Lake St. Clair

[nowicki2005]

If there is anyone that fishes there regularly that could help me out. Ive never been and my dad and I are going. My dad is getting older and doesbt have the best of health so I'm amazed he said he would go.

I know the small mouth will be shallow but look g to what launch/area would be best?

I'm thinking it should be fairly clear this weekend.

[Siebert Outdoors]

9mile

[SirSnookalot]

9mile

Jefferson Ave between 9 & 10 mile, better known as the Nautical Mile.  I grew up there, we had a boat at a marina, Gr Lakes yacht club (it's mostly for sailors now), I'm not real familiar with public ramps and I've been gone for 10 years.  We probably fished the Canadian side more than the American, I just love Canada.  Harsens Island a little further north is reachable by ferry and they still may have boat rentals there, it's next to Walpole Island which is sensational fishing.

[nascar2428]

9 mile or Metro park . Google Lake St. Clair. Quite a few sites with up to date information on fishing and lake conditions.

[nowicki2005]

9 mile it is....here is to hoping for good water clarity...

[Justin Clark]

 I will put together a quick image map of land parks for you guys that are coming from out of town.

[Justin Clark]

This should help out the guys that are not locals learn there way around. If your in the area come on in the shop and will try to point you in the right areas to pick up some fish. We just got a ton of rain yesterday so the southern area on the map I am posting should have the cleaner water but by the weekend the whole area should be cleaned up nicely if we keep the north and west winds.

[andrew_t_moran]

How's the fishing? Ended up pushing back my annual trip up there over a month to the middle of July to allow the vegetation to rebound from the ice a bit more...

[Air Blair]

^Justin,

^{Thanks for the map, VERY helpful.  We are coming up Sunday to fish Monday-Thursday.  What time does the shop open Monday?}

[Justin Clark]

How's the fishing? Ended up pushing back my annual trip up there over a month to the middle of July to allow the vegetation to rebound from the ice a bit more...

Guys are catching 60 to 100 fish a day right now even tho we had a ton of rain. It rained for 12 hours today so we will see how that affected things tomorrow and Saturday.

[Justin Clark]

^Justin,

^{Thanks for the map, VERY helpful.  We are coming up Sunday to fish Monday-Thursday.  What time does the shop open Monday?}

Open 6 AM - 6:30 PM Monday thur Thursday

Open 5:30 AM - 7 PM Friday & Saturday

Open 5:30 AM - 5 PM Sunday

[Justin Clark]

Looks like we are going to have a beautiful memorial day weekend. And the fish are biting. I have gotten limit walleye reports in has fast as 1.5 hours. Lots of Bass being caught and some huge rock bass. We do have a few boat rental openings for this weekend also so if your looking to rent I would give us a call ASAP and reserve your boat.

 

Walleye: Walleye are being caught from shore at metro along with lots of other fish on Captain Jay's Blade baits , Cleo's and Mepps. For those in the boats try fishing from Metro all the way down to the 400 club in 9 to 14 FOW. Trolling bright colors and anything with purple or pink on it has been the tick for those running Harness.For those pulling cranks shallow diving Bomber 14A, Bay Rat Shallow Divers , and Rapalas have been good also in bright colors and blacks.

Bass: Tubes, Drop shot worms, Lipless cranks and jerk baits have all been working well. In soft plastics you are going to want stuff that is black, dark green, dark melon, or a really dark watermelon. In lipless it has depended on the water clarity of where you are fishing whats been working and the same goes with jerk bait. There seems to be two defined areas of where the Smallies are this past week. There has been fish in shallow say 6 foot or less and those look to be mostly males right now. The larger fish have come from 9 to 13 FOW for the guys we have talked to this week and over the weekend.

 

Perch: No many people looking for them right now. The only solid report I got was out in 12 FOW out from the report and they caught a limit of walleye while perch fishing.

 

Whitebass: Schools have been spotted recently look for the birds when the lake is not to rough.

 

Catfish: We are still having customer catching a good amount of catfish and bullheads in the spillway. The rain last night has kick some new logs down stream.

 

Bluegills and Sunnies: This guys should be on the beds in a few area by now with many of them in the staging areas still.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I was there last week and that cold front made it a little rough.  Like you said this week and next week should be phenomenal.

[Justin Clark]

I was there last week and that cold front made it a little rough.  Like you said this week and next week should be phenomenal.

Yea she turned back on pretty good. I just got word from one of my employees who is out right now all of his fish came on a dropshot so far. He is catching fish just about every 2 to 5 mins so he is on his way to a 100 fish day it looks like.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I was hoping for more vacation time.  If I had it I'd be going back.  I had them dialed in nicely

 

I could go for a few 100+ fish days.  Easily done up there this time of year.

[Cgrinder]

I'll have to come by the store next week. I like buying local.

[Justin Clark]

Looks like we are going to have about 10 days of perfect weather coming up. So if you haven't been out fishing yet what are you waiting for!!!!!!!!!!

