Walleye
Depth and low light — that's the walleye read on this reach. They ride the deeper runs and the pool below Wilkes Dam, sliding shallow to feed when the sun's off the water. This is part of the lower-Grand walleye fishery that switches on at the May opener and rides through to the end of bass season in November. The dam break is the first place to look.
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Walleye work the seams and the deep. Daytime, they sit in the deeper runs and the pool below Wilkes Dam where the water carries some depth and colour; as the light drops, they move up onto the current edges to run down forage.
The lower-Grand walleye fishery opens at the second-Saturday-of-May date and stays live through the November bass close, so the productive window is long — but the reach also sits under a spring sanctuary that shuts fishing entirely from March into April. Start at the dam pool, then work the deeper bends downstream.
Low light does the heavy lifting: first and last hour move the most fish. And like everything on this stretch, walleye are catch-and-release — artificial lures and one barbless hook.
Structure
The daytime holding water — walleye favour the deeper, lower-light water and the break in gradient the dam creates.
A noted walleye stretch that opens in May and fishes through the November bass close.
Regulations
This is a summary, not the legal regulation — confirm current rules with the official source before fishing. The Grand River Paris-to-Brantford catch-and-release exception applies upstream of the downtown Brantford pedestrian and service bridge; below it (Brantford to Lake Erie) FMZ 16 zone-wide limits apply — confirm which side you are fishing.