Surrounded
by the Great Lakes - Lake Huron to the north and Lake Erie to the south,
Lake St. Clair is dwarfed in size and legend. However, this lake of 430
square miles of surface area, is responsible for nearly 30% of the sportfishing
catch of the Great Lakes and 50% of all the sportfishing that takes place
in the Great Lakes. It has, over the years, gained a new respect amongst
the 'world's' anglers, making it the 'little lake that could'.
Lake St.
Clair boasts millions of smallmouth and largemouth bass that grow to
an average of 2 lbs.. This large population of North Americas favourite
game
fish thrives by no accident or coincidence. The 'lake' flushes itself
into Lake Erie an average of every seven days, taking as little as
2 days or
as long as 30 days to push the flow from the St. Clair River, through
the Detroit River. This flushing provides plenty of nutrients for the
small
forage fish and creatures that make up the diet of resident bass. It
also helps keep this shallow lake somewhat cooler than you would think,
considering
it has an average depth of only 10 feet with the deepest section being
the shipping channel at 27 feet.
The smallmouth bass fishing is nothing
short of spectacular. Once the summer patterns have settled in, it
is not uncommon to catch upwards of 40 to 60 bass in a four hour period,
with
many days providing more action than that. On our charter operation,
clients (2 to 4) are treated to non-stop action throughout their 6
hour
trip. This
'gamest of all sportfish' gives them all they can handle.
Preferred
Lure
It's hard to argue with the success of the tube bait. Whether
you use a salted tube like a Mizmo Big Boy or scented like Mr. Twister's
Exude, the tube is most popular lure choice in almost all situations
on the lake. Competition is fierce among the bass, with the smallest
most
often beating the largest to the bait. With a little patience, those
four pounders will come to the lure. One way to get to those lunkers
among charter
operators and tournament anglers alike, is to wait until your partner
or buddy has a bass on and near the boat. Almost always, there is another
bass lying in wait for the first one to cough up it's catch and in
most cases it's usually the largest of bass that waits for this free
and easy
meal. Don't disappoint him. Toss your tube out close to your buddy's
fish
and hang on, usually it's just a matter of a few seconds before the
'follower' takes the offering.
In other situations, you'll see the
bass cruise around
your boat at about a depth of four to five feet. A quick toss of
the tube and you have yourself a
four pound trophy.
Preferred Presentation
You can spend all day
running Lake St. Clair looking for productive hit and miss spots or
you can let the
lake come to you. I prefer to let the lake come to me. Using the wind or
breeze push
you over productive areas not only saves gas but lets you present your
bait (the tube) to the large loners that wander the lake in search
of food. This
method
is called the Drift & Drag. Letting your tube bait scratch the bottom, as
a crayfish would, is easily the most popular and deadly of presentations.
If
you know the
lake and have found the bottom structure you're looking for, set up a drift
pattern that allows you to slowly present your bait over the productive area.
Too many
times I see tournament bass anglers use their electric trolling motor over
productive areas. I believe this takes them much too fast over these 'hot
spots', thereby
missing many fish in the process. Take your time. You'll be rewarded for
your patience in not only
quantity of fish but quality as well.
Preferred Equipment
It's hard
to beat the spinning gear of today to make this legendary scrapper even
more of
a combatant. The popular line choice is 8 lb. test with some using 6
lb. or even 10 lb. Brand choice is yours, however, if you use 10 lb.
test line,
try
to use
one of the premium, small diameter lines like Maxima's Perfexion or Berkley's
Vanish. Those of us who fish tournaments welcome the extra strength found
in the small diameter lines. A little insurance is a good thing.
The
spinning rod is usually in the 6 foot or 6 1\2 foot category. A good
glass or graphite
rod
with a fast tip and strong backbone is a great choice. In addition, a
reel with positive anti-reverse is almost a necessity for solid hooksets.
Lake
St.
Clair,
whether you're a weekend fisherman or tournament warrior, it's hard
to find more productive and dream fulfilling water to fish on.
Fish
On!
Tom Morrison,
Sportfishing
Education & Promotion
home office phone: 1-519-776-4261
home office fax:
1-519-776-9715
E-mail: mtm2002ca@yahoo.com mt.morrison@sympatico.ca
Essex County Outdoors website: Tom
Morrison
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