3 Favorite Fishing Spots in Driving Distance of Detroit, MI

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In Detroit, MI, on the Detroit River, which flows from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, you’re always close to the water. Grab your rod and tackle box, get in a Ford Explorer, Bronco, or Ranger, and wet your hook at the best fishing spots around the city.

1. Detroit River

The Detroit River runs 32 miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. Fishing is extremely popular in the Detroit River, well-known for its excellent supply of muskie, weighing in at over 20 pounds, feisty silver bass, and walleye, the most sought-after. The average walleye is between one to three pounds, but anglers reel in whoppers of over 10 pounds annually.

With a good supply of largemouth and smallmouth bass, whitefish, sturgeon, steelhead, perch, bluegill, northern pike, and crappie, you never know what you’ll find at the end of your line. You can wet your hook in the heart of the city along the Detroit Riverwalk in William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor at 1900 Atwater Street, and Belle Isle Park in the middle of the river at 99 Pleasure Drive, with fishing piers on the north and south sides of the island. 

2. Lake St. Clair

The beautiful Lake St. Clair stretches 430 square miles between Michigan and Ontario, Canada, and is fed by the Detroit and the St. Clair Rivers. Fishing in the lake is phenomenal, famous for its trophy muskie, sunfish, pike, and small and largemouth bass, with walleye and yellow perch being the most targeted. In winter, the lake is a favorite perch and sturgeon ice-fishing destination dotted with ice huts.

Head to Mill Pointe Park Fishing Pier at Barrington and Windmill Pointe Drive in Grosse Point Park, roughly seven miles away, or take an 18-mile drive to cast your line from the pier in Blossom Heath Park and Pier at 24800 Jefferson Avenue in St. Clair Shores. You can access the pier by driving through the boat launch gate.

3. Lake Erie

Fishing in Lake Erie, the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes, is an epic experience, with excellent offshore fishing and huge catches just about anywhere on the lake. The water teems with jumbo yellow perch, largemouth and smallmouth bass, chinook and coho salmon, rainbow and brown trout, northern pike, and carp, with walleye fishery considered the best in the world.

The average walleye is an astonishing five to six pounds, but anglers regularly boast of catches up to ten and even twelve pounds. Sterling State Park, about 38 miles from Detroit, at 2800 State Park Road in Monroe, is the only Michigan state park on Lake Erie and is one of the best places to drop a hook in the lake or one of the three lagoons. 

With an abundance of fish species and easily accessible fishing waters, anglers in Detroit are certainly spoiled for choice. Before shining up your gone fishing sign and embarking on your next fishing expedition, stop at Bob Maxey Ford today and check out the new lineup of tough and trusty Ford trucks and SUVs for sale, ideal for fishing trips around the city. 

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