Recent circumstances left me in Detroit, finished with my work for the week, a day before I was due to pick K up at the Detroit Airport for her Winter Break. With the family’s (and Ollie’s) blessing, I opted to spend the evening locally on my own dime, rather than driving an extra 5 or 6 hours round-trip in pretty-nice-but–still-winter conditions to go home for the night. This left me with a rare open afternoon. It would have been very easy for me to fritter this time away, but I’d brought my Passport with me in anticipation of this exact possibility. And so in the early afternoon I easily crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and started looking for facilities to support my future Lake St. Clair muskie fishing efforts.
I was without a map or GPS, but I did know that Lake St. Clair was on my left; that I didn’t need to go past the Thames River; and that Belle River was located on the southern shore of Lake St. Clair, about midway between Windsor and the mouth of the Thames. With a full tank of gas, a few hours of day-light and a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee, I started poking around.
Once out of Windsor, I found this appendage to southern Ontario (crammed between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie) to be pretty agricultural and undeveloped. The landscape was flat, and the surveying had been completed at generally right angles. It was pretty easy to navigate without fears of getting lost or turned around. There weren’t a whole lot of people around, and they were generally loosely congregated in villages. Cities and most of their accompanying amenities were left in my rear-view mirror.
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| A local public meteorologist predicted a Green Christmas; Mr. Heat Miser was correct!
Moving to the east, I did a lot of poking around. I found several ramps with convenient access to the lake, but for the most part these were local use/marina ramps without parking. On this bleak December day there was nobody around to ask questions of; and so I kept plugging away.
I had Belle River in my mind as a waypoint of sorts, and the launching facilities there are beautiful. Nice protected ramps, parking, plumbing; everything you could ask for when launching a boat. The village even had a Subway and a T-Ho. What it didn’t have was an obvious campground or fisher-friendly hotel. Le Petit Dragon hotel was right there at the base of the launching facility; I just can’t imagine staying there with anybody I care about! Plus, parking a trailer there seemed out of bounds.
Some quick Googling indicated that "Can Am Charters" fishes for muskies out of Belle River and notes the following local accommodations:
At least it's good to know there will be options. It's also good to see that "Can Am" appears to catch a lot of fish, too, but they seem to be a trolling (-only) operation. I'm looking forward to doing it myself, and by casting, if possible.
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| The first ramp I found would work OK, but parking could be an issue. |
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| A very nice, protected ramp with a bit of a cruise to the lake. Again, parking seems to be an afterthought? |
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| Belle River Marina and Park; this is it! Quality facilities located along the central portion of Lake St. Clair's southern shore! |
I was starting to think that our Canadian friends simply play by day and sleep at home at night. But I believed the Thames River was a major port on Lake Saint Clair and a primary base for local fishing operations. So I continued to the east, expecting to find what I was looking for there.
While I recognized the facility at the mouth of the Thames from You-Tube muskie fishing videos, I was amazed at the lack of public recreational development here. There was a marginal ramp and some limited parking, but I’d hate to base anything other than an off-season trip from here. There’s quite a bit of private development here, and some potential for (crappy) camping or renting a house, but I’m thinking Belle River offers more promise overall.
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| A local landmark, if only in my mind. |
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| Marginal ramp and little parking; but a hint at some services just a bit upstream. Also, I bet these canals load up with bass and pike in the spring! |
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| Lake St. Clair was not at her most attractive this day; but I bet there were still fish to be caught! One local small-boater was out there, somewhere! |
Coming back into the US at sunset, the Border Guard looked as if she might question my stated purpose of my visit; “to look at boat ramps.” But I guess the Abu Garcia Volatile muskie rod in the truck, backed up with the visible Cabela’s window sticker and my (generally good) citizenship data based on my Passport and License, all convinced her of my sincerity; and I was soon back on native soil.
It was a good trip! I’m glad I did it. I’m still a little fuzzy on suitable lodging over there, but I think I can launch Numenon in productive Canadian Lake St. Clair waters in about 4 hours from her resting spot in the garage. I’ve done similar day-trips before, and I think I will be able to make this work. I look forward to sharing a trip (or trips) with friends or family in 2015!
My primary goal for such a trip would always be safety and lack of problems, but my fishing goal for a trip in 2015 would be a 48-incher in the boat! A 50-incher would be like playing in the Championship Game. My personal championship victory would include a nice picture of me with the 50 on Numenon.
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