I am a newbie here.

Been a lifelong addict to SM Bass Fishing--fished a lot of places over the years,but I never fished Lake Erie.

I plan on heading up(7hrs from my house in SE PA)  for a week of fishing  a week from today.

Probably fishing out of Dunkirk or Buffalo Small Boat Harbor

This is a solo trip for me since my fishing buddy just got a new job(and a new wife).

So he's double whammied..... :

Since most of my 20 yrs of SM fishing is on rivers, my question is:

What fishing techniques/lures do you suggest I use?

What depths/structure do you suggest I start with.?

After a few days I should be able to figure things out a bit.

After all "even a blind squirrel gathers a few acorns"

Thanks for any  help

Don't know much about Erie, but, I fish Ontario alot. Cruise the shoreline looking for rocky shores. If you find rocks, you usually find the smallies.

I start shallow and work my way out to find a school. If you find a good school, you will get tired of fishing because they will wear you out.

I like to use 5 in. kalin's smoke salt and pepper grubs on a 1/4 oz jighead, just off the bottom. Not uncommon to boat me 100 a day!

ontario is 3 1/2 hours from me in NE PA you ought to try there.

If you need a guide, I'd be happy to go along, as none of my friends will go anymore :'(

I'll be watching this thread- I am headed up there in 2 weeks for the first time.  One of the days is my b-day:  maybe Lake Erie will give me a nice birthday treat that day!  ;D

You would be miles ahead hiring a guide for at least a day.

You would be miles ahead hiring a guide for at least a day.

'

Amen to that.

Thanks for the all replies.

We would normally hire a guide for a day or two to learn new waters,but unfortunately I'm taking this 7hr trip solo. >

Actually,when I added gas,tolls,motel, food ,& launching fees,I almost decided to cancell this trip to Erie

So,it's running me about 2x as much as if I had a fishing buddy along to split expenses---

I may take the suggestion and fish Lake Ontario--if that works out to a significant saving and fsih Erie when i have company.

It's probably about 200 or 250 mi. less driving, and you can rent cabins fairly cheap where I go, plus a lot of campgrounds.

ny license is about $35 for the year, I know of some free launches too.And no tolls,except PA Turnpike.

Denn--check your PMs

Tom

Denn34, Where do you go in Ontario? We've gone to Lake of Woods near Souix Narrows for last 3 years last of August. Fishing wasn't as great as it should be last time and we're thinking of moving.Crowcommander

Sodus Bay, Fair Haven. Good place to be if the big lake gets rough too.

It's probably about 200 or 250 mi. less driving, and you can rent cabins fairly cheap where I go, plus a lot of campgrounds.

ny license is about $35 for the year, I know of some free launches too.And no tolls,except PA Turnpike.

A NY license is only 19 dollars.

I think its only 12 or 13 for a weeks pass.

I live about a half hour from Dunkirk and about 45 minutes from the Harbor in Buffalo.

To me it looked like a lot of people were having luck in the harbor in Buffalo about 200 yards outside the marina area. There looks to be an inlet that looks like a silo out there and people were throwing lines out around it. Probably about 12 boats around this area.

A NY license is only 19 dollars.

I think its only 12 or 13 for a weeks pass.

I live about a half hour from Dunkirk and about 45 minutes from the Harbor in Buffalo.

To me it looked like a lot of people were having luck in the harbor in Buffalo about 200 yards outside the marina area. There looks to be an inlet that looks like a silo out there and people were throwing lines out around it. Probably about 12 boats around this area.

Not for a non resident License unless it went down. A 7 day was 25 bucks last time I was there.

Not for a non resident License unless it went down. A 7 day was 25 bucks last time I was there.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6091.html

You are correct. I didn't know there was a residence or non-residence fee. My apologizes.

40 dollars for the year. 25 bucks for seven days. Man thats steep.

I start shallow and work my way out to find a school. If you find a good school, you will get tired of fishing because they will wear you out.'(

I was just up Erie this past Sunday, and although you are talking about Ontario, Erie is exactly the same. I was catching them all day there, and they will wear you out after a few hours of hauling up the hawgs! I'm a die hard fisherman, but by the end of the day, I was more than ready to go home.

