Gettin Close

[erieangler]

big wally, I have always fished the detroit or maumee rivers in the spring, and want to try the fishing on maumee bay this spring. Can ya help me out a little bit? what size jigs do you use and are the body and hair both purple? also how do you fish them? do you cast and retrieve or do you actually jig with them? have you tried blades baits? I hear alot of guys have been doing pretty good with them also.

[jiginitis69]

Erieangler. You are about to find a new obsession. The days of the river will be long gone from your dreams once you learn the lake. How nice it would be to catch every fish legal and do it in 15 minutes. You hear allot about Purplr Hair jigs and last year they were the hot item. The are actually Purple and Black w/ a stinger hook. And yes they are made of dyed hair. It is important to hook a shiner under the chin and through the cranium. If you cast dont use the shiner you will jig it off. We do jig. I use two poles and alternate the drop from one hand to the other. It is important to feel the drop because you will most your strikes on the drop (THUMP) or when you lift it (seems heavy) YANK! Vibe-ees, Heddon Sonars, Cicadas etc do work well. I make my own jigs and paint them myself. I alway have about 20lbs of jig heads (drift speed controls jig weight 3/8,1/2,5/8)and 10 different color tails. I buy the tails buy the 100 and use 3 1/2" Tails. If they short strike (steal my bait). I'll rig a stinger hook on my jig. I also use a drift sock to slow my drift on windy days. Be advised it is illegal to use a stinger upstream (Toledo Side)of the weather beacon in the Maumee Bay frieght channel. Watch the water clarity. If we get allot of precipitation it may be in your best interest to trailer to Davis Besse area and fish there. The water is usually cleaner. My choices of launch for the bay are: Luna Pier, Collins Park, Mienke Marina-Public Launch. For the Reefs you have Metzgers Marsh (Western most), Fenwick (My Preference for $5). Keep in mind--in my opinion they are not really hungry as much as they are protecting the spawn. Agitate them and have fun.

[jiginitis69]

Erieangler. You are about to find a new obsession. The days of the river will be long gone from your dreams once you learn the lake. How nice it would be to catch every fish legal and do it in 15 minutes. You hear allot about Purple Hair jigs and last year they were the hot item. They are actually Purple and Black w/ a stinger hook. And yes they are made of dyed hair. It is important to hook a shiner under the chin and through the cranium. If you cast dont use the shiner you will jig it off. We do jig. I use two poles and alternate the drop from one hand to the other. It is important to feel the drop because most of your strikes on the drop (THUMP) or when you lift it (seems heavy) YANK! Vibe-ees, Heddon Sonars, Cicadas etc do work well. I make my own jigs and paint them myself. I always have about 20lbs of jig heads (drift speed controls jig weight 3/8,1/2,5/8)and 10 different color tails. I buy the tails buy the 100 and use 3 1/2" Tails. If they short strike (steal my bait). I'll rig a stinger hook on my jig. I also use a drift sock to slow my drift on windy days. Be advised it is illegal to use a stinger upstream (Toledo Side)of the weather beacon in the Maumee Bay frieght channel. Watch the water clarity. If we get allot of precipitation it may be in your best interest to trailer to Davis Besse area and fish there. The water is usually cleaner. My choices of launch for the bay are: Luna Pier, Collins Park, Mienke Marina-Public Launch. For the Reefs you have Metzgers Marsh (Western most), Fenwick (My Preference for $5). Keep in mind--in my opinion they are not really hungry as much as they are protecting the spawn and the bed they made for the female. Agitate them and have fun.

[thehunter]

Just a note to let you know that Luna Pier Harbor Club's boat launch is not open until April 15th typically. The marina store may be open a few days a week prior to that, but the launch, docking, fuel, etc. is not. The City launch next to LPHC is open but you are supposed to have a Luna Pier resident sticker on your vehicle to use these ramps.
Also mentioned in another posting was Collins Park launch in Point Place/Toledo. The DOCKs at this public launch are not in early, never know when, maybe not until the end of April. This is shallow water until you get into the Maumee River. When using this ramp go out straight from the ramp almost half way across bay then 90 degress left to River. Don't try to cheat and cut earlier, especially withing 200 yards of the ramp !!
Just a heads up.......

[erieangler]

yeah, cullin park is pretty shallow. I have launched out of there in my 16ft duck hunting boat a couple of times, and had some depth problems. It looks like I will launch out of bolles untill luna pier opens up.