Road Trip Ideas For Smallmouth

I turn 40 this year and want to take a road trip up north for some great small mouth action and walleye shore lunches. I would like to drive and take my own boat so I can create my own schedule but not sure where to go. Would rather not drive all the way to Minnesota but if that is where the best action is then I would I consider it for sure. Will be traveling with my brother and another friend I grew up with so there will be 3 of us. Lodging ideas or any tips from others that have done this would be great as well. Looking to go September/October time frame and hopefully get on the fall bite.

Thanks
Jake

Pickwick or Dale Hollow if you don't want to drive to Saint Clair or Mille Lacs.

Jake - lets talk about it tmro at Jerry's. I've been to Lake Ontario the last 2 Summers and going again this August.

Bump.

Definitely go ahead and go to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan or western New York if you want to catch memorable smallmouth. They are simply bigger average and they are not targeted like other species up there...very catchable. Decide on a lake and find a place on Airbnb in the area. A little research will give you lots of options. I've been up north for the last 12 years in May and it's worth the drive. If you are in the Ray Roberts/north Texas area I would probably look close at Minnesota...shortest drive, lots of lakes to choose from and great smallmouth fishing.

I'm a fan of northern Michigan (Traverse City area) for the smallies. Best guide in that region is Ben Wolfe with Sport Fish Michigan. Plenty of lodging options up that way - I'd be happy to provide ya with a few recommendations if ya decide to head that way.

Id go up to Minnesota. I’m living up here right now for college, and all the amount of smallies and walleye you can catch up here is wild. I highly recommend booking a guy named Walleye Dan. He fishes Mille Lacs and Gull Lake, both are big time fisheries. I know him personally, and he’s one of the best guides on the north. Check him out.

walleyedan.com

Went to St Claire last summer and will never forget it. I agree with the other guys that you need to go far North. I would probably prefer MN. I’ve walleye fished there but never smallmouth fished. The only bummer to St. Claire is it is in the Detroit metro. I would rather be the middle of nowhere MN.

Do it. I spent last week fishing St Clair with my two grown sons. We had a great time and caught a lot of fish. I rented a house right on the lake through VRBO (like AirBNB but less fees). Smallmouth was obviously the target species, but we also caught rock bass, walleye, pike and they have some of the biggest white bass I have ever seen. We stayed on the north end of the lake in New Baltimore, so we were able to get away from the Detroit area. Last year we went to Rainey Lake in MN. Fishing was better at St Clair, but the scenery is way better in MN. If I was going there again, I'd go to Lake Lille Lacs. I rented a boat last year, but I took my own boat this year...that's definitely the way to go.

Did St. Clair last year and going back again in August. The fishery is fantastic. Marcel Veenstra is the guide we used. Great dude that knows that place better than probably anyone.

Washington Island on the far end of Door County Wisconsin is the home of monster smallmouth, many of which have never seen a lure.

Almost any place in Mn will meet your needs..

My local club goes to Lost West for a week in oct and they were catching lots of 5-6 lb smallmouth... they FISH lakes around lost west all week and then have a tourney on lost west the last day.

Another area I keep hearing about is ALL the lakes around and including Roy Lake which I think is in Sd.

I say make it completely new to you. Go on a float fishing rivers for smallies. Overnight rafting trip. More info if you want it

I’ve been to Traverse City in mid June and Rainy Lake first week of June. Just depends on how hard of winter the north had as to what pattern the fish will be in. We’ve seen them in prespawn every time but one at Rainy. Jerkbait bite was phenomenal with those 3-5lbers. Loads of fun. At Traverse Bay we caught them during spawn. Not quite as big as Rainy smallies, but still a blast. I would go where you could catch the biggest ones and I’m not sure where that would be.

Thanks for all the awesome info! Really appreciate it and will be reaching out to a few of you.

Jake

Bump. Tell me more. Looking at an end of August trip to mn.