Smallmouth bass
Excellent
The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Detroit River Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
The Detroit River: a famous spring walleye run, with muskie, bass and perch between Windsor and Amherstburg.
4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~19 °C est.
Air / High
10 °C / 19 °C
Wind
NNE 13 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Detroit River has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 13 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Walleye (pickerel)
Excellent
Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Excellent
Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
Tie on: Jig and minnow · Spinnerbait over the weeds · Bucktail fly, fast troll · Leech pattern under an indicator. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 20 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Ontario requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$12.21. Ontario fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Smallmouth bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Detroit River today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:23), sunset (19:24), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low19 °C / 8 °C
WindNNE 13 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure102.62 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset07:23 / 19:24
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Detroit River
The best day on Detroit River this week looks like Tuesday Sep 29, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Tuesday, Sep 29 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Sep 25 — Good
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 07:23 to 19:24
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 2%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Detroit River: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Smallmouth bass
Opens late June in most of Ontario; best July to October
The rock-and-current bass of the Great Lakes shores, the Bay of Quinte, the St. Lawrence and Lake St. Clair. The Ontario bass season opens in late June in most zones, after the nesting period. The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Largemouth bass
Late June to October in Ontario
The weed and dock bass of southern Ontario, Rice Lake and the Bay of Quinte. Same season as smallmouth in most zones. Topwater at dawn, then soft plastics and spinnerbaits along the weed lines.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Muskellunge
Opens in June in Ontario; best in fall
The trophy fish of Lake St. Clair, the St. Lawrence, the Detroit River and Lake of the Woods. Catch-and-release is the culture; minimum sizes are large where retention is allowed. Bucktails, jerkbaits and trolling big crankbaits along the breaks.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. Small jigs and minnows along the weed edges and the sand flats.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
When to come: the Detroit River calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Walleye (pickerel)
Muskellunge
Yellow perch
Northern pike (jackfish)
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 19 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Detroit River today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 27 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence, from C$12.21 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Ontario MNR and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Ontario licence page before you keep anything.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side.
About this water
Detroit River is a river in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Detroit River: the full guide
The Detroit River
The Detroit River runs about fifty kilometres from Lake St. Clair past Windsor and Detroit to Lake Erie at Amherstburg, the border between Ontario and Michigan, a wide, fast-flowing river between two cities. Each spring, walleye from Lake Erie run up the river to spawn, and the fishery that follows is one of the biggest in the Great Lakes. The coordinates on this page are at the river’s mouth near Amherstburg; there is no live public gauge on the river used here.
Species and seasons
Walleye run in spring, from about March into May; smallmouth bass, muskellunge, yellow perch and white bass are fished through the summer and fall. Ontario’s zone seasons and limits apply on the Canadian side, and the walleye season and limits must be checked before the spring run.
Where to fish it
Boats jig for walleye in the current along the Canadian channels near Amherstburg and around the islands at the mouth; shore anglers fish from parks and docks along the Windsor and Amherstburg waterfront. Fighting Island and Bois Blanc Island, off Amherstburg, are Canadian islands at the lower end of the river, and the channels around them are well-known walleye water.
Planning a visit
Windsor and Amherstburg have launches and services; the river carries heavy ship traffic and strong currents. The Michigan side needs its own licence. The current is strong enough that anchoring in the main channel is dangerous; most walleye anglers drift or hold position with a motor.
The water through the year
Spring is the walleye season, summer the bass and perch, fall the muskie; the river rarely freezes across because of its current.
Reading this report here
Without a live gauge used here, the page shows the seasonal water temperature estimate, labelled as one: the walleye run starts as the water warms in spring. Pressure and sky build the score.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side. The rules are linked below, and our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
When is the walleye run on the Detroit River?
In spring, from about March into May, as fish move up from Lake Erie to spawn.
Can I fish the Detroit River from shore in Canada?
Yes, from parks and docks along the Windsor and Amherstburg waterfront.
Do I need two licences?
Only if you cross into Michigan waters; the Canadian side needs an Ontario licence.
Is fishing good at Detroit River right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Ontario fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.