Went out this weekend and fished The Hammond Marina both inside and outside the wall, BP pump out , and the lighthouse about 1 mile due north into SLM from Hammond marina and had a pretty good day numbers wise but nothing outside of 2 lb smallies. They were chasing Crankbaits and popin ned rigs and drop shot.
The answer is habitat. St clair is an anomaly of north america - a great lakes system that replenishes the entire lake's water in a week or so and is all prime habitat and structure. The lake is covered with weeds, gobies, perch, shiners, crawfsih, you name it. There is a reason it gets pounded with pressure but is a spectacular fishery for numbers and size of all species in the lake. It has nothing to do with stocking or DNR, and everything to do with the habitat.
Southern end of lake michigan is a desolate sand bowl with cold, clear water. It is not a fair comparison and cannot sustain a fraction of the sportfish populations.
Originally Posted by StratosBassin
I would agree with this post. This is very little offshore structure on the southern end of Lake Michigan. Lake St. Clair has offshore structure all over the lake, islands, reefs, and the shipping channel, etc. Lake St. Clair also has grass. Very little grass in this area of Lake Michigan unless you are talking about the harbors, or marinas. With that being said, Lake Michigan is still the best smallmouth fishery we have in Illinois or Indiana IMO.
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I have been trying to craft a similar response but yours is much better
This pretty much sums it up. Lake Michigan has an average depth of 279 feet whereas St. Clair averages 11 feet. So essentially all of Lake St. Clair is good habitat whereas only a teeny tiny fraction of Lake Michigan can support warm water species such as smallmouth bass. As for stocking? It takes a huge effort to maintain a population of salmon in Lake Michigan, stocking bass would be hopeless. Its all about habitat.
Help me understand how to fish lake calumet. I am in naperville area and can't figure out where to launch,park,fish. Do you put in the cal sag and run through a lock to get there or do you launch somewhere closer? Then is it lake type fishing or river type fishing? I am looking for an alternative to braidwood or the chain within an hour of my house. Are the neighborhoods you launch in safe?
Waterfront Pub has a launch (140th and Burnham) which will put you right by the lock. Alsip is a much nicer launch but it is a 30ish minute run with several no-wake zones. Either way, you'll have to stop at the lock. It has taken me nearly 2 hours to run from Alsip to get to Lake Calumet. The Waterfront Launch is $20 while Alsip is $10. Both areas are safe. Waterfront is somewhat rundown and they pretty much gouge you with the $20 fee but it saves you a lot of time and gas. Lake Calumet has areas of deep clear water and a lot of shallow flats with weeds and slops. It has really become a good fishery over the last few years. You need to know how to run back to the golf course in Lake Cal. I suggest watching others and go slow the first time marking the channel. Good luck.
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Depending where you are in Lisle you can be to waterfront well inside an hour. You can also be at Hammond marine in Indiana for traditional smallmouth fishing. As far as running Lake Calumet it was true that you use to need to know how to run back to the golf course but know the water is high so you are safe to run back there just staying away from points and shorelines as a rule of thumb.
I guess I shouldn't complain as I had a 62 Bass day today on the big pond. Nothing huge but a ton of fun. My best 5 went 13
Thanks for the info, I have fisshed green bay a bunch but have just never put in on the big lake in Indiana. Is it safe to say take 80/94 then come north on 41 with the boat? I honestly know nothing about that area. I am assuming then just fishing sea walls and rip rap with traditional SM stuff? 60 smallies is a nice day.
80/94 to calumet ave north. All the way to the lake. you will run into the casino. The ramp is on the west side of the casino.
just saw this question. I usually go out of waterfront marine. sometimes i will go out of alsip if i'm feeling cheap.
They did raise the price at alsip to $10 though. and waterfront is $20
Someone was talking about launch ramp prices. Actually the Beaubien woods boat launch and the little calumet boat launch are both free. I personally wouldn't feel safe leaving my truck at Beaubien, but it might be fine, i've never used it. I did check out the little calumet launch once, it seemed ok but looked very shallow and a log was blocking the ramp when I went.
Little Calumet launch?? Where is this?
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