LSC 2017 v.8

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 29, 2017

Body of Water:  LSC

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time:  10 AM - 4 PM

Conditions:  Gray, overcast, mid-40's; North wind <10 mph; water temperatures between 51 and 55 degrees F

Re-routed by a horrific traffic accident at my intended exit off the highway, I got a bit lost.  I ended up targeting the Michigan DNR's Harley Ensign ramp, and arrived to a nice, new-to-me facility, but also to a sea of mud.  I wasn't too surprised by this, given the week's wind and rain, but all I could do was cross my fingers that the flowing waters of the North Channel would provide clearer, fishable water.  Meanwhile, the boat launching alongside of me was heading to Canadian waters in search of fishable water.

The North Channel area was fine; water conditions here were chalky green to downright clear.  I was committed to throwing Big Rubber, and I did so all day.  I worked weeds, weed edges, current seams, bait balls and deep water, but I ended with no evidence that I ever raised a fish.

I covered the North Channel mouth and the entirety of the Baltimore Channel with Bull Dawgs, a Medussa, a Shadzilla and a Pig Shad.  My colors varied from natural to chartreuse, but it just didn't seem to matter on this day.

I threw an assortment of Big Rubber baits over the course of the day, but never raised a muskie.  From top left, clockwise, these are Pig Shad, Medussa, a pair of Bull Dawgs and a Shadzilla.  The Pig Shad might not exactly qualify as Big Rubber, but it is still a 9-inch bait!

What do I have to say about this?

This launch facility provides excellent access to Anchor Bay and can handle a lot of traffic, but it is quite a bit less convenient to get to than the Metropark and Crocker Street launches that I have been using.  Still, it's good to be familiar with one's options.

I am feeling the pressure of the Season's End; it would be nice to boat a fine Esox before Numenon is winterized.  All I can really do is to continue to look forward to the next trip.

Without doubt, the toughest part of being an Apprentice Muskie Fisherman (especially one without direct access to a mentor), especially one trying to learn new water at the same time, is simply not knowing the most likely reason for the lack of action on a given day.  Is it on me?  Or the fish?  Presentation(s)?  Location?  Simply the mood of the fish?  

Regardless, these are top predators and so are limited in numbers.  It's a big lake, and it seems to offer unlimited options for both fishing and predation.  I do know that I fished hard and well (to the best of my abilities), and I do have confidence that I was making decent presentations in reasonable areas.  I was around bait, weeds, edges and current, with good water conditions for the entire trip.  What more could I have done with my available time?

Meanwhile, the events of my interrupted morning commute were a stark reminder that some folks had a much worse day.  I am fortunate to have spent mine on the water, regardless of the skunk.

LSC 2017 v.7

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 21, 2017

Body of Water:  Lake St. Clair (LSC)

Boat:  Numenon

With: Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time:  7:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Conditions:  Pretty nice; southerly winds generally 10-12 mph; warming to 70 degrees F; green, slightly chalky water at 60-62 degrees F

Sunrise on Lake St. Clair; Saturday, October 21, 2017

After a restless night (too excited to sleep?  Perhaps there will be more to share on this, later), I arrived at the ramp too early!  Instead of my usual routinized rush, I took my time preparing tackle and heading down the channel.  As I cleared the last marker, there was plenty of light for me to assess conditions, and I headed north into Anchor Bay.

Lines were set at 7:58 AM, but I trolled all the way north past Grass Island in about 7 to 11 feet of water with nothing happening.  I marked a couple of isolated weed-beds in 8 or 9 feet along the way, and after an unsuccessful first hour of trolling, I returned to these to cast over a couple of these beds west of Grass Island.  I chose to throw a Swedish Pig Shad for the most part, but no Esox revealed themselves.  

