Late Fall Walleye, Perch, and Bass on Lake St. Clair

Artificial Lure here with your Lake St. Clair fishing report. We’re sliding into that early‑winter pattern now. Air temps are starting out right around freezing this morning, climbing into the mid 30s with a light west to northwest breeze around 5–10 miles an hour and mostly cloudy skies, typical of December on the St. Clair system according to the National Weather Service. Sunrise comes in just after 7:50 a.m. with sunset a little before 5 p.m., so you’ve got a short feeding window and that mid‑afternoon low‑light can be money. No real tides on St. Clair, but the Lake St. Clair forecast from NOAA shows very modest seiche and current changes today, so you’re mostly playing wind‑blown shorelines and slight current breaks off the channels. The Michigan DNR’s recent reports for the St. Clair River–Lake St. Clair complex note good late‑season action for **walleye and yellow perch**, with some smallmouth still getting picked off by the die‑hards dragging bottom in 15–25 feet. Charter chatter and local bait shops on the U.S. side are talking decent numbers of eater‑size walleye in the river mouths and cuts, plus mixed bags of perch and the odd pike on the flats. For **walleye**, work the **Detroit River mouth, the South Channel, and up around the St. Clair Light**. Vertical jigging 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigs tipped with emerald shiners or river shiners is producing, especially when you keep it tight to bottom and drift slow. A lot of locals are also running small blade baits in silver, gold, and perch patterns — just lift a foot, drop, and let that vibration call them in. For **perch**, focus on **Mitchell’s Bay on the Ontario side and the mile roads on the U.S. side, especially 9‑ to 12‑Mile**. Look for 10–18 feet of water and subtle weed clumps. Spread a few rods with perch rigs tipped with lake shiners or small minnows. If the bite’s light, switch to single‑hook rigs and go to smaller emeralds or even waxies. Once you hit a school, you can easily put a couple dozen in the bucket. Smallmouth bass are slowing but not done. Guys targeting them are grinding deeper edges and rock with **tube jigs, goby‑style plastics, and blade baits** in 18–30 feet, especially off the Metropark and the Belle River Hump. It’s a quality‑over‑quantity deal now, but there are still some heavy bronzebacks around. Best **lures and baits** today: - For walleye: 3/8–1/2 oz jigs with emerald shiners, silver or gold blade baits, and smaller shad‑style crankbaits if you’re trolling slow. - For perch: live lake shiners or fatheads on perch rigs, tiny spoons with a minnow head, and plain hooks with just enough split shot. - For bass: green pumpkin or goby‑colored tubes, silver/black and gold blade baits, and drop‑shots with subtle minnow profiles. Couple of **hot spots** to circle on your map: - **Detroit River mouth and the shipping channel edges** for walleye, especially with that light west wind stacking fish on the breaks. - **9‑ to 12‑Mile Flats and Metro Beach area** for mixed This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.