Welcome to Lake St. Clair

Welcome …

… to Lake St. Clair …

… and the Plano Championship Chase …

… just outside the all-American city of Detroit.

<p>So I say, "Sure, I can do a photo essay about the lake." Then, I find out the thing covers 430 square MILES and is 22.5 nautical miles long, and is used to some pretty big boats - er, ship things - so I jump in my rental car and start looking for somewhere to shoot the lake.</p>

So I say, “Sure, I can do a photo essay about the lake.” Then, I find out the thing covers 430 square MILES and is 22.5 nautical miles long, and is used to some pretty big boats – er, ship things – so I jump in my rental car and start looking for somewhere to shoot the lake.

Then, I spot this dude, pulling his ship. Since I’m in an inconspicuous rental car, I follow him.

<p>Bingo! He leads me to two of the Elite dudes. I'm on the right track to actually find a spot to shoot the south end of this gi-normous pond! So I park the rental car in a spot not real close to all the seagulls, in case I didn't check the poop coverage box - and I start walking.</p>

Bingo! He leads me to two of the Elite dudes. I’m on the right track to actually find a spot to shoot the south end of this gi-normous pond! So I park the rental car in a spot not real close to all the seagulls, in case I didn’t check the poop coverage box – and I start walking.

<p>I walk down the 9 Mile Pier. (BTW, the pier isn't 9 miles long, it is just at the end of 9 Mile Road, which - second BTW - I got to by driving down 8 Mile Rd while listening to Eminem which I thought was pretty cool.) I start walking down the pier.</p>

I walk down the 9 Mile Pier. (BTW, the pier isn’t 9 miles long, it is just at the end of 9 Mile Road, which – second BTW – I got to by driving down 8 Mile Rd while listening to Eminem which I thought was pretty cool.) I start walking down the pier.

<p>At the end of my one-mile walk on 9 Mile Pier, I meet this dude, Tony, who tells me that he plans to come to "that Bassmaster weigh-in," and as he says that, from behind me, some dude yells out, "Hey Bassmaster guy, you want to see a bass?" And of course I do since I'm paid to want to see a bass. So ...</p>

At the end of my one-mile walk on 9 Mile Pier, I meet this dude, Tony, who tells me that he plans to come to “that Bassmaster weigh-in,” and as he says that, from behind me, some dude yells out, “Hey Bassmaster guy, you want to see a bass?” And of course I do since I’m paid to want to see a bass. So …

<p>I turn around and see Rick here, holding an almost 4-pound bass. He tells me he is also going to come up to the weigh-in and that he reads Bassmaster magazine. I tell him I'm not quite sure but you might have to wear shoes and a shirt. </p>

I turn around and see Rick here, holding an almost 4-pound bass. He tells me he is also going to come up to the weigh-in and that he reads Bassmaster magazine. I tell him I’m not quite sure but you might have to wear shoes and a shirt.

<p>This makes his buddy, T.J., laugh while trying to fish. T.J. also says he's coming to the weigh-in. So a huge shout out to Tony, Rick and T.J. for being so friendly, and letting me know that I had indeed almost found the south end of Lake St. Clair.</p>

This makes his buddy, T.J., laugh while trying to fish. T.J. also says he’s coming to the weigh-in. So a huge shout out to Tony, Rick and T.J. for being so friendly, and letting me know that I had indeed almost found the south end of Lake St. Clair.

<p>They said the south point was just around that point there and down a few blocks. (BTW, that's T.J. fishing from the pier, and the dude had a rocket arm casting the bait out there.) Thanks, man, for the hospitality, but ...</p>

They said the south point was just around that point there and down a few blocks. (BTW, that’s T.J. fishing from the pier, and the dude had a rocket arm casting the bait out there.) Thanks, man, for the hospitality, but …

<p>... I now have to find the north end of this Lake St. Clair, so I jump in the semi-seagull-poop-laden rental car and head north. Then I discover that the 22.5 nautical miles isn't so close to what my GPS is saying I have to drive.</p>

… I now have to find the north end of this Lake St. Clair, so I jump in the semi-seagull-poop-laden rental car and head north. Then I discover that the 22.5 nautical miles isn’t so close to what my GPS is saying I have to drive.

It says closer to 50 miles, which for me means a couple of these.

Finally, I get to where Lake St. Clair begins – Lake Huron.

Lake Huron is just on the other side of that bridge. (Which, BTW, is called Blue Water Bridge and dudes, they ain’t kidding.)

The evidence is right there …

… under the bridge.

<p>So I park, and am kind of amazed at what the kids on the side of the river are doing. That's Canada they're jumping from, and to tell you the truth my grandparents are from Canada so I have spent a great deal of time over in the country, but I never once thought of jumping off it.</p>

So I park, and am kind of amazed at what the kids on the side of the river are doing. That’s Canada they’re jumping from, and to tell you the truth my grandparents are from Canada so I have spent a great deal of time over in the country, but I never once thought of jumping off it.

It didn’t seem to bother these guys, so I take it that if you jump off Canada but still land in Canada, you don’t need a passport to jump.

So I’m sitting under the bridge taking photos of boats to show B.A.S.S. that if we used boats like these …

… on the tour, I might actually get in one of them.

Then I hear what sounds like a bass boat, and sure enough…

<p>Elite angler Kenyon Hill comes flying by. This shot kind of puts the whole shindig in perspective. It's a big, big lake with tiny boats. I jump back in the rental car - which by now could really use a bath - and chase Kenyon back down those 22.5 "nautical miles."</p>

Elite angler Kenyon Hill comes flying by. This shot kind of puts the whole shindig in perspective. It’s a big, big lake with tiny boats. I jump back in the rental car – which by now could really use a bath – and chase Kenyon back down those 22.5 “nautical miles.”

…a you-know-what stop …

I end up in the Lake St. Clair Metropark, where all the B.A.S.S. stuff will be happening.

Some Elite anglers are close to calling it a day.

Dudes, I’m thinking one of those guys may need a bigger truck.

<p>That's how I shoot this beautiful Lake St. Clair, and this is what I will tell my several hundred B.A.S.S. bosses, "Dudes, 22.5 nautical miles is a whole bunch bigger when you drive on a highway and not a nautical." Goodnight. db</p>

That’s how I shoot this beautiful Lake St. Clair, and this is what I will tell my several hundred B.A.S.S. bosses, “Dudes, 22.5 nautical miles is a whole bunch bigger when you drive on a highway and not a nautical.” Goodnight. db