Smallmouth Bass

Fishing for smallmouth bass has quadroupled over the past ten years. May, June, August and September are the best months to fish for "smallies." The period between mid-May and late June offers the best fishing action for bass anglers. The top areas to fish are in the western basin reef complex and the rocky shoreline areas around the islands. These fiesty fighters move out of deeper waters toward the island shorelines as the waters cool.

"There's no place like Lake Erie when it comes to an abundance of smallmouth bass fishing success, and we're talking about four, five and six pound fish being common here," says Mike Budzik, chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Most of Ohio's smallmouth fishery has become catch and release, with 80% of all anglers reporting that they return most of the fish to the lake.

CURRENT HOW, WHEN & WHERE TIPS:

May 17, The Bass Tounements have been pounding the lake for the Smallies. Lots of good cathes have been made. The winners all wighed in the 5 bass, 20lbs average. The fish are beginning to move into their spawning areas, and the fishin ghas been fair to good, depending on the weather. E-NE winds made holding a boat stationary almot impossible.

 

May 3, The Bass boats are begging to move into the area more and more every day. This only means ONE thing... The smallies are getting hot Surprisingly, many smallies are already being caught around the reefs and Bass Islands. It's been hit-and-miss as far as the fishing. A number of anglers reported catching smallmouth in 20-25 feet of water. Their primary concentration is around South Bass, Middle Bass and Kelleys Island area. All the reported fish have been caught while verticle jigging.

 

April 29, More and moe bass fisherman have being showing up over the past week. Unfortunately, they really havn't been able to make it to the islands because of the rough lake conditions. We've seen a few bass boats fishing around the West and South side of Kelleys Isalnd, Middle Bass, and South Bass. Mainly because that's been the ONLY place they can fish due to the winds. A motel owner on South Bass reported some of his guests having been catching smallies around the deep areas of the island. A bait store reported a 4 pound 5 ounce smallie that an angler caught over a reef while jigging for walleye. The fish should be moving in to their shallower spawning areas as the water temp keeps climbing. It's near 50 degrees already.

 

April 20, After a early - and slow- day of walleye fishing, we decided to try our hand again at some smallies... with some luck this time. In about one hour, we had four smallies on, and lots of hits. The fish where all in 23 to 31 feet of water, and on teh bottom. They were hitting extremely light, barely noticable. The technique of slowly crawling a jig up the side of a deep water point seemed to be the only technique to work.

 

 

General How-To Tips - Top of Page - Home

GENERAL HOW, WHEN & WHERE TIPS:

 

Workbaits or lures along 3 to 5 foot shallow reefs, or fish off shorelines, piers and docks. Shallow areas next to deeper waters are excellent places to begin. Check your chart, but some examples include the east side of South Bass Island, along the state park ramp on the west side of South Bass Island, the southwest corner of Middle Bass, the northeast corner of North Bass Island, and the perimeter of Kelleys Island.

 

 

 

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