Online Spring Lake St. Clair 'Seminar' for the New

[djkimmel]

Here's a high level online spring Lake St. Clair bass fishing 'seminar' for those of you interested - I want everyone to catch bass and have fun:

If you're a customer of Wayne Carpenter's information site, you can get detailed fishing reports from FishingSpotSpecs.com or Marked Maps Live. Take a look at the sample report on FishingSpotSpecs.com. You can get some information on these products from BasstotheFuture.com blog.

For an easy online method to check the general areas I will mention here, go to MarineCruiser (www.marinecruiser.com) to his interactive map of Lake St. Clair. You can get live waypoints from the online map using your mouse pointer. We'll be launching from Harley Ensign MDNRE ramp at the end of South River Rd in the Clinton River basin. This is approximately the lake end of the Clinton River 42 35.64 82 45.71

Mile Roads (west shore south of Metro Beach)
Not always good early, but will be at some point in the spring, the Miles Roads fishing starts around 14 Mile Rd out in front of the big block 400 Club Apartments. I don't fish there a lot except maybe when the mayflies start hatching. It still seems to be affected by the Clinton River Cutoff muddy water at times. This is a softer bottom flat with some spawning but maybe more mayflies hatching later because of the softer bottom.

The spot I often fish this time of year is a out in front of Memorial Park at the end of Masonic Blvd. They are putting up the white tent covering over the frame now out on the little peninsula. You can see a blue sea wall from the south here, but this is not THE blue sea wall. This is a great spawning and feeding flat with weeds, and lots of gravel and rock. You can fish from the first rock drop in 3 or 4 feet of water out to 9 1/2 to 10 feet. Most of the good fishing this time of year is often 6 to 8 feet. Bass are scattered all over. Masonic is the halfway mark south of 14 Mile Road to 13 Mile Rd. 42 31.317 82 51.54 just an approximation of the area.

I like 12 Mile Rd area a lot approximately out in front of the VFW Hall - a long, low brownish building, south of Memorial Park 1.5 miles. Lots of gravel bars, scattered big rocks and a few big boulders. Bass will bed here from the shallow water out into 9+. Most people fish 6 to 8 feet or so. I look for schools and non-spawners out a little deeper sometimes.

THE blue sea wall is at 11 Mile Rd just north of the big peninsula that juts out in St Clair Shores. You can miss it. Lots of gravel runs, weeds, scattered rocks of all sizes and some big boulders. Bass bed from 3 feet or so out past 9 feet. Along all the Mile Rds some bass spawn 9, 10, 11 or more feet, but a lot of bass out there are also schoolers, prespawn, postspawn and nonspawners taking advantage of the waking food chain. You can sight fish on some days from 3 past 8 feet (even more with perfect water conditions). But there's always more bass out there not on beds too.

From 11 Mile Rd north to almost 14 Mile Rd you'll see bass boats lined up on goods days. Sometimes I pick an opening and line up with them, but often, I'll choose to move inside, or more often farther outside than the bulk hoping to get on something a little different. Especially if I don't see everyone fighting bass often.

You can find bass out from 10 Mile Rd - it's a little different than the flats from 11 Mile north though. Not quite as easy. Then there's the huge bar out from the 9 Mile Tower Apartments - you cannot miss that building. Tallest on the lake. I like to fish from there south a from about this time of month and later in the season. Just seems better to me later in the month more often though you can sometimes really whack them on the bar. But the bar is HUGE (1.5+ miles long). Lots of rock bars to try and sometimes it takes a while to find the sweet spot. It helps when you can see them and gets harder to real hard when you can't see the bars. Some of the bars are shallow but you shouldn't hit them unless the water is much lower than I've heard. In general, just don't run over any visible bars until you know for sure they're safe.

The big land point just south of 9 Mile Rd is Gaukler Point where the Ford mansion is. Don't cut that point close inside of the marker at the south end of the 9 Mile bar. You can hit there. Just stay out 400 yards or so. There's some great boulders and gravel bars up on this flat from the Ford mansion south that can be good. It gets much rockier from here on down and there are some hazards in closer to shore. There are many, many good spots from here south to the Detroit River that get better often later into May and early June.

Describing many of these would require a book (which I feel I'm already approaching). Marinas, icebreaker pilings, rock bars, troughs, the Delphine channel (huge manmade dredged channel from the shipping channel into shore just south of Grosse Pte Club dug by the Dodge family for their famous yacht - the biggest on St. Clair at the time early last century), boulders, more current the farther south you go. There are hazards if you run too close to shore. Stay out 400 yards or so and you are generally safe (7 to 8 feet or more).

The fishing is much more spotty south of Gaukler so if you don't know it well, I suggest you save time and gas and stay from the blue sea wall north. There's a lot of bass on those big flats.

Look for clearer to slightly stained water this time of year anywhere along the west shore.

Huron Point / Clinton River
Closer to Harley Ensign, you can fish largemouth bass up into Black Cr (the channel back to the Metro Beach basins) in Huron Pt to the south. You can also catch a bunch of largemouth bass often along the seawalls going back into the bay from Black Cr north towards the Clinton River.

