David Simmons shows off a big 5 pound 2 ounce Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass!
I was back in Michigan again during August 2001 for the Bassmasters and had the chance to get out on St. Clair for a day of fishing with long-time fishing buddy Dan Kimmel of Lansing. The day started out rough and dark, but we managed to boat a few bass and Dan landed one decent Musky. Our persistence paid off with another Lake St. Clair trophy smallmouth. The beautiful 5 lbs. 2 oz. brownie was caught on a shad-colored Right-Bite tube with a 1/2oz head “vertically” jigging a seawall in 22 feet of water. She fought so hard my arms were shaking afterwards.
A hawg smallie like this really tops off a great day of fishing on a quality fishery like St. Clair. We had a terrific time discussing fishing, the tournament scene and Yamaha outboards, of course. Dan’s understanding of the fish and the market come from years of involvement with local organizations and State agencies. I was lucky to spend a day with him and learn a lot more than just how hard a big smallmouth pulls. Thanks Dan!
By David Simmons
Field Promotions Coordinator
Yamaha Marine Power Group*
Current-swept St. Clair River seawalls can produce some huge smallies with the right presentation like this beauty caught by David Simmons.
For those of you who haven’t been fortunate enough to meet David Simmons before, he’s an outgoing fellow who’s a friend to all anglers. He’s a pretty good angler too.
David is formerly from Lansing Michigan where he and I met years ago. David did a stint at Bass Pro Shops before moving on to his present post at Yamaha in Kennesaw Georgia. To say he’s thrived there is an understatement. Yamaha is in the tournament and fishing motor scene in a big way and David is a driving force behind that. Yamaha motors received the JD Powers awardsfor customer satisfaction in outboards.
In recognition of David’s impact for Yamaha Motors, and the fishing industry and tournament scene, he was recently awarded the first ever Bassfan.com 6th Man Award. Click here to read about more about this fine honor for a worthy, but “humble” person. It’s not difficult to see he’s the perfect person for the job and that he loves what he’s doing. I know I hope we get to spend another day on the water together sometime in the not-to-far future.
* David Simmons moved on from Yamaha to a dream job with FLW Outdoors helping rev up the crowd before the Tour weigh-ins among many other duties. He has now left FLW Outdoors, had a family and is an avid angler still instilling great character in his children for fishing and the outdoors.
Now is the best time to be a bass angler on Lake St. Clair in at least the last 50 years according to a recent long-term MDNR fisheries research study.
In Cody Harris’ young fishing career he has already amassed a fishing resume’ that many top bass pros would be proud to have. Cody has competed in many casting competitions and went on to win the Michigan Casting Kids state championship.
Been wanting a new and better video service for some time. I like watching videos sometimes, especially fishing videos. Nice for us frozen Northerners this time of year.
Ever since Dan Kimmel introduced me to Lake Ovid a few years ago, it has been one of my favorite fishing destinations. This small impoundment within Sleepy Hollow State Park has features found in many southern reservoirs albeit on a much smaller scale.
GreatLakesBass.com has an important goal to provide you meaningful and helpful information so you enjoy your time outdoors to the fullest. In line with our goals, a new page has been created so you can easily find Great Lakes marine weather and related information for your target fishing or boating location.
With more best-in-class features than any other tournament rig, the all-new Z-Comanche series has taken acceleration, handling, interior space, fishabililty, and all-out performance to even higher levels.
