Erie Smallmouth

We were back up to the eastern basin yet again. Best place to be this time of year.
The wind picked up from the WSW and so did the hard jerk bite. First we cruised the flats sight fishing.We looked for small boulders,rock rubble and any transitions/edges. The bass seemed to relate to those areas.It was very exciting to see some of them chase and them slam the lure. We then moved to deeper water. As the wind velocity increased boat control became critical. The reward was a bunch of nice aggressive bronzebacks on the deck. All were released of course, to grow bigger for another day on the big lake.......

End of the spring steehead run

What started out as a painfully slow season on the north shore ended in a bonanza! From late march on until about a week ago we were into the steel. We played the water conditions as best as we could. Watched those gauges carefully and made our move. As usual ,dropping levels and opalescent green flows were prime. As the levels dropped so did our tippet size. Egg patterns and emerald/emerald imitations did the trick. The water temps languished all winter long. then....pow! They rose rapidly with very few days with 40-42 degree water.While water temp. is certainly a factor,the spawn is also a photo-period driven event. quite evident this spring. We also learned that the salmoniods are shocked by the passing of a strong cold front in the spring more than we believed. But remember, light biters can still be enticed. Down size and switch often. Above all persistence has no equal. Keep fishing.............