We ventured on to Lake Erie out of Conneaut in search of Perch and Smallmouth. The lake temperature was 51 degrees and was fairly calm with a few rollers left over from the Northeast blow we had the night before. We headed straight out of the harbor into 48’ of water; the reports we had been receiving said that’s where the Perch were being caught. We found some Perch, but the bite was slow. We tried our standard Crappie rigs with minnows and the Buckshot spoons tipped with minnows also. Neither of these were the ticket for the day. We switched to a single hook below an egg sinker and this paid off. We brought home around 50 Perch. Though the action was not as hot as it has been on our end of the lake, the Perch were larger in size overall. Kim even managed to catch one that went 2 lbs.
At about 2:00pm, we decided to start fishing for the Smallmouth and it began to rain. We moved into 21’ of water and started drifting Shiners and working Vibees. We missed a few to start out, but manage to bring a couple of scrappy little Smallies to the net. As the afternoon went on we started to catch larger fish. By days end, we had caught 7 Smallmouth 5lbs. or better, and one huge Smallmouth that tipped the scale at an even 6 lbs. The big Smallmouth of the day was Kim’s personal best, but due to the amount of rain we were having, the picture came out less than perfect. I guess we’ll just have to shoot for a new personal best for Kim.
We thought about staying around a while longer, but the sky was darkening rapidly accompanied by rumblings and flashes of light. We got off of the water just before the deluge. I’d have to say that this was one of the best Smallmouth trips I have had on Lake Erie or anywhere in the country. It is truly a world-class fishery.
