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Just wondering how everyone has been doing on Erie for smallmouth. I fish the Selkirk area and Long Point earlier in the season. Haven't had as much success as in the past. Today we went out again and marked a lot of fish in 20 ft. of water but had very little success (3rd time in a row . Tried all the typical techniques (tubes, drop shotting, crankbaits, jerkbaits etc.). I am considering trying the Port Colbourne area or Lowbanks. Is this worth trying? How has your summer on Erie gone? What has worked for you? What depth of water have you had most success in?

There is a way to remove a single hook from the throat so the bass will survive. You need to pinch the barb and rotate the hook out. You can also cut the line then pull the line and the eye of the hook backwards out of the point of entry. There is also a way to remove it through the gill by pinching the barb and rotating the hook (a little confusing to explain). I looked for an image but haven't been able to find one. This gives you a few options that may work.

Try the energizer batteries from Walmart. They're pretty dependable and priced nicely. Must be a deep cycle battery, as stated earlier, and look for the max amount of reserve minutes that you can afford.

Thanks, guys. I'll have to check these out.

Hi Guys, I'm looking for suggestions on Lake Erie (Eastern/Central) Charters for walleye. I fish Erie quite a bit for smallmouth and would like to go after some walleye. Also, I'm hoping to go up to the Kawarthas for some muskie. I'm leaning towards Pigeon Lake and was wondering if you have any suggestion for guides there. Any help would be appreciated.

I store my boat outside as well. I wrap it up tight and put small mesh bags with moth balls throughout the boat. I use a lot of them. I also put a lot of bounce sheets in the boat as well - mice apparently hate the smell. Done this for two years and no mice !

It depends on what type of boat you have and how much you want to spend. I looked around for a trailerable cover for my 167 Princecraft and ended up ordering a custom cover through boatcovers.com. Fits perfect and is reinforced in the right spots. Paid $450 for it which is reasonable considering the cost of most custom covers, but that's still a bit of money to fork out. I was looking for a custom cover because I had tried other generic covers and they didn't fit too well. If you get a generic cover make sure it fits tight enough otherwise you'll have problems on the highway.

The guy from fishful thinking was using Live Target on Erie. If you go to myoutdoortv.com and select his show it's the "Suspending Smelt for Bass & St. Clair Muskie" episode. I usually only use hard baits on Erie when I'm in New York State waters early in the season, but was thinking they might also work well on top of shallow reefs.

Has anyone had any success using Koppers Live Target baits on Erie? I'm looking into picking up a few, particularly the smelt suspending bait in blue/silver. I fish Erie for smallmouth usually once a week and predominately use tubes, drop shots, and zenko's. Greens and purples seem to work the best. What works best for you?

Hi, I've spent a lot of time as a kid at Halfway Lake. There are no muskie in Halfway Lake, there may be in Onaping Lake if I remember correctly. Halfway is okay for smallmouth and if you troll the shorelines you can get some pike. It's an average fishing lake. Onaping Lake is very close and worth checking out (has walleye). They have boat rentals. Also, pick-up a topo map and try out some of the surrounding lakes. Hope that helps.

Been out twice this year and I usually fish the grand once a week. First time out the water clarity was very poor and the fishing was also as result. Second time out they were fairly active and we caught around 25 - 30. There was only one 18 incher. I found that the usual holes have changed a bit and some new holes have developed. Water is a powerful thing and the river changes each year. Fishing in general is also different because of the early spring, water levels and heat, this week anyways.

Hey, if you are fishing erie make sure you have a motor that is big enough. I just upgraded from a 20 hp to 70 hp for that reason. Both boats are princecrafts and they are great. A new princecraft holiday is in the price range you are looking for. It's also worth looking in the states.

Nice work, Aaron. I was out on the NY side today and did well too. Lots of 2 - 3 pounders in shallow, but had a tough time finding the big ones - must be in deeper water now.

I have an avid, premier and mojo. The premier is a good rod (10 years - very happy with it), but is comparable to the Triumph in quality; only real difference is the premier is made in the US and the Triumph in Mexico. The Mojo has a very nice feel to it and for the price is tough to beat. The Mojo's are also technique specific, while the premiers are not. The avids are very sensitive, but you pay considerably more.

Used to fish that a lot. Very clear water and the steelhead are very wary as a result. Beautiful creek, with many nice runs though. Check the regs. before going; I believe there are some different rules for different sections. Hope it goes well.

Fished alot in the Bancroft area, but not centre lake. Apparently, there are good smallmouth in the lake. The boat launch is not great though. I don't think it gets a whole lot of fishing pressure.