I could see quite a collection of boats working the North Channel (these were mostly perch and walleye guys, but a least a couple of boats were clearly throwing Big Rubber for muskies), and so I chose to do the same. I set up on visible weed beds on the south side of the mouth of the North Channel in 6 to 8 feet of water.  This area had provided the heaviest pike a couple of weeks prior, and conditions were still favorable.   I switched from a Hot Pike Pig Shad to a more sedate, Motor-Oil Pike version, and I got hit!  I swung and missed.  I knew it was a fish, but I was in contact with weeds, too, and I started to doubt myself.  Perhaps it was just weeds; but closer inspection of the lure body showed multiple clean cuts into the rubber; it had been an Esox!

I continued to throw this bait with renewed confidence, and shortly thereafter, a small muskie followed the bait to the boat.  It had no interest on my Figure 8, though, and glided away, under the boat.

After a period of no further action, and having revisited both spots a couple of times with different baits, I decided to explore new water; I drove the North Channel past it's confluence with the main river channel.  I stopped and threw baits at a few current seems and weed beds, but this was mostly about learning the lay of the land.  Let's just say, there seems to be access to an unlimited amount and variety of water on this lake!

A bit past Noon, I returned to the Baltimore Channel, east of Grass Island.  I decided to invest the time casting this area, specifically the deeper water of the channel itself and the weed beds and edges alongside the channel.  I had another small muskie follow a Windell's Harasser bucktail, but this fish, too, faded away without interest in eating.

Soon I crossed paths with a local muskie guide.  I reported my two follows and a bump; he reported two eaters.  He said the fish were there, and I noted his rods, all equipped with Big Rubber.  I chose to switch out my modest Pig Shad for a regular-sized Medussa in walleye coloration. But after another hour here without raising a fish (the guide took another, small muskie a couple of hundred yards behind me), I relocated to the mouth of the North Channel.  I was running out of time (and energy!) and I figured the deeper water there, adjacent to the weeds on the channel edge, certainly continued to hold some potential.

The problem with fishing the channel itself is boat traffic and the resultant wakes.  It's also a truism that a muskie will show itself when one is least prepared, and so of course the final and biggest muskie of the day appeared behind my Medussa at a moment when I was more concerned about simply holding on and staying in the boat, as compared to the mechanics of a Figure 8.  I blew it; this fish, too, disappeared without biting, even though it seemed to be pretty "hot."  It wasn't a big muskie (less than three feet), but it would have been a welcome catch, especially at this point of a long day!

I spent my remaining time in this same area, revisiting waypoints of fish encounters.  One can't ask for more than 3 or 4 chances in a day, and I didn't get any more!

What do I have to say about this?

The consensus certainly seems to be that one needs to throw Big Rubber for consistent action for worthwhile muskies on this lake, especially in the fall.  It's a tough lesson for me to accept, but maybe I am learning.  And I did find a few fish this day, so perhaps I am, slowly, getting better at this.

But that sunrise!  Clearly, I only experienced it on this day because I'd chosen to go fishing.  That is gift enough from the sport for any given day.  There will be more fish; but there will surely be a whole lot else along the way, too.

LSC 2017 v.6

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 9, 2017

Body of Water:  LSC

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time: 7:45 AM - 2:45 PM

Conditions:  Three seasons of weather (Fall, Spring and Summer), but the big factor was torn up weeds on the surface and lots of mud pumping out from Anchor Bay.  Water was about 66 - 68 degrees F and varied from clear green near the South Channel/outer main lake to muddy (south of Metropark) to chalky green (Grass Island.)  Conditions were pretty choppy as the night's rain ended at dawn, but as skies cleared it became unseasonably hot and fairly still by Noon.

I re-purposed some of my dormant salmon-fishing gear and I was able to pull together a nice, serviceable high-quality 6-rod spread incorporating line-counter reels.  This allowed for more precise and repeatable trolling presentations.   I experimented constantly with lead lengths, but these tended to be short as opposed to long, if only because of all the fouling weeds.  My spread basically consisted of three of the following four rods at any given time:

• Perch-colored Shallow Super Shad Raps, 40-80 feet back
• Livingston Bulldozer, 25-100 feet back
• Bucher Deep Depth Raider, 20-100 feet back
• Spanky bucktail off the down rigger, 3 feet down and 10-15 feet back

