Lake St. Clair Bass Fishing Report 04-13-2018, We Beat NE Wind
Fishing Report Wayne Jeff April 13, 2018
This day we were looking at moderate northeast winds, and temperatures in the 40’s on the water. In spite of the easterly wind, we needed to take a look at the southern part of the Lake on this trip. We decided to launch in the Detroit River at St. Jean, then work our way up Grosse Point Shores, as best as we could.
Detailed Forecast, Today: NE wind 5 to 8 kt becoming E in the afternoon. A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Waves around 1 ft. 45 degrees
Plan “A” was to launch at Alter road, but Jeff mentioned the walleye run in the river, so it was unlikely that the small launch would have any spots left. As soon as we got to St. Jean (late…around 10am), it was clear that we were lucky to get a spot at this huge launch.
Caught on 4″ Canadian Mist tube
One pass at Peche Island was all we needed to decide to fish somewhere else. We headed over to the Garwood Mansion flat, worked that and Jeff came up with a nice eating coho (or perhaps young steelhead). You can make the call on that in the following poll.
We made a pass at the seawall on Windmill Point. The winds were hammering that corner, but I know the bass are there early, so we tried. The water there was so violent that our 1/2oz tube baits thrown at the seawall, were moving upstream fast enough as to not touch the bottom. Time to head to calmer waters.
4 lb 2oz smallie caught on blade bait
We sought wind protection from marina seawalls and this is where our efforts paid off. At a point in the seawall with the most wind protection, and the deepest water (8 to 9 feet), we got on an active school of smallies in the three to five-pound class. The first, and biggest bass that we boated was 4 ½ pounds and came on a 4” St. Clair Goby NFT tube. We got a couple more bites, then decided to switch tactics.
We didn’t do so well in our first two outings so a change of tactics was in order. This time I brought along a blade bait. Since buying it about 30 years ago, I hadn’t caught a thing with it. Over that period I have read the stories about blade baits in cold water and have had friends who have done well with them. Why not give it a try?
Right away I hook up with a much bigger smallie. Unfortunately, that coincided with another event where the back of the boat was about to get wrecked on the seawall. Thus, the transition from bass to boat was lost. We continued to boat plenty though, and one was at four pounds, two ounces.
Although the biggest was caught on a tube, the blade bait did the most damage. We did run out drop-shot baits and spybaits, but no luck there. When we got in good position, I did slow roll a deep diving crankbait along the wall and picked up one more.
It was a short trip that day for us. We got the best part of the day in and accomplished what we set out to do. That is, find the smallmouth bite in the coldest water conditions. Looking ahead, the weather looks to be more of the same, so we hope to give that another try and report back to you.
Today’s water temp: 44 degrees
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Category: Bass Fishing Articles, Bass Lake/River Reports, Feature
