St. Clair 10/27

[chillerfish]

Went on a season closer on St. Clair Tuesday with a buddy. Man what a trip!! Fished with Gerry Gostenik and we had a banner day. Water at the south end of the lake was gin clear (48deg south end and 49.5 mid lake), cloud cover all day and slight wind out of the S-SE. We had over 45 smallmouth between the 3 of us during the 8 hour trip. Largest was 5+ on a trap and most where in the 2-3lb range. Traps, Sonars/Vibe, tubes seem to be the ticket. I was amazed - the larger fish where in less than 5' of water (yes 5'!). Most of the smaller fish where in 12-14'. Can't say much more about Gerry other than, he's a cool dude, knows smallmouth and knows St. Clair. Was my 1st time on the lake and sure won't be the last. It's closer than Dale and appears to have more options for smallys than presque. (Although navigating downtown Detroit was no picnic!).

[pokie]

It is an awesome lake. I started fishing it two years ago and have probaly made 6 trips in that time. Had days very similar to yours and also had bonus muskie, pike,walleye, and perch visit the boat. I love the fact that it is usually so clear and you can watch your fish fight all the way into the boat. One trick that I learned was to cast your lure by someone that has a hooked smallmouth. Many times smallmouth and muskie will follow a hooked fish to the boat and this has produced a few more double headers for us. Along with smallmouth (one of my favorite fish to catch) it is one of the best muskie lakes in the country (also one of my favorite fish to catch). I have gone to the Canadian side one time and minus the tolls, customs, and extra license it was a little more peacefull over there. Don't know if I would go back to the Canadian side but wouldn't rule it out. A lake record muskie was just caught recently that was 56" and 48lbs. The best website to get information (very similar to Ohio Game Fishing) is www.lakestclair.net. Congrats on the great trip to what me and my fishing buddies call "the promiseland"

[Bassthumb]

Love that whole system. St, Clair, the channels at the st clair riv delta, and the detroit river. You honestly have a shot at a trophy....smallie, pike, muskie, walleye, and carp anywhere in that system. The erie smallies are a bit bigger but St Clair has more. Detroit river / St Clair is one of the best if not the best fishing system in the midwest IMO.

Bassthumb

[bman]

Originally Posted by chillerfish

Went on a season closer on St. Clair Tuesday with a buddy. Man what a trip!! Fished with Gerry Gostenik and we had a banner day. Water at the south end of the lake was gin clear (48deg south end and 49.5 mid lake), cloud cover all day and slight wind out of the S-SE. We had over 45 smallmouth between the 3 of us during the 8 hour trip. Largest was 5+ on a trap and most where in the 2-3lb range. Traps, Sonars/Vibe, tubes seem to be the ticket. I was amazed - the larger fish where in less than 5' of water (yes 5'!). Most of the smaller fish where in 12-14'. Can't say much more about Gerry other than, he's a cool dude, knows smallmouth and knows St. Clair. Was my 1st time on the lake and sure won't be the last. It's closer than Dale and appears to have more options for smallys than presque. (Although navigating downtown Detroit was no picnic!).

One of my fav lakes without question. I also really like fishing in the Detroit River - can't even believe how many muskie stack in that river in mid-summer. We even catch them dragging tubes in 20-24 fow!

I fished it once this summer for a few days. . .lots of smallies but this was the first trip none of us (4 people/two boats) connected on a fish over 3 lbs. It was strange trip. Rained for 8 hours on one of the days and wasn't even very warm (this was in early August.) I even saw two small males still on beds! It's been a very strange fishing year.