Super User TOXIC Posted May 25, 2021 Super User Posted May 25, 2021 Just got back from our annual trip to Lake St Clair and had one of the best years in our 18 years of going up there from Virginia. The threat of high water kept us out of our traditional cottage on Harsens Island so even though the water was down we secured another cottage. We had to suffer in a 1.5 million dollar waterfront cottage on the North Chanel.?. Only downside was we could not leave our boats in the water and had to launch them by Browns bar every day. We document our trips really well and I could literally put up pics of hundreds of smallmouth we caught. I’m not one of those guys so you’ll just have to take my word for it and I’ll post a few pics from the trip. Why was it so good? Well, we timed it perfectly. The first wave of really big spawners was moving up and we were on the front edge and were able to catch them on their way in. I have no problem bed fishing but as a rule we won’t do it as our only technique. There’s no thrill in catching a smallmouth off the bed whose mouth looks like hamburger. In all the fish we caught, I can say for sure that three had been caught before us. One I know for sure because I removed somebody’s dropshot hook and weight from its mouth. The weather was the best we have ever had. A week straight of 75-85 degree days in the first real warm front which is really odd because normally we would be up there this week if we went on our normal schedule and we have been snowed on in the past. Wind was not a factor for the entire week which allowed us to run anywhere we wanted and we did logging over 100 miles on the water. There’s not too many places we didn’t go on the American side. Here are a few pics of our banner trip. 22 Quote
Global Moderator Mike L Posted May 25, 2021 Global Moderator Posted May 25, 2021 Great Job!! One of these days I’m gonna take a trip somewhere, anywhere and get my first smallmouth. It’s been on my bucket list far too long Mike 1 Quote
Super User Bird Posted May 25, 2021 Super User Posted May 25, 2021 Wow ! Fantastic smallmouth and nothing better than the weather cooperating. Glad the trip was rewarding ?. 1 Quote
TheBasslayer Posted May 26, 2021 Posted May 26, 2021 Those are some giants! Idk if you can fish St. Clair successfully from shore, but I would like to go there sometime, especially since I live only 3 hours away! Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted May 26, 2021 Author Super User Posted May 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Mike L said: Great Job!! One of these days I’m gonna take a trip somewhere, anywhere and get my first smallmouth. It’s been on my bucket list far too long Mike You can’t pick a better place. I know multiple guides on the lake and they have clients come from all over the US and even some other countries to experience what this fishery has to offer. 31 minutes ago, TheBasslayer said: Those are some giants! Idk if you can fish St. Clair successfully from shore, but I would like to go there sometime, especially since I live only 3 hours away! You can but it’s pretty limited. I was wrong in my original statement on how far we ran in the boat. It was 180 miles. You’d be better off saving up your $$ and hiring a guide for 1/2 a day. 1 Quote
TheBasslayer Posted May 26, 2021 Posted May 26, 2021 1 minute ago, TOXIC said: You can’t pick a better place. I know multiple guides on the lake and they have clients come from all over the US and even some other countries to experience what this fishery has to offer. You can but it’s pretty limited. I was wrong in my original statement on how far we ran in the boat. It was 180 miles. You’d be better off saving up your $$ and hiring a guide for 1/2 a day. Yeah that is what I’m doing with my allowance rn 1 Quote
Global Moderator Mike L Posted May 26, 2021 Global Moderator Posted May 26, 2021 37 minutes ago, TOXIC said: You can’t pick a better place. I know multiple guides on the lake and they have clients come from all over the US and even some other countries to experience what this fishery has to offer. If we decide to take a longer road trip (which Mrs Mike always wants to do) I may ask you for a few names and numbers if you don’t mind. Mike Quote
Super User islandbass Posted May 26, 2021 Super User Posted May 26, 2021 Well done! Those smallies aren’t small at all, ? ? Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted May 26, 2021 Author Super User Posted May 26, 2021 10 hours ago, Mike L said: If we decide to take a longer road trip (which Mrs Mike always wants to do) I may ask you for a few names and numbers if you don’t mind. Mike No problem. Do it as early as possible because the guides get booked for the season pretty early. 1 Quote
Super User GaryH Posted May 26, 2021 Super User Posted May 26, 2021 Great story and great pics.. Thanks for sharing. ?? 1 Quote
Super User senile1 Posted June 4, 2021 Super User Posted June 4, 2021 Those are some awesome smallies! I understand the idea of not posting every fish one catches but it looks like you definitely caught quite a few that are worth posting. You've got some trophies there. Sounds like an amazing trip! Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted June 5, 2021 Author Super User Posted June 5, 2021 3 hours ago, senile1 said: Those are some awesome smallies! I understand the idea of not posting every fish one catches but it looks like you definitely caught quite a few that are worth posting. You've got some trophies there. Sounds like an amazing trip! It’s tough for me not to.?. I really enjoy looking at them but when we were catching 50-75 every day from 3 to 6 pounds, it got downright ridiculous. 1 Quote
redmeansdistortion Posted June 5, 2021 Posted June 5, 2021 That's the best smallmouth fishery isn't it? The flats around the delta of the St Clair River are probably one of the best places to fish them. I'll be out there Sunday morning before all the party boaters come out. Great job. The area you fished can be slam fest when the conditions are right. Quote
Super User TOXIC Posted June 5, 2021 Author Super User Posted June 5, 2021 34 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said: That's the best smallmouth fishery isn't it? The flats around the delta of the St Clair River are probably one of the best places to fish them. I'll be out there Sunday morning before all the party boaters come out. Great job. The area you fished can be slam fest when the conditions are right. I consider it one of the best. Honestly, we fished all over the American side. We stay on Harsens because it is so close to both big and small muskamoot bays and we can get in there no matter the weather. This year we probably spent 2 hours in muskamoot because the weather was so good and there was no wind so we could go anywhere. We honestly didn’t spend much time on the mile roads either but that is where I caught a 5.5. We fished the Salt all the way to 9 mile. Quote
Ksam1234 Posted June 9, 2021 Posted June 9, 2021 On 5/25/2021 at 6:29 PM, Mike L said: Great Job!! One of these days I’m gonna take a trip somewhere, anywhere and get my first smallmouth. It’s been on my bucket list far too long Mike Come to where I am in the spring and I can get you on some huge smallmouth !! That’s my speciality 1 Quote
Global Moderator Mike L Posted June 9, 2021 Global Moderator Posted June 9, 2021 56 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said: Come to where I am in the spring and I can get you on some huge smallmouth !! That’s my speciality Thank You so much for your kind offer! Mike 1 Quote
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