Posted by Rob J in WNY on 05-11-2003 03:26 PM:

Lake Erie Report, 5-10-03...

John "Sea Jack" and I finally got out on Lake Erie yesterday for those big, spring Smallies that we have dreamed about all winter long!

We met at his house and were launched at the Buffalo NFTA Boat Harbor by 7:30am, and headed straight for the prime springtime Smallie haunt - Myer's Reef! We also fished the Smoke Creek vicinity and the harbor breakwall area near the "Center Gap." We met up with a very rare, placid Lake Erie.

It wasn't a numbers day, but the size of the Smallies were everything one could expect for Lake Erie this time of year. Here's my first of only two fish I caught during the day, about 20 feet down:

A great 5 lb., 13 oz. Smallie opened my Erie day - and year!

The fish didn't strike hard. I just felt a little resistance - no different than the usual bumps you feel while doing the "Erie drag," but this one tugged back! The fish fought VERY sluggishly, and I thought I had a walleye and not a Smallie. Then, when I got it closer to the boat, John and I figured it to be a large sheepshead (freshwater drum) because its light-colored belly was facing us in the clear water. Then, when I got it closer, it made a flopping leap and we knew it was huge Smallie! I was worried it would get some gumption and start acting like a typical Smallie near the boat, so I just fought it gingerly in. After a couple quick moves, we had it boated for a photo and weight.

John nailed his largest Smallie later in the day in about 20 feet of water on a tube as well. Here it is:

John met up with 5 lbs, 6 oz. of Erie Bronze. What a nice fish! I was his "net boy" for most of the fish caught during the day. What? No necktie, John?

Dragged tubes were the hit of the day, and we found our Smallies in waters as little as 12 feet to 22 feet. Water was 43 degrees and very clear, with bottom features easily seen in water over 20 feet deep. We could see pods of Smallies staging in classical fashion along the rocky structure adjacent to spawning areas. The fish we caught were all very well fed and healthy, with bulging bellies! We fished until about 4:00pm, and the final fish of the day was a small pike which bit John off by the Center Gap breakwall on a small grub right at the boat.

The calmness of the water seemed to invite a good jigging spoon bite, but we caught nothing on the spoons, which was VERY surprising.

We ran into Noel (wnybassman) and his wife, who were fishing the open tournament of the day. Great to see them out on the water, along with other friends of ours way out there on the big water. Naturally, for the sake of sportsmanship, we kept the most specific information about our fish off discussion.

Notable during the day was the weather we encountered. The morning was calm and about 50 degrees, with overcast skies. Winds were very light and variable, making drifting a bit challenging to do. The lake layed flat for most of the day - uncommon for Erie! The only exception was a storm squall which brought pouring rain for about an hour in the middle of the day. It also brought 20 mph winds and caps to the lake - thank goodness for finally having good rainwear! The rain suddenly cleared out, leaving sunny skies and flat water once again. The day's high temperature then rose to the mid 70s.

The breezes, being variable, brought variable air temps to us. At times, it was cool - almost chilly, as winds blow over us from the lake direction. Other times, it was a warm land breeze. Quite fascinating!

Well, that's it for the first day of the year on the mighty Erie. How many times can one extoll its greatness as a world-class Smallmouth Bass factory? My thanks go out to John for the boat ride and company!

Tight Lines...

__________________

"Have Smallies - will travel!"
Bass Fishing in WNY - A Personal View
> email - mailto:%20RobJinWNY@hotmail.com

Posted by dodgeguy on 05-11-2003 05:35 PM:

i can't stand it!!!i'm telling the wife we are moving up there with you guys!!!good job men!!!

__________________
chrysler master tech and avid fisherman

Posted by HugeFish4 on 05-11-2003 06:02 PM:

Guys, again....I can only dream of smallies that size. It is simply mind boggling! A 3lber is my 6lber! WOW!

__________________
...and none of these fish were caught on Senkos!!!

My Home Page
Welcome to Les Nas Mada

Posted by Bassin Dude on 05-11-2003 08:10 PM:

Those are two awesome fish guys. I am surprised that you guys didn't catch more.... Rob, didn't you try any gummy worms?

John, I spy a bit of five o'clock shadow on the chin there bud... that simply is not acceptable for a fashion plate professional such as yourself. We expect you to be clean shaven and dressed properly the next time you pose with a five pound smallie

__________________
Tony

"That man's nuts... GRAB 'EM!"

