|
Post by savage912 on Jul 25, 2005 18:27:38 GMT -5
Well, LSC is coming up, last tournament on my club's trail, and I'm holding a slim lead on first place. Trouble is I have never been on the lake with my own boat, at least not since I got something big enough to go out there! I'm looking for ANY help and suggestions I can get. The guy breathing down my neck has been there plenty of times, and I need some basic info, tips, etc. to level the playing field a bit! ;D Thanks in advance to anyone with some ideas about where to start pre-fishing....... I plan to get there as often as possible and fish the Saginaw Bay in between, because it is the closest thing I have to St. Clair that is near me (Saginaw). Are the Bay and LSC very similar?
|
|
|
Post by djkimmel on Jul 25, 2005 21:08:27 GMT -5
They are somewhat similar in that a lot of the bass stay shallow a lot of the time out in the lake. I fish the channels a lot on St. Clair this time of year, but I think they are much more challenging to learn and stay on bass day-to-day and hour-to-hour. If you can fish Walpole and Canadian too, that opens up a ton of possibilities. You could fish the rock bars on Askins Point and out from Pikes Creek on the South shore. I spend the most time in 8 to 11 feet. I've found them deeper, but they are harder to find and move a lot out there. I haven't heard if the rock piles on the Belle River Hump are on yet. Some guys like to fish them and some guys get big bass out there. I get more regular keepers myself so it's not my favorite for tournaments. I've done better on Stony Point following the rock edges, piles, weeds and boulders in 6 to 9 feet along the edge there. I just move along with jerkbaits, traps, stick worms and snapping tubes until I find a group of bass. If you get a sunny day, you can run along the sandbar from outside the Bassett all the way over to Mitchells Bay tossing tubes at every dark spot/weed bed I see. You can move right along even running from spot to spot if it's sunny and clear until you find a group of bass. Catch them good and then move along when the bite slows or you figure the size isn't what you need. Sometimes bigger bass are near by and a change to faster or bigger baits may get them. I just experiment. If you want to give the channels a try, start with the 'X-pattern' which means you fish around every channel marker along the shipping channel. Fish shallow and then try down the drop nearby. Lots of weeds, rock and current to attract bass. You can win when it's on. It isn't always on, and timing and stealth have a lot to do with success. Another edge you can get is using the best tubes that Wayne sells through Xtreme Bass Tackle. They really do work awesome on St. Clair. If you looked in my tackle box, you'd see them all there in the main trays. Wayne helps his customers (you can order toll free: 877-485-2223) and he's on the lake every week checking spots. I have a link to my Lake St. Clair brochure on what tubes I use where on my 'products' page tip - www.greatlakesbass.com/fishing/products1.htm - if you want to read it (MS Word needed) to see what I like to throw.
|
|
|
Post by ronhuntfish on Jul 27, 2005 9:42:55 GMT -5
Just load that big tub up with gas and head for Saginaw Bay. It's all connecting water. You can always make the run to Erie. Any time you need more advice, just let me know. ;D
|
|
|
Post by djkimmel on Jul 27, 2005 9:56:19 GMT -5
I've thought about what guys would say if I won a tournament on St. Clair and said I caught them at the Charities...
There's just too many big smallies in St. Clair to be doing anything that crazy... (and rumor has it there are big smallies in Huron long before you get to Saginaw - but I can't help anyone there - I haven't checked that out much... yet)
|
|
|
Post by savage912 on Aug 2, 2005 18:14:33 GMT -5
Thanks, Dan, for all the suggestions! I plan to go down there this next weekend and have a look around. I talked to a guy at the Classic who claimed he was on bedding fish two weeks ago out there. He was actually a knowledgeable guy and was a rep. for one of the companies, but I don't know. . . . . .
Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions, and if you think of any more, keep 'em coming!!!
|
|
|
Post by djkimmel on Aug 2, 2005 20:13:15 GMT -5
I once caught 2 small keeper smallmouth bass off of beds in a Federation tournament in mid-July in Muskamoot. Long time ago, but as I've said before - bass are successful because they spawn over an extended period of time (and besides, there brain isn't that big either).
|
|