NY State Trophy smallmouth season nearing the end

Had my last scheduled smallmouth trip on the NY side of Lake Erie yesterday.  I took out three repeat clients of mine, Troy, Dave and Dave.  They have fished steelhead with me in the past and I have told them that they had to try the smallmouth fishing in the spring.   They finally booked, although late in the trophy season, Erie did not disappoint.  The reports said otherwise as many guides were complaining of tough days with little bites.
   I have been at this since 1995 and one thing I learned in the spring is that good spots are always good spots.  The cool thing about the big fish on Erie is that they don't need specific spots per say, but areas that they congregate.  Some of these areas are up to a mile long.  Year in and year out, I always find them on these stretches.  When things get tough, I don't run around looking for active fish, just fish my areas and figure out a way to get them to bite.  Sometimes it takes live bait, but allot of times, a few fine adjustments with the lures does the trick.
  Troy was absolutely on fire, he picked up the tube bite immediately and really did a number on the fish.  He figured out that they wanted a very aggressive forward pull to the tube.  Once he regained contact with the bait after he jerked it forward, the fish were there.  He landed his personal best an even 6 lb er.  The average size was also impressive with most fish going between 3-5 lbs.  These guys couldn't believe how good  the fishing is on Erie.



  I also included some pictures of fish that my WV clients caught a few weeks ago.  I have been really lagging behind on my reports...too busy fishing I guess.







  I am looking forward to the Ontario opener in a couple of weeks.  It is really setting up to be an incredible top water bite.  With the late spring and June 1 being on a Sat., the bite should be amazing.  I still have a few openings if anyone is interested in the best top water bite on the year.