Anchor Bay is a freshwater bay forming the northern region of

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

state of Michigan. It generally encompasses the waters north of a line between Huron Point (part of the Lake St. Clair Metro Park Beach, not to be confused with Port Huron) and the Middle Channel of the St. Clair River (which enters Lake St. Clair between Dickinson Island and Harsens Island). It covers over and a depth of from , which is unusually shallow for its immense size.

Geography

The bay is about northeast of downtown

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. It is just south of

New Baltimore, Michigan New Baltimore is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 12,117 at the 2020 census. New Baltimore is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is located along the northern shores of Lake St. Clair. History Ne ...

and borders the townships of Harrison, Clinton, Chesterfield, Anchorville, Ira, Fair Haven, Clay, and several islands including Dickinson and Harsens. It is notable for the fact that Canadian waters lie to the south of the adjacent United States territory and make up a major portion of Lake Saint Clair. Anchor Bay measures over from north to south and over from east to west. It is fed by the St. Clair River, which flows southwards from Lake Huron and has an extensive

river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...

where it enters Lake Saint Clair, the largest delta of the Great Lakes System.Lake St. Clair summary report
.''Great Lakes.net''. Retrieved on December 2, 2007. This bay is part of the Great Lakes System.

Naming

As early as 1710, the English identified the lake on their maps as Saint Clare. By the Mitchell Map in 1755, the spelling appeared as St. Clair, the form that became most widely used. Some scholars believe the name honors

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

General

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

, later Governor of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

; however, the name Lake St. Clair was in use, with its current spelling, long before St. Clair became a notable figure. The lake's name and the general's name likely influenced the namings of St. Clair County, the township of St. Clair, and the cities of St. Clair and St. Clair Shores. The name's origin has also been confused with Patrick Sinclair, a British officer who purchased land on the St. Clair River at the outlet of the Pine River. There, in 1764, he built Fort Sinclair, in use for nearly 20 years before it was abandoned. Unlike most smaller lakes in the region—but like the Great Lakes—''Lake'' occurs first in its name rather than at the end, reflecting its French origins.

Water quality

Anchor Bay is a part of the largest freshwater delta in the Great Lakes. Its current water quality is quite good despite past pollution incidents and a history of chemical bio-accumulation. A number of cities obtain their drinking water from or just downstream of the lake, and quality is closely monitored. In the early 1970s, the Canadian and American governments closed the commercial fishery over concerns of bio-accumulation of mercury caused by the Dow Chemical Chlor-Alkali Plant in

Sarnia, Ontario Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron flo ...

. Since 1949, Dow operated mercury cell plants there for the production of chlorine and other chemicals, discharging mercury into the river and contaminating the fishery. The fishery has remained closed, although studies indicate mercury levels are now well within safe ranges.

Boat clubs

Many

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mari ...

s (boating and sailing clubs) are along the lake's shores, including: * Clinton River Boat Club (Club Island), near

Harsens Island, Michigan Sans Souci is an unincorporated community in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The community is located within Clay Township. The community is located along the St. Clair River on the eastern coast of Harsens Island. The commu ...

* Albatross Yacht Club, Anchor Bay, Michigan * North Star Sail Club, on the Clinton River, Harrison Twp, Michigan

Public beaches

* New Baltimore - Beach at Walter and Mary Burke Park in Downtown New Baltimore, Michigan * Lake St Clair Metropark - Harrison Township, MI * Most of the small islands on the bay (Strawberry, Grassy Bends ocally known as "Grassy" have sandy beaches or sand bars to enjoy. Visitors should be aware that some of them are not family-friendly (notably that of nearby Gull Island, especially during

Jobbie Nooner Jobbie Nooner is a large boat party that takes place around Gull Island in Lake Saint Clair, Michigan. According to co-creator Jack Campbell, "The very first Jobbie Nooner occurred Friday, June 28th, 1974." Auto workers, who called themselves "Jo ...

weekend).

Fauna

Many of North America's freshwater fish species are found in the lake throughout the seasons. Species popular with anglers include

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

, bullhead,

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, muskellunge,

northern Pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...

, steelhead,

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

, and

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

. Several invasive species also inhabit the lake, including zebra mussels, sea lampreys, alewives and round gobies.

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

Bathymetry of Lake Erie & Lake St. Clair
- NGDC
National Data Buoy Center page for Lake St. Clair station LSCM4
Current weather conditions from

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

*http://www.epa.gov/med/grosseile_site/indicators/hg-walleye.html {{Authority control Lake St. Clair Great Lakes Waterway Bodies of water of Macomb County, Michigan Bodies of water of St. Clair County, Michigan Bays of Michigan