Capt. Chuck's Fishing Report and Tips

Big Fish

2009-08-02T21:39:00.002-04:00

Lake St. Clair muskie fishing is been awesome this week for big fish. We have boated 30lb muskies everyday this week some days up to 3. I was fishing with a good friend on the HUNTRESS and we boated a 38.15 muskie. The next day on my boat we boated a 37lber and 2 other fish over 30 pounds. Every day since we have caught fish over 30 pounds. All fish were caught in the mid lake area. Durning the Muskie Bash we boated a 52.25 inch fish and it weight 34.8 pounds. We were in the money till Sunday afternoon then we got bumped out to 4th place. If you want to catch a real trophy now is the time. Get out there and run those lures. Going out tommorrow. Can't wait.

warren cop day

2009-07-16T18:18:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we took out some of warrens finest. It was a wild time. We had boated 11 fish and lost 4. We boated a 51 incher and a 50 incher, both fish in the 30 pound class. We also had a couple of fish in the 20lb. plus class. All fish came from the south shore. The fish were hitting a mix of baits, buck tails and body baits, dark frog being the best color. The wind is good. Going out tommorrow , see ya out there. good luck

Good Fishing

2009-07-13T20:12:00.002-04:00

Muskie fishing was pretty hot this weekend. We went 16 fish boated and 23 on, Saturday. We caught fish from 24 inches to 49 inches. All on the south shore between the bell and the red barn. Most fish hit body baits and a few went for the buck tails. The boat rods were hot again. Sunday we decide to find some big ones and we did. We caught 5 fish and lost 2. Two fish we boated were really nice and worth the search. Going out everyday this week I am sure I will have some good reports. See ya out there. good luck

Slow Start

2009-06-27T11:02:00.002-04:00

Started yesterday with a slow start. North winds blew in a cold front in the morning and the muskies had lock jaw. The wind died down and the fish started to bite. We ended up with 9 boated and 11 on. Again the boat rods were strong. Caught just a few on buck tails, most were on the body baits. Olive frog being the best color. North winds started to blow in the weeds so be ready to work. Going out Sunday and Monday so see ya out there good luck

afternoon fish

2009-06-25T19:43:00.002-04:00

Went out yesterday afternoon from 5;00 to 9;30 pm. We were 8 for 12, couple nice fish but did not hit the 30lb. class, biggest being around 24lbs. 4 fish come on buck tails rest hit body baits. Lake was really flat and no weeds, it was really nice. Fish came from the south shore from the bell to the rabbit ears. So throw out some lines and get them. Going out tomorrow morning it should be really good. See ya out there, good luck. The muskies are biteing.

Great Day

2009-06-21T21:13:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had a fathers day special. Took out a great bunch of guys, fathers and sons. We had 30 fish on and boated 23. It was awesome. Two large fish, one in the 30 lb. class and one around 27 lbs. The boat rods were smoking hot. Most fish came on olive frog color and a couple on buck tails. We would of caught more but my brother in laws boat broke down and we had to tow him in so we quit fishing around 4.30pm right when the Muskies we going strong. Will be out there Tuesday. good luck

muskie hunting

2009-06-18T20:12:00.002-04:00

Lake St. Clair muskie fishing has finally arrived. It has been pretty good at that. Fished on the Canadian side opening weekend and caught some petty nice fish. Couple 48 inchers and some smaller ones made for a good weekend. We then hunted for them on the U.S side. Caught several fish over here, mostly smaller ones, one nice fish did get the bait. Yesterday the hunt was back on in Canada. It was really nice over there no weeds and the muskies were on. Have a couple of nice spot pick out for Saturday morning. Maybe see ya out there. good luck

Big Fish day

2008-06-20T23:02:00.002-04:00

Lake st.clair musky fishing was awesome today. We started fishing about 2 pm this afternoon and pulled rods around 9 pm. We boated 6 muskies and lost 3 and of coarse one of those three was a big boy. We did end up catching a 50" and a 48" and they were really nice looking fish. All the fish were caught on the new rippers. The best colors today was the 9 dollar bass and the gold crap. All fish were caught off the boards, nothing off the boat today. One of my good friends was fishing by me today and he caught some big fish today too. He also was using the rippers and wants more ha ha. Will be going out Monday so will try to post something then. good luck too all.

