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Lake St. Clair Fishing Report: Bass, Walleye, and Monster Muskie on the Bite
Artificial Lure here with your October 30, 2025 Lake St. Clair fishing report. Sunrise hit at 7:57 a.m. today and sunset’s set for 6:30 p.m.—giving anglers shortening daylight but prime windows for predawn and dusk bites. We’re working with another stretch of unseasonably warm fall weather, with mild temps and light winds out of the southwest this morning, slowly picking up through the afternoon. Water temps are hovering near 52 degrees, just above that magic 48-degree mark where muskie action usually peaks this time of year, according to Michigan Outdoor News.
The stable weather means bass and walleye are still active, but the muskie bite is building—they haven’t quite hit full pre-winter frenzy yet, but the next cold front could light them up overnight. Barometer is steady, and without tidal swings on St. Clair, focus on wind-driven current and water clarity when choosing your drift.
Recent catches have been impressive all around. Local guides are reporting thick-shouldered smallmouth pushing five, even six pounds—no surprise, as the round goby and zebra mussel invasion has given these fish a feast in recent years, fueling some of the best bass growth rates on the continent, reports Frank Sargeant at Outdoor Wire. Walleye numbers are solid up and down the shipping channel and at the mouth of the Detroit River, with many in the 18- to 22-inch range, fattened up and ready for the net.
Now’s a perfect time for trophy hunting: muskie are being boated on the edges of weedlines between Anchor Bay and the Dumping Grounds, with a couple beasts over 50 inches reported off the St. Clair Light and north of Belle River this week. According to the most recent Spreaker Lake St. Clair podcast, perch fishing has also been strong, with limits coming off Goose Bay using minnows and small jigs, especially on calm mornings.
Best baits right now? For muskie, large rubber baits like Bull Dawgs, big crankbaits in perch and walleye patterns, plus trolling legend 10” jointed Believers are the hot tickets—run them near deep weedlines or the breaks off Metro Beach and the Mile Roads. Bass anglers are crushing fish on white spinnerbaits, 3-inch tube jigs, and if you want to match the hatch, goby-pattern Ned rigs and swimbaits are top picks, confirmed by 2025 Bass Pro Tour recaps. Don’t rule out the chatterbait—Lee at Major League Fishing spotlighted it as a producer all season. Live shiners or leeches are working for walleyes, and classic drop-shot rigs catch just about everything along rocky shores and artificial reefs.
As for hot spots, try the mouth of the Belle River (north side) for both smallmouth and muskie, or haul over to the Dumping Grounds for a shot at a 50-inch fish. Bass are schooling along the Mile Roads—especially near 9 Mile Tower and by Strawberry Island. Perch folks should anchor up on Grassy Island and Goose Bay edges—be patient, the schools are moving but they’ve been thick at sunrise.
In short, fish are still eating hard as we roll toward November, but be ready for the bite to explode on the first big cold snap. Keep an eye on water clarity after windy days—that’s when feeding activity will stack up along transition areas and mid-depth rockpiles.
That’s your Lake St. Clair report from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for your local lineside lowdown. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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Published on 4 days, 19 hours ago