Here's what works on Erie for me.  Get out away from shore to about 20-21 feet of water, now start running and watching your depth finder, it will be smooth, smooth, smooth, then all of a sudden you will see some bumps on the bottom.  Now hit save on your GPS and keep running or stop and fish it for a short while, you may have to go in to about 15 feet but if they are there you can get them on tubes or grubs (blue gill) is my color for grubs on a 1/4 oz lead head.  I use 1/4 oz. as well for my tubes and like watermelon color.  Now go get them.

I like to run down a few miles then head back and check out the spots.

Good luck to you

get-the-net,

Welcome aboard!

Lake Erie is a relatively easy place to find fish. It's just sooo big......

Like was already mentioned, get out to depths of 20 feet or greater and fish ANY change in bottom you see.

This time of year the best depths seem to be right handy to 25 feet and when you get on a spot you will load the boat. When you wear those fish out, stay at the same depth, find another structure change and go at it.

You will only need 2 rigs... A tube rigged on a 1/4 oz to 1/2 ounce internal (exposed hook) head and a drop shot. For colors it's hard to beat good old green pumpkin. Stick with 4 inch tubes and similar sized drop shot baits like a straight tail worm or goby style bait.

My tournament partner just fished as a co-angler in the Elite Series event out of Buffalo. He pre-fished in his own boat and went just out from Buffalo Harbor and caught the fire out of them in the ways I described above.

Your biggest enemy on Erie will be the wind. The higher the wind, the bigger the waves, go heavier in your weights. One thing about the wind though, when it blows the fish really bite. A perfect day IMHO is about a 1-2 foot chop. I prefer to use the trolling motor and hold on a piece of structure and fish it. If the wind is too much to hold you can always do the "Erie drift and drag" which can also be really good.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info.....

I'll leave you with these 2 pics of Erie smallies.....

Second one....

I can't even imagine being on a lake that big. The biggest lake I've been on is 2100 acres.

I'm so jealous... 8-)

I can't even imagine being on a lake that big. The biggest lake I've been on is 2100 acres.

Its definately intimidating. To me at least, partially because I have never fished it.

IF I ever get a boat, I may never have a life again because the smallies are just huge up here on the Lake. Everytime I go down to the waterfront, whether in sunset bay or Buffalo, I get jealous of all those people fishing smallies out there.

(If anyone has a boat and needs a partner give me a PM) Only 15 minutes away from Sunset and I love fishing for smallmouth.

I'm so jealous... 8-)

And that makes life worth living!!   ;D

B

Get on FLW Outdoors * and go to the "Reel Chat" session with Steve Clapper.  He gives some very candid tips on fishing Lake Erie and hands down he is the king of Lake Erie.  

B

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/article.cfm?id=146268

There's the link for all those who want to check it out.

As Bassnleo wrote, a 1-2 foot chop is good fishing on Erie, but I've caught the absolute whales in waves as big as I'll fish, which is around 5-7 feet. We use two drift socks on those days, the big ones, and you'd be surprised how much two drift socks will do to stabilize the boat. Of course, that doesn't keep a rogue wave or [50] from flooding the boat, which is why we also have two bilge pumps, one manual and one automatic.

A few years ago I took my then-19-year-old daughter out for a day with dad in five to sevens. She about killed me before we got to the spot (18-mile run), but once we got the drift socks out, she was ready to fish. Almost immediately, she complained that her bait was hung on the bottom, but when she handed me the rod, I handed it back and told her to start reeling!! Eventually she got that 6 3/4 in the boat, and she caught a couple of fives a short while later. We only fished about 2 1/2 hours, but still caught 50 pounds of bass.

We don't go out in the middle of the lake in that kind of weather anymore (my daughter and I), but she'll tell anyone who will listen about the big fish she caught. We're talking a bass whose head looked pin-sized because his body was so big.