Detroit Lake - Bass Fishing

[wormburner]

Taking the family out to DL on the 19 - 26 of Aug., was wondering how bass fishing is on the lake that time of the year, bass are the only fish I hit the water for, so they are all CR'd, any dock action or deeper weedlines, I fish alot of jig-pigs and tubes and senkos, should work out there like they do around the Duluth area.

We will be staying on the south end of the lake for that week. Does it have a good population of LM, is the water pretty clear, or are there some better lakes in the area to hit?

Just looking to fish the week away. Thanks for any info...

[BrianLucky13]

I dont think DL is a good bass lake!!! There is a lot smaller lakes around the area that would have more bass and the traffic wouldnt be so bad. During the day time on DL its tough cause all the boat traffic. But then again DL has muskies in it and you could snag into one of them will fishing for bass!!!

I was fishing for muskies there a couple weeks ago and I was using a 12 inch surface lure and I caught a 5.5-6 lb bass!!! Kind of cool!!!!

Anyways thats my .02 cents!!

Goodluck!!! Keep us posted how you did

Brian

[CASTnBLAST]

Plenty of bass on Detroit,if you enjoy dock fishing you'll do just fine.

[wormburner]

How does Sallie rate for a bass lake? I see it is right around the corner from where we will be staying.

We head out every spring in the middle of April, and I belive this is the lake the DNR nets the walleyes, I always take the kids over in the a.m. to let them see the fish they milk out.

I will be bringing my 18.5' ranger, so small lakes with a shallow landing will be a tough one.

Every spring when we are out there we stay at breezy shores, and it kills me not to be able to fish, but have always looked at the lake and thought it would be a decent LM lake, with the weeds and so on?

[2xtreme]

Try Leif lake or Lizzie in the south bay both are not to far from DL. I have had good luck on both these lakes for LM.

[fisherdog19]

I've caught many, and some large, bass on Detroit. I'd have to say Little Detroit has been best for me. You should be able to fish the whole shoreline from the public beach to the bowling alley then passed the river to where the next house is and then fish that shoreline around the whole bay to the main point that opens to the main part of Little Detroit (large fallen tree in water on that point). My best luck has come fishing the docks with 2 approaches. Black and silver tandem spinnerbait with a white pork rind trailer when I'm a little ways from the docks. Then when closer, I flip a jig and pig under the docks and boats (blue/black). I have done excellent with this approach and have had 40 fish days. Out from that point with the fallen tree (one side of the point turns south the other east), there is a patch of reeds that you can toss spinnerbaits in and pick up a few fish. I have never done the same on Big D, but would assume it would work as well, never had a need to go to the big lake. You can also find some bass by the sandbar between the two lakes. Good luck and give us a report.

Fisherdog

[wormburner]

Thank you for the replies...

Fisherdog, Thank you for the detailed report, the main colors of jig n pigs I throw are black/blue and green pumpkin. Have you had any luck on Senko style baits on DL?

When you have been on DL, do you mainly fish the dock and reed areas, have you ever got on the 10' breakline and worked it with a jig n pig, also have you ever ventured back towards the Curfman lake area?

How are the water depths, I see on the map that little DL is relativley shallow, does a guy have to watch when running accross for any sand/rock bars?

Is the public launch deep enough to launch from, or is the other one a better choice, I have a 18.5' Ranger.

Once again, thanks for the info...

[fisherdog19]

Never fished a senko or the break, never needed to. Should be ok for depth on most of Little D, gets shallow between that reed bed and point I talked about and also near the sand bar between the two lakes but that has bouys. Curfman lake or better known as Deadshot Bay, I have not tried, but it is full of reeds and good cover for bass. I have always done outstanding fishing the docks on Little D, a few of them in particular always produced 3-4 fish everytime. I've caught close to 10 over 5 lbs, so there are some hogs in there. Good luck.

Fisherdog

[wormburner]

Thanks again for all the info, I'll post a report when we return.

[DEADhead]

Try taking your family to Dunton Locks and fish where Muskrat enters Sallie. Just upstream of the old locks where we put our trap net for the Walleye harvest. It would be a good spot to take the family. I've seen some decent sized LMB that hang out around there, and some nice Muskies there in the spring.

[wormburner]

I have always wondered when we are there in the spring if that area holds bass, I have the kids fish in the two back ponds and they catch lots of small crappies and the catch the occasional small Lm. They like going back there because the catch a ton of small fish and release them, but when your a kid, it's the numbers that keeps them excited.

[DEADhead]

I notice that the bass usually hang out there in the morning, about 9 am, before it gets real warm.

The old holding pond you mentioned is great in early spring, when there's not much vegetation up yet. I've pulled some nice sunfish out of there on my fly rod, including a few 8"+, which definitely suprised me. There are also some pike in there as well hiding out; I had one biting onto to a sunfish that I caught with a fly and lost him just before landing it. when I pulled the sunny off to de-hook, there were teethmarks and a gash on the sides of it.

[fisherdog19]

Wormburner, being that you'll only be about a mile from where I live, if you'd like to get together one day while you're here and fish, I could show you some spots. My contact info is below.

Fisherdog

[wormburner]

Is the boat launch by the public swimming area a decent launch?

Fisherdog, I will bring along your info and look ya up when we head out, once again thanks too all who had info!

[fisherdog19]

That access isn't bad, but not a lot of parking. Head south out of Breezy shores and follow the road passed long bridge resort to the south shore access, better access and parking.