# CLinton



## 1siena (Apr 15, 2007)

Anyone been out on the Clinton? How was the fishing?


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## i want to catch fish (Apr 17, 2008)

fished it today from 2 till dark
slow been catching a ton of shinners which are about 6 to 7 in long a few suckers here and there nothing yet water temp is right at 52 so its at the perfect temp so give it a few days water is really clear and low too


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## spincaster22 (Dec 31, 2007)

I have spent so many hours on the clinton river hoping and wishing to catch some nice fish and there's very few in the whole river. The water in the summer turns into a bass river which boils the trout. The chance you'll catch any trout slim, but the sadder part is the supposive steelhead run. I have caught 12-15 out of their, but on an average day 0. My daily average for steelhead on that river is probably 0.15 out of 50 days. 

Good Luck and go north.


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## Reel Addiction (Mar 5, 2008)

spincaster22 said:


> I have spent so many hours on the clinton river hoping and wishing to catch some nice fish and there's very few in the whole river. The water in the summer turns into a bass river which boils the trout. The chance you'll catch any trout slim, but the sadder part is the supposive steelhead run. I have caught 12-15 out of their, but on an average day 0. My daily average for steelhead on that river is probably 0.15 out of 50 days.
> 
> Good Luck and go north.


 i have often wonderd. I mean the DNR has stocked thousands and thousands of fish in the last 5yrs in oakland county alone. so where do the fish go? i cant imagine they keep stocking just to have them roll over once the summer heat comes around. i know alot of people who live on the clinton and i never hear " all those damn stocked fish are dying and stinking up the place every summer" or do they all die? would make sense to me if the clinton cant support trout why the keep stocking it. i know one of the branches is actually on Michigans designated trout stream list, that was just revised in April of 2008 and is good for 5yrs. 

And speaking of a bass river, i dont hear too much about smallmouth in the clinton?? i was often wondering with Lake St. Clair being a kick A** smallmouth/muskie fishery, why dont you hear about them, or see them in the river? I would think it would be loaded. maybe im wrong. ill put this in a new post, i am sure everyone can put in their two cents. im curious


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## i want to catch fish (Apr 17, 2008)

well they say only about 10 percent of the steelhead they stock come back or live the next year we got a group of buddies that fish it hard and put many hours in an come out with alot of fish but we only keep 2 to 3 fish a year many guys keep more but we limt out selves so it gets better
but i never really caught many bass out of there this year i caught more walleye then i did bass


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## creek trekker (Sep 18, 2008)

I have read some Jim Francis' past post......he seems reasonable to me. The Clinton has to be a viable steelhead fishery for them to justify planting that many fish in this river.


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## DogDoc (Jan 18, 2002)

Reel Addiction said:


> i have often wonderd. I mean the DNR has stocked thousands and thousands of fish in the last 5yrs in oakland county alone. so where do the fish go? i cant imagine they keep stocking just to have them roll over once the summer heat comes around. i know alot of people who live on the clinton and i never hear " all those damn stocked fish are dying and stinking up the place every summer" or do they all die? would make sense to me if the clinton cant support trout why the keep stocking it. i know one of the branches is actually on Michigans designated trout stream list, that was just revised in April of 2008 and is good for 5yrs.
> 
> And speaking of a bass river, i dont hear too much about smallmouth in the clinton?? i was often wondering with Lake St. Clair being a kick A** smallmouth/muskie fishery, why dont you hear about them, or see them in the river? I would think it would be loaded. maybe im wrong. ill put this in a new post, i am sure everyone can put in their two cents. im curious


I can tell you where some of them go. Into a frying pan! First week of May this year I went down to Ryan road access and watched a half a dozen guys catching the planted smolts with spinners and live bait. All of them got stuffed into a cooler and one guy was actually stuffing them up his shirt when he saw me watching him. And yes, I did call the RAP hotline and Surprise!! Nothing happened!!!! :sad::sad::sad:


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## i want to catch fish (Apr 17, 2008)

wow


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## DE82 (Nov 28, 2007)

DogDoc said:


> I can tell you where some of them go. Into a frying pan! First week of May this year I went down to Ryan road access and watched a half a dozen guys catching the planted smolts with spinners and live bait. All of them got stuffed into a cooler and one guy was actually stuffing them up his shirt when he saw me watching him. And yes, I did call the RAP hotline and Surprise!! Nothing happened!!!! :sad::sad::sad:


Please do not give out specific holes.


If you want to know what happens to them, contact the fisheries biologist and the DNR and they should be able to tell you. I can tell you I caught trout in middle August in the Clinton this year, not Paint Creek but Clinton


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## i want to catch fish (Apr 17, 2008)

i have also caught a few smaller trout in the summer months including into august


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## stinger63 (Nov 25, 2003)

They wash out of the river and into the Lake St clair where they then get eaten by all the Musky`s


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## Silverexpress (Sep 6, 2006)

The majority of the steelhead work their way up an unmentionable tributary of the Clinton. It's a spring fed stream about about 1/3rd narrower than the Paint. The water temp ranges in average between 55-60 deg all throughout the year, the river bed is primarily gravel rocks, and the entire waterway flows through a series of gated private neighborhoods in Northern Oakland County till it meets up with the Clinton. In otherwords, access is non-existent for the majority of us.

Surprisingly no one in these communities know how to fish, nor have the time, or inclination to learn. Their sport is golfing and tennis. The stream is left as is and the surrounding banks are cared for by a commercial landscaper whose job is to retain the pristine natural and peaceful environment of the communities. The fish are left too themselves except for the curiosity of children who will occaisionaly throw rocks at the "carp" in the "creek" flowing thru their parent's multi acre lot.

.....and then I woke up......:SHOCKED:


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