# Maumee Walleye Run on a Kayak



## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Has anyone ever done this? It would seem like it could be a really fun time to get a group of guys together to do this...


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## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

I asked the same question last year in the NW forum. I got a whole lot of "don't do it", "that's nuts " and "you'll die" replies. As long as the river isn't raging and you choose your spots wisely, I think it could be done. I did go out toward the end of the run last year and was fine. It was very windy and I didn't catch a thing but, a fun paddle.


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## kayakcle216 (Aug 14, 2013)

Couple of us have been throwing this around as well...but someone told me that it would be crazy to do it from a yak 

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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Well, a related question then i've been kicking around also is, would it be too hard to fish from a kayak around Independence dam for flathead catfish? 

I just want to get up on the Maumee sometime because it's much closer than the Ohio R. for me to make regular trips. the walleye run could be a ton of fun, as would catfishing if it is realistic


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Jmsteele187 said:


> I asked the same question last year in the NW forum. I got a whole lot of "don't do it", "that's nuts " and "you'll die" replies.


I get that when I fish....sometimes I even over exaggerate my trips. Fishing with Russ at 2 am, through rapids, and strainers, around log jams, through bridges, etc. I feared for my life many trips, but now I've grown used to those kind of trips. A lot of people are clueless when it comes to kayaks so you need to filter the advice you are given. Everyone i talk to at gas stations in the last 4 months has laughed at me for saying im going fishing in a kayak. They have no idea. Listen to other kayakers. My advice is to float it this summer or late spring and check out the flow......then hit it next fall/spring with a few buddies.




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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Its been many years since I fished the run, too crowded and to many A holes but the flows in the spring on the river are no joke, if the flows are hardly anything the fish are not around, so its a double edged sword. Ive seen 40 HP 16 ft'rs not have enough juice to get up the chutes and the spots youll want to fish are along the current seams where the people are lined up shoulder to shoulder, in the center of the river boats, big boats are anchored to each other down the center and there casting to your feet on the shore and the shore guys are casting to the edge of the boats, its quite a scene, IMHO I wouldn't suggest it but Id suggest you going and shore fishing it a few times before you make that decision. Its wide open heavy flows so as long as your went downstream from spot a to spot b youd have a shot at it but again, its BIG water and a lot of it so youd probably need a 20+ lb anchor to hold you, I know my buddys take 2-25lbers to hold up there in a small deep v boat, its all shale rock so getting anchors to hold is tough but hen they do, getting then unstuck is always a chore. 

I d suggest watching the videos and doing it from shore first, Im sure youll have a better idea of your own skills after that. I would suggest later in the run when the white bass are in and still a few eyes, that's when the river is lower and more manageable and catching both species is a blast, my best days were when we got into both species on the overlap. water is much warmer then too in case of a flip. even wet waded a few times late in the run. 

Good luck, I tried the flyrod a few times but it never worked because just too many people crowded around where the fish are. 

Salmonid


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

Northern1,
It could be done, but you'd have to pick days of low flows and stay away from the anglers in waders...way away or you'd get a 1/2 oz. jig in the noggin'. I would think that the further down stream you were the better the fishing would be, as far as flows and less anglers due to water depth. 

Jmsteele187,
I remember those posts.  Like I just stated, if done with some reasonable thought, I don't think there would be a problem. An experienced kayak angler would know where to fish, how to fish and be aware of the hazards. 

Bowhunter57


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Listen to Mark.


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

Lots of good advice here. I appreciate everyone's input. Looks like i'll try to go up and see what its all about without the kayak at first and make a judgement call from there! Thanks again for the input!


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## Coffee23 (Aug 28, 2013)

I am new to kayak fishing and am really looking forward to trying it. I was already planning a trip in the summer for catfish, but I'll stay away from the walleye fishing from a kayak. As mentioned before lots of a-holes but more importantly the horror stories. Mainly boats being pulled under water because they're not anchored right. I have a buddy in the odnr who has seen a few of those and drownings. But as I said before I haven't fished out of a kayak before. If you go let us know how it goes. 


