The 4th Trophy Bassmasters tournament took place on legendary Lake St Clair where it is common to catch over 50 smallmouths in a day at this time of the year. Unfortunately, smallmouth are out of season until next month but it is legal to catch and immediately release each fish after a quick measurement. The length of the fish is recorded and converted to a weight using a conversion chart. The weather cooperated and we were all treated to an exceptional good fishing day. For some of us it was a 3 to 4 hour trip, but all would agree it was worth the effort.
Don Ratcliff dominated this one for his first win of the season. Don is also our AOY points leader and continues to dominate this year. Virgil Grant’s managed the largest smallmouth at 20.5 inches which our chart converted to 6.05 pounds! Virgil’s big bass points helped him stay close to Don in the AOY race. David Morlock fished his first club tournament of the year and managed 3rd place.
NOTE: Since this is catch and immediate release for the US side of Lake St Clair we will measure each fish to the nearest 1/8 inch and record it for later totals. Only the largest 5 fish over 14 inches will be counted. There are separate conversion charts for largemouth and smallmouth.
It is illegal to target bass in Canadian water of Lake St Clair
Length Conversion Charts
Largemouth
Smallmouth
Trophy Bassmasters 