# Dunkirk ny -vs- Lake St. Clair



## talltim (Jul 25, 2008)

Planning a smallmouth trip for late may. Have heard alot about both places but have not been to ethier one. Any input on place to stay, is there protected area to fish if its windy,ect would be a great help. They are both about the same drive time from were we live. THANKS FOR THE HELP.


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

I have been many times to both places they are great fisheries ..st clair you get numbers some big fish and the odd ball fish now and again the river is fun to fish ..with Dunkirk you get numbers and monsters biggest we taken up there is 8lbs 2 oz smallie.. of corse it was not me i am still stuck in the 7 lb class some day i will break 8 lbs


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

St. Clair is like fishing in a saucer - no structure. Mostly drift or drift/cast. 
Very shallow on the Canadian side and the wind will put you off the lake.
While the fishing can be excellent when you find them, it is not my cup of tea. 
Fished there for years when younger, moved on to Canadian smallie hotspots 22 years ago and have never looked back.

Not familiar with your second choice.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

And if I had my choice I would pick Dunkirk, BUT...

St Clair has lots around it in the way of lodging, eats and the like. The lake itself is great but you get to deal with pleasure boat traffic. However I love fishing the docks along the mile roads for L/M and then moving 1/2 mile out and catching S/M and pike. It's a shorter drive for me (Cincy) by 2 1/2 hours. You can get blown off the lake as it gets rough really quick and it gets really rough when it goes that route. I've caught lots up there and been shut-out as well. Never caught any beasts up there though.

Dunkirk has the smallie deal locked down. Big fish, big numbers, not crowded (at least when I've been there) and you have a place to fish if the wind is howling. The discharge in the harbor always holds fish. We've had 50+ fish days there and that's where I've caught my pb smallie, a 5-11 fish. However, on that same day, I also caught another smaller 5, a half dozen 4's and 30 or so 3's. The place is fantastic. The downside to Dunkirk is the lodging- I've been in 3 of the places up there and they are all dumps. Stay away, stay far, far away from South Shore. That place is just plain scary. 

If I had to pick between the two and knew the weather would be good, I'd be in Dunkirk. 

UFM82


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## V-MAX200 (Oct 16, 2007)

If you go to Dunkirk stay at the KOA in Westfield. Nice little cabins for about $65-$70 a night.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Interesting, im gonna have to do some researching on dunkirk. My uncle an i have pndered other smallmouth places but have always done st.clair cause we know it. How far a drive is dunkirk from columbus?
On st.clair we usually dont have problems with numbers and usually get a few 18-20 inch fish a trip for the 2 boats that go up. Never any bigger and in the lake dont remember even loosing any bigger(not saying there not there). Now in the st.clair river my uncle has had 7-8 lb smallies come loose at the boat or break off, and have landed fish up to 21 inches with a bigger average fish then the lake. But way lower numbers. 
And like said in other posts there are plenty of places to stay at st.clair, and the time of yr your going i would stay in the mile roads area. And there are a few canals and harbors you can fish if the weather kicks up on you, Should be plenty of lm to catch.


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

I have never fished Bass in Dunkirk, walleye been up there a bunch and had tons of fun. Not for about 3 or 4 years now. Not sure where other people had stayed but there is a marriot or something right infront of the Chadwick Bay Marina. Had a great little waterfront bar with pool. Not sure how it is now but back then it was fun and clean. We always told them we wanted the charters captains special and never really asked who we were fishing with, they just gave it to us. room were clean and good with the discount. You could stumble back to your room or go across the street for good live bands at walleye willy's bar, although the hotel had a band most nights too. Then there was a little restaurant if you headed east down the main waterfront road on the right. Very reasonable and good eats, it was right at a fork in the road a mile or so east of the hotel.
As far as St. Clair, never peaked my interest to go.


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## talltim (Jul 25, 2008)

Thanks for all the input, we are going to one or the other at the end of may. Erie rider I think that might be the Clarion hotel that is right on the water. any other info would be great. Thanks for the help


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

talltim said:


> Thanks for all the input, we are going to one or the other at the end of may. Erie rider I think that might be the Clarion hotel that is right on the water. any other info would be great. Thanks for the help


Correct on the Clarion, it was a Marriot then changed owners to Clarion a few years before we stopped going up there.


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## PoleSnatcher (Apr 6, 2004)

I have been fishing Saint Clair for the last 5 - 7 years. There are usually around 6 boats that go up each trip and we usually catch 50 smallies per person per day plus a boat load of other fish.

My PB is 6lb but a couple guys have caught 7 pounders.


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