Very few things about the environment of his East Tennessee home remind Cole Sands of Lake St. Clair. The smallmouth bass that inhabit Watauga Lake and South Holston Reservoir act remarkably similar to their southern Michigan relatives.
Those similarities have helped Sands put together an impressive performance this week at the 2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair, putting together bags of 21-1 and 22-9 to land in eighth after two days of competition.
The 2024 Bassmaster Classic qualifier has realized that smallmouth behave similarly no matter where they are, with the exception of current driven reservoirs like the Tennessee River system. It’s about how the bait is presented and how they react on forward-facing sonar.
“It’s all about reading their behavior,” he explained. “Are they coming at the bait fast or coming to it slowly? Do you need to keep it above them or let it sink below them? Smallmouth are similar no matter where you go.”
Sands made his first trip to Lake St. Clair for the 2023 Elite Series event his rookie season and quickly realized how special the lake is.
“I learned that this is my favorite place on Earth,” the 2020 College Series National Champion said. “This place is awesome.”
A lot of the same places he utilized in 2023 are coming into play again this week, although the way he is catching them is slightly different. While the bulk of the mayfly hatch is done and over with, there are mayflies and other bugs lingering around the surface that the smallmouth are targeting.
“I wish it would be calm for one day. (Day 2) Morning was really fun. It was flat calm, and I smoked them the first couple hours,” he said. “If it stayed calm, I really feel like I could maybe catch 24 pounds. So, I’m throwing more of an insect imitator, which is pretty unique.”
Finding ways to separate
The margins are razor-thin this week at the Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair. Ounces have made the difference between making and missing the Day 3 cut. Yards separate 3 ½-pound class smallmouth from 4 ½-pound class smallmouth. Logan Parks is a great example of that this week.
On Day 1, the Auburn, Ala. pro fished in deeper water and caught 19-12. He moved shallower on Day 2 and landed 25-9, the second biggest bag of the day.
“It just seems like are big ones roaming around in there,” Parks said. “There’s some bigger bait in the area and it is a little shallower than I had been fishing. The ones out in the middle (seem) to be in that postspawn funk still and these are feeding up.”
After using three baits on Day 1, leader Trey McKinney added a treble-hooked bait into the mix on Friday, which helped him keep his lead heading into semi-final Saturday.
Finicky St. Clair smallmouth
Redwine has been fishing Lake St. Clair for years, including last year’s Bassmaster Open that saw Anchor Bay get double the pressure Elite Series anglers are putting on it this week. On Day 2 of that Open, the fishing got better, which leads Redwine to believe boat pressure isn’t the only thing causing the smallmouth to be more finicky than usual, a lament many anglers have expressed despite more than 80 bags over 20 pounds being weighed in.
“I really don’t think it is pressure because there are so many fish here, and it is such a big body of water. They can’t all be pressured,” Redwine explained. “I feel like the water is cleaner than normal. Obviously, all of the Great Lakes are clear, but I feel like there’s an extra foot or two of visibility.
“Typically, it’s four or five feet in certain places,” he continued. “Right now, it is seven or eight feet. I think that is the reason why it’s harder to get some of these bass to bite. Smallmouth are visual feeders, and it’s almost like they can see the bait too well.
