Heading to St.Clair....Please Help!!!

[Crankin]

I just bought my first bass boat and I want to try fishing Lake St.Clair this year for smallies.  I am kinda new to bass fishing.  I was wondering what lures to bring?  What time of year is best.  I am not going to get a lot of trips there, so I want to make the trips I get effective.  any info would help, thanks.

[A-Jay]

Here's some info . . .

LAKE ST. CLAIR

Lake St. Clair is a tremendous smallmouth fishery and is no secret to locals, but on a regional or national level, it gets overshadowed by Lake Erie. That's a shame because it'll produce super catches of smallies.

Paul Sacks (248/819-3192) is a well-known local bass angler. He believes that while St. Clair may not be producing the big fish it once did, the numbers are fantastic. And he is quick to point out that there's more to the big-fish story than meets the eye.

Some of the reduction in average size is due to the changing environment -- clearer water, proliferating weedbeds and gobies for forage. It's not that the hogs aren't there. It's that anglers haven't caught up to their changing habits. Once the anglers learn to adjust to the new conditions and new fish movements, the story is likely to be different, very different.

When talking about big fish, it's important to keep in mind that everything is relative. Sacks referred to a time when most big tournaments averaged 5 pounds per fish. They now average closer to 4 pounds. That's smaller, no doubt about it, but it's nothing to turn your nose up at either. Smallie anglers across the country would die for a 4-pound average.

Nonetheless, Sacks points out that good catches of smallmouth bass can be had by anglers fishing any of several spots on massive Lake St. Clair. Early in the summer, his top choices are the mile road endings. They're a series of roads that run up to the lake and then drop off out into the water. The ones from Eight Mile Road to Sixteen Mile Road are the most productive. Start where they end at the water's edge. Work your way along, concentrating on 3 to 16 feet until you find active fish. Sacks doesn't think there's much difference in any of the road ends. More important than which one you fish is how you fish it. He strongly recommends anglers follow the roads out and fish both sides carefully and thoroughly at various depths. "That's the only way to be successful," he said with conviction.

Don't neglect the weedbeds along these old roads. They're a relatively new phenomenon and many anglers fail to appreciate their importance. At times the smallies will be found cruising around the outside edges, while at other times they're buried inside the thickest, heaviest weeds they can find. Either way, the fish are frequently there.

On the roads or in the weeds they'll hit all the usual weapons -- tubes, grubs, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits or deep-diving crankbaits. Choose lures that match the hatch. Those between 4 and 6 inches long in goby colors are top choices.

Early and late in the day or when it's overcast, give buzzbaits a shot. The fish don't see a lot of them, even during the height of tournament season. On most days, smaller sizes usually work best but don't fall into the trap of believing that smallmouths only bite small lures. That's just not true. They're predators. Sometimes larger bait will get their attention.

There are a number of long rocky points in the immediate area. Fish them if the bite is slow along the roads and weeds. They'll fish much like the roads, so use the same lures and the same tactics.

Later in the summer or if the weather is particularly hot, try the dropoffs and substrate irregularities around the main channel. Sacks recommends concentrating your fishing time up toward Lake Huron. Jigs, gold blade baits and goby-colored tubes are all successful.

Dennis Belz (586/286-3523) is another well-known local bass angler. He agrees with nearly all of what Sacks had to say about St. Clair. He emphasizes, however, that anglers need to understand that St. Clair is a different body of water than it was several years ago. Location is more important than any particular technique or "secret" lure.

"It's different," said Belz. "Clear water, lots of weeds. You've got to pay attention and adapt," is how he analyzes smallmouth bass fishing on Lake St. Clair.

A word of warning from Belz: keep your head up and stay oriented when fishing the Michigan waters of St. Clair. It's easy to get careless and end up in Canadian waters or perhaps Native American Reservation waters. This can be an expensive mistake, very expensive. Each area requires a special license. Some areas are better marked than others.

If you're not experienced, buy a good map and pay attention to your GPS. Belz recommends Fishing HotSpot Maps (1-800-500-MAPS). He stated firmly that the maps are accurate, reliable and will help keep you out of trouble.

If you're fishing early in the year, be aware that the seasons vary widely from one jurisdiction to another. Make sure you know when it's legal to fish for smallmouths. The Michigan season, along with all the pertinent rules and regulations, can be obtained from the Michigan DNR's Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr.

A-Jay

[BassinMichigan]

Catch and release season begins this Saturday.  I'll be there.

[BassinMichigan]

A-Jay, for the record, excellent post!

[A-Jay]

Cool -thanks -  that was complements of the Michigan DNR website.

St Clair is another one of those incredible fisheries we in the North country are so lucky to be blessed with.

On the other hand, there are just so many little Lake St. Clair like waters around here - you could fish a different one every day and it would take you the better portion of a fishing season before you fished the same one twice.

Now once the season opens, we just need the weather to cooperate a little and life will be good.

A-Jay

[brgbassmaster]

Man i wish they had an airforce base in northern michigan. the largemouth and smallmouth fishing is phenominal and people dont realize since alot of people fish for trout and panfish. but thats ok because every yr wheni come home on leave i dont have to worry about anyone else being at my home lakes fishing for bass. so all them 3-5lbers are all mine.

[mako]

For the next 30-45 days the smallmouth will be insane.  Bring lots of tubes in different colors, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and small jigs.  Can easily catch 30 in a couple hours...or more.  A boat with 3-4 people can break 100 fish in a day.  Don't overlook the largemouth either, plent of them and they're hungry.  

[SMALMTH]

With the sun being out today and tomorrow the fish will be on. I was there last week and the water was 46-50 degrees.

Take tubes with 1/4 and 3/8 jig heads. Make sure that you take a few with rattles. You can take a jerkbait, but if the water warms up a little more there is no since adding stress to your arms. It will be bad enough reeling them in!!!!!!!

[roadwarrior]

Nice fish, great pic!

8-)

[BassinMichigan]

I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about this weekend.  Good luck to all.  Also, I'm hearing there are some trouble areas, floating wood and debris, by some of the launches near the mile roads areas.  Crocker to be precise, I haven't seen it personally, but the source is a reliable one.  

[NBR]

I've only fished St Clair 4 or 5 times and always on the Canadian side. I would suggest a guide for your first time if you and your buddies can swing it. It is a huge lake and you can just get blown away by the options.

I think St. Clair ranks in the top lakes in the country and maybe number 1. Think about all of the species and except for the trout & salmon it would rank in the top 5 in the country.

[SMALMTH]

Last weekend there was a lot of wood just north of Metro, but it blew further south later in the day. I just missed a couple of 4x4's that were floating together. I'm guessing that it's gone by now.

I have a close friend that is on the water right now (4/24/09 11:45 am) and it's very muddy. It the wind changes this afternoon and cleans up the water you'll have agood weekend.

[MALTESE FALCON]

You're going to have one more challenge. If you don't like to fish chocholate milk, then you're in trouble. I'm looking out my front window, and the water is VERY dirty from all the onshore winds we've had for the last week. As a few others have stated, there is a ton of garbage floating, so keep your eyes open.

We're also supposed to have 20-30 MPH winds, so there's another challenge. There's white-caps out there the size of my truck, right now. Please be careful, , this past Monday the Coast Guard chopper had to fish some guys out of the Bay. They're bass boat got swamped. In my opinion, this is the best lake in the country, but it also can be WICKED.

Good luck to all coming to play in my backyard this weekend.

Falcon