Lake St. Clair Smallmouth Bass Guide

The Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass population has long been know to be one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the nation. In the last twenty-five years the introduction of invasive species such as zebra mussels, gobies and rusty crawfish have all drastically helped the lakes smallmouth bass fishing. The zebra mussels cleaned the water in Lake St. Clair allowing fish such as smallmouth bass, which are predominately sight feeders, to hunt much more effectively. On the other hand, the gobies and crawfish both became staples in the diet of Lake St. Clair’s smallmouth bass population greatly increasing the weights of the fish. These environmental factors, combined with the dedication of the lakes anglers to catch and release fishing, have made Lake St. Clair one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the world. Bassmaster Magazine ranks the best bass fishing lakes in the world every year and Lake St. Clair always ends up near the top with several number one rankings.

Catching Big Smallmouth Bass in Lake St. Clair

The amazing bass fishing on Lake St. Clair combined with its lack of structure has made it a prime spot for hiring charters. If you are looking to set up a Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass charter you should expect an amazing fishing experience with both good numbers of fish as well as great size. Smallmouth in the 5-6 pound range are fairly common in the spring with average fish falling around 3 pounds, a truly incredible average for smallmouth fisheries. Along with good numbers and great size, these smallies fight pound for pound better than any other freshwater fish. Additionally, you will notice that when you hook up with them in an open water bowl such as Lake St. Clair, they have even a little more zip due to their extremely transient nature causing them to swim massive amounts every year.

The primary techniques for our Lake St. Clair smallmouth charters at Spencer's Angling Adventures vary depending on the time of year.

Spring Lake St. Clair Smallmouth Fishing

In late April and early May we see the smallmouth of Lake St. Clair move up shallow in a prespawn mode. At this time, we use a combination of faster moving reaction baits or slower moving soft plastics depending on conditions and the fish’s attitude. When the fast baits are producing, we traditionally rely on jerkbaits, crankbaits, swimbaits and rattle traps to get the job done. On the other hand, when we need to slow down our baits of choice are tubes, ned rigs, and drop shots rigs.

As the water continues to warm in later May, we see the bass beginning to bed down. Once this happens, we move in shallower, generally around 3 to 6 foot, and target them using mostly drop shot rigs and ned rigs. These allow us to work over the shallow mossy bottom without fouling our baits. After the spawn takes place, we start to see these Lake St. Clair smallmouth heading to their deeper late spring and summer hunts.

Summer Lake St. Clair Smallmouth Fishing

On most smallmouth lakes around the Midwest when the summer arrives the smallmouth move out of the shallows into deep water making them extremely problematic to target. However, on Lake St. Clair we enjoy an average lake depth of only 13-14 ft and a max natural depth of around 22 ft. This means the smallmouth summertime main lake locations are easily accessible to fisherman. During these summer months we see some of our best action with the springtime fishing crowds gone and tons of open water smallmouth to keep our clients busy. This time of year, we generally rely on drop shots, swimbaits and ned rigs to catch these fish. It is also important to note that almost all the major tournaments you see on TV such as Bass Master’s or Major League Fishing on Lake St. Clair happen from July to September. This demonstrates just how amazing our summertime bite is on Lake St. Clair.

Fall Lake St. Clair Smallmouth Fishing

As the summer begins to come to a close on Lake St. Clair, we see our smallmouth begin to move back to the shallows with the water temperatures cooling. This late summer and fall bite can be one of our best and thanks to other outdoor hobbies such as hunting the pressure on the lake is extremely minimal. These conditions combine to result in some of our best fishing of the season. Generally, in the fall we see the same basic patterns working however with the shallower water environment we often catch a lot of our fish on moving baits such as swimbaits and crankbaits as opposed to slower presentations like drop shots.

Spring And Fall Smallmouth and Walleye Combo Trips

Our Walleye & Bass Combo Charters are one of our most popular options happening in late April to July 1st and then again in the fall from October 1st to November 30th. On these charters, we start in the Detroit River for walleye. Normally this time of year we can get limits, 6 fish per person, of Detroit River walleye pretty quickly. Normally we choose to fish the morning walleye feeding window even after we have our limit however it is always up to our clients how much time they want to spend fishing for each species. Once we finish up with the walleye in late morning, we head back to the dock to put the fish on ice. At this point, it is up to our clients if they want us to clean some Detroit River walleye right there on the dock for an amazing fresh walleye lunch at Sindbads restaurant located at our marina. After that, we head out of the Detroit River and up to Lake St. Clair for some amazing smallmouth action. After these hard-fighting smallies bend your rods for a few hours we head back to the dock where our clients get to leave with their limit of walleye as well as some great memories of the giant Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass they landed.