Date: May 14, 2017
Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC)
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Smallmouth Bass
Time: 6:45 AM - 3:45 PM
Conditions: From overcast to clearing with bright blue skies; winds were NW up to 15 mph; water conditions were heavily stained to pretty clear (5+ feet of visibility) depending on location; water temperature about 58 degrees F (+\- 1)
New house, new job; new fishing opportunities. I attempted a solo assault on some pre-spawn Lake St. Clair (LSC) smallmouth bass. My modest intelligence community for this fishery indicated slow, inconsistent bass fishing, but with a reasonably favorable forecast (no east winds or deluge of mud!) and expected water temperatures in the mid-50's, I couldn't really come up with a better option for the day.
By 7:15 AM, I was set up in a favored community hole off the Edsel Ford House. Unbelievably, I was the first boat there! (LSC bass fishing does seem to get off to a leisurely start for others.) Working from about 7 to 10 feet of water, I threw a variety of crank-, jerk- and rattle-baits. After 45 minutes of effort and no sign of success, I decided to push on to new waters around the Grosse Point Yacht Club.
At first I targeted corners in the protective seawall with a jerk bait, but then I moved onto a flat near an adjacent point, still working 6 to 10 feet of water or so. (In addition to being my historically productive and confidence depth, the water in shallower was a bit too stained for my liking.) As I worked my way back towards the wall corner in question, I noted the other bait in the area seemed to be catching a few (small) fish on what seemed to be slow-crawled plastics. Sine my perks and cranks weren't producing, I switched to a Z-Man finesse jig with Ned's TRD trailer (PB&J colored) at a transition in the wall and quickly caught a couple of short smallies (12 to 13.8 inches) and a rock bass. While it was nice to get bit, these weren't the fish I wanted, so I relocated to another section of the sea wall and started throwing a jerk-bait, covering ground quickly, but also concentrating on visible transitions in the sea-walls shape and construction.
The water was quite a bit clearer on the eastern side of the club's harbor, and I had a decent bass chase my jerk-bait at the harbor's SE corner. I continued fishing around the corner, but then circled back with the finest jig and quickly caught a 13.9" (just short) smallie. She was blind on one side, and so could have been the same fish that unsuccessfully chased to jerk-bait; but I'd have sworn that fish was bigger.
I then returned to the Edsel house, where a couple of dozen boats were working. It was getting windier now, so boat control and the use of light finesse baits were both mildly compromise. I pretty quickly got crushed by a nice smallie that ate my pink X-Rap; at about 4 pounds, this was the type of fish I wanted! Needless to say, between turning on the GoPro action camera and generally flubbing clean access to my net, I lost this fish. Based on previous experience, I expected things to now turn on, but that didn't happen. By noon, all the other boats were gone, and it was time for me to shift gears.
My primary success on this lake has taken place a few miles north of the Edsel House in the Community Hole known as the "Mile Roads". With just a few boats there and a pretty brisk NW wind, I decided to continue north, closer to what I presume to be the "400 Club". Here, I found a color and weed transition in about 6 feet of water. As I drifted a bit deeper, I noted that the weeds continued, and my crank-bait told me they were cabbage! Cabbage is always worth fishing around, and as I approached the apparent edge of these weeds in about 8.5 feet of water, I switched to a garish, green DT10. These bait was quickly and unceremoniously stolen from me by an unseen Esox. Perhaps a pike, but also likely a muskie; a waypoint was laid. Green weeds, Esox and proximity to the ramp all bare further attention later in the season.
I was continuously working in additional baits (swim baits, different cranks and jerks), but with the wind and mildly stained water, I decided to try a while and chartreuse spinner-bait with a swim-bait trailer. This extensive weeded paid off with several short (all 13.8") bass, and a dandy 4-pound-class bass that jumped off in classic fashion (go ahead, check this out!) Surprisingly enough, these were all green (i.e., largemouth) bass. Oh well, a bass is a bass (unless it is white or rocky.)