Good day

2008-06-13T19:29:00.002-04:00

Thursday was a muskie day. We started fishing in anchor bay and ended up trolling to Huron point. We caught muskies all the way. The total numbers were 12 for 20 on the muskies, 2 pike, 1 walleye and several bass, all fish were caught on the New Rippers. Olive frog seemed to be the hot color. Try fishing up high only 15 feet on the planers and 20 on the flat lines, that was working for us. I will be fishing over the weekend and will let ya know whats up then. good luck to all.

Opening Day 2008

2008-06-09T21:37:00.002-04:00

Its has been a long winter and Lake St. Clair Muskie fishing has finally began. On Saturday we caught 6 muskie and lost 2. On Sunday we caught 4 muskies and lost 2, the wind was blowing to beat the band at least 30 mph on Sunday, a lot of fisherman didn't even go out because of the wind. All my fish were caught on my new baits. I have designed a new lure this year and I think it is awesome. The few guys who have them all caught fish on them. I plan on putting them on the lure page soon, I just wanted to make sure everything is working as planed. I made over a thousand since January so you can imagine how busy I was. If any of you local guys are interested in them give me a call and I will get some to you. I have a charter Wen. and Thur. so I will let everyone know whats up then.

September derby

2007-09-11T19:17:00.000-04:00

Lake St. Clair muskie fishing is going strong. This weekend was the September derby for the Michigan Ontario Muskie Club. There were alot of big fish caught, even though we had strong north winds. The north winds in general shut down the fishing, but it did not seem to bother the fish this weekend. There were 3 fish entered a 34.1, 32.4, 32.1. Two fish were caught near the Thames River area and the other by the South Channel area. The first place fish was caught by my dad and mom, again they showed up at the scales with another winner. They caught that fish on one of the baits I made a few years ago called a ripper. It ripped a nice fish for them again. Way to go mom and dad. The second place fish was caught by my friend Dave G. he was fishing the South Channel area. Dave is a good fisherman. He is in the money quite a bit. This happened to be the first time he was out fishing on his boat the Special T this year, luck would have it, he scores. The 3rd place fish was caught by Jim and Scott D. aboard the Shelly Kristy, they were fishing the Thames area, again these guys know what it is like to be on the winners stand. It was good to see good fishermen get the big ones this derby. All the winners fish a lot and fish hard, my hats off to the winners.
The last two weeks have been pretty good fishing, every time out we've caught fish over 30 pounds. It's been a bit on the windy side and sometimes the weeds are bad, But the muskies are still biteing. The good fish is still to come so don't let the cool weather stop ya from going out the monster muskies will be hitting. Good Luck to all .

August Derby

2007-08-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

Another awesome tournament for Lake St. Clair muskie fishermen. The fish were biting and BIG fish were caught. A 41.9 pound muskie was caught Saturday evening. This is the largest fish ever to be weighed in by the MOMC. Goes to show you there are some big ones out there. There was a fish a little over 33 pounds and another a little over 32 pounds entered as well. The muskie fishing is really heating up and October is still to come.
My boat caught 12 and loss 3 on Saturday and Sunday we boated 9 and lost 3. We had one fish on Saturday that was 50 plus inches and a little over 30 pounds. No large fish on Sunday. The wind was blowing pretty good Sunday morning and the fish were snapping, as soon as the wind died down, the fish stopped biting. I like a good chop for fishing muskies, it seems to get there appetite going. The hot colors for us were the dark frogs and the black perch. Bucktails got a few too.
I will be out Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Look for the pictures coming soon.
Good luck to ya all and see ya out there.

Awesome fishing

2007-08-02T22:52:00.000-04:00

Lake St. Clair muskie fishing has been awesome this week. By far the best of the year, Monday we boated 9 and lost 6, Tuesday was 14 boated and lost 8, Wednesday we boated 18 and lost 6, Thursday we boated 9 and lost 5. Today we boated 9 and lost 6. I believe the word got out to all and the fisherman came by the herds. There were boats everywhere last night, that really changed the fishing, they moved out. Today we rarely even marked any in the area we have been fishing. I moved too. I found a nice school of fish and worked them over, surprise they started to bite and the good thing no other boats, the fish were not riled up. I have heard some good reports on some fish being caught through out the lake. So the lake is starting to produce some good numbers and size.
I am off for the weekend, but back at it monday. See ya out there

