not just a good day, one of those stupid days. You know the ones. Two passes, 24 fish, then you’re just out there messing around trying to upgrade. 50 fish total. Not even grabbing the net unless it’s over 6 pounds. Just alley-ooping them into the boat like it’s a layup line. Scotty knows the deal, he invented that day. And if he didn’t, some internet hero will claim it by next week.
Enter the crew…Logan, Charlie Daniels, and Kaedin drove all night to fish the world famous Detroit River. Absolute insanity. The plan was simple. They roll in, we roll out. Hit Delray. Adjust if needed. Catch everything.
They pull in, we hook up, and point the rig east. Delray…open. Beautiful. Delray…empty. Wait, what? We roll in at 7:05am and there is nobody there. No line. No chaos. No yelling. Just us. I’m pretty sure we were the only humans who got the memo that fishing still existed today. At that point I’m thinking just catch one walleye and this whole trip is already a win.
Now the real question, can these west coast Ludington boys actually jig the river? Don’t worry. I gave them the full 3 minute crash course on the 53 minute drive. That’s basically a certification. We’re good.
Boat traffic, maybe 10 percent of yesterday. My theory, too many people drank their non-limits away and couldn’t get out of bed. Not my problem.
We start on the Ontario side below the Ambassador. Calm water, nice drift, practice pass. No fish. Saw maybe two caught around us. Not good enough. We move.
Run up to the mouth of the St Clair and boom, there’s the crowd. Maybe 75 boats. Logan says 100. Somewhere in there. There’s a mudline, boats stacked up, nets flying. This is what we came for.
We set up, watch a few fish hit the net around us, and then Logan sticks one. Day complete.
That’s it. Trip successful. Pack it up, boys. Except we didn’t. We stayed on it and put together a solid first pass. Six fish. Second pass, five more. Now we’re rolling. Third pass slowed down hard for us and everyone else. That weird lull where you start questioning everything again. We poked around, stayed patient, and scratched our way to 16.
Yeah yeah, I know, no limit. But let’s be real. These guys had a full travel itinerary. Drive all night. Fish Detroit River. Clean fish. Stop in Lansing for steak because obviously you don’t eat the 18 pounds of walleye you just caught. Drop off future bass legend Kaedin in Rockford. Then finish the haul back to Ludington.
We stay one more hour, we get the 8. No doubt. But sometimes logistics wins. Everyone left happy. That’s what matters.
What I learned today:
Logan was absolutely fascinated with urban fishing. Kept asking if we were in a bad part of Detroit. Meanwhile he’s staring at freighters, bridges, and buildings like it’s Disney World. Truth is, that dude would be happy fishing a puddle.
Charlie might be the best knot untangler I’ve ever seen. Hands like bratwursts but somehow surgical precision. That said, Kaedin plus Logan finally gave him a real challenge.
Kaedin and not touching bottom. I gave him the Scotty Templeton guaranteed program. Tick bottom. Small hook set. Drop on tight line. Repeat. Simple. Effective. Proven. Did he do it. Nope. Ran some kind of jazz rhythm jigging program. End result, two half fish. The youth movement is strong.
Charlie’s big hands are elite for popping cheeks out of walleye. Didn’t see that coming, but here we are.
Autopilot, maybe working. Kinda. Jury is still out. Until I troll with it, I don’t trust it.
Getting gas might have been the hardest part of the entire trip. West on M59, wrong move. Back east. Mugg and Bops, pump down. Highland BP, guy doing a full tire therapy session blocking the pump. Air, listen (yep, he listened to the tire), text, repeat. We are four feet away staring at him. Eventually he moves. Pump cuts off at 175 dollars. Of course it does. Reinsert card for the final two gallons. That little adventure felt like it added two hours to the day.
This week’s got me fired up. Heading to Ludington midweek. Surgeon Jenn finally wrapping up real life surgeon duty of fixing people Thursday at 6pm. We’ve got a legit list for the weekend. Actual responsibilities. Don’t worry though, El Rancho is on the list. Mojo matters.
400 W. Filer St., C1, Ludington, MI 49431 | Phone: 248-534-9202 | PullHardFishing@outlook.com
