Can anyone here tell me about there experiences in Presque Isle bay?

If you do a search of this forum using Presque Isle as keywords you find quite a bit info.

Your question is very open ended. I would suggest doing the search and if you have any specific questions, come on back and fire away!

Spring is a great time to catch smallmouths in the bay along with largemouths.  If your looking for size then out in the main lake would be a better choice, at least thats what i've heard.  For the summer, im still trying to figure that one out.   ;D  Presque Isle and the rest of Erie is a great place to fish once you figure it out.  Like any other lake of course   ;D

Presque Isle is a great  for sm.

what are you looking for? best time? lure? area?

spring is great may/june. the lake offers bigger fish( more big fish), but if you limited to the bay because of boat size. one great place is the "shoots" where the bay an lake meet, along the wall by the coast gaurd station. throw a green tube on a jig head and make sure it gets to the bottom ( 30 feet or so.)  

My best bay SM was 7lb 2 oz caught it in early june in 10 feet of water with a worm in the bay. I have yet to catch one over 6 1/2 out in the lake

I guess what I am wondering about is the validity of some of the stories i have heard about the daily catches there.  I heard a few stories about upwards of 100 fish per day.  Anyone experience this?

Not "common", but there are days like that.

From what I gather, 3-4 lbs is the norm, but

you can expect an occasional 5+ and maybe

a monster! HPBB's 7-2 is exceptional.

8-)

yes, the 7-2 was during the spawn. if your looking for #'s like 50+ a day , it is either spring time or you want to get out in the main lake, after the sring spawn most Sm leave the bay. You can still catch them but the numbers are low after spring. that being said you can catch 50+ bass a day ( Sm & LM ) in the bay . I had one evening last summer when a Buddy and I boated over 100 LM in one evening in the bay. The fish would hit anything. average fish was 14-15 inches

Now when I am talking about main lake, you only have to go a few miles out of PIB and your in great SM water.

Lake condition can change quickly. Most larger boats 18' bigger will handle it. I fish out a 17'6" deep V. But keep an eye on the weather and weather reports. I have seen that lake go from glass to 6-10 footer in the time it took to travel 5 miles back. then go back to calm in a few hours

However I have been out in the main lake with a tracker ptx 175 when the lake was calm. Like I said you only have to go a few miles out of PIB and find great SM water. and if the lake is bad. the bay will produce

Bug,

HPBB pretty much hit it on the nose. The bay is always awesome for largies most of the year. Large numbers of 1.5 to 3lbers with occasional 4 to 5lbers and some larger. The smallies migrate into the bay in april with rising water temps & additional bait movement. The smallies average bigger than the largemouth in size from my experiences. Avg smallies are more like 3 to 5lbers with occasional six lb plus. My biggest smallie in the bay over the last four years is 6lb-3oz. Now the lake proper is another story. Bigger average size with the potential for a new state record. Present state record is 8.5lb. My two biggest lake smallies are 6lb-14 oz & 7lb-6oz. On a good day out in the lake you can have mutiple 5 & 6lbers. My best day for two guys fishing was five over 6lbs & one over 7lb. The nice thing about the bay is it offers more shelter from the wind compared  to the lake. The two best months for the bay are April & May, prespawn.

If this is Jim Bug we will definitnatly get toghther this spring and  STAY IN OHIO. I know places that give up largemouyh as readily and as large as PIB keep in touch . I really had no time last year as we discussed. This year I should ha ve plenty!

Where do you guys find your largemouth throughout the year in this area? (PIB and Main Lake right outside of it)

Where do you guys find your largemouth throughout the year in this area? (PIB and Main Lake right outside of it)

ANY LARGE HARBOR ON LAKE ERIE!!! Some of them can be many hundreds if not thousand of acres in size. Many contain tributaries.