Big Tom

Hey everyone. Just figured I would share and summarize (with pictures) one of the most amazing vacations I have ever experienced. When I was asked to join my friend and his dad for a week at Lake Erie, I had to deny. I just started a new job and I didn't think there was any way I would be able to get out of work for a week. Well, my boss said she didn't mind so I made the last minute arrangements and was able to go. We were staying on Kelley's Island and we used it to block the strong winds so we were still able to fish as much as possible. I had never been to Lake Erie or ever caught a single smallmouth bass in the time I have spent bass fishing. That all changed quickly. We ended up drifting tubes and grubs all week in about 10-13 feet of water. First off, these things are everywhere. If you got a jigging spoon or anything shiny for that matter, you will never be bored at Lake Erie. I figured I would show you guys the Drum above because it wasn't a bad fish and because whenever we were experiencing down time, I would go to the pier and catch these things until my forearm cramped. Now for the fish you guys all love seeing... This little beauty is among the first ever smallmouth I have ever caught. Man, what a fun fish to catch they are!!! This one inhaled a watermelon twin tail grub. This fish was THICK! I would guess it probably weighed around 3.5 pounds. Some of the markings on these fish are unbelievable. They sometimes look black in Eries clear water. This is another short Erie football. We probably caught close to 50 carbon copies of this fish. Below are the best two of the trip. These were caught the first day we were there and they were caught extremely close to one another. This fish weighed 4 3/4 pounds. It was the second smallmouth I ever caught. Needless to say, I am hooked. I cannot wait to get back up there again Same fish as the above. I am pretty proud. This bruiser weighed 5 pounds even. This fish was a hawg compared to those I am used to seeing. He always seems to catch the bigger fish.... : The pictures showcase a few of the many fish we were able to catch last week. Needless to say, I definitely have intentions of returning to Erie and would love to do so very soon. Thanks for looking.

Yes this is pretty typical for Bass Pro orders. It takes them forever to process.

Me and you both man. Tube hasn't been working that great for me this year but I am going up to Erie this Saturday for a week to see if those smaillies want them. I hope they do.

Good or bad, you guys will sure hear about it. Hopefully I do alright though. If I only catch one, thats one more smallie than I have ever caught.

Alright, here is something I found using google. Its exactly how I do mine except that I don't use a metal sleeve at all. This is pretty much what I was describing though. I just let the weedguard do the job of the metal sleeve. http://tackle.redshad.com/tips/PekTube1.php If you buy a pack of Oldham's weedless tube heads, which is what I use, it has rigging instructions right on the package. Good lookin' out Jig Man

I put the weedguard in tube first and make a hole with it at the top of the tube where the jighead eye will eventually be. I then continue rotating and pushing the jighead (the weedguard will continually come all the way back out of the bait) until it is all the way up into the tube and the eye is protruding out of the bait. You got to smash your tubes a little to get it done but it doesn't hurt them. Its kind of difficult to explain but that is how I do it. If that is no help I will try to post a small picture tutorial later when I get off of work.

We really wasn't doing anything special. A lot of fishing the banks and I was fishing the very tips of laydowns to catch all of mine. The natural colors really seem to be the key right now. I would suggest to try different shades of green and brown worms, lizards and brush hogs too. They really seem to like em. I have had some really good success here on the Strike King Zero's in the watermelon red color fished weightless, both texas and wacky rigged. The carp on the crank was pretty neat. He just casted it to him, let it sit there and the carp hammered it.

Thats a really neat picture. The lizard oddly looks comfortable.

I really appreciate the information and the maps. We will be there from this Saturday to next Saturday so hopefully I can catch my first ever smallie . The people I am going with have been going there once a year for the last few years and they know a lot about the islands you posted the map of. I think they spend most of their time drifting the waters around the large point you are describing.

I really appreciate this. If we are not successful around the island, we might just run to these locations. Thanks!!!

No, I was not in the western basin but the western end of the central basin. Why do you ask?? Well, actually I was asking because I am about to spend my first ever week fishing for smallmouth at Erie. I have never caught one and my friends family happened to have a spot open at the same time my vacation time starts. What are the chances? Needless to say, I am beyond excited and cannot wait for Saturday morning to get here. We will be staying on and fishing around Kelly's Island. My friend wanted me to see if you were experiencing the bad day near this location. Thanks for the heads up!

