I know it will be a while before i can go fishing for bass, but i was wondering, has anybody tried pier angling for smallmouths? Seems like it could work. I live about 20 min. from lake michigan and always wondered about it.

I have fished form a pier in lake erie about 15 mins from my house and the fishing is pretty good fishing towards the end in around 20 feet of water, but he i usally dont fish there because it is 15 to 20 down to the water and there is so many people fishing.

Most of the Great Lakes pier fishing will we Stealhead and there will be crowds. The stealhead will take some specie tech. This is were I learned how to crowd fish and how to control my temper. About half the bass tourneys I've won were in a crowd situation and I keep track of competiors that can't stan the pressure you never no when I need that info.

The mid june period will bring smallies around these piers and up every creek for a week or 2. Then most piers and shoals thru the summer will have some smallies and lots of carp.

Garnet

For 25+ years I have been fishing a Lake Ontario pier for smallies in the summer. It's not a real long pier and only extends to a water depth of about six feet. It's certainly fun to catch them, but I consider it 95% luck. Those fish move in shallow and move back out and you have to be there at the right time. It's a crapshoot. They're either in shallow or they're not.

The experience I have had with piers is that the fish around them are often very difficult to catch because of the fishing pressure the pier creates.