The short drive from the metropolis of Detroit to the Lake St. Clair Metropark takes you from concrete and bustling traffic to a fishing resort atmosphere. An outdoor lover’s dream, here you can partake in bird watching, windsurfing, kiteboarding, boating and swimming, or bring your bicycles for the one-mile paved trail alongside the lake. This is also where you can launch your boat to gain access to one of the best sport fisheries in the U.S.
The pugnacious smallmouth bass thrives in this fertile inland waterway, which has an average depth of only 11 feet. Thanks to copious submerged vegetation, smallmouth can be caught throughout the lake. It’s not uncommon for fishermen to catch a baker’s dozen many times over during a day here. Tubes and drop shotting small soft plastic baits comprise a deadly one-two punch for smallmouth bass on Lake St. Clair. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits also tempt hard strikes.
The thick vegetation in the shallows teems with largemouth bass that pounce on weedless frogs and Texas rigged soft plastic baits. St. Clair is also one of the preeminent muskie lakes in the country, and it offers excellent walleye fishing, to boot.
