New Lowrance HDS8

Finally got around to installing a new HDS8 sonar on my boat and trying it out on Lake Erie. The new Navionics Platinum Plus map is a must have on Erie. The new mapping includes dimesional countours of the bottom showing humps and drop offs that where not apparent on the previous Navionics maps. It really opens up a whole new world out there. I drove around checking out the new structure and was quite impressed with its accuracy, and the amount of fish it held. Looking forward to trying it out with the new structure scan coming out this fall.

Summer smallmouth

The weather for the past month has been terrible on lake Erie. I had three days of calm mornings when I could get a topwater bite going. The rest of the days have been breezy to windy. Not so much as I couldnt get out, just couldnt get a topwater bite going. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and crankbaits have been the ticket to great days on the water. The shallow bite has really slowed down, most of the fish have finished the spawn and move out to a bit deeper water, usually the first drop off. This is where the crankbait and jerkbait bite has been the best. As summer progresses and the fish set up on their traditional summer rockpiles, the dropshot bite will take over for me. Look forward to hooking into some bigger fish during this pattern. Most of the shallow fish are in the 2-4 lb range, not too shabby, most of my first time clients on Lake Erie are blown away by how hard these fish fight. Like they say, pound for pound the smallmouth bass is the toughest freshwater fish!

Lake Erie bass opening week

Topwater action has beeen limited so far due to the winds and rain that have been passing for the last week. Fish have been extremely shallow, as little as 2 feet of water. When conditions were right, spooks and prop baits have accounted for most of the fish. When the wind was too strong to throw topwater, we have been having tremendous luck with spinnerbaits. Fish are smashing them with a vengance. The water is alot colder than normal for this time of year and I suspect that the shallow water bite will continue for sometime. We even managed to catch a beautiful 16 lb muskie on a spinnerbait in 4 feet of water on lake Erie...what a surprise that was! See you on the water.