The bass seemed to prefer a slow-rolled retrieve through the tops of the weeds as opposed to classic, smallmouth jerky burning. When I realized this (as well as their green nature), I mixed in a black/blue Z-Man chatter-bait. This produced at least one other sub-14" bass.
I decided to finish my day by exploring the NW corner of L'anse Creuse Bay, if only to look for weeds while escaping some wind. There are many harbors and canals here (any of which could be flooded with bass, I guess), but I saved exploring those for some future, truly miserable weather day. I found the weeds I sought and caught another short, green bass, this time on the X-Rap.
What do I have to say about this?
Only 90 miles and about 90 minutes away from our new home, LSC is now within reasonable day-trip range. I don't know if it will qualify as my new, "Home" lake, but at least I will get to spend more time there without breaking the bank or my health.
I am most familiar with the DNR's Crocker boat ramp, but she needs some help! Annual dredging has always been an event here, but it seems that filamentous blue-green algae is the culprit/material source. It's kind of gross and indicates poor health of (at least this part of) the lake system. While last years' dredging spoils appeared to be less than 10 cubic yards, this year's effort (still not complete) was an order of magnitude larger and blocked all but two lanes. This was OK for an early start to a Mother's Day session, but will be untenable for the summer.
I was just those two nice (LOST!) bass and an Esox sighting away from a fine, memorable trip, so even though it wasn't what I had hoped for, the trip still held considerable merit. I managed to find a new species (largemouth bass) for the lake and got bit at every spot, including several new ones. This has to go down as an ultimately productive trip, one on which I can build greater, future success. With no real problems for the day, what else could I really ask for?
Plus, have I mentioned that I saved a couple of lost souls at sea? While that's a bit of an overstatement, with only three boats left around the Edsel House community hole (where I did get my best smallie bite on a pink X-Rap jerk bait), I noticed one of the boats wearing out their battery trying to start their motor. When they switched over to hand-pulling to crank her over, I stopped my fishing and went over with the offer of a jump from my spare battery and jumper cables. (Doesn't everybody carry these?) This worked perfectly, and they were soon off to more productive waters (or, I hope, the ramp.) They were without an anchor, paddle, functional trolling motor and radio; they might have had a tough time getting back in. They were grateful, but I recognized that it could have been, and probably will be, someday, me. I was hoping to cash in on the Good Karma from this event. That didn't necessarily happen this day; but I will remember this event the next time I manage to crack LSC's code.
By 7:15 AM, I was set up in a favored community hole off the Edsel Ford House. Unbelievably, I was the first boat there! (LSC bass fishing does seem to get off to a leisurely start for others.) Working from about 7 to 10 feet of water, I threw a variety of crank-, jerk- and rattle-baits. After 45 minutes of effort and no sign of success, I decided to push on to new waters around the Grosse Point Yacht Club.
At first I targeted corners in the protective seawall with a jerk bait, but then I moved onto a flat near an adjacent point, still working 6 to 10 feet of water or so. (In addition to being my historically productive and confidence depth, the water in shallower was a bit too stained for my liking.) As I worked my way back towards the wall corner in question, I noted the other bait in the area seemed to be catching a few (small) fish on what seemed to be slow-crawled plastics. Sine my perks and cranks weren't producing, I switched to a Z-Man finesse jig with Ned's TRD trailer (PB&J colored) at a transition in the wall and quickly caught a couple of short smallies (12 to 13.8 inches) and a rock bass. While it was nice to get bit, these weren't the fish I wanted, so I relocated to another section of the sea wall and started throwing a jerk-bait, covering ground quickly, but also concentrating on visible transitions in the sea-walls shape and construction.
The water was quite a bit clearer on the eastern side of the club's harbor, and I had a decent bass chase my jerk-bait at the harbor's SE corner. I continued fishing around the corner, but then circled back with the finest jig and quickly caught a 13.9" (just short) smallie. She was blind on one side, and so could have been the same fish that unsuccessfully chased to jerk-bait; but I'd have sworn that fish was bigger.
