St. Clair BFL

[McCarter]

Sounds like you guys caught a touch of the McCarter Curse after using my boat.  I should have warned you to wash your hands after each day on the Skeeter.  Theres only one way to break the curse but it involves a mountain in Scotland, a sacrificial oxen, the roots of a rare red pigmy bush, and a gaelic witch doctor named Liam.  You guys will have to spend some time wearing skirts too.  We call them kilts.  They are nice on hot days.

[skeeterman190]

 Well ill start off with u Brian.. You are a true friend.. Thank u. as far as the curse..haha thats a good one.. not sure i can rock the kilt deal but ill try if it makes things better 4 me right now. Im proud to be associated with u and Nemesis.. a top line company that takes customer satisfaction to another level. They will take care of u no matter what to make your next trip sucessful and enjoyable. The rest of my post might not be so enjoyable other than this to congradulate.Motocross,Seth,and Tim on a good tourney. If you know me personally im prolly the nicest guy you'll ever meet(this is 4 those that dont know me) What happened to me this week is almost unbelievable.. i had motor issues.. i made alot of calls and couldnt get my boat in anywhere around here or even remotely close to here. I live in NW Indiana by Chicago. i shouldve just asked Brian to use his boat again but i knew he wanted to get that side imagining on it.figured if i dont have trim ill just run the river back and waste sometime but w no trim cant run the waves that were out there sat. It was just fun using 2x4s to get my boat in the water..Then i get it in and it fills all of Metro w smoke and oil..seriously if u smoke and put a cigarette in the water you prolly couldve lit the whole bay on fire.

[Firefighter Jeff]

Congrats Moto.  I think you fished with my brother's buddy. I think his name is Curtis.  Larry was telling me tonight how he and Curtis did in the tourney.  I guess you are the co-angler he was talking about.

Sorry to hear about the boat problems, Seth and Phil.  Guess it was a tough time for boats AND tow vehicles.  Larry and Curtis drove up together at 4am Thursday.  I guess Curtis made it as far as Monroe and his tranny gave out.  Guess he had to rent a truck and such.  My brother Larry had problems with his Avalanch on the way home.  A 4 hour trip took 6 1/2.  He thinks part of his catelitic (SP) converter broke off on the inside and was blocking most of the exhaust.  He made it MOST of the way home.  He had to have a buddy come get him and his boat.  Tough to be a tourney fisheman at times....huh?

[motocross269]

Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,

[djkimmel]

Read Brian's great firsthand story about his big BFL win and huge sack of Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass at this thread: http://www.greatlakesbass.com/forum/index.php?topic=6140.0

My favorite Lake St. Clair tube - the Xtreme Bass Tackle Formula G3 does it again!!

[Firefighter Jeff]

Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,

Yes, Larry told me Curtiss was pretty bummed out.  Larry tried to tell him that sometimes that just happens where the co-angler gets the fish, that he should be proud of the fact he was on fish and could have easily won himself.  I don't blame you Moto for worrying about the weather with those fish in the well.  lolol  Congrats

[motocross269]

Yep that is me...Curtiss was great to fish with.....I felt kind of sorry for him after all he had been through, but he was willing to do whatever it took in bad conditions to keep us on fish..I wish the heck we would have known that he would have been only ounces away from cashing a check we would have stayed on our one spot a little longer...I was a little uptight with the weather being the way it was to get in and get weighed,,,,

Yes, Larry told me Curtiss was pretty bummed out.  Larry tried to tell him that sometimes that just happens where the co-angler gets the fish, that he should be proud of the fact he was on fish and could have easily won himself.  I don't blame you Moto for worrying about the weather with those fish in the well.  lolol  Congrats

On the big water it is fairly common for Cos to outfish the boaters...If you look at the results, weights are pretty even between Cos and boaters...Unlike spring bedfishing I really don't think there is much of an advantage..I would say the biggest one though is the guy that knows the area has already patterned the bite.
If a boater pulls into an area that he has worked for a week or better he has a pretty good idea what the fish there will bite...That gives him an advantage over his Co in most instances....

