Lake Erie is considered
the Meca of smallmouth bass fishing. I recently
visited lake Erie with 2005 Ever Start runner up Nick Neves, and
partner Matt Morgan. The date was October 8, and
the North Shore crankin’ bite was suppose to be hot. Although
it was 45 degrees with 15-20 mph winds, and 3-7 ft waves, Lake Erie was
very impressive. Nick and Matt were pre-fishing for
the Skeeter Owners Tournament so we couldn’t beat up any of their
“GOOD” spots.
We launched
Morgan’s 21 ft Skeeter from Erie Metro at about 7:45 am. We
started the morning by throwing rattletraps behind an island in the
Detroit River. We were fishing in about 5 ft of
water that had scattered grass. Our only bite at
this spot was a nice little walleye. The bass
weren’t there so we decided to crank up the big motor, brave the rough
water, and move.
The Skeeter handled the rough water wonderfully and we arrived at our next spot. We were fishing scattered rocks in 8-12 ft of water. There were a lot of boats on this spot, it seemed like a community hole. We threw deep diving crankbaits trying to bounce them off the rocks. Nick refereed to it as, “feeling the love”. Love stood for rocks, and if you felt rocks then the smallmouth were close. Matt caught the first fish, a 2.5 lb smallie. Shortly after I had a nice one jump off. Nick and Matt didn’t want to sting these fish so we moved to the next crankin’ spot. Surprisingly, we didn’t catch anymore fish on crankbaits.
We launched
Morgan’s 21 ft Skeeter from Erie Metro at about 7:45 am. We
started the morning by throwing rattletraps behind an island in the
Detroit River. We were fishing in about 5 ft of
water that had scattered grass. Our only bite at
this spot was a nice little walleye. The bass
weren’t there so we decided to crank up the big motor, brave the rough
water, and move. The Skeeter handled the rough water wonderfully and we arrived at our next spot. We were fishing scattered rocks in 8-12 ft of water. There were a lot of boats on this spot, it seemed like a community hole. We threw deep diving crankbaits trying to bounce them off the rocks. Nick refereed to it as, “feeling the love”. Love stood for rocks, and if you felt rocks then the smallmouth were close. Matt caught the first fish, a 2.5 lb smallie. Shortly after I had a nice one jump off. Nick and Matt didn’t want to sting these fish so we moved to the next crankin’ spot. Surprisingly, we didn’t catch anymore fish on crankbaits.
Nick wanted to check a couple of shipwrecks that were in about 20-22 ft of water. We probed these deep-water structures by vertically drop shotting a Poor Boy’s Goby. Paul Hirosky recetly won the B.A.S.S. Northern Open by drop shotting a goby. We caught three 2 pounders, and a bunch of short fish. I was having a hard time getting a bite but Matt and Nick were bringing smallies in left and right. Finally, they told me the secret. The secret was, well……..? I followed their instruction and instantly caught my first Lake Erie smallmouth.
Lastly, Nick and Matt decided to take me to their money spot so I could land a Lake Erie giant. They took me to a hump that has previously yielded enough weight to earn them tournament victories. We made two drifts across the hump. We drifted tubes using a technique called the Erie Drag. During our first drift waves were coming over the front of the Skeeter. I could hardly feel the bottom when a 4 lb toad grabbed my tube. My 7 ft Loomis handled this smallie perfectly. We boated two more 3 lb smallmouth on our next drift using the exact same technique.
Nick and Matt saw what they needed to see so we headed back to the ramp. I was told we had a very slow day for Lake Erie, but I had a phenomenal time. I can’t wait for my next trip. Oh yeah, Matt and Nick finished in the top 10 of the Skeeter Owner Tournament with 22 pounds. Great Job!!!!!