St. Lawrence Advice - Clayton Area....?'s for the experts

[Red Lund]

Hey guys,

I'm headed to the St. Lawrence next week with my 7th grader for the first time for a few days for a father/son fun fishing trip and am fairly clueless as to where to star

Do you have any suggestions on general areas to target between Clayton and the Eastern Basin of Ontario? Not looking for any honey holes, just some community type general stuff to target. Please feel free to PM if better........My base case was to hit random shoals/humps/points from 20-40ft with drop shots.

Any suggestions on areas/depths/baits to use would be super appreciated!!!!

Thanks, Darren

PS - is it only deep water fishing, or can topwater work in the morning/evening?

[Hchamberlin1]

I’m going up tomorrow. Next week is the Elite tournament there so expect to see boats bouncing around all over

[billybas]

I'm going up Saturday but will be fishing the area around Waddington. I will let you know what I figure out. I am fishing with my Son also and our first time up there.

[KandKKustomz]

20 to 40 foot w a dropshot or ned will be your best shot for piggies.

[billybas]

Kevin...Do I look for humps or structure in that depth?...or do I just try locating the fish in those ranges. I appreciate the advice and Thank You!

[Coach Lews]

Humps in 20 to 50 ft is where I'm catching 4 to 6 lbers. Drop shot.

[billybas]

Humps in 20 to 50 ft is where I'm catching 4 to 6 lbers. Drop shot.

Thanks Coach...I will let you know how I make out. I've never been there before but I will be there Saturday, Sunday and Monday

[Red Lund]

20 to 40 foot w a dropshot or ned will be your best shot for piggies.

Thanks so much!!!

I have a couple of dumb rookie follow up questions:
1) what weight are you guys using for a drop shot....I was thinking to use 1/2, but was wondering if that's right?
2) How long a leader are you using with the drop shot....I was thinking 18-24 inches?
3) For the ned, how heavy a jig head are you using and are you using TRDs? Back in the day before TRDs on Lake George in those depths, we used to use 1/4 oz mushroom heads with 3 inch senkos.

Thanks again for all of your help, I really appreciated it!

Thanks, Darren

[KandKKustomz]

You will be looking for humps , electronics are key and are your eyes although you can see down 25 feet lol. On St Lawence you will need a heavier then normal drop shot weight due to current nothing less then 1/2 oz. I like to keep my leader about 12 inches remember the gobies are main forage and are right on bottom. Get yourself some Gajo spirit shads I have not found a better drop shot bait for smallies on St. Lawrence, berkley flat worms work well as well as strike king half shells but the spirit shads seem to outproduce. As far as neds goes the elites had some special pours made last year at 1/2 oz due to current and were able to fish them deep. I only throw the ned more shallow as i cant get anything heavy enough im trying to talk to a company about producing a heavy ned specifically for heavy current situations. there also can be some great and largely ignored greenfish fishing as not many target them. 17 to 20 pound bags of green fish are common however in most tournaments on the river your going to need 25 plus to do anything and the smallies are the focus to do that. The dirty 30 is actually way more common then you think on the mighty St lawrence If your headed up near Waddington the current is crazy.. you will see what I mean. You would think they couldnt stay in that current but thats why when you catch one they fight harder then any smallmouth I believe on earth. good luck have fun and let us know how you do.

[Red Lund]

Thanks again, I really appreciate it. I’ll be up in Clayton, are there any good tackle shops around there that may have The spirit shade ?

[pa.X19]

You could check 1000 island bait store.

[KandKKustomz]

not sure when your leaving but you can order them Will gets them out fast. Last time I had some shipped to where I was staying up there ordered them day before I left. I know there is a store that stocks them up there not sure what one. Can call them and ask super nice people...https://gajobaits.com/

[Jdwelding]

1000 island bait store has the gajos. I stocked up when I was there a few weeks ago.

[Red Lund]

1000 island bait store has the gajos. I stocked up when I was there a few weeks ago.

Awesome, thanks much. Is it the kind of place that we could stop by on our way up with the truck and boat connected, or is parking tight? Thanks again

[Hchamberlin1]

Plenty of parking there. Very easy in and out right off 81. He also has drop shot weights up to 1 oz

[Red Lund]

Thanks again BBC friends for all the help and advice.

This was truly the trip of a lifetime with my teenager and we caught a ton and a lot of big ones......Goby baits like the Gajo's (thanks K&K!) were the ticket with the smaller size catching the majority of the bigger fish.

We caught most of our fish in 25-60 feet on the drop shot, with only a few on tubes and heavy neds. We didn't try shallow, but judging from the Elite tourney in Waddington, it looks like we might have been able to catch them in those depths as well. We didn't have any desire to try shallow as we were having too much fun using the electronics and fishing deep.

Thanks again!!!

[Hchamberlin1]

We had such a good time 2 weeks ago I’m going back next weekend. Glad it was good

[KandKKustomz]

Thanks again BBC friends for all the help and advice.

This was truly the trip of a lifetime with my teenager and we caught a ton and a lot of big ones......Goby baits like the Gajo's (thanks K&K!) were the ticket with the smaller size catching the majority of the bigger fish.

We caught most of our fish in 25-60 feet on the drop shot, with only a few on tubes and heavy neds. We didn't try shallow, but judging from the Elite tourney in Waddington, it looks like we might have been able to catch them in those depths as well. We didn't have any desire to try shallow as we were having too much fun using the electronics and fishing deep.

Thanks again!!!

[NY29T]

Up here right now for the week with my dad. Need to find some dumb ones for sure!

[Red Lund]

Hey guys,

I'm heading up again in the 3rd week of September as was curious how much the fishing changes in terms of depths/locations.

I'm assumption many will start going more shallow as I've seen on the Great Lakes, but not sure about the river.....does the deep bite go away totally, or is there still some fishies to be had in the depths.

Thanks!

RL