[dashaver63]

Thats true Brian, but if the co pays attention to what the boater is doing, he'll do fine. That happened to me last year when I fished with Mike Trombley. I didn't have the weight he did, but I had enough to finish 6th.

[motocross269]

I remember that....I am sure you picked up alot fishing with him....That is one of the benefits of going as A CO...
I would sure like to draw one of the good Crankbait guys when the Crankbait bite is on...

[DDBethke]

I agree the "St. Clair" crankbait bite is still a mystery to me?

[djkimmel]

I love the crankbait on St. Clair. Some of my biggest weights have come that way. You'd be amazed how often though you get out the crankbait and the person you're with thinks you're weird for not sticking with a tube. I often try both on spots to see what seems to be the best that moment.

The thing about the crankbait is it will often get you the big bite. I recall a co-angler years ago saying, "you should put on one of these finesse worms - I'm killing you..."

He caught 2 or 3 times as many bass as I did. He had just under 13. I had just under 18. I was happier at that weigh in.

Sometimes they don't hit it good or very slow. Other times, they hit it better. Just like any other tool. I mean lure. I use the crankbait to find the schools a lot and switch over when it seems the crankbait bite slows way down or is off. I can stay awake and alert tossing a crankbait. I can barely stay breathing dragging a tube.

[motocross269]

I've installed a Scotty Rod holder on the deck of my boat...It is removable so doesn't bother me during normal conditions...
Alot of times when I am practice fishing I throw a Crank and drag a tube with the Rod holder....If the bite is decent I will bend the hook over on the tube.  It helps to give me confidence that there is fish in the area and to keep trying the crankbait....

[Firefighter Jeff]

Can you guys give me a little heads up on what you mean by crankbait??  That term can include a lot of different things.  One time a fisherman heard I had done well with a pop-r and he called that a crankbait   LOLOL  Anyway to me a crankbait is either with or without a lip on it. Actually lipless to me is a Rattlebait. Ummm and are these crankbaits deep divers or what .... if you don't mind.  I only get to St. Clair once or twice a year, but woul like to put it in my memory bank.  lol  Thanks   Jeff 

[djkimmel]

Fat Free Shad family of lures, Bomber 6A, Bomber 7A, Bill Norman Little N and Baby N

[motocross269]

To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...

[Firefighter Jeff]

Thanks Dan.

To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...

  LOLOLOL  Too funny Brian.

[motocross269]

Thanks Dan.

To me it means...DD22s, DT 10s, and Strike king 5 and 6s...(on LSC)

But I am a mile away from being confident with cranks so my opinion really doesn't mean a whole lot...

LOLOLOL  Too funny Brian.

Sometimes the truth hurts...LOL..

[TCook]

I too am not a crankbait expert but from the time we spent on St Clair last week I would say you need to play around with different baits and different retrieves until the fish clue you in to how deep in the water column, what crankbait, and how they want the retrieve. There is no magic crankbait, different conditions I would think calls for a different crankbait presentation on any given day out there. I will tell you this though always make very longggg casts, you want that crank in the target depth for as much of the retrieve as possible (I would almost spool my chronarchs on every cast). This is something I am determined to figure out on that lake and I cant wait to get out there again in a couple weeks to expand on what I learned last week. Good Luck out there!

[MIBassKid]

Since we are on the topic of crankbaits.  I never know what color of crankbait to use on St. Clair and inland lakes for that matter, so I don't usually throw them.  Im not asking for exact color combinations. Unless you want to give them to me  I just never know what what colors to throw when. Do you throw different color patterns during certain conditions, seasonal patterns etc. I have a whole box full of them but like I said, I don't throw them usually probably because I have zero confidence in them. Thanks in advance.
-Luke

[TCook]

Heres how I tend to make my choices


clear water: natural colors that match the forage you are trying to mimic

muddy water: bright colors usually chartreuse light blue back

local inland lakes: I opt for bluegill or shad patterns (bluegill around docks and breaks or weed edges, shad patterns when targeting bass feeding on balls of bait)

St Clair: Dont have enough days cranking out there to be that helpfull but I been throwing natural colors in sunny conditions and white or white/chartreuse in cloudy and windy conditions with some success.