# Smallmouth fishing @ Lake St. Clair



## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

Just got back from a trip to LSC. Would like to say thank you to Newbreed for his hospitality and offering me the chance to make the trip! I learned alot and had a lot of fun even though it seemed to be poor timing and weather conditions for the trip. I'd also like to thank Big Joshy swimbaits for most of the fish that were caught as well. (All smallies if anyone was interested.)

I do not target smallmouth except in the river, and those are 12" or less almost always. So catching some catch weight fighters at LSC was awesome!

I did, however, have a bit of bad luck, but came out on top in the end. The water was crystal clear, 60 - 62 deg., and 7-8' deep. You could see the fish laying on the bottom at times. I was using a 7'3" MH F Elite Tech rod and rigged a ¼oz heavy wired swimbait jig head with a Perch colored Joshy. I tossed the bait up and out letting the 10 mph wind push it further than a regular cast. Splash down, 3 second count, start the retrieve. Two turnz into the retrieve the Joshy got snatched so I was hoping to get the fish hooked goid enough to boat when I put my back into the hookset from so far away. 

POW? Was that a gun shot? I turn to Newbreed and ask what that sound was, he didn't know either. I turned around to consentrate on my retrieval of this fish and see the rod snapped 1/3 of the way down from the tip......but the furthest remaining eye seemed uneffected and the fish was still on! Not wanting this to be a total loss I turned the rod on it side and got the fish in!










I was not a happy camper but got the picture and sent the Smallie on it's way. I was told to replace the rod by the Boss, so, like a good husband would, I sulked to the store and got another rod...... A better rod; and almost finished the trip without incident. That's another story though.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry about the rod man, that always hurts.


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## kapposgd (Apr 10, 2012)

He choked that swim bait! Save the part that broke off, if you send it back they can tell if its a manufacturing defect


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

I still have both parts of the rod, I'm glad I kept them now! I'll see if they will replace the rod our not.

And yes, the smallness that did hit normally choked on the baits! They were definitely not playing around when they decided to eat!


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## MIGHTY (Sep 21, 2013)

Nice catch and sorry about the rod. I had the same exact thing happen to a St Croix rod on my second outing this spring in mid march when I set the hook on a creek smallie. After reading about the warranty and making some phone calls I chalked up my 3 year old $100 rod as a loss. Won't be buying another. I'm very picky about taking care of my gear but I'm sure if I would've taken the time write a letter about what happened and go through the shipping process along with sending an additional $20 in, from the way it sounded, I'm sure the examination would determine that the broken rod was my fault.


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## NCbassattack (May 5, 2014)

Too bad about the rod. But that is a beautiful smallmouth!


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## Buick Riviera (Jul 15, 2007)

Nice smallmouth! Get yourself a new swimbait rod and a new drop shot rod. LSC smallies love the drop shot. Whacky.


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