Late Ice to Open Water: St. Clair Walleye and Smallmouth Bite Heating Up

This is Artificial Lure with your Lake St. Clair fishing report. We’re in that sketchy **late‑ice / early open‑water** window now. Yesterday’s Catch~N~Any video out of the Selfridge area showed riders still running quads and sleds, but with fog, shoreline melt, and crystal‑clear, thinning ice underfoot. Ice is fading fast on the south end, with more open water pushing in near launches, so treat any remaining ice as **unsafe** unless you’re checking every step with a spud and running a float suit. Weatherwise, local forecasts are calling for an unseasonably warm stretch pushing toward the 60s and even 70 by early next week, with light south winds this morning building into a breezier afternoon. Cloud cover is mixed, giving you decent light for sight‑fishing under the remaining ice and a nice chop for jerkbaits in open pockets. Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m., sunset near 6:30 p.m., so you’ve got solid low‑light windows on both ends. No real tide here, just seiche and wind setup, but a south or southwest blow will push water — and often bait — up on the American side. Watch those wind lanes on the Mile Roads and around the mouth of the channels. Fish activity is picking up. According to a Lake St. Clair early spring bite report from March 6th, the **Detroit River and river mouths are starting to kick out walleyes**, with a few early runners sliding in. Anglers are boating eater‑size fish on vertical jigs tipped with minnows, along with a few bigger hens being released. Same report notes **smallmouth** starting to stir on the breaks adjacent to wintering holes, with just enough open water to drag a jig. On the main lake, yesterday’s late‑ice trip out of Selfridge showed lots of **smaller perch with a few better fish mixed in**, all in 3–5 feet, roaming clear water. That lines up with what guys are seeing off Grosse Pointe and up toward the Metro Beach weed flats: lots of life, but you’ve got to weed through dinks to find a decent batch. Best producers right now: - For late ice panfish and bonus walleye: - Tiny spoons in gold or perch pattern, tipped with a minnow head or single waxie. - 3–4 mm tungsten jigs with spikes or mousies, fished just off bottom and kept moving. - For early open‑water walleye in the river and cuts: - 3/8 to 1/2 oz jigs with emerald shiners or plastics in chartreuse, firetiger, or natural shad. - Slow, short hops right on bottom; most bites feel like just a little “mush.” - For smallmouth staging on the first breaks: - Finesse tubes and Ned rigs imitate gobies and craws and are standard on St. Clair. Wired2Fish lists the Strike King Coffee Tube and Z‑Man Finesse TRD as go‑tos for clear‑water smallmouth, and those play perfectly here. - A suspending jerkbait in natural shiner or perch colors will shine once we get more open water and a bit of wind. Live bait: **Emerald shiners** are still king for walleye and perch. Fatheads and small golden shiners work in a pinch. For perch under the ice, This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.