Joe Balog
Fishing Pro
Lake St. Clair Living
Update 03-22-10

 

For the few fishermen utilizing the lake right now, the goal is often crappies. As we all know, the Detroit River offers perhaps the areas greatest walleye run in the spring, and the St. Clair River is a main destination for 'eyes in April. But right now, right out of the box, if you're after a decent catch for dinner around the lake, crappies can be your best option.

Crappies spend most of the late winter period in some of the deepest water and basin areas of most lakes. What makes Lake St. Clair unique is that those deepest, basin areas are often marinas. One quick look at a lake map will show you that, in many areas, man- made, dredged marinas and boat basins provide some of the deepest, most stable areas. A case in point: the Metro Beach complex. Combine that with migration of shiners and other minnows into the canals / seawall areas, and we have the makings for a crappie "honey-hole". In general, when compared to southern reservoirs noted for crappie fishing, Lake St. Clair does not have a large population of crappies. But some decent fishing exists in the marina areas in the spring. This time of year, crappies will be in large groups, often in the "basin" or open water areas of large marinas, or perhaps near deeper seawalls. The best depths will be the deepest areas – six to ten feet. As the spring progresses, pushing the crappies toward their late April spawn, better areas will be shallower, around docks, pilings, and shoreline rocks.

Hot areas to target: Beacon's cove, the entire Metro Beach canal complex, Belle Maer and MacRays boat harbors. Overlooked areas: the weedbeds around Gino's Surf on the main lake in 4 to 8 feet of water, or the adjacent boat docks.

Fishing methods: Light to ultralight rods with four to six pound mono. Try light slipfloat set-ups with live minnows to start, flowed by small 2-3 inch plastic curly tails and tubes rigged on 1/32 ounce lead heads later in spring.

The real key: move a bunch. I use a little Minn Kota trolling motor on my duck boat this time of year to hit the harbors – it pushes me around quietly, and I can "run and gun", so to speak, to find the big schools.

A couple more things to remember: The limit for crappies / panfish on Lake St. Clair is 25 fish daily. Also, when fishing around boat and docks, DO NOT bump into the boats, and DO NOT break your line if snagged on the docks, boats, etc. Slowly motor up and retrieve the bait. Nothing angers boat owners more than to come down to their dock and find fishing line and broken off hooks or lures.

Good luck!

Joe Balog

 

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