I am lookin for advice . I would like to take my son on a great smallmouth trip up north and would like your opinions on time and place ( you can Pm me if you want to keep it quiet) . This will probably be a once in a lifetime trip for us so wanted to make it as special for him as I could . I appreciate those who take time to give me a recommendation . Guess I am still debating on what is more important to him numbers or size but willing to listen to anyones opinion.
Last edited by faithfularcher; 12-29-2017 at 01:27 PM.
Come to Ontario Canada and Hire a guide.
Rob Jackson is a great guy, super knowledgeable.
Shawn.D
2015 Phoenix 618pro w/ 150 Evinrude Etec HO
I would not come all the way to Michigan for a quality smallmouth trip if your coming all the way from Arkansas. If your going to travel that far I would look at Northern Minnesota or just across the Border into South Western Ontario. A lot more scenic and a lot less fishing pressure for bass.
JMHO
Thank you LennyB and ShawnD , I will check on both of those ideas really appreciate the feed back.
Come to Lake St Clair in late May or Early June. I would contact Marcel Veenstra who is a guide and knows the lake. He is a local and knows the inland lakes around southern Michigan also. I would book at least 3 days. It will be a trip he will never forget. You can Google him to find out more info.
Have fun wherever you end up.
if you want to catch a lot of fish and chance at some 5-6lbes - st clair in early may. if you want big ones - get a guide on Burt/Mullet or in the traverse area ( charelovoix, elk/torch, walloon, GTB) - scenery is a little more serene there too lol. Minnesota would be a good bet too. Marcel is probably the guy to talk to for anything in MI as he guides up north also (at least used to). If you're guiding, then i'd give him a call and he can probably give you some options for both.
I second this informationOriginally Posted by dartag1829
Marcel is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he knows how to put you on fish
St Clair has numbers and size and that time of year numbers are not hard to find and Marcel can find the size for you
"The handicapped angler"
Appreciate all the information guys , more than you know !
WORLD class smallies in and around Traverse City area. there are great guides. beginning of june.
You should know that in bee tending if you don't shut your trap the bees will get out.
St. Clair in April/May. The weather dictates if it starts early April or late April. If you hit the right day that time of year it'll be the best day fishing of your life. 100+ fish days and fish up to 6lbs. Marcel is the best guide on St. Clair.
-Matt
I did a once in a once in a lifetime trip to S W Ontario a while ago with a group of buddies and have not missed week in June in 28 years. I took my middle son the year he turned 16 and he has not missed that week with me yet and he will turn 34 this year. We catch a 100 walleyes in the morning, 50 SM in the afternoon and 100 walleye in the evening on two days out the seven. The other five days might be a little slower but not a whole lot. Northern lights, bear, moose, woodland caribou, solitude, eagles, otters and walleye frying in a pan sitting on a rock on the lake. I will not argue about Traverse, St Clair, I'll add the Chequamegon Bay and of course Erie (but big water is a big weather risk). I fish NW Wi. extensively and love Grindstone, LCO, Big Round in the Hayward area and I would add that the Chippewa Flowage is as close to a wilderness Canadian Shield lake experience as you will find with out crossing the boarder. Good luck with your search and I hope your "once in a life time" becomes a family tradition.
Rainy Lake, Ontario. Almost any time of year. SM bass up to 7 lbs.
How was the fishing pressure there last year? It was poor IMO two years ago when I went there in the middle of June. So much bent pool patterning going on.
2016 Tuffy X-190
Yamaha F175, Mercury 9.9
Motorguide 80 lb Xi5
Garmim/Humminbird graphs and Talon
I personally wouldn't recommend LSC in the spring unless you want to play bumper boats and have people cast over your lines every time they see you catch one. Great lake but I avoid it that time of year anymore and would highly suggest northern Michigan or Minnesota.
Grindstone , could you pm me some information on where to stay and what lakes to look at ? Thank you !
i go a few times every spring for the last 8 or 9 years and, while i don't doubt this happens, i've never had it be an issue. I've found plenty of spots out of the crowd and fished in the crowd a bunch too. I will agree if you want to go out and not see anyone else, its not the place to go. But its also huge with tons of places to catch fish. Going on a weekdays seems to help with that a lot. I wouldn't scare someone away from the experience and the potential of the trip for this reason. Its the same if you plan on going to TC and bed fishing on skeg or the bay - you will have to deal with other fisherman but there's a lot of fish to go around and lots of "less popular" places to find them.
Not trying to diminish your opinion or experience - as with most things - when the fishing is good and everyone knows, everyone will be there, just have to do a little more work to get away from them.
I understand what you are saying. I have taken extended June vacations to GTB for 5 of the last 7 years. I did not go last year because of the decline that I noticed. When I started going there in 2011 and 2012, it was the best fishing I had ever experienced. I would go out during the week and see just a couple boats. Weekends were a little more crowded but still relatively light. Then Shaw Grisby and others started doing shows there. It started to get the reputation of being the place to go for a 6 lb smallmouth and there were adverstisements in Bassmaster about it being the best smallmouth fishing in the world. By 2015 the bent pole patterning was terrible on the weekends and it was still pretty bad midweek. I would be in the middle of East Bay and catch a 3 lb bass and I would have 3 guys show up. And you know, in the middle of nowhere. There were so many guys that you could just tell were newbies to smallmouth Great Lakes fishing that would come fish next to you since they didn't really know where to go. Now 2016 wasn't as bad but the numbers of big fish went down. I spent 2 weeks in 2016 on GTB and the biggest fish I caught was a 5 and a 4.3. Lots of 14"-18" fish though. There was a local club tournament on a Sunday and they didn't have a single fish over 4 lbs. They echoed many of my thoughts about fishing pressure, catch and keep, and how the fishing had changed.
Needless to say, I did not go to GTB last June instead opting for a different body of water. So I would not recommend GTB to a friend for a "once-in-a-lifetime" smallmouth fishing trip in June. Sure, there are still a lot of 5 and 6 lb fish swimming in the water but their numbers have decreased or at least the easy ones to catch have gone down. Maybe if you plan on getting a guide everyday it would be different but knowing what I know, I go someplace else.
Last edited by Junk Fisherman; 01-12-2018 at 12:45 PM. Reason: missed word
2016 Tuffy X-190
Yamaha F175, Mercury 9.9
Motorguide 80 lb Xi5
Garmim/Humminbird graphs and Talon
Reply With Quote