Pre spawn lures

[Golden Ghost]

I'm having cabin fever so I decided to buy a new tackle box and get some new lures. I will probably fish late April until mid June, pre spawn to just after post.
What lures does everyone recommend? The only ones I know for pre spawn are rattle traps and jerk baits. Can someone tell me what manufactures they like along with size and colors? Also, what other lures for pre spawn?
How about when they move into spawn? And post spawn I usually use tubes, wacky worms and drop shot? Anything else? Thanks.

[thedude]

traps, jerkbaits, swim jigs, chatter baits, medium/shallow cranks, spinner baits

[fiker]

Rattle baits and jerk baits.  I like soft jerks like flukes rigged weightless. 

Sometimes there's a good pre spawn crankbait bite.  Use cranks that are too deep for where you're fishing and make em dig into the bottom. 

Dragging tubes is always good.  The last couple of years I've also been using a wacky rigged dinger on my drop shot.  That's been pretty effective too. 

On bedding fish it's hard to beat a 3" Nemesis goby nose hooked with a 6" leader on a drop shot. 

[Golden Ghost]

Rattle baits and jerk baits.  I like soft jerks like flukes rigged weightless. 

Sometimes there's a good pre spawn crankbait bite.  Use cranks that are too deep for where you're fishing and make em dig into the bottom. 

Dragging tubes is always good.  The last couple of years I've also been using a wacky rigged dinger on my drop shot.  That's been pretty effective too. 

On bedding fish it's hard to beat a 3" Nemesis goby nose hooked with a 6" leader on a drop shot. 

Thanks, any idea how deep the pre-spawn is around the mile roads? I just started fishing St Clair last year and missed the pre-spawn. I fished late May and there was some spawning and post going on. We were in 9-11' of water.
If I know how deep I can get some cranks to match. Any type and size you like. Thanks.

[thedude]

i'm no expert on st clair, but it seems like fish start out deeper in the 8-10' ranges and then move in as the day progresses during most of May.  i've caught them in 3' and 10' but definitely seems to be better shallow from midday on at times. i think sky conditions and water clarity have a lot to do with that as well - when the water has a little color and the sun is out - seems like the shallower bite is better.

[Lk.St.Clairyaker]

Like thedude said, I fish from from a yak so I can get to shallower areas than most boaters like to go to so I usually fish between the boats and shore and hammer the smallies in the shallows during mid day and afternoon, I usually fish at the end of my street 14mile to Masonic in that half mile range I can easily land about 50 smallies from my yak if I am out all day. In the shallows I love to drag a wacky rigged ocho on the bottom I had the best luck with landing bigger sized fish with this technique, I usually switch from green pumpkin and a baby craw color I also like to use the coffee scented ochos.

[LennyB]

The prespawn / spawn time on LSC generally goes from ice-outhrough early July. I've seen them on beds a week or two after ice-out when water temps were still high 40's to low 50's and I've caught them as late as early July on beds. As far as depth, they'll bed in a foot of water as well as out in the middle of the lake (16 foot). On the mile roads, most anglers fish 12' and shallower, but again, the smallies bed all over the lake. If you just want a place to go catch fish when you head out to the mile roads, just go to the areas that have a lot of bass boats. Those areas get a lot of pressure but they also have a lot fish.

[Golden Ghost]

Like thedude said, I fish from from a yak so I can get to shallower areas than most boaters like to go to so I usually fish between the boats and shore and hammer the smallies in the shallows during mid day and afternoon, I usually fish at the end of my street 14mile to Masonic in that half mile range I can easily land about 50 smallies from my yak if I am out all day. In the shallows I love to drag a wacky rigged ocho on the bottom I had the best luck with landing bigger sized fish with this technique, I usually switch from green pumpkin and a baby craw color I also like to use the coffee scented ochos.

Yaker, PM sent

[todd postill]

last year was a good lipless crankbait bite..my lure of choice was a strike king chrome/white sexy shad with rattle.there was no paint left on half the body by days end.you can never go wrong with a tube.if your new to tube fishing extreme bass tackle has pre made kits that are great.

[Golden Ghost]

last year was a good lipless crankbait bite..my lure of choice was a strike king chrome/white sexy shad with rattle.there was no paint left on half the body by days end.you can never go wrong with a tube.if your new to tube fishing extreme bass tackle has pre made kits that are great.

I will try the strike king lure, what colors are recommended? http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-reg-Red-Eye-Shad-Crankbaits-1-2-oz/product/90485/

What size, 1/2 oz? I used a tube last year but heard it was not the best for pre-spawn.

[Got Fish??]

Suspending hard baits jurk or crank baits. Sometimes letting the bait stop on  the  middle of your retreave, will  trigger a strike. Don't forget tubs, thay work all year on St Clair and Erie. Natural colors on your hard baits and greens and browns with tubs. Makesure the color on the bottom of your jury bait matches the sky that day. Seems to work well that way, as it dose with top water baits

[bigmojet]

I just picked up a couple UV rapala shad raps and some of their xrap versions in size 6 which im gonna try this spring.

[Got Fish??]

I got too much stuff , I can't use  all of what I got now.  I Better not get any more stuff. Until I use up what I got!

[Skulley]

St. Clair is an extremely interesting body of water. You can go into areas and find fish in all three stages, pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn. It is so huge there and there are so many fish, that you can catch them just about every where from opening day to mid July into August. 100 fish days are possible with 50 to 75 fish days more common.

The later spawners tend to spawn deeper, I think. There are a variety of baits that will catch them. You'll need crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerk baits, tubes, and the list goes on. On St. Clair it's versatility. Keep an open mind and cover water quickly. If it is windy you won't be able to hold on a spot where they may be congregating and drift fishing with drift socks will be important. I like some wind because the fish are more active and will readily bite about anything you throw and sometimes will be shallower.

Good luck out there. Let us know how you do.

BD.                           

[todd postill]

i use a lot of 1/2 oz.tune the color to the weather i was using white/chrome that day do to the overcast day.in real sunny blue bird skies i would go to a clear or ghost colored lure.also get a good assortment of crank baits that hit different depths.dont go crazy with color selection half the colors out there you dont need.they look cool but you can save a lot of money.best thing i can tell you is to get out there in all conditions and experiment.good luck

[Golden Ghost]

Well I went to Bass Pro and bought some red eye shad lipless cranks, some more Rapala jerk baits and some Bandit crank baits that dive to different depths. I have tubes, wacky rigs and drop shot rigs so I should be all set for spring. I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for the input.
One a side note if anyone is looking for a fishing partner let me know. My Jon boat is marginal as it is and is not safe if there is any wind whatsoever. So my fishing days are limited. I could fish most days from noon until dark. I have fished with Revtro a few times and he will tell you I show up on time, pay my share and know what I'm doing. Shoot me a PM if interested and thanks in advance.