Trolling speeds varied from about 3 to 4.5 mph, but presentation just didn't seem to matter; I didn't bump a fish all day.  During this time, I visited and tried a bunch of different water:

• Anchor Bay Grass Island and North Channel area (high confidence area, and nice looking water, but lots of weeds and no bites!)
• South of Metropark Beach (way too much weeds and mud!)
• Clinton River Cutoff (still probably too muddy, but marked lots of fish here; mostly casted bucktails and Swedish Pig Shads)
• 400 Club weeds and offshore from there (much better water clarity, but still tough to fish with weeds; casting)
• Mouth of South Channel, to side of shipping channel (clear water, beautiful weeds and worth revisiting for any species, I suspect)
• Estuary from South Channel to almost Strawberry Island (good conditions, just no fish; not as weedy as up in Anchor Bay); and
• Back to my higher confidence areas further up in Anchor Bay.

What do I have to say about this?

It's always disappointing to get skunked, but it is especially so when one has high hopes built on recent success.  I was quite certain that something good was going to happen this day!  I'll claim as "good" a few things that I learned from this trip that should help me out there in the future:

• This is a dynamic system, and one needs to be prepared to adjust to the conditions present.  One can find different conditions (perhaps even more favorable ones) by making a move; one is not chained to a set of conditions.
• It's about a half hour from the dock to Grass Island.
• That deep cabbage bed near the mouth of the South Channel has got to hold fish, and it will be worth revisiting, repeatedly.
• The Pig Shads look and feel good in the water, and it's just fun to use them.
• Don't pound down the lake with six rods rigged with muskie baits!  They will get hopelessly tangled!
• And, finally, there's always next time!  This seems especially true with the muskellunge.

LSC 2017 v.5

NumenOn the Water

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.

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.

LSC 2017 v.4

NumenOn the Water

Date:  September 8, 2017

Body of Water:  Lake St. Clair (LSC)

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target: Smallmouth Bass

Time: 9 AM - 3 PM

Conditions:  Post-rain but clearing, with NNW winds diminishing from 15 to about 5 mph; air temperature to 65 or so and water temperature 65; clear water except for near the Clinton River cutoff

I was resolved to fish LSC differently, but not to beat myself up, too much, physically.  It was a beautiful, cold-front day, and the northerly wind probably did not bode well for bassin' success, but I have to learn how to catch this lake's brown bass more consistently.  And I can't learn without being out there!

Traffic delayed my arrival by 90 minutes or so, and with the northerly wind, I limited my fishing to areas off the Mile Roads.  I chose to launch at the Crocker Road/Clinton River Cut-off access, which gave me easy access to this area.

I got off to a much-later-than-usual start because of traffic.  Construction, accidents and weekday rush hour all ended up contributing to my delayed arrival.

About a dozen boats were working the weed edge immediately offshore.  Most appeared to be fishing for muskies; consider this duly noted for later in the season.  The water here was pretty stained, and once I located a weed edge in 8 or more feet of water, I started covering water with a DT10 crank and a deep-diving jerk-bait.  After 15 minutes without a hit, I relocated to the south, near the extensive weed bed that had coughed up my May Giant.

The water here was very clear, and I drifted across and over this weed bed from 6 to a dozen feet of water or so.  Cranks, jerks and spy-baits were all equally ignored.  Although these weeds looked healthy and attractive, I knew I probably needed to head offshore; after all, there wasn't a single boat in this shallow.

I motored slowly offshore with my eyes glued to the graph.  The chara-type grass on the bottom never gave up, but I did located several humps/bottom changes that held taller weeds.  These were generally in the 12-15 foot zone.  Items of interest got a free way-point.  While it was a bit windy for precise boat control to pick these weeds' edges, I decided to control-drift the area and just search for bites.  I deployed my wind sock from the stern corner while controlling the front with the electric motor; this provided a very fishable drift from my stable platform.

I set a green pumpkin tube in a road holder, to drag while I casted cranks, jerks and spy-baits from the front.  After a considerable drift, the tube scored first, and I had my first (and best) bass of the day, a solid 17.75-incher.

