Gone fishin' - this is our last post

Several of you have written to ask why you have not seen any weekly fishing reports lately.  The answer is that the group I was doing the reports for, the St. Clair Tourism Initiative, did not renew my annual contract to write the reports.

So after two years, 123 posts, numerous videos, and several nice comments from readers like you, this site is out of business.  For up-to-date fishing reports I suggest you call Captain Dan and his reliable crew at Lakeside Fishing Shop in St. Clair Shores located at Ten Mile Road and Jefferson Avenue.  Their phone number is 586.777.7003.

Goodbye and tight lines.  And please, do your best to protect our wonderful, precious Lake St. Clair fishery.

Lev Wood, Editor

Clinton River near Yates Park

Today was the second annual steelhead fishing tournament sponsored by the Clinton River Watershed Council.  The tournament was held at Yates Park and is designed to create awareness for the annual steelhead run in the river that ends 32 miles upstream from Mt. Clemens at the Yates Dam.

After three and a half hours of fishing egg-sucking leeches and egg flies in various runs and pools upstream and down from the Avon Road bridge, my partner latched into a fine steelhead.  The fish gave him several vigorous headshakes and a big acrobatic jump at which point the 6-pound leader frayed and the fish was gone. 

“I can’t believe I missed him,” moaned my partner.  But sure enough, that fish was gone – our only hook-up of the day.

We and eight other anglers had a great time in the river which was slightly higher and a bit murkier than earlier in the week due to yesterday’s rain.  The fish were there but difficult to see and even tougher to hook and land.

Anglers at Yates Park will soon benefit from a soil and bank erosion control project the Watershed Council will lead.  It was announced last week that this project was the winner in a nation-wide vote held by the River Network and MillerCoors partnership for clean water.  Read more about the project and the award here.

Steelhead on Clinton River

 The 2012 Clinton River Steelhead One-Pattern/Lure Tournament is at Yates Park Saturday, March 31. Registration begins at 8:00 and fishing begins at 9:00.  Anglers are allowed to fish one lure or fly pattern all day.  Please also attend the Friday night March 30 dinner gathering at the Rochester Mills Beer Company.  Featured speaker is Jim Francis SE Michigan biologist who will speak about the steelhead run in the Clinton River and how it has improved.

To pre-register or for more information call the Clinton River Watershed Council at 248.601.0606.

Here’s a short video made this week by Channel 4 WDIV-TV.

We need your help to win! The winner will be chosen through an online voting competition; the finalist with the most votes will win a $25,000 grant, while second place will receive $15,000 and third place will receive $10,000. The remaining projects will each receive $2,000. 

The money we receive will go toward WAIT WAIT… Don’t Step There, Fish Here! which will address intensive traffic at Yates Park that has contributed to streambank erosion and subsequent destruction of fish habitat and water quality impacts. Streambank restoration, public access development and an ongoing public awareness campaign will help protect one of the most popular fishing locations on the Clinton River.  Please show your support by voting for Clinton River Watershed between February 21 and March 19. The competition winners will be announced on March 22 at RiverNetwork.org .

The MillerCoors River Network Grant Competition, now in its fourth year, is made possible by an $80,000 donation by MillerCoors to River Network.  MillerCoors believes that with great beer comes great responsibility and because water flows through every step of the brewing process, they’ve made water stewardship one of their top priorities. MillerCoors helps communities across the country conserve water and improve water quality through several programs.  You can learn more about the brewer’s sustainability efforts at GreatBeerGreatResponsibility.com.

You can only vote once, so please pass this on to family and friends and encourage them to vote!

If you visit our Facebook page you can reshare it on your wall !

Clinton River Brown Trout

Dear Friends,