I took a week off work and made the 7 hr. drive (at 70 mph, with stops for gas and coffee) from my home in Doylestown, PA to Erie, PA. A lot of people don't realize that Pennsylvania is that wide. Well, it is. I arrived in Erie, PA on a Sunday..the air temps were warm (80ish) and the skies clear. I decided to spend my first day, scouting out Presque Island Bay and the main lake. I launched at the West Marine Launch out of Presque Island State Park. It seemed to be the most popular launch for bass fishermen because it is FREE and it is well protected from the wind.
The Bay was shallow in spots..at least where the bass fishermen were fishing. I'd say the depths ranged from 1 ft. to 5 ft. in the grassy flats..from the shoreline to the channel. The main lake was shallow near the shoreline. You'd have to be at least 400 yds. from the shoreline to safely navigate at speed where the water depth is 10 ft. Visibility ranges from 15 ft. on a good/clear/calm day to less than 4 ft. on a windy/overcast/post-storm day. The key to finding fish on the main lake is to find structure..whether it's drop-offs, humps, grass, rock or preferably grass/rock. I could see BIG Smallies laying on the bottom in 13 ft. of water. They could NOT however, be coaxed into biting regardless of what I tried or how stealthy I made the presentation. I guess when you're on a bed/nest and ready to drop eggs, the last thing you want is food dangling in front of you. There is no doubt in my mind the BIG females were ready to drop their eggs. The water temp in the main lake was nearing 55F and the full moon is/was on May 25. BTW, the water temp in Presque Island Bay (PIB) was at least 7-8F warmer than the main lake.
Each day I fished the main Lake in the a.m., making 10+ mile runs down the Northeast coast line. And, each day I came up empty handed. I just could NOT catch a thing (other than rock bass, gobies, perch, etc.) regardless of what I threw or what depth I tried. And, let me tell you, I threw everything but the kitchen sink from 6 ft. of water to 30 ft. of water. After blanking out on the main lake, I fished PIB where I ALWAYS got into them. I'd say two guys, who know how to fish, could catch 20-30 nice size Smallies in PIB each day. And, these Smallies would run from 2-4 pounds. I didn't catch anything larger than what was pictured...which ran 3+. I saw perhaps one other fish caught that was closer to 4..but that was it from ANY boat (that I saw) the entire week. I wanted the 5 or 6 pounder that I heard so much about swimming the waters of Lake Erie..but it was not to be. That is why I was adamant about fishing the main lake. I figured I had a better chance of catching a big boy/girl in the main lake than I did in PIB. After all, I did see some HUGE fish laying on the bottom in 13 ft. of water on the main lake.
All of my fish were caught and released. They (PA Fish/Boat Commission) say you can keep one this time of year in Lake Erie if it is 20 in. or better. I never measured any of mine but I'm betting the one photo'd was close to 20 in.
On a side note, I headed to Lake Chautauqua on one day because the main lake (Erie) had too much wind and the weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms. Boy did it rain/thunderstorm which is why I only caught two fish on Chautauqua..a nice size LM in a Marina and a decent size Smallie on a main lake point..but that was it. A little disappointing to say the least. I heard/read good things about Chautauqua before fishing it. In fact, a guy I talked to at a gas station said, "you should have been here yesterday..we killed em". Story of my life. But, then again, I read about 100 fish per day in Lake Erie too...this time of year.
All-in-all..a good trip. Did it live up to the hype? Heck NO! Not even close. Had I known the main Lake was going to shut down like it did for the week, I would have rented a small aluminum boat with a 9.9 hp to fish the PIB. That's all you needed. I'm glad I made the trip to Erie though..because I had to check it out for myself. Will I be back? Hard to say because I was disappointed. I guess only time will tell. There are plenty other Smallie factories that are on my bucket list. Until then, I'm going to have fun fishing my home Lake...Lake Wallenpaupack...in the 2013 Bassmasters Magazine's top 100 bass fisheries.
Fish ON! Rob
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