Lake St. Clair

[ironmike12]

Hi all,

 

I am wanting to take a fishing buddy on a special trip to St. Clair.  I do not own a boat and saw that there are places that rent boats.  I didn't really want to use a guide, we like that challenge and won't care if we don't catch a ton of fish.  However, I was poking around and it read some things saying that the boat rentals aren't worth it because they limit how far you can go.

Can anyone chime and and make any recomendations?  Thanks!

 

[fishindad]

There's a place next to the "spillway" that rents brand new PolarKraft boats with fish finders, and I'm not 100% sure but as long as you stay in US waters you can go anywhere on the lake.

 

Good luck and post a report!

[stratosjoe]

call Anglers Point they have boat rental as well as two apartments they rent out. I just got back from a trip fri. was there for 5 days kinda tuff not like the spring thats insane 100 fish days easy if you can't catch them then sell your tackle and take up golf.lol anglers Point is on hall rd right next to the Selfridge air national guard airbase and ramp the number there ie 1-586-949-9223 they can fix you up great folks will put you on fish as well. You did not say when you would be going?  joe G

[ironmike12]

I'm actually leaving Thursday and fishing on Friday and Saturday.  What were you getting the most action on up there Stratosjoe?

[stratosjoe]

Very slow ended up drifting with shiners (first time I'm a lure chucker) fished 8-11' in anchor bay between mouth of clinton river and strawberry island. They were supposedly wacking them down by the detroit river but too far for me to run, still respect the wind on this lake. Good luck to you

[ironmike12]

Thanks for the info.  I ended up renting a boat from Sportmens Direct.  Excited to get out there and try to tie into a few good ones.  Any other advise would be much appreciated!

[inrll]

I think you could drift dragging a tube just about anywhere in that lake and catch fish. That place is amazing.

[Dwight Hottle]

How did you do?

[ironmike12]

We had a great trip.  The guys at Sportsman's Direct were great.  The weather was a bit up and down, but we managed 16 fish over 2 days.  My buddy had a huge fish, 5+ pounds break his line just before I could get it in the net...needless to say, I felt terrible!  Here are a couple that I caught in about 12 feet of water on a crankbait.

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Sounds like you did pretty good. 5+ on lake st clair is a good fish.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Here are two recent smallies I pulled up from LSC. On the boga, the first read 5.5, the second 4.5

[ironmike12]

Those are some great looking fish.  I'm really looking forward to getting back up there.  I really enjoyed the lake as a whole. 

[Amarley]

I have to go to Detroit for work next week. I finish up Thursday and thought about trying to fish St. Clair on Friday. Is it too late to have a good trip up there right now? What is prime season? I fish mainly in the south and am unfamiliar with how productive this time of year can be up there. Thanks for the help!

[ironmike12]

Talk to the guys at Sportsman's Direct.  They won't stear you wrong.  Great guys!

I would imagine you could still do well up there right now.

 

They also have reasonable rates on boat rentals if you aren't planning on taking one.

 

[Amarley]

The online research I've been doing says most of the charters shut down in October. I'll definitely call Sportsman's Direct. Thanks for the connection!

[NBR]

Mike,

 

How did your St. Clair trip go? It is a huge lake and can be a challenge?

[ironmike12]

_{The piece of advice that I got was to look for the perch fishermen.  We started off fishing a couple spots the guys at the tackle shop told us about and did ok.  We caught a couple fish.  We then decided to look for deeper water, 16+ feet and that is where we started doing a little better.  drop shots and dragging tubes.  Hope that helps!}

[Hollada]

How were the boats from SDI? Were there any good waypoints left behind on their fish finders? :-)

[ironmike12]

Boats were ok. Shallow V hulls. Decent to fish from. Definitely not a bass boat with casting deck!