Posts Tagged Lake Erie
Fall Smallmouth Bass Fishing
Posted by skinard in Kinard's Fishing Blog on October 23, 2009
We all know that fall is here… leaves are turning… weather is getting cold… water temp is dropping… but the fishing is getting hot! Fall is always to short and seems to be gone before it even starts. While most have already put their boat away for the year, those that seek trophies are still on the water every chance they get. Fall is truely a “trophy” time of year. This holds true especially for the Smallmouth Bass. Living in Western Pennsylvania, we have the privilage to live in an area where you can find big Smallies in both Lakes and River systems. Of course the Allegheny River holds Smallmouth, but the true trophy hunter this time of year heads to the big water of Lake Erie! We all know it’s reputation for being tempermental with the weather conditions, but if you can pick the right day, you can have the time of your life catching these giants. This is the time of year the Smallmouth start feeding up for the winter. They will group up at a certain depth and feed on Threadfin Shad, Gobies, and other bait that is abundant in the big waters. Use of your electronics and drifting around to find the right depth is key. Once you have located the fish, you will find them in that depth elsewhere on the lake. Of course the best lures to use depend on the weather conditions and how effectively you can present the bait. Good fall choices will be lures that mimic what the bass are feeding on… jerkbaits, crankbaits, plastics, and of course the favorite Erie lure, the tube. Select your colors to mimic the bait… get the bait to where they are… and you can have the trip of a lifetime. I fished Lake Erie this week in “perfect” conditions with a good friend of mine (Ken Pate). Had a great trip and landed 20 or more Smallies in the 4 and 5 lb class with at least 2 over 6 lbs! … True trophy Smallmouth Bass. Although the weather and lake conditions may not allow another trip to Erie this year I’m always hopeful and watch the weather an marine forcasts looking for that perfect window of opportunity to capitolize on. More videos at www.skinard.com
Great Lakes New Proposed Laws
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on October 6, 2009
I found this article on the bassmaster website. Seems that we could be in danger of losing some of our favorite fishing spots because they are lumping recreational fishermen in with commercial fishing. I am all for conservation, but the average angler does and will not hurt the population of fish in a body of water such as Lake Erie. I do not know the exact details about the legislature. All I know is what I have read from the article. Below there is a link to the article on the bassmaster website. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_FedsAccess_20091005
If you would like to follow up check out keep america fishing website. http://www.keepamericafishing.org/
Let’s help ensure that the best laws are passed to keep our waters open for safe healthy recreational fishing. This will effect every fishermen whether you fish there 1 time each year or 100 times. Good fishing.
Lake Erie Smallmouth
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on August 3, 2009
Dad and I decided that we were going to head to Lake Erie and do a little smallmouth fishing on Saturday. We launch out of Walnut Creek Marina and fished towards Presque Isle and towards the Ohio line. The weather was beautiful. It was mostly sunny and the high air temperature was around 82 degrees and the low temperature was about 55 degrees. Once we got out of the creek the water temperature was right around 71 degrees. Some spots varied by 1 degree, I am not sure why though? As always the water was crystal clear and the waves varied but only range from 1 to 2 feet. The wind varied slightly from a Southwest wind in the morning to a Northwest wind in the afternoon.
First we started fishing a hump that went from 29 feet at the deep point to 25 feet on top of the hump. No luck there. Then since there was a nice breeze we decided to drift down a rocky break line that was varied from 22-26 feet of water. We found one spot along that stretch that we caught a couple beautiful smallmouth and a couple of freshwater drum. From then on we though we had the right depth so we jump from spot to spot looking for hump or ledges that went from 22-26 feet of water. We did managed to catch a couple of smallies in one other spot and a drum here and there, but it was not what I would call a solid pattern. Just before we were going to leave to head home I decided to head back toward the first spot we stopped at and take a look around there. On our first drift about 300 yards from the spot where we had caught our smallies right away we caught 2 smallies and a rock bass. We set up camp there for about 1 hour getting multiple smallmouth and a freshwater drum. What was the difference? We found a small bowl of rocks that the top edge was 18 feet and inside the bowl was about 20-21 feet of water.
Keys to the day: First, if you weren’t hitting rocks with your lure or weight, then you weren’t getting hit. Second, color does matter. I must have played with about 8 different color tubes, and 10 different color worms until we found a couple that really worked. Third, was how deep to fish. I believe that the best depth was between 18-22 feet of water. We did catch a few in deeper water, but there are always exceptions to everyday.
2nd District Event Lake Erie
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on July 13, 2009
Well, I am sad to say that my second district event in the TBF didn’t go quite as well as the first one. Yesterday, district 6 held an event at Lake Erie and since the weather was going to be calm the main lake was on limits. That was good news for most guys, but for me it spelled disaster. With very little experience on the main lake and no time to practice for the tournament I was hoping that the weather would force us to stay in the bay. I have a lot of experience fishing in the bay because I have always just fished out of my 16′ carolina skiff.
My father (Ron Cancilla) fished Mr. Bass West for the TBF Friday and Saturday and won as a rider. He convinced me to run west to the spot that he was able to catch 19+ lbs of smallmouth. He described it the best that he could to me. However, there is no true way to know if I ever found that exact spot. My rider caught the first keeper of the day at 7:30 on a drop shot rig. It was a nice 3lber. About 30 minutes later I was able to land my first smallmouth of the day. It was a 4.66lb smallmouth. At this point we were thinking that we were on the right spot and we just had to keep working for more strikes. That is when things started going south. We each caught a dink smallmouth and a bunch of sheephead. I unfortunately lost 2 more smallmouth that probably would have shot me up the standings. One that I actually got to see that was around 3lbs. The other just gave a couple quick head shakes and was off. I caught my keeper dragging a tube on the bottom. The keeper that I say and lost was on a drop shot.
By running to the spot that I didn’t know exactly where it was I knew I was taking a gamble. However, without a chance to practice for the tournament I decided that was my best chance to win. Perhaps if I had gone to the two spots that I know in the east and worked them I would have gotten a limit, but I feel that the results may have been the same. I know that I want to spend more time on Lake Erie because the smallies are giants. Congratulations to the winners and I look forward to event 3 at Conneaut.
Past Weekend on the Water
Posted by Leo Cancilla in Cancilla's Fishing Blog on May 21, 2009
I spent another Friday and Saturday at Pymatuning Lake with my dad this past weekend. Friday was a practice day and man things couldn’t have gone better. Everything we threw we caught largemouth and smallmouth. We had a spot where crankbaits were working, another spot where buzzbaits where working, and we even found what we thought was a school of smallmouth on a roadbed. In about 5 hours of being on the water we had boat about 20 bass in about 10 spots and did not set the hook on the same number of strikes.
In the Keystone Bass Buddy Tournament Saturday things went south. We decided that we would start by fishing the roadbed for smallies. Instead we found a school of 13 inch largemouth and about 5 nice crappie. It gave us a nice limit, but these fish were not going to help us win the tournament. We decided to go to the crankbait spot next because the size of the fish should have been better. However, the only thing that we caught in that spot was a 8lb walleye. After a couple of quick stops we decided to go try our buzzbait spot. Instead of a buzzbait bite we found a spinnerbait/chatterbait bite that help us call multiple fish. Unfortunately, we lost 2 fish in that bay that would have help us greatly. In the end we were very disappointed.
Sunday my wife, my friend and I decided to head up to Presque Isle and Lake Erie to try to get some spawning bass. The wind had another idea. It was a very rough day, but we still managed a couple nice smallies and a handful of largemouth.
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