Date: May 22, 2017
Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC)
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Smallmouth Bass
Time: 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Conditions: 60-70 degrees F; cloudy to clear; within a building and sustained WSW wind to over 15 mph. Water varied from stained to muddy and 61 degrees F (south); to clear to chalky and 58 degrees F (north)
Since the last trip, the weather has been very much up and down; a three-day stretch of temperatures in the mid-80s followed by a cold front with storms and wind. I suspect the bass are closer to spawning, but have probably been held up by the last few chilly days. Plus, northerly and easterly winds, as well as a couple of downpours, have likely riled the water. I don't have a ton of confidence that doing more of the same will result in a better result.
The new job allows for me to "flex" my time; that is, by working mostly longer days, I can have a day "off" every other week. Reducing my days at work by 10% sounds like a good deal to me, and this is my first opportunity to take advantage of this perk.
Mixing things up (and as well as to improve on potential launch and retrieve conditions), I chose to visit the Sportsmen's Direct tackle shop for some quick advice, and then launch at the Lake St. Clair Metropark. Knowing this would provide for a relatively late (for me) start on the water, I had everything ready to go beforehand. My arsenal at the ready included:
Spinning Rods (6)
- Ned
- Z-Man Finesse Jig
- Green Pumpkin Tube
- Drop-shot
- Swim-bait with under-spin
- Jerk-bait
Casting Rods (4)
- Chatter-bait
- Spinner-bait
- Crank-bait
- S-Waver glide-bait
Trolling Rods (2)
- Metered Power-Pro rigs with monofilament-to-wire leaders (for trolling cranks for pike, should I not get anything going with the bass or if conditions were to seriously fall apart)
After a quick and easy launch, I headed to the Mile Roads along the western shore. While I expected some water quality issues based on wind, all my bass success, as well as the local advice, converged here. The wind was already building, but I crossed the lake into the wind with no problems. I crossed through some seriously muddy water, but this seemed patchy, and soon I arrived at the weed bed in front of the 400 Club. The conditions here were not bad, with a bit more than 2 feet of visibility.
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| The 400 Club; (about) where Fifteen Mile Road hits Jefferson; a local landmark for Lake St. Clair fishermen; the flag is stiff, already. |
I gave myself one hour for something good to happen. The water was 61 degrees, the bass were clearly still in pre-spawn condition, and given my lack of precise "spot" knowledge, combined with the wind, I chose to throw a horizontal bait. The flash and thump of a spinner-bait with a swim-bait trailer running through and over the weeds looked and felt right. But after a couple of drifts with no luck, I switched to a small, bright crank-bait. I thought a Rapala Scatter Rap Shad 07 would ride just above the weeds, and the extreme firetiger color should be visible to the bass.
On my second cast with this bait over about 8 feet of water, I had a heavy strike. When I set the hook, the fish stayed deep and barely budged. My first thought was that I'd hooked a muskie. The fish offered a generally uninspired fight until it was right next to the boat. When I saw that it was a golden bass, I punched Waypoint 857 into the bow unit. She stayed deep as long as she could, but she relented; I soon held a 21.3-inch (likely 6-pound and Master Angler-qualifying) smallmouth bass. She was a Top-2 or -3 smallie for me, but certainly the largest ever aboard Numenon to date!
On my second cast with this bait over about 8 feet of water, I had a heavy strike. When I set the hook, the fish stayed deep and barely budged. My first thought was that I'd hooked a muskie. The fish offered a generally uninspired fight until it was right next to the boat. When I saw that it was a golden bass, I punched Waypoint 857 into the bow unit. She stayed deep as long as she could, but she relented; I soon held a 21.3-inch (likely 6-pound and Master Angler-qualifying) smallmouth bass. She was a Top-2 or -3 smallie for me, but certainly the largest ever aboard Numenon to date!
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| This fat, 21.3-inch Master Angler smallmouth bass certainly made my day; before 9 AM! |
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| This Rapala Scatter Rap Shad 07 skimmed the weeds and looked like food! |
My hour was just up, but I chose to stay here for what turned out to be another 1.5 hours or so. I relocated just upwind of some working birds and got covered up by white bass to two pounds and more. Small cranks, bright jerks and even tube baits; it didn't really matter; these fish would find the bait. Quite often, I received multiple strikes on a single cast. These were fun, but not the right kind of bass for the day. I extended my scouting from about 5 feet of water (inside weed edge) to about 11 feet of water (outside weed edge) in my search for brown bass, but found none.
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| I got covered by White Bass a couple of times. |
Before leaving the Mile Roads to explore the northern section of the lake (which would be all new water to me), I tucked in along shore. I wanted to see if the bass had hunkered down against cover (docks, seawalls, rip-rap, etc.) The water here was super muddy, so I didn't want to give it too long. My thumping spinner-bait got crushed in about 3 feet of water. It turned out to be my first-ever spinner-bait channel cat. She was large and fun, but still not what I was looking for.
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| This raggedy old catfish absolutely slammed a spinner-bait in shallow, muddy water. |
I opted to take the pounding run in building seas to the "A Buoy" in Anchor Bay.
The water here was clear to chalky green and about 58 degrees; it looked like good pre-spawn conditions. I used the wind to help drift over flats, searching for weeds or signs of fish. I threw a wide variety of cranks, jerks, chatter-baits and the S-Waver glide bait with no success. After a couple of drifts, I decided to drop a rod with a green pumpkin tube into a rod holder to passively present a dragged bait along the bottom while I casted from the front.
I keyed in on a long, marked navigation channel. This was only a couple of feet deeper than the surrounding flat, but the dredged depths seemed to harbor some patchy weeds. On three consecutive drifts, "Rodney" scored a bonus, 17-inch smallie and a pair of 16-inch walleyes.
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| A couple of eater-sized walleyes ate my green pumpkin tube bait, dragged along bottom for bass. |
At about this time I realized that I was missing a tooth; whether it rattled loose during the run across the lake, or I gulped it down with my ham sandwich, I don't know.
I had a crazy thought that the weed bed I'd fished in L'Anse Creuse Bay (around the corner, so to speak) the previous trip might be fishable, but as I rounded the point, I could see that it too rough and muddy. Instead, I opted to fish a couple of undeveloped shorelines in the canal system leading to the ramp. Nothing bit, but it sure was peaceful after the day of exposure!
I had an easy, stress-free retrieval at the ramp and was on the road by 4 PM; and home by 6 PM.
What do I have to say about this?
This was a solid trip and experience. I've still not had any easy bass fishing this year, and I would certainly welcome a break from the wind, but I learned a lot this day; locations, presentations, boat control and simple logistics of a big day trip such as this. Add a bonus big bass, and I've nothing but good things to think about the day.
This was a solid trip and experience. I've still not had any easy bass fishing this year, and I would certainly welcome a break from the wind, but I learned a lot this day; locations, presentations, boat control and simple logistics of a big day trip such as this. Add a bonus big bass, and I've nothing but good things to think about the day.
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| One of the many looks that Lake St. Clair has provided already this season. She can be big and gnarly, or calm and over-generous; many times, within the same day! |
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| One last look at this big girl before her release. |
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