|
Date: May 15, 2019 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Guide's 23-foot Ranger Bay Boat With: BL and Guide Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM Conditions: Mixed sun and clouds, with temps rising from about 50 to about 75 degrees F. Winds were generally southerly to about 12 mph. Water was mixed, too, and ranged from about 50 degrees (especially early in the day) to about 54 degrees F; clarity varied, too, from about 2 feet visibility to over 6 feet in the southern portion of the main lake. The day started with my first car-deer collision. I was barely 15 miles from home when she presented herself at the side fringe of my headlights. It was over before I could react. I pulled over to the highway's edge and inspected my truck. Despite considerable damage to my left front and left side passenger door, the lights were all functional and I could not identify any damage that would prohibit driving the truck. After a few pics at the scene of the crime (Mile 123 on east-bound I-96) and a quick call to my insurance company, I continued on. After all, I had a lot of fish to catch and many miles to cover; this trip to Lake St. Clair was simply Day 1 of my trip to Cape Cod to pick up the new boat and score some early-season stripers. I joined good friend, BL, on a guided trip out of St. Clair Shores. It was wonderful to simply step on another boat, pick up a rod, and fish all day, leaving the decisions and control of the boat to somebody else. The guide proved to be an enjoyable companion, too. I got exposed to new areas of the lake, and I found that he was fishing areas as opposed to spots; and also that his days vary, and there are specific windows of opportunity with each day. We started in a bay around 10 Mile Road, focusing on 7-11 fow. I threw a small paddle-tail swim bait, the guide worked a tube, and BL scratched Ned along the bottom. All baits, interestingly, were typical LSC green in color. That means something, for sure! The guide warned us that the mornings had recently started slowly, but he almost immediately caught two 15- or 16-inch smallies. It was nice to see some action right off the bat, but in the next hour or more, we had only a few bites. I caught the first silver bass of the season aboard his boat (the first of several I caught for the day) on the swim bait, and I caught a 16-inch or so smallie on the deeper side of our range. Our guide had prepared me by telling me to resist setting the hook until the rod loaded; and this worked perfectly for this lone smallie. I noticed a jerk-bait setup on his deck and asked to try it, if only to keep the bass honest with periodic showings of this presentation. I almost immediately got bit on his natural-colored Lucky Craft pointer, but farmed this fish out out. I did, however, score a nice 17-incher a few minutes later. But these weren't the fish we were looking for, and we were soon off to Gaukler Point. The water here was the most stained we fished for the day, and there were many boats fishing this community hole. We concentrated on new-to-me water here, mostly to the north of the point and inside the bay to the north. We avoided most of the other boats. I quickly connected with my jerk (now a naturally-colored Lucky Craft Pointer 110 Deep Diver), and I hardly put the jerk down for the rest of the day. I caught a half dozen to over 4 pounds (4-4) pretty quickly and completed my five-fish "limit" with about 15 pounds by 10:30 AM. The day was shaping up, and even BL picked up the jerk to score a couple of 16-inchers. From here we moved sequentially south along Grosse Pointe to south of the Delphine Channel. This was all new water to me, and I liked it, in part because I remained the hot stick. There appeared to be more boulders and reefs in these areas. While the bite slowed, I caught a couple of more 4-pounders, several 3-pounders, and lost a legitimate 5-pounder at the net, all on the jerk. We ended the day with 20 landed bass, of which I had accounted for 14 or 15. I'd also lost several at boat side, and had swung and missed a few times, too. My Top 5 would have weighed 18.5 pounds, conservatively; Lake St. Clair had provided another fine day! What do I have to say about this? This was an enjoyable and successful start to my trip. I learned that "the pros" are not totally on top of them all of the time, but that with effort, perseverance and a variety of presentations, you can get the bites to add up on this lake, if you are in the right areas. Strangely enough, the next day's bite was reportedly all on tubes, and at about double the pace; jerks did not factor at all. And the report for the next day was a much slower bite, with jerks playing a bigger factor; one never really knows! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly