Lake St Clair Muskie update Many people think of Minnesota when they think of catching Muskie.But what they dont realize is the fact of the matter is Lake St Clair is the top producer of Muskie in the U.S.This small and shallower of the great lakes is teaming with Muskies! Boats have taken as many as 30 in a day and average at least 3 to 4 a day��Muskie fishing continues to be slow for this time of year on Lake St Clair. Warmer temperatures earlier in the fall kept water temperatures up a little more than usual. Consequently the fish have not tried to load up on forage for winter. Cooling temperaturesshould trigger a fall bite !
I grew up fishing mostly for walleyes and perch out of Stoney Point, Ont in the 50's and my dad and his buddies who had some of the earliest outboards in the 10-25 hp range used to fish for Muskies all the time. My dad and even my mom caught hundreds of Muskies every summer trolling Piking Minnows and spoons with feathers way back. My mother's family who started fishing in this area in the late 20's remember the days when sturgeon were commerically fished from Stoney Point in the 30's I believe. My grandfather used to catch Muskies from shore around the weed beds but that was in the late 40's and early 50's. My dad used to Muskie fish off Belle River, Ont and down by the lighthouse where the Tames River emptied out. I remember crossing Lake St.Clair by my self in a 12 foot plywood boat and 10 hp Johnson outboard when I was about 12 years old and there was nothing but weed beds over on the Michigan side in those days. It all started for me on Lake St.Clair in the early 50's with my dad and grandfather so many years ago from tiny French speaking Stoney Point, Ont. I now run a very successful charter fishing business based in Cape May, NJ along with my wife Capt Diana.
Regards
Capt John Sowerby
Last edited by Caveman Sportfishing; 11-19-2008 at 04:04 AM.
Couldn't catch a mess of fish at sea world with a dip net.
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WOW! That brings back memories. I lived on Lake St. Clair from 80-83. I was 10 when we moved to Illinois. My dad was stationed at Selfridge ANG base. I remember night fishing for walleye and day fishing for whatever would bite. Never got to go Muskie fishing, but I'm glad to here about the success of Lake St. Clair. That Kid Rock song has a verse about catching "walleye from the dock" Brings back memories. Thanks for posting.
Lake St Clair has some great muskies. We were averaging 3 per day when fishing. Largest this year was 49 inches weighing in at 38 pounds. All fish were released. Hopefully next fall we will catch the 50 inch, 40 lb. fish. Dwain from London, ON
My grandfather had a service station and they would cut the heads off the Muskies and put a stick in their mouths to hold them open and nail the gills to a board. After that they would cover the whole head with salt and put it out in the sun and it would end up with a head with flared gills and mouth wide open showing the teeth. These were mounted at the service station and some customers would come in and think they were heads of big dogs as they had never seen a fish with teeth like that in any lakes they fished. It was funny but that was back when Cokes were a $.05 a bottle and I saw gas in Detroit at under $.20 a gallon during periods of gas wars. The Muskies got fished out back then and we turned our attentions to Walleyes and perch as the Muskie populations became almost extinct before I grew up and moved on to Salt Water fishing., Glad to hear about catch and release these days as my dad and his buddies used to kill every Muskie for bragging rights and looking back this was total waste but that was a long time ago. There used to be a rumor about a monster Muskie off Belle Island around Detroit or Windsor that was close to 100 lbs and it had numerous lures hanging out of its mouth but no one ever could boat it. Probalby nothing but fiction but my had caught them over 50 lbs quite afew times back then fishing the Canidian shores where there was hardly any fishing competition in the early 50's. We used to kill the Walleyes also with a F-4 flat fish and worm combo and sinker bounced on bottom with many over 10 lbs and bigger plus perch well over 2 lbs fishing the week beds with minows if my memory serves me right. Lake Erie had awesome perch fishing around Lemington, Ont back then also. Best of luck to all that fish Lake St.Clair these days and I still have a map of the lake on my bed room wall that reminds me of my youth fishing the lake with my family who are all gone now but provided life long memories for me.
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