St. Clair Fishing Report

An expert biologist sees a great future for our fishery

The weatherman this weekend calls for highs in the low 90′s but sunny.  As usual, the early morning and later parts of the day will be most productive for anglers on Lake St. Clair.  Another wonderful weekend for anglers on the lake.

According to Captain Dan at Lakeside Fishing Shop, a sponsor of the Lake St. Clair Tourism Initiative, many walleyes were caught in last weekend’s Lake St. Clair Walleye Association tournament.  The largest fish weighed in at Lakeside was 8+ pounds. 

Steelhead fishing in Lake Erie is hot. We are getting reports of anglers catching their limits of steelhead in Lake Erie near Erieau, Ontario.  Fish are as deep as 70 feet.   Here’s a picture of one that ended up on our dinner table.

A Lake Erie steelhead from Erieau, Ontario area

Captain Kevin Backus from Mr. Muskie Charters told us this week that many muskies are down deep and getting tougher to hook.  The weather, and in particular the temperature variability created by cold fronts coming in, going out and coming in again,  has a lot to do with that.  He had a very successful week with many fish being caught and released.  Reach Kevin, Mr. Muskie Charters, at 586.771.8817.

Muskie tournament last weekend:  Lots of 50” fish caught during the tournament.  Most productive spots were from Belle River to the Thames River.  A 54” fish won the tournament.

This is our 100^th post on www.stclairfishingreport.com.  For a professional look at the future, we decided to do a brief telephone interview with Mike Thomas a biologist from the Michigan DNR Fisheries Division at the DNR office at Harley Ensign boat ramp.  We asked about the future of the Lake St. Clair fishery – in particular the populations of walleye, perch, smallmouth bass and muskies.  Here’s a portion of that interview:

Perch are the most popular table fish in Lake St. Clair. How are LSC perch populations doing?  Yellow perch are the most sought after fish overall, including ice fishing, so they are key target fish in Lake St. Clair. Over the last ten years we’ve seen several high recruitment classes so they are very abundant now. The Canadian side seems to be better habitat especially in winter. Perch population is very strong and will continue to be.  Population trends are very good for larger perch which is great for anglers. I look for a strong perch population in the future in Lake St. Clair.

What’s been the effect on the fishery from both the zebra mussel and round goby?   Water clarity has improved due to the zebra mussels. Perch, bass and muskies have benefited from the goby as food. Walleye populations have suffered due to the water clarity the mussels produce since the amount of weeds in the lake has increased and walleyes like that less.  The state of Michigan is always fighting invasive species.  Next up is the Asian carp thing.

What is the future like for Lake St. Clair walleyes?  For many years walleyes came from two places – Thames River and Lake Erie. The Thames River run for many years was a successful run and they would come back and spawn again.  However, the Thames River stock in the early 1990′s was noted by Canadian fisheries people as declining.  No signs of successful reproduction then.  The spawning just dried up in the Thames River area.   We really have no idea why the Thames River stock was reduced.  We suspect the lake environment changed in complex ways.   Mussels have increased visibility and may have been a factor in reducing this Thames River stock. 

So we are pretty dependent on Lake Erie fish migrating north into Lake St. Clair.  Some walleyes stay in the Lake and others go up to Lake Huron.  The Lake Erie stock is variable - up and down. Walleye populations have peaks and valleys over the years in Lake Erie.

Regarding muskies and smallmouth bass, do you see an encouraging population trend for these fish?  Improvements to water quality have helped these fish populations. Mussels and government regulations like the 1970′s Clean Water Act.  These have helped. Lake levels have fallen a bit too. More weeds provide structure which help bass, muskies and perch but not walleyes. The smallmouth bass population is doing fantastic. Catch and release has had huge benefits on bass and muskies. This is a world class destination for both these species. As good as it gets.

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