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Date: June 17, 2019 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Walleye and then Smallmouth Bass Time: Launched at 7:30 AM; returned to ramp at 3:30 PM Conditions: Generally overcast with a northerly wind, diminishing over the day from about 10 mph. Water was chalky green and 55 degrees offshore; very clear and 63 degrees on the spawning grounds at Memorial Park; and 65 degrees and stained to muddy in L'Anse Creuse Bay. As I drove to Lake St. Clair, I still didn't know if I was going to target smallmouth bass or walleye. I'd thrown some bottom bouncers, crawler harnesses and Gulp! into the tackle bag; when the bass get post-spawn and finicky, I've been able to rely on off-shore walleyes at this time year to keep the bites coming! But, it's been a late spring; bass were reportedly still spawning; the moon was full; and, I simply prefer bass. I would generally prefer to fish for brown bass! Upon arriving at the the ramp, though, walleye seemed like a better deal. The gray skies, north wind, walleye chop (but not so much as to make the run to the shipping channel too difficult or painful) all seduced me to try the 'eyes, at least first. I'm not much of a walleye fisherman (I'm not crazy about harvesting or eating them), but I do enjoy a peaceful day involving a simple spread of bottom bouncers, a lot of space to roam and plenty of bites. For whatever reason, mid-June walleye seem to drop down from the St. Clair River's main channel to markers 27 and 28 in the shipping channel of Lake St. Clair. I've found them there each of the last several years. Unlike previous years, this time there were no signs of mayfly husks on the water, and the water was a solid 7-10 degrees cooler than similarly timed trips in 2017 and 2018. But, a dozen or so boats had also made the trip out there, so there was at least a general expectation for some golden walleye to be present. I deployed three rods; a bottom bouncer with a small Mack's Smiley blade (silver) with a pinched Gulp! crawler (chartreuse); a bottom bouncer with a more conventional fire-tiger perch spinner dressed with a full Gulp! crawler; and a long-lined crank-bait behind the boat. (I used a variety of slender- and shad-style walleye baits, but none of these ever got hit at the slow speeds I was fishing. This presentation will not be discussed further, here.) I presented these, moving with the current and wind at about 1.0 mph (+/- 0.2 mph) with the electric trolling motor. I started just north of marker 28 and went south, along the east side of the channel, almost down to marker 24. Depths were generally 20-21 feet. The Mack and pinched bait got hit almost immediately, but the Gulp! got stolen from the hook. I re-set with high hopes, but then a lull hit the fleet. It took almost 20 minutes before I got my next bite, and a 15.5-inch walleye was welcomed aboard. I'd prefer bigger; but this size (to about 17 inches) represents the current, dominant year class; and I'm rarely in a position to bicker, when it comes to 'eyes. I'd collected another, 16+ inches and a hefty silver bass before I ended this first drift. I'd seen only one other net; the fishing was not fast and furious, but I was getting my share; I ran upstream to set up my next drift. I collected two more legal-sized walleye on this drift (as well as a tiny 12-incher). I cut this drift short on both ends. One of my fish was on a waypoint from the first drift, and several of the fish had come from a slightly deeper, mapped depression; my third and last drift now focused on this area to a greater degree. It was now about 10 AM, and I was hoping to get my fifth legal-sized "limit" fish by 11 AM; what I didn't expect was for the bite to improve to the degree by which I had 10 walleyes by 11. All but one came on the same silver Mack Smiley combo; for the third drift I'd switched out the traditional spinner harness for a chartreuse Mack Smiley blade. Strangely enough, all but the last fish continued to eat the silver blade. Perhaps color does make a difference! And I still had enough time to go bass fishing! I ran into the Mile Roads, near Memorial Park. Very few people were bass fishing, and many were out in deep (14+ feet) water. All observed appeared to have "low energy". I decided to try my trolling tactics here, switching over to cranks at 1.7 mph or so. I caught quite a few fish in 11 - 12 feet of water. Once again, KVD Flat 1.5 cranks in white perch and sexy shad produced well. At just a short cast back, these ran deep enough to occasionally tick the scruffy weeds emerging from the lake's bottom. In addition to 6 or 8 rock bass (which seemed to definitely prefer the white perch lure, to which they bore a strong resemblance in shape and color) to true trophy size, I landed three bass to 18 inches. I jumped a few bass, too. The 18-incher kept me going; those are the fish I was hoping for. But, at 1 PM, I ran away from these fish (twice in one day? Really?) to go look for more walleyes in L'Anse Creuse Bay's muddier waters. I had to run that way to return to the ramp, anyway, and I figured this was a good excuse to give this newer area (a known community hole, especially with the stained water) a legitimate shot. However, other than finding some nice, deep cabbage patches (waypoints were secured) for future efforts, nothing productive happened by the time I pulled my plug at 3 PM. What do I have to say about this? It really was a relaxing day; a full weekday of fishing with no troubles! It was good to convince myself that I can walleye fish, and it was a pleasure to soak in the peace and quiet of slow, e-trolling in the middle of this lake. I'll get back to bassing when they settle in to their summer patterns. And, my bass cranking rods with 15-pound fluoro make great bottom-bouncing rods! They telegraph bottom conditions and bites, are light enough to be sporting, and have enough backbone to handle all the fish I've encountered, so far! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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