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Lake St. Clair bass

6K views 60 replies 24 participants last post by  WALLEYE MIKE 
#1 ·
I'm looking to do some bass fishing this week. Can anyone tell me if they are still on their beds?
 
#13 ·
LOL you bass guys are starting to sound like musky guys. Next thing you know you'll be posting pictures of you swimming with them after release. LSC has more friggen smallies than you could ever put a dent in. Remember guys claiming a year round CNR season would be the demise of the resource? Catch em any legal way you want and enjoy!
 
#14 · (Edited)
That used to be the case for sure, but they are much harder to find and catch now than they used to be. This is most likely due to all of the increased fishing pressure since the lake was given National acclaim as the #1 bass lake in the country. Granted, there are still tons of bass in the lake and when you find the right spot, with the right conditions, it can still be amazing. However, I used to go out and randomly pick a spot almost anywhere and catch 10-20 fish in a few hours just drifting a tube with one rod in a rod-holder, while casting a rattle-trap with the other. When I try that now, I still catch some, but not nearly as many as before. Seems like we have to really work for them most of the time now. 10 years ago when we fished over by the Belle River Hump or other places on the CAN shore, there were rarely any other boats in sight. A few here and there. Last summer we fished over there one Sunday and there must have been 40-50 boats in the area. Obviously that kind of pressure is going to make them harder to catch. Same thing with the canals. 10-15 years ago I rarely ever encountered another boat fishing in the canals. We used to catch anywhere from 5-20 bass per canal. Now almost every canal I go down has a boat or two in them. It's all Al Gore's fault for inventing the internet :) ... and who-ever invented YouTube.

I am still in favor of the C&R season, however, I try to avoid fishing for them while they are on the beds. Just my own opinion, not trying to stop anyone else from doing it. It is certainly your right to do it.
 
#23 ·
Yep, back then everyone was a Bass Pro & thought they could go on the tourney trail with the big boys. Today you have to work for them & when you catch them you can't let other boats see you else they're be on your spot like flies on ****.

I'll find out on Friday if it will be 8 years in a row that these same group of 3 bass boats from Kentucky on their annual LSC trip swarm my little boat with no other boats within 100 yards of me & begin casting at my boat thinking they are dock fishing.
 
#16 ·
The only up-side to our "new reality" is that it has actually made bass fishing on LSC more interesting and exciting to me again. I quit fishing for bass on the lake for a number of years because it was actually too easy. Granted, it was always a challenge to catch 4-5 lb fish consistently, however, we could catch 1-3 lb fish all day like nothing, to the point I was actually bored by it. It was like ho-hum, another 2.5 lb'er. Yawn... Now there are days when I am excited to just catch one of any size, which is good and bad. I just wish my son could experience the lake like it used to be, even for a day or two. When ever I tell him what it used to be like, I don't think he believes me.
 
#26 ·
I had thought I heard that the goby was now in decline on the lake. That would cause bass to be more difficult to catch. Anyone else hear this? Fish are always harder to get after when they are roaming way off shore, rather than kickin it in the shallows eating something easy to locate. I like the thought earlier that "theres so many you could NEVER put a dent in it" when we've decimated fish populations in our oceans that are on a different scale of magnitude to LSC. Havnt we proven by now as people that yes we can screw things up.
 
#29 ·
As the lake went from stained to gin clear, zebras and gobies hepled make St clair a bass haven. It was almost perfectly Orchestrated, a bubble of the countries best bass fishing, now I'm waiting for that bubble to burst. It hasnt Still good and even great fishing to be had. I'm wondering if that state record I saw a few years back is still swimming in St. Clair or decided to make its way to better waters up in huron. Definelty more challenging since #1 ratings and C&R all year. Say otherwise you don't fish enough out on the lake.
 
#32 ·
Years ago in KY the anglers wanted the state to stock bass in a certain reservoir because 'It was fished out'. So they did a study. They had the anglers fish some coves pretty heavily and they caught hardly anything. Then the state went in with electro fishing boats and went over the same water and shocked up bass all over. The result? We know about 2% of what we think we know about fishin...that's why we keep at it.
 