Where abouts on Erie were you fishing? You don't have to get real specific but in general. Was it the Western Basin?

;D It really is a nice bass lake. I am starting to get the hang of fishing it. At least in the spring anyway.

Nice fish. I hope you have made yourself a lifelong fishing buddy. A lot of kids don't have the opportunities to appreciate the outdoors that a lot of us have had. Thats awesome that she isn't afraid of the bait. I used to be.

I used to use them when I first started fishing. Now that I can tie a palomar quickly, I hardly use snaps on anything.

The fact that I am a poor college kid makes me semi-brand loyal. Almost all of my rods are of the Bass Pro brand. A lot of people don't like them and maybe I don't know what I am missing but they serve me pretty well. I really don't have a reel choice. I like the size of the Revo's but they aren't nearly as user friendly as other reels. I am still looking for a reel I am completely happy with. I am pretty brand loyal when it comes to soft plastics. I like Zoom products. They have a trillion color combinations and they are salt impregnated. Other than that, I don't really care what it is.

Thanks a lot guys. Catching or not, we always try to have a really good time. Catching really don't hurt though.

Hey everyone. I just wanted to do a little braggin' about our day. It wasn't anything spectacular but it sure wasn't a bad way to end the weekend. The top water bite was really good Sunday morning (Josh caught his first keeper on a Super spook Jr. but we didn't take a picture of it) although it didn't last near long enough...it never really does. From then on, we had to fish slower for our bites with the exception of one of the fish below. We were off the water pretty early for us but we ended up catching a few short fish and boating five keepers between us - I caught two and Josh (Stratos282) caught three. Here are the pictures separated between the two of us. These were all taken on his cellphone. Makes a nice little camera until I can afford a better one. We had just pulled up on a flat we had never before fished. Josh was throwing a crankbait when this one hit. This one was the biggest of the day. It weighed in at 4.7 pounds and was better than 20 inches long. This bass is the biggest largemouth he has caught to date. This was also the second keeper of the day. This is the same fish but its vertical beside his arm to give an idea of size. Josh caught the bass pictured above on a texas rigged Zoom U-tale worm. It was about 16 inches long and weighed two pounds. He caught this one in the mouth of a cove. As you can see, this was keeper number five and I believe it was the last fish we caught. A carp on a crankbait? Yep. Not snagged either. There was a small school of em gorging themselves on locusts that had landed in the water. Josh threw his crankbait to where they were and instead of running, one came up and engulfed it. He set the hook and held on. We got a good laugh out of it. Here is a couple that I caught. The two pictures above are of the same fish. It weighed about 2.5 pounds. I caught it out of a tree that fallen into the lake. It was also caught on a Zoom U-Tail worm. The two pictures above are of another fish I caught as well. I bet by now you can guess what it was caught on too. Keeper number four was caught out of a different lay down as well. It was pretty much a carbon copy of the one above it but I am relatively new to the catching keeper business and I must say, IT'S AWESOME!!! This was the first time we actually got a limit since we have been fishing together. We have caught four keepers for the last five or so trips so it was nice to actually get that limit. We are in the process of learning this lake. Maybe one of these days we can make a little bit of gas money in a tournament here. Thanks for looking guys.

Good points. Numbers 3-5 are things I really hadn't thought about. It looks like I will continue to ponder using this stuff.

lol...this should make this weekend a whole bunch of fun.

What about it didn't work for you? Finally, somebody with a differing opinion. I couldn't find anyone that had anything bad to say other than the price yet so few people use it.

Thanks for the article. I have been toying with the idea now for a couple of weeks. It looks as if I am going to have to give this a try.

They are both pretty soft baits that tear semi-easily. I would say they both hold up about the same, really. The fish may hold onto a Berkley bait a little longer but not that much longer. From my experiences, I would say the scent doesn't make that much of a difference.

The major selling point for me is that they are so small and that is coming from someone with pretty big hands. After fishing with them, nothing else feels right anymore. I think the magnets are the only real weakness of the reels. I am not an experienced fisherman by any stretch of the imagination but I can cast about any baitcaster with relative ease but it took me a while to get used to the Revos. I use mine on very bait specific rods and once I got them dialed in they have performed perfectly.

I would suggest Cavitron as well. You can pull the thing out of the package and see that it is an awesomely made bait. You will find no better customer service either.