TimJ

very nice fish guys. good to hear your water is coming up too

very cool gig. pro anglers are mostly pretty laid back for pics and stuff when they are not competing.

for bleached or braid with colour loss, if you are concerned about the camo effect, use a chisel-tip, permanent green marker. I colour about 6-8" up. most of the time it doesnt matter but it may.

nice bass G. pretty cool to re-catch a bass a year later, especially such a distinctive one.

another visit to StClair with my other son...same result. Kevin scores a 4.4 smallie. tubes and goby baits (shown) are knocking them out! too bad vacations have to end, but still time left.

yes, you could go and find some fish on StClair. PM me if you have a minute. btw, there are a few members here who may help you with Saginaw Bay and/or some smaller lakes in that area. search this site for Saginaw info. Tim

Thanks for the comments. I love to spend time with my sons, fishing, coaching baseball/hockey, whatever it takes. Yeah, he loves the oakleys...it's a baseball thing. They get it from mom. You've seen my pics. lol Yeah, the gobies are here and the smallies and big perch are locked down on them. I cleaned perch 2 trips in a row from 10-14" and every one was caught on 3.5-4" tubes in some shade of brown with gold flakes. Even found goby remains in their stomachs. July 4th trip is up with pics.

Corey and I visited StClair on a beautiful July 4th. Welcomed by brisk wind and 2-3 footers, which turned many boats around at the ramp, we took our time getting out and, wow, what a day. Corey bags the 4+ almost immediately. We fished around the area catching some here and there, a few 2's and 3's, then decided to make one more pass through a rocky area. NO boats around, high sun, about 3pm...and smallies everywhere! We could not keep them off our tubes and C-rig gobies. The last/third pass through and I stick something. Corey says "dad, is it big?" and it doesn't move. Finally, I get to see the toad and she comes in clean...22.5", about 6" across. I hope this isn't the only 5+ this year but if it is, I'm happy!

Nick, some good info there. picking up on the ship currents is not usual for non-regulars. SIUE...I live in Windsor, ON and usually fish the river for bass maybe 5 times a year. I may be out soon but we are having so much fun on StClair...I am just flat wearing my sons out...watch for the latest pics in Fishing Trips heading tomorrow. is there a cutoff date to receive info by? just want to know so I dont get you in trouble by posting something. I can get you some details soon. please PM me as a reminder as soon as you want to. also, I need boundary points on both the US and Canadian sides to draw a line because I may have something close on the south end. Tim J

maybe like Blue said "the right body of water"...I tried one out of Erie many years ago and NEVER since! MAYBE in a survival situation...lol we have caught some big sheephead/drum on x-raps, tubes and hopkins. lots of fun.

hey Chris...those aren't smallies...they're just airbrushed LM! lol BEAUTIFUL fish! I don't catch them as big as Dwight but we can usually put at least 1-5lber in the boat every year on StClair but...just wow!

great pic of a great time of day. To all my U.S. BR brothers and sisters, enjoy your Independence Day. Tim J

You said one pole...spinning or baitcaster? might matter to some. I fish both but mostly use spinning rigs. The worm and grub are good starts as you fish bottom (worm) and the entire water column (depending on jig weight, or none) with the grub. Smallies or largemouth? I'll go generic. May I suggest a topwater, like a pop-r. This works well with BC or spin. A spinnerbait lends itself more to a BC rig. Let's not forget the senko...again, with either rig. I'm sure that you will get some good input here. Good luck.

My sons and I got out onto StClair after most of the week being very windy. The smallies cooperated along with a bunch of bonus yellow perch (10-14") on our tubes. BTW, I LOVE my new savvys. The 703 spin feels perfect for my needs.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I just happened to buy some KVD L&L recently. Much appreciated. Tim J

Thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated. Tim J

Thanks to many of you, I compiled a bunch of posts into notes on cleaning my reels. They are ready to go and feel great. Just have one small problem in that they seem to have a light oil residue on them. I figure that its just a byproduct of the cleaning. I used alcohol to clean the metal surface but I am thinking of taking some diluted dawn and using a cloth to wipe the reels down. I am wondering if I should keep the dilution heavier on water as I saw how well the dawn cleaned parts...OR another idea if its out there. Again, thanks to all. Mike, the PM was most valuable. My 4-4600CBs/Royals are ready for war! Tim J

I have been spooling up my braid reels with some free braid the past couple of years so I didnt think twice about how much to use. I am respooling with PP and would like know how much line is really needed without going overboard so that I can spool a max # of reels. I use spinning (20lb) and baitcasting (30lb) and will be flipping 50lb. I am sure that I dont need much on my flipping setups but I do throw the occasional cast over reeds and such. Any help would be appreciated. thanks. Tim J

I've been using smelly jelly in pink (craw) and green (baitfish) for many years, mostly using the pink here in StClair. Megastrike has come into play about the last 5-6 yrs and has some great days for me. I am confident in these scents but I am happy as long as I have some scent on most baits.

welcome to the site. TJ

welcome to the site. TJ

welcome to the site and prepare to learn. TJ

welcome to the site. TJ

welcome to the site FAN. nice to see another Ontario fishing brother on the site. as you have found, this site can help you in many ways. enjoy it. I'm in Windsor and spend most of my time on StClair. just wondering if you fish the Rideau chain as I used to fish up that way awhile ago. take care Tim J

great fish Taylor. now THAT is the way to enjoy Father's Day Lee. our bass season opens next weekend and the boys and I intend on being out on StClair for SM, then later in week, LM fishing. once again, thanks for the re-intro to messy LM fishing. take care.