Traveling across the country for the last three years with the Bassmaster Elite Series has led me to some amazing fishing destinations. I’ve been about as far as one can go in every direction in the United States and have gotten to experience some great fishing. Although I don’t have a definitive answer on where my favorite place to fish is, I will say that without a doubt my favorite fish to target are big northern smallmouth bass. Let’s talk about some of the places I’ve been and what makes the places and the fisheries so special.
My very first experience with the Great Lakes was at the Elite Series AOY championship in 2014 in Escanaba, Mich. I ended up finishing that tournament in ninth place and qualified for my first Bassmaster Classic. I was super impressed with the place as soon as I rolled into town. Everyone in Escanaba was very nice and hospitable, which is something you don’t find everywhere these days. It is a nice quiet town much like the Tennessee town I was raised in, with great places to eat and nice places to stay. As far as the fishery, just take a look at the weights from that tournament and they will speak for themselves. Little Bay and Big Bay de Noc are chock-full of big smallmouth as well as walleye, pike, perch and everything else you would expect to find in the Great Lakes.
My next experience with northern smallies was on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The Thousand Islands area is a beautiful part of the country and should be on every bass fisherman’s bucket list. The river is full of fish, and a lot of people there seem to fish more for other species so the smallmouth is quite catchable. Little ways away on Lake Ontario is the home of more willing smallmouth.
Next on the list is Lake St. Clair in Michigan. St. Clair is unique because you can either fish in the lake, which is great, or you can fish one of the rivers that flow into or out of the lake, which is what I chose to do when I was there.
In all these places, smallmouth bass will absolutely chew a small soft plastic bait on a Mustad dropshot hook fished on an MHX EPS 81MLXF rod from Mud Hole Custom Tackle. Catching these fish requires good electronics, so I rely heavily on my Raymarine units to locate the big schools.
As I was writing this last week, I got thinking I needed to go and pay those smallmouths a visit. My dad and I jumped in the car, drove to Lake Michigan and had a ball. I would encourage you to do the same before it gets too cold!