I fish St. Claire alot for the same reasons you noticed. It is a very peaceful lake to fish. And, yes, it all does look bassy. But now that we are in mid summer and on into fall, the best places to concentrate are shorelines with deep water close by. Lilly pads on small shallow shelfs that drop off into deep water can be good. And bushes that grow down to and out onto the water are a plus. Ofcourse wood is always good. Another thing to look for is wild Irises (yellow flowers) which grow right down to and in the water. Bass seem to like being around their root system. There are alot of them on St. Claire. Big shallow flats can look bassy, but this time of the year hold only dinks. I like fishing a 4" weightless Senco type worm, simply casting next to the cover mentioned and fishing the initial sink. Though I catch bass in both the main lake and the fingers, I personally have caught my bigger fish in the fingers. Granted, alot of bass I catch are in the pound range, but every once in a while you can hook a pig. And seldom do I catch less than 10 or so bass. Hope this helps.

St Clair has a speed restriction on the main lake portion right now. Usually this large lake area is open for skiing. Right now it is restricted to 5mph due to high water levels. If they opened it to higher speeds right now, the wakes would damage docks, bulkheads, and erode unprotected shorelines. I can only remember one time in prior years that the lake was this high. It needs to drop about a foot or more to be back to normal summer level.

The upside of the speed restriction is that it makes the fishing all the more better on that side of the lake. The rest of the lake is and has always been (at least in the last 25 years) restricted to 5mph.

+1 on what others have said. There is a lot of developed shoreline and you won't find too many fish in those areas unless there is plenty of deep water and the dock isn't well maintained. On hot afternoons, my go-to baits are a 5 inch grub in watermelon or pumpkinseed rigged texas style with 1/16 to 1/8 oz weight and Gami EWG 1/0 hook, 5 inch Senko in olive/black flake whacky rigged with 2/0 Gami weedless whacky hook, OR a 10 inch Mann's Jelly paddle-tail worm with 3/0 hook fished weightless. SLOW is the key.

When it gets really tough, I resign to finding depth breaks in the 6 to 10 foot range down to 15 feet, and drag a carolina rig with a 6 inch ribbed worm in same colors mentioned. Its a good way to get snagged, but it also helps you find fish. Evenings can be fun with topwaters where you find grass. Jerkbaits and spinnerbaits in the mornings in the same areas can be good as well. Between 10 AM and an hour before dark, slow is the best bet.

thanks a lot guys great information. i cant say i was disapointed by any means from not catching fish on such a beautiful day but even a dink helps the moral. ive fished there a few time without much luck but from reports and looks i cant get over the fact i havent got much of anything. im not expecting hawgs by any means but something. As for the high water it can stay that way. its hard to find a lake on a hot friday evening that isnt full of jet skis and ski boats. thanks again guys hope the best of luck to all of you.