Dragging a tube from a rod holder isn't the most exciting way to catch bass, but it does work on this lake!

Re-setting my drift in an area of concentrated way-points, I decided to replace casting the horizontal baits with drop-shotting.  After all, tubes and drop-shots catch more bass than anything on LSC; my single bass had taken a bait off the bottom; and the search baits weren't producing for me.

Pretty soon after making this switch, I dropped my Jackall drop-shot bait down to a specific mark on my bow-mounted screen; and connected with a nice fish!  At first I was thinking I had a super nice bass, but when the fish took off in a sprint, I knew I had an Esox.  Pike or muskie, I did not yet know; it took several runs and some finessing on my part to lead this fish to the net.  I was lucky to have stuck this fish in the very corner of the mouth; I'm glad I did, she made my day!

A very plump, 32-inch pike; nice!

With the day about two-thirds used up and a couple of bites in reasonably quick succession, I decided to continue my drifting search.  I'd stashed some muskie gear aboard, in case the bass fishing was slow.  I decided to try to build on the success I'd already enjoyed, and to save the muskies for another day.  I did catch another (small, 13-inch) bass on the tube, but had no other bites.

I knew I had more traffic to contend with on the way home; I was back at the dock by 3 PM.

What do I have to say about this?

Traffic was the worst of my issues, and given the horrific nature of the accident that caused the biggest delay, to say nothing of the hurricane(s) wreaking havoc, the earthquake in Guatemala/Mexico and the general nature of the day's news, it's not too much of a hardship to miss a couple of hours of fishing.  And while my fishing was by no means a great success, I caught a couple of beautiful fish, and maybe my efforts with new areas and techniques will pay off further dividends in the future.  I captured a bunch of way-points, and I have no reason to think these might not hold fish at other times.  There's only going to be one way to find out!

Meanwhile, the body condition of the pike was excellent, and this is probably the nicest fish I've ever caught drop-shotting.  It's a technique I need to get better at, and there's no better confidence builder than occasional positive feedback.  Of course, I want more and bigger fish, but if I forget to appreciate 32-inch pike or 17-inch smallies, kindly remind me that I am being less than I could be.

LSC 2017 v.3.w

NumenOn the Water

Date:  June 24, 2017

Body of Water: Lake St. Clair

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Smallmouth Bass; but then Walleye

Time:  6:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Conditions:  Clear and bright; 65 - 80 degrees, developing a stronger WNW wind to over 15 mph; water clear inshore and 73 degrees; 66 and a bit colored/stained offshore.

I was pleased to see Lake St. Clair in a calm and navigable state, and I was doubly pleased to arrive at the weedbeds off the 400 Club and encounter excellent water clarity.  At 73 degrees F and with post-spawn conditions for bass, Lake St. Clair was going to give me a new experience.  I figured my best option was to simply cover some water here and let the fish reveal themselves.  Given defined inside and outside edges and the excellent extent, health and variety of weeds here, I was reasonably confident that I had a chance to figure this out.

Starting on the outside edge in 10 or 11 feet of water, I chose to throw a Yozuri top-water prop bait.  With no positive response, I quickly changed to a Red Eye Shad rattle bait, and scored a tiny largemouth bass.  With nothing else biting, I then switched to the inside weed edge in about 6 feet of water.  I think I missed a quick bite on a swim jig; a spy bait was also subsequently ignored.  Moving over the weedbeds and to the outer edge and a bit beyond, I continued searching for bites with the spy bait, a pumpkin tube, and a Pb&J Ned rig.

Some kayakers  dropped a buoy marker in 12 or 13 feet of water and seemed to have a bit of action.  I shook off a small bass on the tube in this same depth, but the day was starting off slowly, and I couldn't help but notice that the wind was building.

I confronted myself; did I want to work through a slow grind and not experience anything new on the lake?  I'd likely encounter some fish and they might be nice; on the other hand, I wouldn't cover much water, and by the way, where were all the bass fisherman?  They certainly weren't around here!  Meanwhile, the wind looked like it was going to be a factor.  If I wanted to make a move, now was the time to do so.

