Lake Erie smallie fishing

[jenga]

I am going to fish Erie, Pa this spring and we will probably be fishing erie rather than the bay unless the waves are to bad.  Last year I noticed that the fish were down deeper then I expected and didn't have enough lures to get down that deep.  I mainly fish LSC and that lake is on average 10 ft deep so most of my lures are at that depth or lower.  Just wondering what are some good lures for Erie to fish and what depths should I be buying.

Thanks,

Jenga

[Lucky Craft Man]

Here would be my suggestion for fishing Lake Erie. One of four techniques will usually work for you (which will make buying lures easy). The first technique (and most enjoyible in my opinion) is jerkbait fishing. Bring a variety of jerkbaits from ones that run shallow to ones that run up to 10 feet. The second technique (and the one that produces the most for me) is drop shot fishing. Bring some heavier drop shot weights and any 4" goby imitation lure will work (some better than others) and I would keep the colors to green or watermelon. The third technique is dragging a tube. Bring several types of tubes and heavy tube weights (up to an ounce) and just drag these suckers with the occasional hop. The last techniques that works for me is jigging spoons (some guys like blade baits, which will work as well). Bring some heavy jigging spoons (up to an ounce) and get ready for a workout. I am sure there are many other techniques that work up there, but these four have been my go to techniques. As far as depth is concerned, you could find fish as shallow as 3 feet to as deep as 40 feet. The good thing about the techniques and lures I mentioned, you can use them at almost any depth as long as you have enough weight to keep the lure on the bottom. Good luck and I hope you tie into a seven pounder.

[roadwarrior]

GMAN isn't going to hurt your pet fish, promise!

8-)

[Lucky Craft Man]

GMAN isn't going to hurt your pet fish, promise!

8-)

I edited my post.  I did sound a little like a D-Bag there.

[S Hovanec]

If you're coming in May, you don't need anything deep. For 3 weeks in May this year, I didn't fish any deeper than 12'......with x-raps and slender pointers.

[simplejoe]

LCM said it the best. I honestly never tried the dropshot (don't know why) but for me a Tube and a jerkbait worked the best.

[ctbassnut]

You can also do really good with a in-line spinner, a grub( I like the slider grub best), and little george's which can be fished at any depth.

[Siebert Outdoors]

GMAN isn't going to hurt your pet fish, promise!

8-)

I wont keep any but there will be a bunch of sore mouths. ;D  Probably mine.

I've never fished Erie but I'd start with tubes, spinnersbaits, and a trap.  If I cant catch a May smallie on that I'd probably just go home.

[J Francho]

Same thing I use on Lake O.

Tubes

Dropshot Gulp! Alive Leeches and Minnows

Dropshot Kut Tail Worms

Dropshot 4" Berkley Power Worms

Wacky Rig Senkos

Butt Rigged Fat Ika

Pointers, X-Raps, Flashminnows, Sammys, Gunfish, Slimshad

[Dwight Hottle]

Jenga-I'm curious why are you leaving LSC to fish erie since the fisheries are so similar?

[jenga]

My brothers and I meet up with my cousins from DC to fish for a weekend.  It is a long drive from DC to LSC so we have decieded to meet in Erie, Pa a five hour drive for us and about the same for our cousins. 

Thanks,

Jenga

[A-Rob]

I fish lake georgian bay, part of lake huron. Its not the exact same, but there is some similarities with such a big lake with a lot of offshore structure.

I love tubes for smallmouths. Where I think this can be handy for you is by changing the bullet weight, which aren't expensive, you can fish any depth with the same lure. You can start dragging/hopping/swimming the tube at the shallow side of your ideal depth to the deeper side of it and try to figure out that puzzle. Good luck amigo!

[Eternal Angler]

Simple just get heavier jig heads. And buy some deep diving Bomber crankbaits. I actually live next to lake st.clair, great place to fish. Just wish I had a bigger boat, waves get a little big sometimes and I'm afraid of taking out my boat.

I am going to fish Erie, Pa this spring and we will probably be fishing erie rather than the bay unless the waves are to bad. Last year I noticed that the fish were down deeper then I expected and didn't have enough lures to get down that deep. I mainly fish LSC and that lake is on average 10 ft deep so most of my lures are at that depth or lower. Just wondering what are some good lures for Erie to fish and what depths should I be buying.

Thanks,

Jenga