Date: October 1, 2017
Body of Water: Lake St. Clair
Boat: Numenon
With: Alone
Target: Muskellunge and Pike
Time: 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Conditions: Pretty bright and clear; generally easterly wind to over 10 mph, starting NE and swinging to the SE; water 65 and chalky green, with visibility of a few feet.
I was committed to trolling for muskies and covering a lot of water to find them. Still, I arrived at Lake St. Clair with only an ill-formed plan. I knew I wanted to be near weeds and bait, while avoiding overly problematic chopped weeds on the surface and any overly clear water. I kind of assumed I'd start off the Clinton River Cutoff and expand from there; my rudimentary thoughts were to try the expected wrecks and weed-beds at the St. Clair River's South Channel mouth. From there I could go south along the shipping channel, focusing on edges and weeds at least to the Buoy 28 area, where I knew that perch, walleyes and other fish congregate. If I had to, I could continue south to the St. Clair light, and I could also explore the "Dumping Grounds" further south. I knew I had more water to cover than I could possibly fish in a day!
Talking to another fisherman at the St. Clair Metropark as we launched our boats, he mentioned his second-hand knowledge of muskie success up by Grass Island (northeast and in Anchor Bay.) This was an area I'd been meaning to check for bass, but when I was greeted at the channel mouth by unexpectedly strong winds from the northeast, and I could see that the main lake's horizon was visibly jagged, I chose the protection of Anchor Bay and the Grass Island/North Channel. It would be all new water to me, and if I could find the conditions I was looking for, I had every confidence that it could pay off.
I picked up a weed edge just north of Strawberry Island and continued north as I set my three-rod spread. Lines were in by 8 AM, and I'd just tuned my speed to about 4 mph at 8:03 AM when the rod with the Rapala announced that it was Fish On! It was a fat and sassy 26-inch pike. Continuing north in about 9-11 feet of water, trolling at 3.7 - 4.3 mph, I picked up three more pike by 8:30 AM. They were all very nice, measuring 29, 33 and 34-inches! I'd forgotten my GoPro, so it just made sense that I was going to have an epic day!
By 9 AM, I'd had another couple of swings and misses, one on the Flatstick in the prop wash, one on the deep diving Bucher bait. Both of these pulled some serious drag, but both came unglued. The bite inexplicably turned off as I continued north, and by 10:30 AM, I'd gone past Grass Island, turned around and re-visited my successful way points, all without another hit!
It was time to adjust. The wind was now from the east and at its strongest for the day. I really didn't want to leave Anchor Bay, especially since I was on some nice fish. I chose to stay nearby, exploring the edges of the North Channel. With the same program, I pretty quickly scored my heaviest fish of the day. This fish convinced me it was my sought-after muskie; it provided a huge hit, a long run, a few leaps and gator-like head thrashes. I was surprised to land a pike, and "just" a 32-incher. This fatty was the heaviest pike of the day and almost touched 10 pounds on my conservative Boca scale.
This fish had come from a thick weed patch along the edge off the channel. I focused as best as I could on this weed patch as I progressed up the channel. Several other boats were here fishing perch and walleye; but I had no further action as I turned back and trolled back to Anchor Bay.
It was time to re-adjust, again. I'd noted some very nice cabbage growth at the north end of Grass Island, where the old Baltimore Channel hit the bay. This produced another 26-inch pike.
Probing Baltimore Channel on the east side of Grass Island, I caught my final pike of the day. This 25-incher came from only about 7 feet of water, a high spot between the bay and the channel itself. Once again, the Rapala was ticking weeds when it got hit.
I could see a couple of muskie boats working the weed edges and patches here, and one reported having caught one earlier in the day. I chose to spend my last 75 minutes or so burning a Windell's Harasser bucktail across and over conspicuous weeds. I concentrated on the long weed line along the south edge of the North Channel. I covered a lot of water and conditions felt appropriate. The area offered cover, current, depth and bait, and the cabbage looked healthy! But muskies are muskies, and no fish showed themselves during this time. But they certainly could have; or at least I believe so.
I was committed to trolling for muskies and covering a lot of water to find them. Still, I arrived at Lake St. Clair with only an ill-formed plan. I knew I wanted to be near weeds and bait, while avoiding overly problematic chopped weeds on the surface and any overly clear water. I kind of assumed I'd start off the Clinton River Cutoff and expand from there; my rudimentary thoughts were to try the expected wrecks and weed-beds at the St. Clair River's South Channel mouth. From there I could go south along the shipping channel, focusing on edges and weeds at least to the Buoy 28 area, where I knew that perch, walleyes and other fish congregate. If I had to, I could continue south to the St. Clair light, and I could also explore the "Dumping Grounds" further south. I knew I had more water to cover than I could possibly fish in a day!
