A-Jay

Thanks ~ good luck with the fishing and the Brake job . . . . A-Jay

Guess so - that's OK with me I went out again today - in the rain - and the jig did a little damage 8-) A-Jay

Even though it was Killing me, I waited the whole weekend until the darn thunderstorms blew threw before I headed out. Finally wet a line yesterday ~ to my delight ~ the jig bite was hot. No mutants but not bad considering there is still some snow on the ground A-Jay

DH, What a Tremendous Fish ! I'm sitting here just shakin' my head . . . . WOW ! A-Jay

Are you a U-PER? No but very close. A-Jay

Big fan as well. I really like the ability to hang the rods and reels for storage between trips. A 2x3 and a handful of nails ~ now even I can manage that one. A-Jay

Welcome aboard, You are going to love it hear, this site is tremendous. I am also a fellow Michigander living up in Otsego County. The majority of our family lives down state, both east and west. I'd like to thank you in advance for your very generous offer of river fishing. My main stay small mouth waters are lakes so a jet boat river trip would be a cool change of pace. I might be taking you up on this. Maybe all those early summer weddings this summer down state won't bite into fishing time after all. A-Jay

Great Fish ! It's not very often that an x-rap is a one fish wonder I've always want to do a Dourado trip ! Congrats A-Jay

Living in Northern Michigan presents an interesting selection / collection of species options. Even though the open water fishing season is fairly brief as compared to most of our more southerly located fishing brother and sisters, so many of my local lakes include a very nice list of assorted game fish to chose from. The regular panfish choices including white and black crappie, assorted sunfishes and some very decent yellow perch are almost always available. But often times I am fishing in water that produces both Large and Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike as well as Muskie and Tiger Muskie. It is very cool when one of these "non-target" species ends up in the net. It it also a bummer to get bit-off - especially when you're throwing a bait you're not particularly fond of losing :'( So Yes, I am definitely a mutli-species angler - although most of the time the fish make that choice for me........ 8-) A-Jay

Cool -thanks - that was complements of the Michigan DNR website. St Clair is another one of those incredible fisheries we in the North country are so lucky to be blessed with. On the other hand, there are just so many little Lake St. Clair like waters around here - you could fish a different one every day and it would take you the better portion of a fishing season before you fished the same one twice. Now once the season opens, we just need the weather to cooperate a little and life will be good. A-Jay

I haven't decided just where I'll start out on Saturday. Of course The SNOW we got yesterday and The Snow we are getting Right Now probably isn't helping anything at all . . . . . : A-Jay

Here's some info . . . LAKE ST. CLAIR Lake St. Clair is a tremendous smallmouth fishery and is no secret to locals, but on a regional or national level, it gets overshadowed by Lake Erie. That's a shame because it'll produce super catches of smallies. Paul Sacks (248/819-3192) is a well-known local bass angler. He believes that while St. Clair may not be producing the big fish it once did, the numbers are fantastic. And he is quick to point out that there's more to the big-fish story than meets the eye. Some of the reduction in average size is due to the changing environment -- clearer water, proliferating weedbeds and gobies for forage. It's not that the hogs aren't there. It's that anglers haven't caught up to their changing habits. Once the anglers learn to adjust to the new conditions and new fish movements, the story is likely to be different, very different. When talking about big fish, it's important to keep in mind that everything is relative. Sacks referred to a time when most big tournaments averaged 5 pounds per fish. They now average closer to 4 pounds. That's smaller, no doubt about it, but it's nothing to turn your nose up at either. Smallie anglers across the country would die for a 4-pound average. Nonetheless, Sacks points out that good catches of smallmouth bass can be had by anglers fishing any of several spots on massive Lake St. Clair. Early in the summer, his top choices are the mile road endings. They're a series of roads that run up to the lake and then drop off out into the water. The ones from Eight Mile Road to Sixteen Mile Road are the most productive. Start where they end at the water's edge. Work your way along, concentrating on 3 to 16 feet until you find active fish. Sacks doesn't think there's much difference in any of the road ends. More important than which one you fish is how you fish it. He strongly recommends anglers follow the roads out and fish both sides carefully and thoroughly at various depths. "That's the only way to be successful," he said with conviction. Don't neglect the weedbeds along these old roads. They're a relatively new phenomenon and many anglers fail to appreciate their importance. At times the smallies will be found cruising around the outside edges, while at other times they're buried inside the thickest, heaviest weeds they can find. Either way, the fish are frequently there. On the roads or in the weeds they'll hit all the usual weapons -- tubes, grubs, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits or deep-diving crankbaits. Choose lures that match the hatch. Those between 4 and 6 inches long in goby colors are top choices. Early and late in the day or when it's overcast, give buzzbaits a shot. The fish don't see a lot of them, even during the height of tournament season. On most days, smaller sizes usually work best but don't fall into the trap of believing that smallmouths only bite small lures. That's just not true. They're predators. Sometimes larger bait will get their attention. There are a number of long rocky points in the immediate area. Fish them if the bite is slow along the roads and weeds. They'll fish much like the roads, so use the same lures and the same tactics. Later in the summer or if the weather is particularly hot, try the dropoffs and substrate irregularities around the main channel. Sacks recommends concentrating your fishing time up toward Lake Huron. Jigs, gold blade baits and goby-colored tubes are all successful. Dennis Belz (586/286-3523) is another well-known local bass angler. He agrees with nearly all of what Sacks had to say about St. Clair. He emphasizes, however, that anglers need to understand that St. Clair is a different body of water than it was several years ago. Location is more important than any particular technique or "secret" lure. "It's different," said Belz. "Clear water, lots of weeds. You've got to pay attention and adapt," is how he analyzes smallmouth bass fishing on Lake St. Clair. A word of warning from Belz: keep your head up and stay oriented when fishing the Michigan waters of St. Clair. It's easy to get careless and end up in Canadian waters or perhaps Native American Reservation waters. This can be an expensive mistake, very expensive. Each area requires a special license. Some areas are better marked than others. If you're not experienced, buy a good map and pay attention to your GPS. Belz recommends Fishing HotSpot Maps (1-800-500-MAPS). He stated firmly that the maps are accurate, reliable and will help keep you out of trouble. If you're fishing early in the year, be aware that the seasons vary widely from one jurisdiction to another. Make sure you know when it's legal to fish for smallmouths. The Michigan season, along with all the pertinent rules and regulations, can be obtained from the Michigan DNR's Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr. A-Jay

