. : Jon Bondy's All You Can Catch : .

Part3
Walleye, another great game-fish@

@@I am back to tell you about a very popular fish in North America that you, as Japanese anglers, may have never heard of. It is called the walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum). Next to bass, this fish is the most sought after fish in our part of the world, especially in the Midwestern U.S. and Canada. It is highly prized as a food fish, but also gets respect as a great fighter.
@ I am a fishing guide who spends the first 4 months of our season fishing for these awesome fish on the Detroit River, in the shadow of downtown Detroit, Michigan. Anglers visit from across the world to sample some of the estimated 10 million walleye that enter the river out of Lake Erie to spawn. The current in the river is quite fast and heavy, as the water will completely flush out of it's 32 mile length every 20 hours.

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@The fish first begin their migration into the river about early March and head back to Lake Erie by June to spend the summer out there cruising and chasing baitfish, such as the emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides) and spottail shiner (Notropis Hudsonius). With water temps at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the fish will begin to filter in, and will spawn at about 44-50 degrees. The usually spawn during the full moon phase, and will choose shallow, current washed, gravel areas to lay their eggs.

@Anglers wishing to catch some of these tasty fish must fish with very specific equipment, and use precise boat control. For equipment, I prefer a 6' All Star spinning rod in a 'fast' action with 6 lb test line. I like to use a 'Sticker' jig from www.stopperlures.com rigged with a 4 inch straight tail worm. The most popular method of catching them is called 'vertical jigging' where an angler will attempt to keep his boat moving down the river at the exact same speed as the current, all the while, making short hops off the bottom about 12" high. As you let the jig fall, you have to let it fall on a tight line, which allows you to feel the fish bite.

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@These fish can grow over 10-15 lbs and it is real exciting to catch a fish that big on 6lb test, especially when they come from deep water. Speaking of depth, the deepest water in the Detroit River is about 60 ft, and although I have caught walleye as deep as 55 ft, most of my fish will come from 12-30 ft deep.
@For some reason, I catch a lot more fish on 6lb test than any other line size. You might be able to get by with 8lb, but won't catch anything if you use 12lb or higher.

	Part6 KVD Interview 2004/05/20

I called up a long time friend of mine, Kevin Vandam for an interview with time. It seems like he likes Japanese bais like I do.

	Part1 Fishing on Lake St. Clair 2002/03/09

Hello. My name is Jon Bondy of Wondsor, Canada. I am a full time fishing guide on Lake St.Clair, and today I start off my column on basswave.jp.

	Part2 With Mickey Bruce 2002/06/13

I had a time to fish with Mickey Blues, a long time friend of mine and a famous Tour compeditor. We caught tons of bass and stripers.

	Part3 Walleye, another great game-fish 2002/07/15

Walleye is one of the most popular types of game fish in North America, but they don't live in Japan. I thought I should introduce a walleye story a little bit.

	Part4 Smallies! 2002/08/28

When you wish to fish smallmouths, I bet St. Clair is the best choise. Thanks God, I live near by. So, I tell you how fun to fish smallies here.

	Part5 Monster Fish 2004/03/12

In Japan, I heard big long muskie lures are used to catch monster sized bass even though muskies don't exist over there. I will introduce how brual a real monster muskie can do.

@An average day of walleye fishing with 3 anglers in the boat would be about 15-30 fish. Some days we get lucky and catch 40 or more! About once a week one of my customers will hook into something much larger than a walleye, and it will be a muskie(Esox masquinongy) which is the king of freshwater fish and the ultimate predator of the river. I have included a photo of a 25lb muskie which one of my clients recently caught with me.(dai-pic#4). It was over 4 ft long and gave up quite a fight, taking about 20 minutes to bring to the boat. They are too big for my walleye net, so I just grab them with my bare hands to haul them in. One must be careful when attempting this however, because a fish 25lbs or more will have teeth about 3/4" long which are razor sharp.
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@There have caught several muskie in this area over 50lbs! I sometimes am afraid to go swimming, as anglers have been attack on rare occasions.
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@Well, I hope this article will prove helpful to anglers in Japan who would like to learn more about fishing in North America. Check back again soon for another story!