Belvedere Bay
Just north of the Clinton River is Belvedere Bay. Sometimes the bass fishing can be real good across that flat, channels and slight drop off. If you go out the side entrance from Harley Ensign don't take a sharp left around the first sea wall without being real careful. There's a serious, solid hazard there, but you should not be running there. If you look on the chart there you'll see 'Subm piles' and see a wavy rectangle to the left of that. DON'T HIT THAT!! OUCH!! You can fish along there, but it isn't often one of the better largemouth spots.

Anchor Bay and Canals
Better is to run out around the next point to the north (do NOT cut that point close - shallow and hard - stay out 300 to 400 yards to be safe) into the south edge of Anchor Bay. You'll see several marked channels going into Mac and Rays and other marinas. There can be some good largemouth bass fishing up in there. Big channels you can fish all day. Out a ways around these channels you can sometimes get into the smallies. Sometimes real good. Just remember the edges of the marked channels are pretty shallow and there may be some tuna boat traffic in and out. You must let them through and many of them will be running. Don't block them. You cannot make them have to leave the channel.

Anchor Bay can be real good this time of year for big bass. As Skip mentioned, the water clarity can make it good or bad, especially if the water temp drop and gets muddy. The channel to Selfridge MDNR ramp is about at 42 37.77 82 49.072. From out in front of there back towards the point at the north edge of Belvedere Bay is a huge spawning, feeding flat. Tons of water and many dead spots, but their are slight troughs, gravel, weeds, some rocks and various odds and ends. I often fish out from Selfridge channel in 4 or 5 feet of water out to 6 or 7 feet for big smallies this time of year. You might not get a bunch, but you can get toads like the 5-6 I caught during last years DK Open there. In general, stay in 5 to less than 7 and keep moving to the SE until you catch some bass. You should see other boats scattered all over the flat here.

There are spots farther north, but it gets spottier again. Out from some of the points north there are a few hazards. Again, stay out 400 yards or so and you are generally safe. Reading a good chart does help. There are some really good canals from the Salt River north. Big and deep. Some big largemouths. The only problem is the channels in are small and shallow. And may not be marked yet this time of year. You need to go slow and careful to get into them unless you know exactly what you're doing. You can fish some of them all day though and catch a bunch of bass. I really like the one just north of the Salt River. Just be real careful getting in. Plenty of depth once you're in there. There's a south side and a north side you have to get into either from the lake side. Only small tubes connect them. I don't think you need to go north of there this time of year.

Goose/Fisher, Big/Little Muskamoot Bays
Across the lake from Harley Ensign are the famous bays. Goose Bay is straight across from the Clinton River behind the end of the Chenal Bout Rond (or the Sni). The problem with these bays is that they are HUGE. There's a lot of dead water and many, many hazards. There are changes in these bays every year in parts due to new objects becoming hazards and bottom changes due to wind and current. There are bass that spawn in them, but there's a lot more dead water than good water. If you're adventurous and want to waste time going slow, you can try them, but be very careful. You may not find the bass real good. They can be real shallow, so more susceptible to bad weather than the open water bass are along the Mile Rds. One day the bays can seem on fire and the next they can seem like sterile water.

I like fishing them, but I will show you the chunk out of my prop from the last time I tried to put on plane in the wrong spot in Goose Bay. And I've fished back there quite a few times. There is a car body in the middle of Goose Bay so it isn't just the shoreline that is hazardous. I may go back in part of it if it is sunny, bright and warming. Otherwise, I will be sticking to either 11 Mile to Masonic, or Anchor and Belvedere Bays.

As I said, if I stay out in the lake, people can follow me. I have not been there yet, but it similar every year. Ask me if you have more specific questions. And of course, check the fishing reports for Lake St. Clair on this forum too.

[Firefighter Jeff]

Wow Dan, thanks for taking the time and the effort to post this helpful information.  I remember seeing that a couple of our members are getting out to fish.  Looking forward to what they have to say about the water conditions and the bite.

[billy8878]

Wow. Thanks for all the tips fishing St. Clair. Wish I could be there this weekend but I have to work. I will give some of these spots a try next weekend. I was always wondering exactly where to fish for the smallies. I am more familiar with the Harsens Island side. I never knew there was a car in Goose Bay.

[djkimmel]

Wow. Thanks for all the tips fishing St. Clair. Wish I could be there this weekend but I have to work. I will give some of these spots a try next weekend. I was always wondering exactly where to fish for the smallies. I am more familiar with the Harsens Island side. I never knew there was a car in Goose Bay.

I have a waypoint for it with a skull and bones icon... considering how close I ran to it the very first time I saw it! Don't have the waypoint handy, but most fishing boats can probably make it over it on plane. There's some old lines on from tuna boats I'm guessing. Far as I know it is still there. I just steer a couple hundreds yards clear of it now.

I noticed one of the old car frames in the North Channel on a flat near that marina that begins with an 'S' (darn memory) appears to have been removed after being there for quite some time.