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## kayakcle216 (Aug 14, 2013)

Welcome to the addiction coffee! 

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## Coffee23 (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks. I can't wait.


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

Coffee23 said:


> As mentioned before lots of a-holes but more importantly the horror stories. Mainly boats being pulled under water because they're not anchored right. I have a buddy in the odnr who has seen a few of those and drownings.


Yep...fist fights on the shore, while rolling in the mud...fighting over who knows what and I don't care. However, there are just as many of those type of anglers out *on* the river in boats.

If you're fishing in a kayak, you'd have to stay away from the populated areas...if possible.

Boat anchors are a bad idea, on fast moving waters. Period!

Drift fishing would be the only way to fish from a kayak. Moving up and down the river, working an area and then moving on to another area, would be the best option. Even so, the current speed would be the determining factor of whether to be on the river or not.

Another issue is experience. There's no way for anyone to know, without asking, as to the individual experience of each kayak angler. Some could handle it without hesitation, where others shouldn't be on moving water at all. Common sense isn't as common as it used to be anymore. 

Bowhunter57


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Bowhunter57 said:


> Yep...fist fights on the shore, while rolling in the mud...fighting over who knows what and I don't care. However, there are just as many of those type of anglers out *on* the river in boats.
> 
> If you're fishing in a kayak, you'd have to stay away from the populated areas...if possible.
> 
> ...


This river is beginning to sound less and less appealing. 

One option I use a lot when anchoring and fishing in a kayak is to actually partially beach yourself on the shoreline. It's one of the safest and most stable ways to anchor. If I can't nose onto a beach or shore I'll try to dig my anchor into the side of the bank and anchor that way. Anytime you can avoid anchoring in swift water you should. 



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## Coffee23 (Aug 28, 2013)

It's not bad in the summertime. Probably be an easy float. I know there's a canoe livery out of Grand Rapids can't be to bad a lower levels. Lots of catfish between Grand Rapids and Waterville. 


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## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

Bowhunter57 said:


> Yep...fist fights on the shore, while rolling in the mud...fighting over who knows what and I don't care. However, there are just as many of those type of anglers out *on* the river in boats.


I've been fishing the maumee for quite a few years now. I've never seen anything even remotely close to that. I've met a number of good people fishing the run.


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## snow on top (Nov 25, 2008)

Just remember don't stop in from of wadding fishermen because they can cast half way across the river .and are not shy about bombing people in boats that try to fish where they are fishing several waders will bombard you.to many to pick a fight with.in general as long as you pass through should be no problem.


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## sopo716 (Mar 25, 2013)

I would not recommend it. Too fast of water and too many people. The only thing I would think about using a yak during the run for is to get out to a spot, such as the island in front of Orleans. Even then it would be difficult to avoid running people over. The Maumee is a great place to yak fish under normal water conditions though, awesome smallmouth!!!


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## Northern1 (May 9, 2012)

snow on top said:


> Just remember don't stop in from of wadding fishermen because they can cast half way across the river .and are not shy about bombing people in boats that try to fish where they are fishing several waders will bombard you.to many to pick a fight with.in general as long as you pass through should be no problem.


That doesn't look very kayak friendly with all of those anglers lol. But man, that looks pretty cool! I'll have to go up this year just to try my hand at it for some fun and frustration. Having said that, if there were no anglers, that doesn't look like an unmanageable float from the pictures you provided. On a coosa, it looks like it would be pretty fun if you did not anchor down.


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## Jmsteele187 (Dec 22, 2011)

I feel like there are really only a couple of places that could be fished from a kayak. One of those places is around Orleans park. Just down stream, across from Audubon island, there are never any wading anglers. The flow isn't as fast as it is around bluegrass, either. There is also a decent current break there, where you could anchor off and cast.


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## Lima Eyecatcher (Aug 13, 2008)

I have thought about this for years but could never pull the trigger when I can go just off shore around Davis-Bettsy area and get into the walleys as well if not better. You will also get bigger walleyes in the lake than the rivers, and you dont have to mess with all the special regulations for the rivers during that time and dont have to fight with shore anglers.