Muskie Slam 07

2007-07-25T16:57:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was the 10th annual Muskie Slam tournament and what a success it was. Never before has there been so many BIG fish entered in any one tournament. A 54.25, a 54 and last a 52 incher. These are some big fish for Lake St. Clair. There were 63 boats entered in this tournament and 90% where fishing by the weather buoy, of course that's where the big ones came from. Lots of fisherman caught 30 pound fish and better, but they did not have the length(this was a length tournament). There was a fish caught that was 51.750 that was weight at 38.9lbs. These are big fish for this lake. Lots of fish were caught of all sizes but never this many big ones.
My boat was 9 boated and 5 loss on Saturday and 4 boated and 2 loss on Sunday. Our best lures were the dark frog colors and the perch colors, 2 fish hit the buck tails also. Again we caught some nice fish but no winners, as they say can't win them all.
Going out tomorrow for a afternoon charter, so see ya on the lake.

Good Fishing

2007-07-19T18:28:00.000-04:00

Muskie fishing on Lake St. Clair has been pretty good. Went out for a 6 hour charter yesterday and we boated 8 muskies, ranging from 15 lbs. to 34 lbs. The start was a little slow but we got into the swing of things quickly. Capt. Mike P. was aboard and I must say he is an awesome fisherman, he works hard and knows his stuff. His boat will be running tomorrow and he will be back on the muskies. I will miss taking him out, he is a great captain and a good guy. We did impress our charter with a 34 pounder, it was a little over 51 inches long with a girth of 22 inches, real nice fish. We did throw her back to swim another day. We caught her on a dark frog, one of my homemade baits. The pictures will be posted this week.
There was talk of another large fish caught yesterday, too. Capt. Kevin B. caught a 38 pounder. He was fishing the south shore. Capt. Kevin also threw that big fish back, congratulations to him and good sportsmen ship to his crew. Not quite sure what he caught it on , but I do know, he landed several fish yesterday.
This weekend is the Muskie Slam tournament. This is the largest tournament of the year. Every muskie fisherman on the lake knows about it and it's truly the talk of the town. For most of us it is a long weekend of hard fishing, perseverence is the name of the game. My good friend Scott D. and his crew did the unbelievable last year, he won first and second place in the Muskie Slam. My hats off to the Contender crew. I know they will certainly be contenders this year as well.
I have to go paint some baits for the weekend so, good luck to all.

rough waters

2007-07-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

The boat is back in the water again and the props are turn up the muskies. This week has been one of the windiest weeks I can remember for a long time, gust up to 35 miles an hour and blowing every day. We did manage to catch muskies everyday though and some really nice fish too.
This weekend was the Michigan Ontario Muskies Clubs (MOMC) July tournament. There were boats everywhere fishing for the mighty muskie. To win a contest like this is very difficult, there are three factors against you; 1. weather 2. good fishermen 3. lucky fisherman . I again don't know the first two winners names because they do not broadcast it on the radio but I do know the third place winner, and that was my dad, Chuck Smith Sr. He falls under the good fisherman category. My dad is one of the original members of the club since its conception. I don't know of any other member of the club alive that has been in it since it started. I must take that back I do know another member and it is my mother. They fish together and make a great team. My dad said she drove the boat like a champ while he was winding in the fish, not bad for over 70 yrs old.
My boat, boated 14 muskies and lost 6 on Saturday along with one bass and one walleye. One of those fish went 50 inches and 30 lbs. On Sunday we boated 5 and lost 5. Things got a little slower Sunday after the barrage of boats. The muskies decided to go into hiding.
Most the fish were caught off the red barn, Belle River area. In approx. 12 to 15 feet of water. It was awesome fishing on Saturday, NO WEEDS. That was not to last though, they blew in Sunday from a north wind, and bailing hay we did.
I would like to congratulate all the winners and some of the guys who threw back some large fish. A fisherman named Ed from the boat the Medicine Man threw back 2, 50 inch 30 lbers. I watched a boat named Gracie catch and throw back a fish 30 lbs. I watch Mike O from the Bottomline throw back a nice fish. There were a lot of nice fish caught this weekend and a lot of guys were great sports and threw them back. Good going to all those lucky fisherman and congratulations to the winners.
The Big Dog tournament is coming up this week end. It is the biggest tournament of the year at least the pay off is. There will be a lot of fisherman out for sure. I know I will be out this week for some practice fishing and locating. Maybe I will see ya out there. Good luck to all.