Check out Cortland's Toothy Critter Leader material http://www.fishwest.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CD32TOCR This stuff is a very nice option (but a little pricey). Clearly designed for fly casting however makes an excellent tie-able and manageable leader. Can be used in front of mono, fluorocarbon and braid. Uni-knot to uni-knot works well. A-Jay

4 Days and Counting . . . . . Oh Boy ~ I can hardly contain myself . . . . . A-Jay

If your rod and reel is very "Tip Heavy" in your hand, or your reel is way overly heavy - especially in spinning tackle - your strike detection could suffer. I'll take a set up that is balanced correctly over one that is not. And "Balanced correctly" might be a little different for everyone, and I think it differs from technique to technique. As previously mentioned, line choice is an important portion of the Sensitivity equation. But, why is it that the more the tackle costs $$$ - the better it seems to balance ? A-Jay

Gatorade and a couple of Cliff Bars - the carrot cake is my favorite Cliff bar flavor, although the chocolate brownie ain't half bad. The Cliff bars are good to go regardless of the season - they don't melt in the heat and won't freeze in the cold - but the really cold ones are a bit of a dental challenge. As mentioned, hydration is important but so is dehydration, sometimes I have to use the Gatorade bottle a second time . . . . A-Jay

I've been very satisfied with the performance of this Minn kota model. http://www.minnkotamotors.com/products/battery_chargers/portable_chargers/mk110p.aspx A-Jay

I've been a Rattle trap fan for a very long time. Last season I had some good fish on XCalibur's One Knocker. And this year I am Really looking forward to fishing the The Flatt Shad 77 SU from Sebile. It weighs 1/2 oz and has an almost neutral buoyancy. It suspends about 2-3 feet under the surface. It really will not sink or dive much deeper than that. The 77 SU is the only Flatt Shad model designed for fishing over submerged weedbeds and through the tops of brush. Although I haven't fished it yet, working it through shallow brush or shallow grass cover could be good. It will not sink or dive too deep, and you can stop reeling to suspend it motionless right in front of a fish's face - - - That just sounds too Good ! A-Jay

AAAARRRRRR! ! ! ! ! ! ! If it doesn't stop SNOWING soon - - - I'm going to SNAP ! ! ! ! ! ! It IS APRIL, Right ? > What the heck ! A-Jay

Same here - I did see the BR Ad - very cool - But no weigh in video is @#$%^&&* Bogus ! A-Jay

I fish entirely out of my canoe - should you get one - Well Yes - especially if you have access to good "canoe" waters and you will definately like it better than casting from the bank All of the info provided here already is excellent and should not be taken lightly. As for aluminum or fiberglass - there are pros and cons for each - like anything - aluminum is lighter but may blow around a bit more - fiberglass is pretty durable but usually a bit more $$. I fish from an old Town Predator (square back canoe) it is over 40 inches wide and very stable. It's heavy as canoe's go but it works very well for my needs. I have it rigged out with a trolling motor and I also have a cart which enables me to get into places not readily accessible to the vessels that need a ramp of some type to launch. This is The single best attribute of this kind of set up - if I chose I can go where there are usually only Bank fisherman or hardly no one I have found a few little places where the general consensus it "that place is fish out" - sometimes that is not the case . . . . I don't think this has been mentioned yet - but small boats like canoes allow you to be fairly quiet ( if you try that is) you can really snuggle up to fish even in shallow water. By adding a section of indoor/outdoor carpet to the floor/deck of your canoe you can make it even quieter - especially aluminum which is very unforgiving as far as amplifying all sounds made in the canoe - Hope that helps - you might want to go to the Bass Boating, Canoeing, Tubing and more section and do a search for the same topic-You will find all kinds of info many of us have learned - some of it the hard way A-Jay

Great Tip ! and I've got plenty of time on my hands . . . . I also recently switched from a 2" tall storage box to this plano 3771 Size: 14"L x 9.13"W x 1.38"H The thinner profile is great for placing only one bait per compartment and yet the box is so thin I can also get in a couple more boxes adding to almost the same number of baits in the tackle bag. And it is definitely less of a hassle - especially during night operations . . . A-Jay

Yea, I think it sounds very tempting . . . .but I bet eventually I'll get a reel that I might "Forget" to send back - darn bait monkey strikes again . . . . . TW might be smart to hide a tiny little monkey in the packing - sure wouldn't hurt sales any 8-) A-Jay

Logger - I believe that this lake does not provide any public access which may be why there is little mention of it. Check your PMs A-Jay