I then returned to the Edsel house, where a couple of dozen boats were working. It was getting windier now, so boat control and the use of light finesse baits were both mildly compromise. I pretty quickly got crushed by a nice smallie that ate my pink X-Rap; at about 4 pounds, this was the type of fish I wanted! Needless to say, between turning on the GoPro action camera and generally flubbing clean access to my net, I lost this fish. Based on previous experience, I expected things to now turn on, but that didn't happen. By noon, all the other boats were gone, and it was time for me to shift gears.
My primary success on this lake has taken place a few miles north of the Edsel House in the Community Hole known as the "Mile Roads". With just a few boats there and a pretty brisk NW wind, I decided to continue north, closer to what I presume to be the "400 Club". Here, I found a color and weed transition in about 6 feet of water. As I drifted a bit deeper, I noted that the weeds continued, and my crank-bait told me they were cabbage! Cabbage is always worth fishing around, and as I approached the apparent edge of these weeds in about 8.5 feet of water, I switched to a garish, green DT10. These bait was quickly and unceremoniously stolen from me by an unseen Esox. Perhaps a pike, but also likely a muskie; a waypoint was laid. Green weeds, Esox and proximity to the ramp all bare further attention later in the season.
I was continuously working in additional baits (swim baits, different cranks and jerks), but with the wind and mildly stained water, I decided to try a while and chartreuse spinner-bait with a swim-bait trailer. This extensive weeded paid off with several short (all 13.8") bass, and a dandy 4-pound-class bass that jumped off in classic fashion (go ahead, check this out!) Surprisingly enough, these were all green (i.e., largemouth) bass. Oh well, a bass is a bass (unless it is white or rocky.)
The bass seemed to prefer a slow-rolled retrieve through the tops of the weeds as opposed to classic, smallmouth jerky burning. When I realized this (as well as their green nature), I mixed in a black/blue Z-Man chatter-bait. This produced at least one other sub-14" bass.
I decided to finish my day by exploring the NW corner of L'anse Creuse Bay, if only to look for weeds while escaping some wind. There are many harbors and canals here (any of which could be flooded with bass, I guess), but I saved exploring those for some future, truly miserable weather day. I found the weeds I sought and caught another short, green bass, this time on the X-Rap.
What do I have to say about this?
Only 90 miles and about 90 minutes away from our new home, LSC is now within reasonable day-trip range. I don't know if it will qualify as my new, "Home" lake, but at least I will get to spend more time there without breaking the bank or my health.
I am most familiar with the DNR's Crocker boat ramp, but she needs some help! Annual dredging has always been an event here, but it seems that filamentous blue-green algae is the culprit/material source. It's kind of gross and indicates poor health of (at least this part of) the lake system. While last years' dredging spoils appeared to be less than 10 cubic yards, this year's effort (still not complete) was an order of magnitude larger and blocked all but two lanes. This was OK for an early start to a Mother's Day session, but will be untenable for the summer.
I was just those two nice (LOST!) bass and an Esox sighting away from a fine, memorable trip, so even though it wasn't what I had hoped for, the trip still held considerable merit. I managed to find a new species (largemouth bass) for the lake and got bit at every spot, including several new ones. This has to go down as an ultimately productive trip, one on which I can build greater, future success. With no real problems for the day, what else could I really ask for?
Plus, have I mentioned that I saved a couple of lost souls at sea? While that's a bit of an overstatement, with only three boats left around the Edsel House community hole (where I did get my best smallie bite on a pink X-Rap jerk bait), I noticed one of the boats wearing out their battery trying to start their motor. When they switched over to hand-pulling to crank her over, I stopped my fishing and went over with the offer of a jump from my spare battery and jumper cables. (Doesn't everybody carry these?) This worked perfectly, and they were soon off to more productive waters (or, I hope, the ramp.) They were without an anchor, paddle, functional trolling motor and radio; they might have had a tough time getting back in. They were grateful, but I recognized that it could have been, and probably will be, someday, me. I was hoping to cash in on the Good Karma from this event. That didn't necessarily happen this day; but I will remember this event the next time I manage to crack LSC's code.
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