Posted by jiggin-n-piggin on 05-11-2003 08:24 PM:

quote:

I spy a bit of five o'clock shadow on the chin there bud...

John does look a little "rough around the edges"....... probably up all night, studying for an exam. Right? Work with me here....... I'm trying to help you out.

C'ya on the water,
Ted

Posted by Rob J in WNY on 05-11-2003 09:45 PM:

There's no doubt that we are blessed to have Lake Erie for Smallies. It's worth the trip no matter how far you live from it!

If you look at the photos in the report post, you will see just how calm the lake was out there - that is a rarity, to be sure. Usually, it's 2 to 3 foot waves - and worse!

I forgot I had this photo showing how fat these Erie Smallies are this time of year. This was one of the smaller fish of the day, too. They are LOADED up!

Tight Lines...

__________________

"Have Smallies - will travel!"
Bass Fishing in WNY - A Personal View
> email - mailto:%20RobJinWNY@hotmail.com

Posted by black lake bass on 05-12-2003 02:33 AM:

rob & john

man john and rob u guys ready for the flw !!!
man a just about a 6 lb small mouth .. i can't wate to get a better boat to hit erie ... congrads guys u all seem to out do your self all the time ....... i know who i have my money on ...

big al bowmansville ny wny ...

__________________
JIG THEM IN BABY WOOOHOOO

www.blacklakeny.com

black lake best bass fishing in ny in my eyes!!!

Posted by Bass Rat on 05-12-2003 06:11 AM:

He's back. Rob I look foward to another season of your quality reports & photos. Those fish are beautiful. I hate you guys.LOL
Nick

Posted by JOHN G on 05-12-2003 06:39 AM:

what a fishery! now, I have a question for you guys, is there a time of the season up there at ERIE, where the fish are shallow and hitting things like jerkbaits and caught in big numbers, not necessarily biggest of size?

__________________
JOHN G Forum Administrator

Posted by Bassin Dude on 05-12-2003 06:53 AM:

quote:

Originally posted by JOHN G
what a fishery! now, I have a question for you guys, is there a time of the season up there at ERIE, where the fish are shallow and hitting things like jerkbaits and caught in big numbers, not necessarily biggest of size?

Yes, pretty much right now until the water is about 65 degrees, one can find numbers of smallies on main lake points of tributaries and on many flats adjacent to deeper water. In those cases, using a jerkbait, you can catch a smallie on almost every cast but, they will be considerably smaller. Most of us pass those smallies up and travel to the "spots" that contain the numbers of large girls. Invariably, these spots are in 20-30 feet of water - hence how the "Erie Drag" gained popularity.

__________________
Tony

"That man's nuts... GRAB 'EM!"

Posted by wnybassman on 05-12-2003 06:58 AM:

John, about now would be that time for jerks in shallow (12 feet or less). My experience though is that about 3 3/4 pounds is the largest I will catch. I guess spinnerbaiting can be done just about any time up there, but again, smaller fish.

The past couple years the bigger fish have been in the 18-24 foot zone, but years before that I remember having to go out to 28-45 feet for the big ones. Not exactly sure what the difference is, but it does seem to be holding true.

__________________

Bassman's Thread of the Web - A Look at WNY's Bass Fishing

- Protection and organization of your rods

"A man only sees what he wants to see, when he's in his mind where he is what he wants to be" - Savatage

Posted by Bass Rat on 05-12-2003 07:13 AM:

3 3/4 smallies, small fish. Holy crap what a lake!

Posted by thefishingline on 05-12-2003 08:15 AM:

WOW...not that's smallie! Can anyone recommend a good guide in that part of the state?

__________________
Rado & TV Show Host/ Guitar Player

Posted by Dean on 05-12-2003 08:24 AM:

Terry Jones

First Class Bass Charters

This guy is top notch! I would highly recommend him.

Posted by thefishingline on 05-12-2003 09:39 AM:

thanks...anybody else got suggestions?

__________________
Rado & TV Show Host/ Guitar Player

Posted by wnybassman on 05-12-2003 10:26 AM:

I would recommend Terry as well

Posted by Jered on 05-12-2003 12:04 PM:

Yeeeeassss!