Back IN

2007-07-08T10:03:00.000-04:00

Back in the water again. Fish finders working great, radar working great, ready to catch those muskies again. Actually we've been out twice this week. Once bye the weather bouy and the next by the red barn. We caught 4 for 6 by the bouy and 3 for 5 bye the red barn, booth trips were 6 hrs trip. Caught some nice fish by the bouy but really hard fishing with the weeds and fish flys. We ran into some weeds bye the barn and left the area. The wind was blowing from the south so we decieded to go back, we got lucky and the weeds blew out. The muskies did bite good for the short time we where there.
I am going fishing now so see ya out there.
good luck with those lake st. clair muskies

Morning Bite

2007-06-28T19:46:00.000-04:00

We have been fishing most afternoons latley and catching some fish and a few nice one too, But like every year at this time the best bite seems to be in the morning. The guys that are out there early are doing much better. The muskies seem to be on top and much more active in the morning. When the water warms up a bit, the afternoon bite will turn on and that is the best because the bite will start earlier in the evening and last longer. This seems to be a trend I have noticed over the years. Look at your fishing logs and see if you notice this trend too. Give it a few more weeks and see the difference.
Alot of guys are fishing the dumps now and doing well. We went a little east by the wine glass and did pretty good the other night, caught some nice fish. I heard the weeds blew in last night due to the north wind. I guess we will have to wait for the south wind to clean things up a little.
I have to pull my boat out of the water for the weekend, putting new fish finder and radar on so I wont be out. Keep ya posted when I get back in, should be around the first of the week good luck

Muskie Slam 07

2007-06-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

Lake St. Clair muskie fishing is beginning to heat up. The 2007 musky slam was held this weekend at Metro Beach. The fish had to be 51 inches or better to enter and those kind of fish are hard to come by. There were only 2 fish entered the winner was 53.25 inches, second was 51.25. I am not sure of the lucky guys' names yet, but when I do I will post them or if any of the readers know please let me know. It was a beautifull weekend, light wind from the southeast,and sunny for 2 days. A little weedy on Sunday which made for a long working day, but the muskies did bite. Aboard the Premonition (my boat) we caught 14 muskies 4 bass and one walleye we lost 8 other muskies, that was on Saturday. Sunday we only fished till 2:00 and we boated 6 muskies and lost 3. We kept pretty busy for 2 days out there staying on top of the finickey muskies.
Some of the other guys did quite well also. My good friend Matt M. was slaying the muskies. Matt is an exceptional muskie fisherman definetly one of the best out there. If you see the boat called the HUNTRESS you are in the right spot. Shelly, his wife, knows how to pick the baits though, she told Matt to run one of my lures and they ended up catching a fish over 30 pounds, their biggest for the weekend. Matt, I just want to say thanks again for your great heart.
Another lucky fisherman was Dr. Jim M. Doc only fished for a few hours on Saturday, he threw out one of my 9 dollar bass lures and caught a 31 pounder. Doc has been fishing muskies for a few years now and he is really stepping up to the plate. I am sure you will be hearing more about him in the future.
Another top dog on the lake is Capt. Mike P. Mike also put a hurting on some of those muskies as well, I'm not sure exactly how he ended up for the weekend, but he was giving his crew a good day. Mike runs Muskie Mania Charters, a good guy and a good captain. He did tell me he was catching some fish on my lures as well.
I will be hitting the lake again tommorrow afternoon and takeing out a charter wednesday. Let ya know what happens then.

June 20 2007

2007-06-20T22:31:00.001-04:00

Went looking for fish today and found them caught some nice muskies. look for pictures on the site.

june 19 07 muskie up date

2007-06-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

Muskie fishing has been a little slow starting this year, pretty much like every year at this time. Opening week end we only ended up with 5 fish boated but we did catch a 50.5 incher a little over 30lbs, we did release it. had a few other trips since then, catching a couple a day, one day only a strike. things took a turn for the better yesterday we fished out front of the 400 club heading to huron point about 12 to 15 ft. of water, made the troll back and forth, end up with 10 in the boat and we lost 4 so it was a good day. The guys were happy. Going out tommorrow on a search mission, lets see if we can find them. good luck

Welcome

2007-06-17T16:47:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
I hope you enjoy the fishing report and tips I offer up on this page.
Feel free to send me comments and/or questions re: muskie fishing.
Here's to a great fishing season out on the lake!
Captain Chuck Smith.