4:30am came early, as it often does, for me to wake up to get ready for a Detroit River fishing excursion with my buddy Bryan. The day before I had begun trying to rally two of my other buddies to come out with Brian and I on the river because the bite was hot and for the fact that the walleye run is just one hell of a good time. At the time when I called them it was sunny and 65 degrees. Then came the next question out of their mouths which I typically don’t even consider when on the river, ” what’s the weather like for tomorrow?” I looked it up and it was calling for 25mph north winds, 41 degrees and 100% chance of rain. It got real quiet on the phone after that and long story short, it was only Bryan and I that showed up the next day ready to fish. Conditions completely changed. It changed how and where we fished. Waters became extremely muddy, boat control was difficult, and the river was continuously rising throughout the morning. However, the end result was a livewell full of a limit of walleye. The rain was coming in completely sideways hitting me in my face and dripping off my nose onto my jigging hand, I couldn’t help to think, this is why I fish.
Joining me on today’s episode is someone who makes his living chasing many types of freshwater fish and is used to the changing conditions of many types of bodies of waters on the east side of the state. Eric Long joins me on this weeks podcast and is the owner and captain of Long Line Charters. Eric comes on to share his knowledge of how to adapt to changing conditions, especially in the spring time when weather can be unpredictable as the bite. I catch up with Eric as he is coming off of the water after a similar day that I had just described above. Rain, wind, muddy waters and a negative bite creeping in during an afternoon booking with a client.
Eric does a phenomenal job of walking us through exactly what he does and how he adapts to stay on the bite in these types of conditions. He talks about what to look for when the water muddy’s up, areas you want to focus on to find the fish and how important it is to keep moving and not to stay in one spot expecting the fish will bite just because they did the day before. Most importantly, I asked Eric to shed some positive light on the White Bass or Silver Bass run that is starting to happen on many rivers systems, specifically in this case the Detroit River.
White Bass (Silver Bass) make their run typically in the beginning of May and end sometime in early June on the river. They
are often regarded as an undesirable, often annoying, species of fish that take advantage of the same spawning grounds as walleye. White Bass are actually the only native species of bass to The Great Lakes and taste delicious. Eric helps me remove the black eye from their reputation and sheds some light on the benefits of taking someone out to catch a limit of these fun fighting and plentiful fish. Silver Bass are typically very easy to catch and could be a great way to get new anglers into the sport.
Eric says it best on the podcast “I can’t see anyone mad about catching fish.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Be sure to check out Eric’s charter business Long Line Charters and book that trip you have been always wanting to take, no matter what the conditions are.
Cheers
Lee