I had the pleasure to take out Nate Zahn the other day for a smallmouth trip on Erie. Nate had scheduled two days however the unstable weather the last week had forced us to cancel one day. He was going to drive up from Delaware on Mother's Day and fish the Monday and Tuesday . How many guys do you think would risk their health telling their wife they were going to leave for a fishing trip on Mother's Day! Well because of the poor weather, he ended up driving up on the Monday and fishing on Tuesday. He drove 7 hours to fish one day on Erie. Now that's a hardcore smallmouth fisherman.
I met him that morning and started apologizing for the conditions. The river was running dirty and I was afraid the lake might have been in the same condition from the 30 knot winds the days before. Nate took it all in stride and said don't worry about it so we set off. The water wasn't as bad out in the lake, still a nice green color about 2 feet of visibility.
Nate was not interested in fishing live bait so I didn't bring any along though it definitely would have put a few more fish in the boat. We started out dragging tubes with little results so I switched to a drop shot rig and immediately hooked up. I switched Nate over and he quickly hooked his first fish, a healthy 5 lb 6 oz beauty. This was Nates biggest smallmouth of his life. How many places could produce that with such poor conditions.
We continued with our pattern and hooked well over 30 fish that day with Nate landing many fish over 4 lbs and another 5+ lber as his last fish of the day.
To me the day was a slow one, however Nate was tickled pink. The smile on his face says everything. Thanks again Nate for making the trip and reminding me how lucky I am. I look forward to fishing with you again soon.
