# My first taste of Lake St. Clair



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey everyone, Well a spur of the moment trip popped up to go Lake St. Clair last Thursday. We got a crew together and I headed up for my first taste of the muskies up north. On the crew was myself and my two friends John (sr.) and his son John (jr). Along also was experienced musky man Kevin Larouche. Kevin fishes there alot and was kind enough to show us the ropes fishing St Clair style.

John (jr) experienced some health problems last year and lost about 30 to 40 percent of the use of his right arm and leg. What a trooper! Never complained one bit and handled three nice muskies with no problem at all. He ended up with three 42 inchers for the day and half trip.

















I had not planned on reeling in any fish myself. John (sr) had fished New York for years with his family on weekend get a ways. He tangled with a few muskies but never really got the big one. Kevin and I really wanted to get him into a nice 50 inch range fish. He did manage to catch this nice 45" fish. 




















We went 5 for 8 on the muskies on Friday. The three we lost may have been bigger fish. They insisted on me reeling one in and it figures I got a hold of a nice one. I got about 30 percent of the fight out of it and like that it was off. The lure just let loose. Sometimes I think those bigger fish clamp down so hard on the lure that it really never really sets in the jaw. They just open their mouth. 

On Friday night a big front pushed through and mixed things up a bit. The waves were kicking and the water was a bit more cloudy. Never marked the fish that day. We did manage 2 more on saturday along with some pike and small mouth bass. John (jr) got his third 42 incher. John (sr) did catch a nice 24" tiger musky. Here is a picture of Kevin holding the fish. What beautiful fish they are.










I did get to reel a nice pike in and a 37" musky. My reel enjoyment was seeing John and John relax and enjoy as father and son on the water and sharing that experience with them. 

I did get to take a piece for me. I made a little perch crankbait the week before. It took the first fish of the trip a 42". I did make up a bunch of natural baits but they wanted some brighter colored ones those days.



















All in all I was suprised how the fish are just in open water following bait fish. We were anywhere from 6 to 8 miles out in open water. I could not believe how shallow the lake is. It was only 20 foot deep out in the center. There is a shipping channel on the American side but we were on the Canadian side. I was super amazed how high the fish were. Like the top 5 feet of water. Really neat to look out and see a musky just come shooting out the water. I did see 4 nice muskies hit bait out from the boat. I would not want to a little fish swimming in that lake! 
Kevin spotted a nice musky belly up and we circled and gave some more help. The fish went down and may have made it. It was in the 45 inch range. Some guys on the radio said they were catching fish on trolling bucktails. I felt comfortable with the using the big boards because I use them on lake erie for the walleyes. The water is a beautiful blue/green color.
I hope to get back up there some day and take another crack at those fish. It is hard to believe that it is only 5 hours away.
Thanks again Kevin for showing me the ropes and teaching a ton about the style of fishing up there.


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Here are a couple more pictures of some fish. I got a 37" musky and a 33" pike.



















Here are some other pics of John (jr) fighting and landing a fish




















Here is picture of the back of that tiger musky.










John (sr) fighting a nice musky


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## Knopper76 (Jul 20, 2008)

WOW great story, Thank you for sharing it with us. Glad to see you guys had a good time and were on the fish. I am sure many fond memories were formed that day. Congrats again


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

very nice trip and some great memmories . the pics are great too.


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## ShutUpNFish (Apr 17, 2007)

Awesome trip there! Photos are way cool as well. I love the leopard looking smaller photo...what terrific markings!


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Nice fish! Congratulations on a great trip!

CG


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## MuskieMan35 (Mar 5, 2008)

Congrats on a great trip! That had to be a great feeling getting the first fish on your homemade perch- hopefully some day I'll be making a few like that!
Thanks for sharing the pics! St Clair is amazing- its like fishing in a swimming pool. So which predator fought the best?


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

That tiger muskie is beautiful. My dad caught one in North Reservoir about 30 years ago ice fishing. Never seen another one since.


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## MadMac (May 2, 2005)

Way to go John. I bet that was really fun. I bet I know what your next lure is going to look like. lol I'll have to check the Tackle Making forum to see it.


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## Bester (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome to the promise land brother. I 'm lucky enough to live half a block from Lake St. Clair.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Well done Tigger! St Clair has some of the prettiest muskies with the spots and stuff....


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

Nice job John. Thanks for sharing the story and photos.

Brian


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## Jackfish (Apr 15, 2004)

you make that trip sound good enough I might have to try it sometime, great fish, glad you had a nice trip


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## SELL-FISH (Feb 9, 2007)

If anyone is interested my buddy runs a muskie charter service on the canadian side of st. clair. I'm not sure how many dates he has left open for this fall. Pm me I will give you his info.


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