# Saline river



## freerider

Had a good day today!
On a complete whim, this evening I stopped at Curtiss Park in Saline to cast a line in. Within the first five or six casts I'd landed three 7.5 to 8" smallies on a 1/16 oz. panther spinner. These are not normal fish producing holes, let alone smally holes. By the time I had reached the holes that I normally fish, I'd pulled out 8 or nine Smallies. All of them were in the 8" range, no bigger or smaller. My normal holes were dead, I didn't get even a single bite. So, I left. That's okay, I wasn't even planning on fishing today ( being so rainey), 9 w/in 35-40 min. (ha!).That was a nice treat. I think I'll sleep ok tonight. If anybody else fishes the Saline river, I know that river from milan to manchester. I've waded the entire stretch ( not all at once, of course ). Reply.
See ya.


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## YPSIFLY

Freerider,
It's nice to see someone posting about the Saline. I have only fished it once, at Curtiss park, and did o.k. for the hour I fished. I've been told there are quite a few Pike in there. Have you ever caught any toothy critters in that river?


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## freerider

Ypsifly,
I haven't hooked any pike in the Saline, however I've seen two pulled out w/my own eyes. The first one I saw come out was about 10 years ago, just below the dam. An old man cought one roughly 30" on a crawler. Last summer a friend of mine hooked one about 15" on a yellow buzz bait. But this was just above the dam, in Mill Pond. He hooked it in about 3 ft. of water. We were fishing for bucketmouths. There is good rock bass, bluegill, and crappy fishing upstream from mill pond, about a half mile. I've pulled 2 lb. gills out of some of these holes. That stretch of river is rarely fished. Most people sit at the mouth of the river, where it dumps into mill pond. I prefer to start there and wade upstream. I've heard stories about people catching brownies out of that stretch, but always a friend of a friend. I think it's an urban legend.


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## Woolybugger

I always thought the Saline River was polluted and dead from Saline to the Raisin River. Is it just a rumor or is the river getting cleaner?


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## freerider

Wooly,
The river is pretty nasty from the tool&die factory and the h2o treatment fac., so I haven't waded that stretch. I've gotten in the water just behind fish hatchery, heading down stream. Even behind the treatment plant, where the water is the worst, the river is loaded with rockies.Whoever told you the river was dead must be trying to keep a secret! The best fishing in that river is from Saline to the raisin. The only bad thing, that I can say about the river, is that during hot days of late july and early aug. the river is loaded w/creek chubs. Those nasty creatures always seem to swallow my lures completly. I have destroyed about half dozen rooster tails in a few hours trying to unhook those pests. But I haven't seen any chubs in more than a month.


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## kroppe

Tom Huggler in his books on Michigan rivers is not too kind to the Saline River. "nearly devoid of fish" I think is the quote. It seems like he is not correct.

I have scouted this river alot upstream of Saline and it looks like a lot of private property (farms). Anyone know if this is designated a navigable stream? If so, then bridge crossings should be fair game for access to the water. 

I can't imagine any possibility of either wild or DNR-stocked trout in the river. But you never know about some person with a bright idea, who somehow acquires a trout or two and dumps it into the river. 

The River Raisin also looks great between Manchester and Tecumseh. Haven't tried it yet.


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## freerider

The Saline is pretty navigable up stream, and where it gets too deep to wade, you can access the farm property. I have run into people, while I was on their property, and they didn't seem to mind a bit. In fact they were inquisitive as to how fish were biting.

I have fished the Raisin once, up in manchester. I belieive we were in the vicinity of the Johnson Controls plant. The wading got pretty trecherous, alot of downed trees. I had a few gashes on my shins by the end of the day. But the fishing was pretty good. It has been a few years now, but I do remember catching alot of fish. Mostly bucketmouths, but a few gills and alot of creek chubs. I've been reluctant to go back because it was a painful experience, not to mention a 35-40 min drive.


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## NEO

Wow! I live on the East side of Saline and would love to learn more about the Saline River. I can't let something so close to home pass me up. Let me know if anyone wants to setup a fishing adventure this Saturday or Sunday.


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## engineer20

How is the salinr river now? I passed by it today and was at curtiss but didn't fish there and the water seemed a little dirty.


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## jjc155

We used to slay the smallies and rock bass on the Saline, down river from Michigan ave. Like 50 fish days, all wading (there is a trail that you can access the river back by the softball fields at the park). Like the OP said nothing huge but big numbers. I think that biggest smallie I pulled out of there was maybe 12inch. I've seen pike but never caught one. There used to be a pretty big one that we would see in the same spot almost everytime we went.

5 ft ultra lights with mepps or panther martins always did the trick. Even caught an 8in rainbow out of there about 15 years ago. We theorized that it was a steelhead smolt that meandered its way up from Erie or that someone was illegally stocking. Either way it was a heck of a surprise.

J-


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## jjc155

We used to slay the smallies and rock bass on the Saline, down river from Michigan ave. Like 50 fish days, all wading (there is a trail that you can access the river back by the softball fields at the park). Like the OP said nothing huge but big numbers. I think that biggest smallie I pulled out of there was maybe 12inch. I've seen pike but never caught one. There used to be a pretty big one that we would see in the same spot almost everytime we went.

5 ft ultra lights with mepps or panther martins always did the trick. Even caught an 8in rainbow out of there about 15 years ago. We theorized that it was a steelhead smolt that meandered its way up from Erie or that someone was illegally stocking. Either way it was a heck of a surprise.

J-


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## engineer20

I see, so its not as good as the huron. On an unrelated note, I saw the plano trolling minnow bucket and frabill flow troll minnow bucket both for the same price at meijer. Which one is better and why and which one is bigger? is the coleman 50 or 60 qt cooler one of the best out thereand better than igloo coolers? 
The ice cube by igloo is one of tye cheapest 60 qt coolers out there but what about the slightly more expensive igloo transformer 60qt and the coleman xtreme is better than both, right? What about the regular 4 day coleman? Is there much of a difference between the 4 day coleman and the 5 day coleman xtreme?


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