The first week of September on the St. Lawrence is the start of the serious muskie season. The water is starting to cool, the big fish are moving onto the shoals and the current edges, and the trollers are logging long hours in the low light. The smallmouth are schooled on the shoals and the drop-offs, and the walleye and the pike are on the weed edges in the bays. It is the beginning of the best six weeks of the year on the river.
What’s Hitting
What’s hitting this week: muskellunge on the St. Lawrence shoals and current edges from Cape Vincent down through Clayton and Alexandria Bay, with the trollers picking up fish on the deep edges and the casters working the weed lines in the mornings and evenings. Smallmouth are schooled on the rock shoals and the drop-offs in 15 to 30 feet, with some big fish among them. Walleye are on the weed edges and the current seams at dawn and dusk, and the pike are on the weed edges in the bays through the morning. Perch are starting to school up in the bays, which is early but welcome.
Where to Find Them
Muskie on the shoals off Cape Vincent, the 40 Acre Shoal, the Clayton area current edges, and the shoals around Alexandria Bay and the Lake of the Isles. Smallmouth on the shoals off Cape Vincent, Grenadier Island, and the drop-offs around the Admiralty Islands. Walleye on the weed edges in Chippewa Bay and the current seams near Clayton. Pike in Goose Bay, Chippewa Bay, and the Lake of the Isles weed edges.
Tides & Conditions
River temps are in the upper 60s to low 70s and starting to fall, which is what moves the muskies onto the shoals. The low-light hours and the overcast days are best for the muskie bite. The current is steady, and the calm mornings allow the trollers to work the tight shoal edges. The wind builds on the open lake by afternoon.
Tackle & Tactics
Muskie trollers run big crankbaits and jerkbaits on the shoal edges at 3 to 5 mph in 15 to 40 feet; the casters throw big bucktails, jerkbaits, and swimbaits on the weed lines with a figure-eight at the boat on every cast. Smallmouth take a drop-shot, a tube, or a jerkbait on the shoals. Walleye take a worm harness or a jig on the weed edges. Pike take a spinnerbait or a spoon with a wire leader.
Local Intel This Week
Public ramps: the Cape Vincent village ramp, the Clayton French Creek ramp, the Alexandria Bay Keewaydin State Park ramp, and the Chippewa Bay ramp. Fish are concentrating on the shoals and current edges for muskie and smallmouth, and on the weed edges in the bays for walleye and pike. The St. Lawrence has a strict muskellunge minimum size and a strong catch-and-release ethic, and the bass and walleye rules differ between the New York and Ontario sides — check current NYS DEC regulations and Ontario rules before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Muskie on the St. Lawrence shoals follow the bait as it moves up in the water column at dusk. Run your trolling baits shallower in the last hour of light than you did at midday — a lure 10 feet down at sunset is often better than the same lure at 25 feet.
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