#33 ·
I'm not looking for an argument. I do care...especially since I do release almost all of my bass and almost all of my pike over 30". You ripped me for my "mishandling" of the pike in my picture. Since I do care, I am curious as to what you think I am doing wrong? My hand is firmly against the inside jaw bone and nothing ever made contact with her gills. My left hand is supporting much of the lower weight of the fish. Most every musky and pike picture I see has a hand under the mouth in almost the exact way I have in the picture. That fish was never netted, didn't thrash around in the boat, and was treated with the utmost care as i revived her at the edge of the boat until she swam away looking as healthy as can be. Please enlighten me with a better way to "handle" that fish that wouldn't allow it to thrash all around or rip my hands to shreds.
GoLions, I'm not trying to start an argument either and I am sure you do practice catch and release. But if you see the way Zib and Slimshady support the weight of their big fish with their other hand, that doesn't put so much weight/stress on the fish as when you hold a fish such that their jaw is supporting the fish's entire body weight. I'm not trying to act all high and mighty but it's a similar mentality with bass guys. Just because a bass swims away doesn't mean it's going to survive. These guys boat flip fish and think that's OK but what you're doing is removing their protective slime coat making them susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections. If you catch a trophy fish go ahead and take photos. I almost never bring fish into the boat unless they are PB-sized. I unhook and release them in the water. Unless they're eyes or perch, they go into the skillet.
 
#46 ·
trust me al Linder could care less if the fish he cought were thrown in the prop
He's in the fishing business to make money and money he is making

And look at bass tournies you think they care about the fish lol, all they care about is money.

Anyways if it's legal I could care less I've killed my share of fish but obviously you learn every day how to handle fish. heavier fish I'll tend to hold horizontal it just makes sense to me
 
#35 ·
Lol.To many bass is my thought.Sometimes things change,habitat,food,sources,and so on.Try different baits,locations.I don't fish where I did years ago as the fish moved and then so did I. Fishing pressure is definitely a game changer.The fish are stil there.A couple years ago the bass guys were having a slow day and we were drifting minnows for perch and couldn't keep them off.They are there. One thing for sure with fish and wildlife is there is no balance. The only consistencies is change.
 
#36 ·
There's some real bro science in this thread.

LSC has zero pressure compared to almost any lake in Michigan.

It's an absolutely incredible bass fishery. It's literally insane.

There were some good year classes that filled the lake with 2-3lb fish but I think it's never been better for big fish. I'm remember when everyone was running out of LSC to have a change at winning a tournament.

I think we are a bit spoiled.
 
#38 ·
Careful what you read and consider true. In the link to reducing mortality I laugh at a few things. It says someone /recreational angler taking a picture is worse than a tourney guy filling his livewell and bouncing around the lake loaded with bass. Then the weigh in and release into whatever water lol joke. Another good one from that is the air bladder, most those fish just sink and die instead of you seeing them.
 
#39 ·
The whole slim coat thing doesn't really hold up in warm water species.

We assume it's not good to remove it but it hasn't really lived up to the hype in studies.
 
#40 ·
The whole slim coat thing doesn't really hold up in warm water species.

We assume it's not good to remove it but it hasn't really lived up to the hype in studies.

Coming from the scientist himself, same one that says st. Clair has almost zero pressure compared to other lakes in MI. Do you spend a lot of time in the lab instead of on the boat fishing? Just kidding, tight lines.
 
#49 ·
There was a bass die-off a few years ago that had many canals loaded with dead bass. The DNR originally claimed that it was normal post-spawn die-off then later suspected VHS but I never heard anything further. Also after that die-off there were a lot of smallies being caught that had sunken in stomachs & DNR suspected a lack of available forage fish, mainly from the drop in the goby population.
One of their main forage is perch. Plenty of them out there.
 
#55 ·
It all depends on the area of the lake the bass call home. Most bass I catch in AB spit up perch. Those I catch in the southern part of the lake near the DR & lower part of the shipping channel spit up a lot of gobies. Out in the middle of the lake they spit up a lot of shad.
 
#58 ·
I agree, and am glad they changed it on the US side. I wish CAN would follow suit. It is stupid to have it on one side of the lake and not the other. IMO, any laws against targeting fish out of season are kind of a joke, and almost impossible to enforce. As long as there are some fish in the lake that are not out of season, how can they ever prove what you are targeting. Especially in LSC.

For example, the last time we went walleye fishing w harnesses on LSC, we landed 5 or 6 walleyes, 3 muskies, 2 pike, 6 or 7 smallies, 2 perch, 2 catfish, a couple white-perch, some gobies and several sheep. This happened in CAN and at that particular time, SMB were not in-season yet. Everything we caught went back immediately.

In addition, the biggest walleye caught on my boat from LSC came while fishing with tubes in Anchor Bay mid-summer. I rarely keep anything from Lake St. Clair, regardless of the species. They all go back, and occasionally I will snap a quick photo. For the most part I am targeting the fight and I like the challenge of catching fish of any species. It doesn't really matter that much to me what it is. In fact, I always wonder why people are bummed when they catch a 5lb sheep, yet excited to catch a 2 lb bass. They both get released, but the 5lb sheep will give you one heck of a fight. But I digress...

Regardless, I would definitely fight it if I were ever ticketed for catching a bass out of season. Bogus in my book. Let me fish. Whatever bites, bites.
 
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