Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Those good ol' boys from down South will tell you that the best bass fishin' in the world is below the Mason-Dixon Line. That may be true, but what those ol' boys may not realize is there's some pretty darn-tooting-good bassin' right here in Michigan. You are not going to find better smallmouth bass fishing with regard to size or numbers than you will on Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair and their connecting waters. It just doesn't get any better -- plain and simple.

"Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie both produce some tremendous smallmouth fishing," claimed professional tournament angler Gerry Gostenik. "But while there are a lot of things that apply to both fisheries, there are a number of things that are very different, too."

"Both lakes are excellent smallmouth waters," said Lake Erie Management Unit fisheries biologist Jeff Braunscheidel. "The habitat on Lake Erie is much more concentrated and it holds fish in deeper water. Lake Erie is also not as clear as Lake St. Clair."

Braunscheidel pointed out that unlike Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie has many rivers that dump nutrients and sediments into the lake. The water column of Lake Erie is filled with algae, zooplankton and other microorganisms that make it very fertile and much less clear. Because of the relatively hard substrate of Lake Erie, it isn't conducive to growing weeds like Lake St. Clair. Weeds filter out sediments and nutrients, thus making the water clearer, which in turn promotes more weed growth.

With clearer and cleaner water in Lake St. Clair, weed growth has exploded. Consequently, sight-feeders like smallmouths have benefited tremendously. The food chain has exploded. There are more insects, minnows, crawfish and, of course, gobies. Bass can be found scattered throughout Lake St. Clair because ideal bass habitat is abundant and widely distributed. In Lake Erie, the story is much different. Smallies are much more concentrated around the available habitat. In Lake St. Clair, weeds are also home to zebra mussels. The mussels not only colonize the weeds, but the bottom, too. More zebra mussels mean more water is being filtered and becoming clearer. Weeds aren't nearly as plentiful in Lake Erie. Find them and other habitat on Lake Erie and you will find the bass.

On Lake St. Clair, good spawning habitat abounds and is found extensively in the shallows. Lake St. Clair's more protected nature and abundance of weedbeds buffer wave action, thus making the shallow water more hospitable and productive for spawning bass.

"In Lake Erie, the good spawning habitat is disturbed by wave action or often covered with sediment," said fisheries biologist Jeff Braunscheidel. "A lot of times in Lake Erie, smallmouths will use much deeper spawning habitat than fish in Lake St. Clair. Lake Erie smallmouths also have a tendency to spawn in the rivers that feed the lake."

Zebra mussel populations have pretty much stabilized in both lakes. With Lake Erie's hard substrate, the mussels can be found just about everywhere. The mussel and clam beds found in Lake Erie have become critical spawning habitat for smallies.