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Early Winter Fishing Report for Lake Erie-Detroit Area
Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure with your Lake Erie-Detroit fishing report for Sunday, December 14th. We're deep in that classic early-winter pattern—cold snaps, cranky northwest winds at 15-25 knots today per the National Weather Service Cleveland forecast, with waves 2-4 feet building to 3-5 then easing off. Slight chance of snow showers, so bundle up and watch those rollers in the Detroit River Light to Maumee Bay stretch. Sunrise hit around 7:45 AM, sunset about 5:05 PM—short days mean prime low-light bites.
No tides here on the Great Lakes, but water levels are steady, and that warm discharge from the DTE Monroe Power Plant is keeping things open, drawing fish and even 60-150 eagles as noted in Detroit Free Press photos from earlier this winter. Fish activity's solid in the cold; walleyes and smallmouth bass are crushing it lately, per recent Lake Erie Cleveland reports, with steelhead picking up too. Locals pulled limits of 4-6 pound smallies and walleyes up to 8 pounds from the Detroit River—think those 6-10 pound smallmouth haunts mentioned by pros like Joe Sears in Michiana Outdoors News. Perch and sheepshead mixing in, but eyes and bronzies dominate recent catches.
Best lures right now? Go with 1/2-ounce green pumpkin jigs tipped with craw trailers for skipping rock and weed edges, or hair jigs with pork chunks—straight from smallmouth kings like Greg Mangus. Swim jigs for big ones, and don't sleep on lead head jigs or CFlash crankbaits for trolling structure. Live bait? Minnows or salted tubes shine, 'cause fish key on weak prey in the chill, as Mangus observed in those aquarium tests.
Hot spots: Hit the warm water discharge at Monroe for smallies and perch—eagles overhead bonus. Or troll the Detroit River transitions near Brest Bay for walleyes—avoid old spots, fish new structure like the pros say.
Thanks for tuning in, folks—subscribe for daily updates! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.
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Published on 6 days, 5 hours ago