 

Walleye: We have been getting reports of limits from just about all of our regular guys this week. When there is steady cloud cover and little boat traffic they have caught them in has shallow has 5 FOW. With sun shine they are a little deeper in the 8 to 10foot range. If your fishing out pass the stained water your two far out. The recent rains didn't affect the color of the lake water. Inline weights and Harness are doing best during the daylight hours. Sticks baits like Shallow bay rats, bomber and Rapala and getting it done in the night time hours. The walleye seem to be holding mostly in the bay at metro and down in front of the 400 clue all the way to Masonic.

 

Bass: Pull out the kitchen sink cause it seems like every group of guys are getting different stuff to work. Senko, Dropshot baits, tubes, Lip Less, Swimbaits and spinnerbaits are catching fish. Most guys are heading down to the mile roads, but some guys have been hanging out where the walleye are being caught and getting into some nice catches. This happened this time last year also.

 

Gills/Sunnies: They are on the beds in some areas

 

Perch: I think everyone has given up on them if you find them let everyone know if they still live in the lake.

 

Catfish: The spillway has been red hot the last 48n hours with some big fish being caught.

[Justin Clark]

We have perfect weather for fishing this weekend so who going to be hitting the lake? It is also free fishing weekend this weekend. The muskie opener is also this saturday.

 

Bass: Reports of smallies on the beds have started to come in. They are mostly bucks with a few females showing up now. Try dragging tubes or drop shots worms and Miller's Gobies through areas if you can't see the beds. If you are able to see the beds cast a X-zone Fat Slammer rigged on shaky head onto the beds or try a wacky rigged Senko. Green Pumpkins, Pearl and Pumpkins have been the most popular colors.

 

Miller's Goby

Walleye: They are still catching them off Metro and the 400 club. I also heard one report but this was a third hand report of out around Gull and the south channel mouth. Whipping has been good on the Canadian side most night on the st. Clair river. With the water clearing up the US side shield get better going into the weekend.Harness fished behind inline weight off inline boards are you best bet off metro and the 400 club. Around the gull run bottom bouncer on the walls in the channel or vertical jig that area. Handling and whipping can be productive at night in that area has well with Rapala's and Bay Rat Shallow divers

 

Gills/Sunnies: They are spawning find a nice area of beds and you will catch yourself a nice mess of fish for the oil. Live bait, Beatle spin type lures and small inlines are working.

 

Muskie: The bass guys have been telling us they are still catching some muskie in the shallow areas down on the mile roads and off metro. Anchor bay is always a good choice also ,has they finish up there spawning season.

[Justin Clark]

We have had a mild Mayfly hatch so far this year, but we have had a strong caddisfly hatch in some areas of the lake. Try fishing topwater and surface baits any where you see evidence of a hatch going on or where it has recently happened. The owner was out the other night with his kids and caught a bunch of huge gills using mayflies they found in the area.

 

Bass: Largemouth look to be done spawning here on the west shore of the lake, and it looked has if the same is true for smallies from metro down to the mile roads. This fish have started to slide out into there deeper post spawn areas. Up in the St. Clair Delta they are on the beds pretty good right now.

 

If targeting them in the deeper waters try fishing a dropshot, Lipless and diving cranks and dragging tubes. The theme this year for colors have been on the darker side of things still or perch patterns. For the fish on the beds try tubs, creature baits, senkos, goby , and darters style baits on a jighead.

 

This weekend is the start of the catch & keep here in Michigan water and Canada's bass season starts next weekend. This Saturday is the start of the tourney bass season with Cash For Bass US Opener.( Flyer below) July 10th is the start of the Cash for Bass Thursday Night Series which we are the title sponsor of these season.For more info on these series and other go to www.cashforbasstour.com

 

Walleye: Walleye are moving into the summer areas now. I have good reports out from Stony point on the Canadian side also. I like to call this time of the year the 4 corners times. The 4 corners are Metro point, Gull Island/27 Can area, Dumping grounds and back up to 400 club area. These four areas seem to also give up eyes at this time of the year. Trolling harness behind inline weight and boards will be your most productive method right now. Run them just at the tops of the weeds. Below is a recent seminar SDI/Motor Guide Pro Staffer Rob Hoover gave with waypoints of areas he fishes and what times to fish them.

 

Perch: We have gotten reports of catching in the weeds of gino's when the wave are low. The dumping grounds and buoy 27 area have had good for perch action on and off over the last week to 10 days.

 

Bluegills: Are still on the beds and more are getting on the beds in the north half of the lake.

 

Catfish: The recent rain did see some catfish come back into the spillway. For best results fish it right after a heavy rain within 24 hours of it. Shrimp, Green Crawler and Cutbait work best.

[Justin Clark]

So who is ready to fish for cold hard cash this thursday?
Meet up at Harley Ensign at 5pm for sign in and meeting
On the water by 6pm and off by 9pm
$50 gets you and that includes big bass.

Resized to 31% (was 1566 x 2048) - Click image to enlarge

[Justin Clark]

here is a quick unofficial recap of the 1st event.

 

Nick Neves won fishing alone with 16.05lbs
Mini and steve got second
Timmy Metry was the winner of the Sportsmen's Direct prize pack which was $40 to $50 of tackle

There was 15 boats so with top three getting paid out. Plus 3 wild card monies that paid back 1/2 of the entry money just for showing up.

Terry will have the full results up later today on the cash for bass website.