Lake St Clair 2019

[TOXIC]

Well, our 2019 Lake St Clair trip is in the books.  It was our 16th straight year going to the big pond.  What a trip it was!!  The weather was the absolute worst we have ever had in the 16 years.  37 degree take off temperatures, 48-56 degree water temps, 30mph winds some days and rain most days.  We busted up some boats (nothing serious) and had bottles of Advil lined up at the end of every day.  A week straight of getting tossed around and trying not to get thrown off the deck puts a hurtin your back, knees and stomach.  I have a newfound respect for the Ultrex trolling motor and the spot lock feature.  We used the Power Poles a lot when we were in Big and Little Muscamoot Bays bed fishing.  One day the winds were so bad, we called some of our crew who stayed close to the island where the cottage was located, to come pick us up with a truck and trailer on the other side of the lake so we didn't have to make the run across in 5 footers.  The wind came up after we got across the lake.  We have trailered over to the other side when winds were predicted to be bad but we never had to call for a pickup.  Thank heavens some of our crew decided to stay over on the other side and fish Muscamoot Bay while we ran over to our spots on the Detroit side.  We threw a lot of different baits but as I have said in the past, one presentation usually stands out.  This year it was the trusty dropshot and the Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm.  I used Goby color when pitching to bedding fish and Natural Shad when we were drift fishing or blind casting.  It was too windy for a Ned rig most days but a few were caught on it.  I fished a weightless Senko for a few fish but not many.  We also threw cranks, DShads, Jerkbaits, rattletraps, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits and my #2 producer was a Shakeyhead with a Pro Senko in Natural Shad.  I shortened my tag line when I was dropshotting the beds and upsized the weight from the usual 1/4 oz.  When drifting, I used the 1/4 oz and a longer tag line.  We caught a LOT of fish but the combat fishing conditions really took a toll on us this year.  Already gearing up for next year.  Here are some pics of our average fish.  We were catching anywhere from 20 to 30 a day which is down a little for numbers.  Still my favorite lake even when she fights us!!  

 

 

[A-Jay]

Way to hang in there.

I believe you guys probably knew what you were in for.

Tough fishing that paid off.

Nicely done.

A-Jay 

[CroakHunter]

Great write up. Glad everyone stayed safe and had fun. Would love to make it up there and chase some smallmouth. 

[Siebert Outdoors]

When were you up there? Last week?  I ran into the same thing last week.  We did other stuff on some days due to the wind and small craft advisory on certain days. 

 

Good catchin!

[Will Wetline]

Thank you for the detailed report.

 

It certainly has been a weird, tough-for-fishing season, weather wise.

[TOXIC]

14 hours ago, Siebert Outdoors said:

When were you up there? Last week?  I ran into the same thing last week.  We did other stuff on some days due to the wind and small craft advisory on certain days. 

 

Good catchin!

Yes, we were there 05/19 - 05/26.  The weather was absolutely brutal.  As A-Jay said, we are used to some dicey weather on that lake and we have experienced it all from 90 degrees to sleet, wind and rain to flat and sunny but this year it was pretty much every day with small craft advisories and a tornado warning just for good measure.  We had to really pick our spots and be mindful of the wind and weather.  We just got caught 1 day and had to call for backup!!  As usual it was a species extravaganza with smallmouth, largemouth, musky, pike, perch, white bass, goggle eyes, drum, walleye (enough for a good feed) and gills.  Because of the weather we explored some new locations and found fish when the weather allowed us to fish them.  Since home base is on Harsens Island, we had a lot of cold water to deal with other than Muscamoot.  We usually plan for a couple of blow days but this year it was all week for the most part.  With that being said, we are making plans for year 17.

[MountaineerManiac22]

The past few years I've fished Presque Bay on Lake Erie, but this year I'm wanting to try St Clair. This will be my first time going there and I was hoping to get some ideas on where to stay and where to get on some bronzebacks. I plan on going from June 4th-13tth

[TOXIC]

Accommodations are always tough.  There are some hotels on the mainland but we have always stayed on Harsens Island in a cottage.  We book it every year.  We couldn’t book it last year due to the high water so we stayed with a friend on the mainland.  Others can tell you more about hotels than I can.  As for locations, it’s always weather dependent but you can usually bank on the Mile Roads, Selfridge and Muscamoot holding fish.  Check back a little closer or watch for my report after we go up in May.  We are scrambling to find a place to stay now because the cottage is off line again this year.