Walleye Jigging Jackpot: Early-season Action on Ontario’s Detroit River

Over two days in mid April 2016, Outdoor Canada‘s managing editor Bob Sexton and associate editor Scott Gardner teamed up with two walleye fanatics, Leavon Peleikis and local guide Matt Ciccone, to fish the famous run in the fast-moving Detroit River.

While the timing varies slightly from year to year, the peak of the walleye run is usually between mid April and mid May. Starting in early March, up to 10 million walleye come up from Lake Erie or down from Lake St. Clair, to spawn on the Detroit River’s rocky humps, shorelines and reefs. On our trip, Windsor native Matt Ciccone, operator of On the Spot Guide Service, jigged up the first fish of the day, a decent 22-incher.