So I decide to run out to the shipping channel and the St. Clair Light.  I arrived to choppy 2-footers and clear, green 66-degree water.  There were also piles and piles of mayflies!  Here I used some local advice and trolled a couple of crank baits, up high in the water column.  I was marking fair numbers of suspended fish between about 8 and 15 feet (over 20 or more feet), and I had confidence in my jointed Shad Rap (size 7, perch), Husky Jerk (size 6, blue glass minnow) and Flick'R Shad (size 7, purple and gold.) Back between 50 and 100 feet, these should have been cruising at or just above the fish I was marking.

But nothing happened, and there was only one other boat out here.  I was getting a bit queasy changing baits and cleaning lines, and so I decided to relocate a bit north, to the area around Buoy 28.

There was a sizable group of boats here (probably a couple of dozen, including a couple I recognized as launching with me earlier in the day.) From my mapping, it looks like an approximate 15-foot flat intersects the shipping channel here.  There seemed to be various spoils along the channel edge, and it seems like maybe any fish from the north could eventually find the channel in this area.  I set my lines, and trolling at about 2.1 mph, the rod with the Shad Rap quickly doubled over.   It wasn't the walleye I was looking for, but it was a dandy white bass.  This repeated itself a few times as I roamed the area, weaving through boats, south and east of Buoy 28.

Nets were flashing with some regularity, and most folks were drifting or slow-trolling with electric motors while dragging bottom-bouncers.  I'd thought I'd just give trolling a quick try as I scouted the area, but it was getting late in the morning; it was now quite rough; the return trip to the west side would take some time and/or deliver a beating; and I had my spinners, harnesses and Gulp! aboard, so I decided to stay in the area and try these techniques for the first time in 15 or more years.

Passing freighters were a frequent occurrence, and might have been part of the local walleye equation; their turbulence would stir up the bottom and provide an ephemeral stain to the water.

Crank-bait casting outfits worked well for bottom-bouncing.  The chartreuse Mack's Smiley Blade (below) with a death-roll hook and a pinched Gulp! worm outperformed the perch-colored conventional spinner rig (above) with a full Gulp! crawler.

Working mostly 19 feet of water along the eastern edge of the channel, south of the buoy, I trolled at speeds from 0.6 to about 1.1 mph while presenting spinner/Gulp! combos along the bottom with bottom-bouncers.  My crank-bait casting outfits performed nicely for this; their softer tips amplified nibbles and pending hookups, and their moderate action kept fish hooked.  It was actually quite enjoyable, but the walleye were infrequent (two, both about 14 inches), and most bites were more white bass (probably a dozen landed, total.)  I also caught a couple of perch, which later in the season might be an abundant and worthy target.

And I did see a couple of other walleyes boated during this time, so they were out there.  I also seemed to do best in certain spots, and especially where I was marking fish, so there's certainly some room for me to refine my techniques, should I choose to do so.

It was still pretty rough at about 1:30 PM, and I knew I was at least 30 minutes away from the ramp.  It was time to head in! 

When you struggle with smallmouths and walleyes, white bass can make the day.  This one was just under 16 inches.

What do I have to say about this?

It was a different kind of day!

I've clearly lost my Sea Legs, and I was surprised to feel so queasy.  I guess I've not done enough Big Water fishing, lately.  Despite the small targeted catch, this was a fun day, and I like having a bit of success with new techniques in new locations.  I've got friends that I might bring back.  The spinners and Gulp! will probably stay in the boat with me.

LSC 2017v.2

NumenOn the Water

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.

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!

This fat, 21.3-inch Master Angler smallmouth bass certainly made my day; before 9 AM!

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.

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. 

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.

A couple of eater-sized walleyes ate my green pumpkin tube bait, dragged along bottom for bass.

With the wind still increasing, I moved further west to the shoreline of Selfridge Air Force Base.  This water was not too bad looking, held many of the day's bass fishermen (if only because of the wind), and had a nice weed line in 8 feet of water or so.  I received no bites in here, though.

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.

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!

One last look at this big girl before her release.