Is a bountiful fall walleye season for Lake Erie and the Detroit River a new thing? | CBC News

If you’re near the waterfront in Windsor and have noticed more fishing boats in the Detroit River this fall, you’re not alone.

While the walleye fishery period has historically been primarily a spring and summer event in the river — you’re still seeing more anglers on the water this time of year. 

Jon Bondy believes it’s a combination of two things: One, social media — two, there’s more catchable walleye in the ecosystem.

The charter boat captain has nearly 30 years of experience and operates a fishing shop out of Maidstone, Ont.

“When I started my charter business, there was almost nobody out there in November and into December,” said Bondy.  “People are seeing that you can catch [in a boat] fish all the way until it freezes … bringing in limits. The fishermen are quick to follow up.”

LISTEN | Fall walleye run along Detroit River discussed on Windsor Morning:

Bondy says with high water levels several years ago, there was an explosion of walleye with “exceptional” hatches, including this year.

“The only thing that changed was that the water was higher … impacted the plankton in some way and it created a massive amount of walleye.”

Fall walleye catch nothing new: U.S. natural resources

Jim Francis says the seasonal component for the walleye fishery across Lake Erie and the Detroit River is nothing new.

He’s the Lake Erie Basin coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries division.

After spring spawning runs, Francis says walleye return to shallow waters of the lake’s western basin and up into the river during the fall season.

“We’re seeing that now,” he said, adding this week he’s received “good reports” of walleye catches in Michigan waters in Lake Erie.

“It’s a seasonal pattern and we generally see it consistent from year to year. Like anything else, there are exceptions to that and it does vary, but that’s a pretty general pattern that we see.”

Francis agrees with Bondy saying social media can have an impact on the number of anglers on the water.

“Absolutely … that certainly plays a part. We do see that the word tends to travel faster these days. Before people would have to wait for fishing reports in the newspaper or whatever to come out.”

Part of the reason why anglers target walleye in the fall is they tend to be a quality sized fish, he says. 

“They definitely had a full summer of growth. The fish are feeding pretty aggressively going into the wintertime to kind of bring your energy reserves back up. And you’ll start to see the eggs starting to develop in the female. It’s a very energy-intensive process.”

Francis says larger-sized fish often stand a better chance of making it through until the springtime, however, remain susceptible to predation.

Although he’s unsure if there’s a direct cause and effect with high water levels and high fish counts in the fishery, he says it does look like there’s a correlation between the two.

“Typically, when you’ve got a good year class of walleye in the past, you have one or two strong year classes. And that was really enough to carry the fishery for six, eight, 10 years. But we’re kind of going through a period right now where we’ve had five really good year classes in a row, which is pretty exceptional and not the norm.”

According to Bondy, fishers are catching “easy limits” this time of year.

“If guys and girls go out there and you could come in with a six fish limit right into November, you’re going to see a large increase in people attempting it.”

Bondy says during COVID everyone wanted to get outdoors, which also increased the interest in fishing.

“I’ve never seen anything where there was this many walleye in the system.”

And with more walleye in the water, he says they’re eating more perch making them harder to come by — and eventually more expensive to buy and end up on your plate.

“The walleye is going to be the more affordable fish … if you’re going to go out to eat.”

Bondy believes the Windsor region has become a popular place to fish — including in the fall season — because of its unique topography.

“I may not be as scenic as up north, but … Lake St Clair is very shallow and it creates a great lake to have good spawning and good nursing of the fry. So what that means is we have tremendous fishing for all species of fish here.” 

Crispin Squibbs from the U.K. is visiting Windsor for his fifth time because of the fishing.

He says it’s very productive which makes him keep coming back.

“I go online all over looking at publications and Lake St. Clair is well known. There’s always something there to catch. It’s just really good water.”