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## Coffee23 (Aug 28, 2013)

Hey Lima do you go out in boat or kayak around Davis Bessie 


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## Lima Eyecatcher (Aug 13, 2008)

Coffee23 said:


> Hey Lima do you go out in boat or kayak around Davis Bessie
> 
> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Use to go out in 16 foot Tracker, now will be out in the Hobie


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Yep...fist fights on the shore, while rolling in the mud...fighting over who knows what and I don't care. However, there are just as many of those type of anglers out *on* the river in boats.

As everyone is saying, there are guys that feel it's their God given right to launch heavy jigs at boats in their casting distance. I've seen it time and time again and have also witnessed a couple of drag out fights and heated arguments during the run. It can also be a lot of fun but you'll always have a few Yahoo's in any crowd regardless of the event.


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## Kayaking_Kev (Jul 18, 2018)

Northern1 said:


> Well, a related question then i've been kicking around also is, would it be too hard to fish from a kayak around Independence dam for flathead catfish?
> 
> I just want to get up on the Maumee sometime because it's much closer than the Ohio R. for me to make regular trips. the walleye run could be a ton of fun, as would catfishing if it is realistic


This is an old thread that popped up in search about the Walleye Run and I seen this question.

I have kayaked around the dam a few times and took a couple cast, nothing serious. I wouldn't paddle past the little islands, but I would come from the opposite side in the center of the island and get out and cast toward the dam. That's as close as I was willing to risk it. The flow is pretty strong the closer you get and once you hit those little islands, it creates a break on both sides of them that is almost impossible to paddle thru even if you wanted to. It's really shallow around that whole area and when the river is low, the shale bottom will be exposed and create nice surfaces to get out on and walk from one to another sight fishing the pockets of water. I have some people wading there or just walk out to those islands by the dam in shorts in the summer.

I've witnessed people pulling out the biggest catfish left and right at that dam. They were catching a ton of drum and using them as bait. Live crawls work great there too, so I've heard.

I go and camp out there a few times a year and take a kayak trip down the river with my wife and I usually fish a little. The campground in small and not very busy, the way I like it and the park has a kayak launch close to the dam. The campground just reopened a couple of years ago, so not a lot of people know about it yet.


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## TRIPLE-J (Sep 18, 2006)

Bowhunter57 said:


> Drift fishing would be the only way to fish from a kayak. Moving up and down the river, working an area and then moving on to another area, would be the best option. Even so, the current speed would be the determining factor of whether to be on the river or not.


theres no way you could ever drift fish that river in a yak... the current is just too fast to even try...
about the only thing I would do in a kayak is go during periods of heavy rain where the river is flooded and you can kayak over to the island and tie off and fish ...
otherwise I wouldn't try it...
ive seen 4 people drown up there over the years and 3 were from boats...
as far as fights... ive been going there for 40 years and I personally have never seen a fight on the river.... you get some jawwin going on sometimes but ive never seen it break out into an actual fight...


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I haven't fished the river in many years but used to every year. being from central Ohio I never realized how much water and current is in the Maumee. I watched numerous small boats over the years with 9.9's that at full throttle could make little to no headway in the faster current areas, they were moving forward BARELY. I also can't even begin to tell you how many motors I witnessed hit rocks and sheared the pin and they were off for a ride downstream with no motor. I am not extremely knowledgeable about Kayaks but I would imagine it would take some real special effort to even be able to paddle upstream if at all in many areas. Anchoring in the current areas has sunk many a small boat over the years during the walleye frenzy each spring. That cold water is very unforgiving.


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## EnonEye (Apr 13, 2011)

go for the white bass next month, many fewer fishermen, calmer water and the WB are crazy, otherwise for the eye run... not!


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Northern1 said:


> Lots of good advice here. I appreciate everyone's input. Looks like i'll try to go up and see what its all about without the kayak at first and make a judgement call from there! Thanks again for the input!


That’s exactly what you’ll need to do my friend. You’ll be fine depending on your launch point. Just make sure you can paddle up stream or have another vehicle downstream. That’s what would do honestly. Drift, anchor, drift anchor. You’ll catch a bunch. Easy pickins


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