Mike – good to meet you today!
Anchor bay is really the top spot for people to go, especially if it's their first time. And, especially during the opener. Don't be fooled – by looking at a map, AB doesn't look that big. But, it would take weeks to fish through it completely! Launch out of Selfridge. As soon as you leave the bouys, you can literally start casting! Best thing to do is just look for a combination of good looking water & weeds. Most people stick to the northern 1/2 of the bay. There will be fish all throughout. Just keep drifting through the countless weeds. Top lures of choice would be Phantoms, Hellhounds, Magic Makers, Talonz Little Claws, Shallow Raiders, or the likes. Colors with browns, greens, or black if the water is clear, Firetiger or bright perch if the water is a little dirtier.
The fish will be few and far between in the St. Clair River during this time. I would not waste my time over there. The bay will have plenty of protection if the weather turns sour.
Question… Could you have too big of a boat to fish it? My boat is too small I wouldn't feel comfortable on a big lake, and my brothers boat is pretty big, he's been on gull lake with it, just not sure if it would be wise to take there. Great for trolling it, I would just be overwhelmed trolling so many lines at once on big waters without anyone who has experience on how to troll for muskies. Who wants a free trip that's confident in being successful? My brothers are hooked on salmon I gotta fix that!
A couple things I would add to what Jim said. Look for water color changes in the bay. If there is a blob of dirty water or a mud line, fish it. Last year the fish were in the dirty water that was the warmest and they were responding well to white and yellow baits. As well as the natural colors Jim mentioned White/shad is a good color in LSC, not just in dirty water too. There will be LOTS of people fishing the bay opening week so just watch what people are throwing/catching fish on. Since you mentioned the St Clair river I will add that the SNI channel gives up fish in June, water will be cold but there are local fish there that will be there in June. Its like fishing in some sort of crazy tidal river in Florida. It is protected from waves but you will still have to run across the lake to get in there. There are plenty of other weedbeds/points on the north end to check out if the big stupid flat in anchor bay is sucking as well.
I guess I worded it wrong I know big boats can go on LSC it was that specific launch I read something about the bouys and wondered if it was relatively shallow. The boat is a 27 ft mako reef runner I wouldn't want to drive there and realize it won't launch and not know where the nearest launch would be. It would be hard enough to cast out of anyways not really designed for that style of fishing gonna make it down there eventually I'll get sick of my little boat but been pretty busy with work especially summertime
"Fishead" said:
Thanks for all the info guys! I'm wondering if anyone else is planning to be there on the 7th or 8th? It might be nice to compare notes…… really just looking for all the help i can get…….. You all make it sound easy to find fish, but that place kicked my butt last summer.
I'll be real curious to hear how you do. My brother and I will be there June 12-13th, and maybe for the 14th depending on how the other two days go. With my very limited experience on LSC and questionable boat size I do not know what to expect.
We'll have a few of us spread out over the lake and D river on the opener so I'll post a report. There's no doubt the bay will have fish but it'll be a absolute zoo. I wouldn't be surprised to see 40+ boats in and around AB tossing blades. You won't have issues launching the 27' but take advantage of the size and branch out to explore. Last season by the 3-4th day the fish in AB were so pressured it was really odd to see how they acted with follows. By mid week of opener there probably was a couple thousand blades or JB's that fish have seen. If your decide to fish AB I'd consider throwing some really off wall baits. Mix it up and throw some stuff most wouldn't throw. Go explore and it'll pay off.
I agree completely with what DH is saying. Doing something different. Tory throws a Phantom differently than anyone else that I've seen, and I've witnessed it pay off multiple times. LSC included. When we followed the crowds last year, we were constantly on fish, but amidst the 30 or so follows, the eaters were tough to find until we started doing something different than throwing blades, or Hellhounds at a steady cadence. Matt decided to start pitching a Red October tube rigged for jigging. That paid off well. It was something different for them. I also know a guy who was there around the opener that tried throwing lures a little unorthodox and he wound up with one over 50. [smilie=brows.gif]
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