Lake St. Clair Meetup

[HangOutdoors]

Looking to guage the interest of a Lake St. Clair Meetup in July or August of this year. Just for the day. Some have mentioned it before. Probably in one of the bays by the islands. Plenty of water, good for hanging out and watersports and fishing, plenty of fuel on the rivers, restaurants, etc. Plenty of water as well. Of course LSC can get rough but the launches at the north and through the north channel are great and it can mitigate the chop. Good entry points are Metro Beach, 9 Mile Ramp, Ramp just north of Selfridge Air Force base and Harley Ensign (which is probably the easiest and largest).

Its about 5-8 miles across to the islands and bays depending on which ones and where you launch from, easy run if you haven't done it before. If the open water is rough or makes you a bit nervous then their are launches near clay, bouvier bay, Algonac and Fair Haven which will put you within 1 mile in mostly sheltered water.

Looking to guage any interest. Something to do and hang out with fellow jetboaters, etc.

1) is a good watersports area, a couple miles across 5'-8' deep fairly calm.
2) is Ok, but you can get some decent rollers and waves from Anchor bay.
3) and 4) is Fisher Bay. Lots of calm water, lots of boats plenty of places to hangout and swim, and do watersports, grill etc.
5) and 6) is Muscamoot Bay. Lots of calm water, lots of boats plenty of places to hangout and swim, and do watersports, grill etc.

If there is interest we just set a day and meet up. Low budget and can be done at the spur of the moment as well. If you want to launch on the east side of the lake and haven't been across, I can meet you or a group and we can go across together.

 

[AmesJainchill]

I usually make plans a couple days out based on the weather, but I'd definitely drop by if folks are going to be in a known location. My marina (River Bend) has a couple other yammy's - an AR240 and a 242X - not sure if they're on here though as I haven't seen the folks who own them - we seem to be on different timelines, heh. But I almost always see other jet boats where I wind up swimming/anchoring. I'm usually out on the lake Sat or Sun each week during the season, and as much as I can, Friday if I take some vacation time. Always launching from Harley, typically between 10-1130. Bigger boats tend to come out from MacRay and Belle Maer, as well as the Nautical Mile after 11ish and the open areas tend to get "bath tubby" after that.

Where we wind up for anchoring and swimming usually is dictated by where we grab lunch, what the gnats in some areas of the flats are doing, and what the water temp is like.

Some of what I've experienced for anyone in the area that hasn't:

Munchies Bay (little square-ish notch) up in the east side of Bouvier has been pretty nice so far this year, especially if we catch lunch at On The Rocks Tiki Bar or Island Grill, plus it's the warmest water. Munchies this year has been about waist deep or a little shallower. Typically never has gnats.
Side note - maybe little moot is pretty warm? I typically don't swim in Moot and I try to stay away during Raft Off as there are way too many drunks and my daughter is too young (currently 6yo) to be exposed to the shenanigans that go on back there during the event, lol - though I think they've increased the waterflow through that area in the last few years - so maybe not quite as "warm" now. I used quotes around warm, because I always suspected the water temp there could be raised a bit due to all the heavy beer drinkers "wading around" amongst the boats. ? Then again, maybe that's just in my mind, lol.

If we go to Brown's on Harsens, Fisher Bay is nice and close and for anyone that hasn't been - you can get to it quick through Big Fisher / Little Fisher highways right across from Brown's. I even went around via Big Fisher Hwy->Blind Indian Creek->Little Fisher Hwy->Fisher Bay, though that was a bit explorative and we found BIC to be about 18" deep for a sec in a couple spots (before the recent floods this past week). Just idled through without stopping and had someone in the bow eyeballing for any obstacles (look out for PWCs hauling-A against the no-wake rules from time to time). Other options include Big Fisher Hwy all the way to Goose Bay, then if one wanted to go to Fisher, just hang a u-turn and circle around in Goose to head up to Fisher Bay. Finally, Big Fisher Hwy to Little Fisher Hwy and straight out to Fisher Bay is another path. North end of Little Fisher Hwy is marked by a white pole - on the left going out, and on the right coming in. Shallowest probably 2-3 ft deep. Fisher Bay is pretty shallow this year (compared to last couple high water years) around waist deep or a little less - and depending on time of year and winds, easy-to-squish gnats (non-biting) can get a little clingy to the vinyl until you get back up to cruising speed.

Also, Fisher Bay->Snake Hwy->Sni->Baltimore Hwy through the flats from Brown's is a smooth path to Naked Bay just north of North Island and Baltimore Hwy (NE of your [HASH=132]#2)[/HASH]. Note, Fisher Bay in average water level years can be too shallow (less than a foot) but the water level this year is still appx 18-20" higher than "average". So during average years, BIC and north end of Fisher Bay can be no-go zones for anything but a light 'toon or john boat. Naked Bay is a nice alternative to Munchies, has minimal to no gnats in my experience, and can get very shallow and smooth if you tuck back in away from Anchor Bay.

A little bit more open area, but typically colder, shallow and very sandy (sometimes "rippled" hard sand!) is the west side of Grassy Island across from the Anchor Bay entrance to North channel. Sometimes gnats depending on wind and time of year, but you can anchor in 2-3 feet of water and walk to near shin/knee deep in normal water level years. So be careful on the approach, as the shallow areas can extend quite a ways off the west side. Haven't swam there yet this year since the water temp is still pretty cool there, but that can be another nice place as well, barring a few boat-wake waves.

 

[AmesJainchill]

Also, sounds like a new place going up right near munchies!