Smallmouth bass
Excellent
The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Lake St. Clair Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
Lake St. Clair: world-class muskie, smallmouth bass and ice-fishing perch between Windsor and the St. Clair River.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~19 °C est.
Air / High
10 °C / 17 °C
Wind
NNE 20 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake St. Clair is fishing in its best temperature window, with the bite spread across the day. Today brings cloud cover, wind NNE around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 17 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Walleye (pickerel)
Excellent
Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
Tie on: Jig and minnow · Spinnerbait over the weeds · Bucktail fly, fast troll · Leech pattern under an indicator. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 18 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Ontario requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$12.21. Ontario fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Smallmouth bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake St. Clair today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:21), sunset (19:22), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp10 °C
High / Low17 °C / 10 °C
WindNNE 20 km/h, gusts 23 km/h
Pressure102.63 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain100% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 19:22
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake St. Clair
The best day on Lake St. Clair this week looks like Tuesday Sep 29, at 5 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Tuesday, Sep 29 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Sep 25 — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 07:21 to 19:22
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 32 km/h
- Rain chance
- 1%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake St. Clair: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Smallmouth bass
Opens late June in most of Ontario; best July to October
The rock-and-current bass of the Great Lakes shores, the Bay of Quinte, the St. Lawrence and Lake St. Clair. The Ontario bass season opens in late June in most zones, after the nesting period. The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Largemouth bass
Late June to October in Ontario
The weed and dock bass of southern Ontario, Rice Lake and the Bay of Quinte. Same season as smallmouth in most zones. Topwater at dawn, then soft plastics and spinnerbaits along the weed lines.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Muskellunge
Opens in June in Ontario; best in fall
The trophy fish of Lake St. Clair, the St. Lawrence, the Detroit River and Lake of the Woods. Catch-and-release is the culture; minimum sizes are large where retention is allowed. Bucktails, jerkbaits and trolling big crankbaits along the breaks.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. Small jigs and minnows along the weed edges and the sand flats.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
When to come: the Lake St. Clair calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Walleye (pickerel)
Muskellunge
Yellow perch
Northern pike (jackfish)
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 19 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake St. Clair today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
2/5 Slow. The wind owns today. 39 km/h gusts make boat control the real battle. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 39 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 42 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 43 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence, from C$12.21 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Ontario MNR and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Ontario licence page before you keep anything.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side; the Michigan side needs a Michigan licence.
About this water
Lake St. Clair is a lake in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Lake St. Clair: the full guide
Lake St. Clair
Lake St. Clair is the shallow, heart-shaped lake between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, joined to them by the St. Clair River in the north and the Detroit River in the south, and split by the border between Ontario and Michigan. On the Canadian side, Belle River, Lakeshore and Mitchell’s Bay are the main access towns. It is famous for muskellunge and smallmouth bass in open water and for perch through the ice at Mitchell’s Bay. There is no live public level gauge used on this page; the report is built from the weather and the season.
Species and seasons
Muskellunge are the headline fish, trolled through summer and fall; smallmouth bass open in summer; yellow perch, walleye and northern pike round it out, with perch the ice fishery. Ontario’s zone seasons and limits apply on the Canadian side, including the bass and muskie seasons.
Where to fish it
The open lake is trolled for muskie and drifted for smallmouth; Mitchell’s Bay, in the northeast corner, is the perch and ice-fishing area; the St. Clair River delta to the north has marshes and channels of its own. The Thames River enters the lake on the Canadian side near Lighthouse Cove.
Planning a visit
Belle River and Mitchell’s Bay are within an hour of Windsor. The lake is shallow and gets choppy quickly in wind; stay on the Canadian side unless you hold a Michigan licence.
Ice and seasons
The shallow lake freezes in cold winters, and Mitchell’s Bay is fished through the ice, but the ice varies with currents from the rivers; no agency certifies it. Open water runs from spring to late fall.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, follows the shallow lake’s fast warm-up; wind decides the boat days. Pressure and sky build the score.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed on the Canadian side; the Michigan side needs a Michigan licence. The rules are linked below, and our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
Is Lake St. Clair good for muskie?
Yes, it is one of the best-known muskellunge lakes in North America.
Where is the ice fishing on Lake St. Clair?
Mitchell’s Bay, in the northeast corner, in cold winters; check the ice yourself.
Do I need a Michigan licence?
Only if you fish the Michigan side of the lake.
Is fishing good at Lake St. Clair right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Ontario fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.