Sweet fish, guys!

Posted by BuckShotJon on 05-12-2003 12:30 PM:

Great story again Rob and nice fish guys.

Jon

Posted by TVal on 05-12-2003 12:33 PM:

Super fish guys. And great pix. One of these days I'll have to stay on the thruway heading west and not exit in Utica. Catch me some of those monsters.
Tim

__________________
Quiet, I'm fishing!

Posted by Sea Jack on 05-12-2003 12:43 PM:

This is the first time I've been able to get in front of a computer for any period of time. Great report Rob.

The only thing you didn't mention was the rediculous amount of jigheads we went through that day. I must have sent 20 tubes and jigheads to a rocky, watery grave. There was a period where all I was doing was throwing out a tube on one rod setting it down and retying another rod. By the time I was done retying, I'd be hung with tube that was dragging. And I'd have to repeat the process. Interestingly, I caught that 5 pounder this way while I was retying my other rod.

That's a good eye Tony and Ted on the shadow. Even though school finished up last week, let's stick with the studying story.

Posted by jiggin-n-piggin on 05-12-2003 03:16 PM:

Not a good plan!

quote:

There was a period where all I was doing was throwing out a tube on one rod setting it down and retying another rod.

John,

When it's relatively calm and you're moving real slow, that's definitely a good way to get hung up. I try to avoid dragging a tube and laying the rod down, for any amount of time, under those conditions. That bait will drop into any and every little crevice and hang you up. It's also a real "good" way to lose a rod.

C'ya on the water,
Ted

Posted by Rob J in WNY on 05-12-2003 06:03 PM:

quote:

To add to Tony's astute thoughts, shallower structure, distant from shore, will hold the summertime Smallies. By shallower, I mean areas where the lake comes up to, say, 15 feet, surrounded by 30 foot depths. There are a LOT of humps like that out there, the most famous being Seneca Shoal, which is very large, and a popular summer fishing area.

One can throw jerkbaits, hard and soft, over the tops of these areas and tempt the Smallies to rise up from 15 feet down to grab the offering. It's relatively easy to do, since the waters are usually very clear.

But, as Tony mentioned, the big girls are generally going to be down deep, where the "Erie drag" is effective, whether in spring, summer or fall. When the heat of summer is on, you may have to drag over 40 feet down to find the fish!

Tony nailed it, though. Even as soon as you get into the Niagara River, the Smallies just seem to "shrink" noticably. The main lake's habitat is just able to produce the best quality fish. But, let me tell ya, those river fish are notably the better fighters, pound for pound. Even two pound fish are surprisingly strong and last a long time on the line.

Tight Lines...

__________________

"Have Smallies - will travel!"
Bass Fishing in WNY - A Personal View
> email - mailto:%20RobJinWNY@hotmail.com

Posted by TONY ON ICE on 05-13-2003 12:40 AM:

SEA JACK & ROB J
You two are looking like a couple of seasoned old pros on the big lake.
I'll trade you a Lake Erie trip for an Oneida trip whenever you're interested.
The Oneida smallmouths aren't as big (only 3 to 4 lbs with occassional 5 lb'ers) but they're plentiful and they always eat !
We're having a hard time tryng to keep them off of our lines right now as they're feding along the shorelines and are mixed in with the walleyes we are targeting.

You're definitely right on the toughness of the river fish over lake fish. They're always fisghting the currents in the river and building muscle.
Same holds true for river walleyes, crappies and catfish.

As always, nice report, nice pictures. !!

__________________
T.O.I.

Posted by Scott C on 05-13-2003 11:32 AM:

quote:

He's back. Rob I look foward to another season of your quality reports & photos. Those fish are beautiful. I hate you guys.LOL

Pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. You boys are catchin smallies bigger than my kid !!! LOL

That beard means that Seajack is growing up..........he is a man now !

Love your posts.......

Posted by Sea Jack on 05-13-2003 09:11 PM:

Ted,

You're right about getting the bait hung while doing that, but I kept a foot and an eye on the rod. Boy, I'd hate to lose one overboard.

And Tony I'll be in touch about getting out on Erie.

Scott, if think that is scruffy check out this pic from last summer.

Posted by Scott C on 05-14-2003 10:22 AM:

The size of the fish is directly proportional to the amount of scruff !