St. Martin Bay/Lake Huron

[skeeter6217]

I'm heading to the UP the second week of August for an annual fishing trip with the guys. We're thinking about taking a day to fish St. Martin Bay in Lake Huron. Can anyone give me any clues about this area? I'll be fishing for smallies.

[djkimmel]

Been many years since I was in that area - Les Cheneaux Islands actually. I don't think I made it West past Search Bay. The last time I was up there, all of that area was real spotty but when you found them, they were big and piled up in small places. Search Bay was very sparse for bass. I only found a few real shallow on the NE corner behind rock bar.

The two best spots up there by far and away were in the bay near Hessel and in the channel near Cedarville (some maps call it Cedarville Bay). I was told bass spawn in Flowers Bay but I went there about the time I thought they'd be spawning and found no bass. Found no bass in there in early September either. Basically, find the perch, find the smallmouths.

If you want BIG pike, try Mackinaw Bay and Government Bay. Things may have changed in the 10+ years since I've been there but my intel says it's about the same still.

Be careful of the nets up there. If they are still out, they are long and just under the surface. I think there were more in St. Martin Bay than anywhere else. If there's a creek / river flowing in you can just about count on a net blocking it. You don't want to get caught in one of those nets in rough water.

If you get desperate due to not finding any perch (bass) or bad weather, drive East to Caribou Lake. There were some decent smallies in that lake, though not the overall quality like around Les Cheneaux. Weird lake. Deep water mostly along the shore and shallow water in the middle. I think there was an island or two, plus 1 or 2 marked, lower-unit wrecker rock bars, along with some interesting points. Not a lake I would drive past any of the Northern Lower Peninsula lakes for (I feel the same about the Les Cheneaux Islands area too really), but interesting nonetheless.

If you make it out there I sure would be interested in an up-to-date fishing report. I can check to see if my 'remote intel' for the area is still working at all.