Talking to another fisherman at the St. Clair Metropark as we launched our boats, he mentioned his second-hand knowledge of muskie success up by Grass Island (northeast and in Anchor Bay.) This was an area I'd been meaning to check for bass, but when I was greeted at the channel mouth by unexpectedly strong winds from the northeast, and I could see that the main lake's horizon was visibly jagged, I chose the protection of Anchor Bay and the Grass Island/North Channel. It would be all new water to me, and if I could find the conditions I was looking for, I had every confidence that it could pay off.
 |
| It doesn't look so bad here as I exit the channel from St. Clair Metropark, but if you were to look more south of east, you'd see that Lake St. Clair was rocking' this morning. I chose to head north and east to near Grass Island and the North Channel of the St. Clair River. |
I picked up a weed edge just north of Strawberry Island and continued north as I set my three-rod spread. Lines were in by 8 AM, and I'd just tuned my speed to about 4 mph at 8:03 AM when the rod with the Rapala announced that it was Fish On! It was a fat and sassy 26-inch pike. Continuing north in about 9-11 feet of water, trolling at 3.7 - 4.3 mph, I picked up three more pike by 8:30 AM. They were all very nice, measuring 29, 33 and 34-inches! I'd forgotten my GoPro, so it just made sense that I was going to have an epic day!
 |
| A Storm Flatstick 22 in the prop wash and a Bucher Depth Raider on the long (70 feet?) flat line... |
 |
| ... while this flat line is presenting a Rapala Shallow Super Shad Rap about 60 feet behind the boat. |
 |
| Flatstick 22 (top); deep-diving Bucher Depth Raider; Rapala Shallow Shad Rap (bottom): All got hit, but the perch-colored Rapala got eaten repeatedly! |
By 9 AM, I'd had another couple of swings and misses, one on the Flatstick in the prop wash, one on the deep diving Bucher bait. Both of these pulled some serious drag, but both came unglued. The bite inexplicably turned off as I continued north, and by 10:30 AM, I'd gone past Grass Island, turned around and re-visited my successful way points, all without another hit!
 |
| Near-twins at 33- and 34-inches; they are just resting and recovering, awaiting a photo session later in the day. At one point, they were joined by a 32-incher; I had almost 100 inches of pike in my live well at the same time! |
It was time to adjust. The wind was now from the east and at its strongest for the day. I really didn't want to leave Anchor Bay, especially since I was on some nice fish. I chose to stay nearby, exploring the edges of the North Channel. With the same program, I pretty quickly scored my heaviest fish of the day. This fish convinced me it was my sought-after muskie; it provided a huge hit, a long run, a few leaps and gator-like head thrashes. I was surprised to land a pike, and "just" a 32-incher. This fatty was the heaviest pike of the day and almost touched 10 pounds on my conservative Boca scale.
This fish had come from a thick weed patch along the edge off the channel. I focused as best as I could on this weed patch as I progressed up the channel. Several other boats were here fishing perch and walleye; but I had no further action as I turned back and trolled back to Anchor Bay.
It was time to re-adjust, again. I'd noted some very nice cabbage growth at the north end of Grass Island, where the old Baltimore Channel hit the bay. This produced another 26-inch pike.
Probing Baltimore Channel on the east side of Grass Island, I caught my final pike of the day. This 25-incher came from only about 7 feet of water, a high spot between the bay and the channel itself. Once again, the Rapala was ticking weeds when it got hit.
I could see a couple of muskie boats working the weed edges and patches here, and one reported having caught one earlier in the day. I chose to spend my last 75 minutes or so burning a Windell's Harasser bucktail across and over conspicuous weeds. I concentrated on the long weed line along the south edge of the North Channel. I covered a lot of water and conditions felt appropriate. The area offered cover, current, depth and bait, and the cabbage looked healthy! But muskies are muskies, and no fish showed themselves during this time. But they certainly could have; or at least I believe so.
 |
| One of a triumvirate of very nice pike |
 |
| Another of the day's triumvirate; I blew the photo opportunity with the third and heaviest fish. |
What do I have to say about this?
While the day did not live up to the promises of the first half hour, it certainly did not disappoint. It didn't cough up (or even reveal) a muskie, but it certainly qualified as a candidate for my Best Ever Pike Day. Of course, I hope to do better next time, but I feel as if I learned a lot this day. I located tons of good cabbage, saw new parts of the lake, have some ideas on how to fine tune my approach, and generally have more confidence about just accepting the conditions of a given day, going out there and making it happen. I can't wait for my next chance! I especially enjoyed this high speed trolling because the strikes are explosive and the drags always slip!
It's a lot of work to constantly monitor for and clear weeds from the lines, but a simple spread and relatively short lines make that doable. And the fish's apparent preference for proximity to the weeds makes it worthwhile.
While the day did not live up to the promises of the first half hour, it certainly did not disappoint. It didn't cough up (or even reveal) a muskie, but it certainly qualified as a candidate for my Best Ever Pike Day. Of course, I hope to do better next time, but I feel as if I learned a lot this day. I located tons of good cabbage, saw new parts of the lake, have some ideas on how to fine tune my approach, and generally have more confidence about just accepting the conditions of a given day, going out there and making it happen. I can't wait for my next chance! I especially enjoyed this high speed trolling because the strikes are explosive and the drags always slip!
It's a lot of work to constantly monitor for and clear weeds from the lines, but a simple spread and relatively short lines make that doable. And the fish's apparent preference for proximity to the weeds makes it worthwhile.
No comments:
Post a Comment