For Those Who Get To Travel A Lot--Give Me A List Of Best Smb Lakes

[G_money]

I'm looking at you Road Warrior...seems like you've chased those little brown fish everywhere.

Any responses would be helpful. I'm planning a trip. My custom wrapper lives in Penn. and fishes Eerie often so it's definately on the ist and I know it's good. But I'm also curious about others like Dale Hollow, Pickwick, lakes in the Northeast and upper midwest too.

Anyone with a ton of experience traveling; I'm looking to take the trip in late March-late April depending on location.

I want to catch some decent numbers for sure but would really like lakes that have multiples over 3 and 4 # on good days.

Of course a six or seven is always the goal, but I don't want to travel to a lake that has a shot at a monster but usually produces shorts...I can do that here in my local stomping grounds.

Thanks guys.

Road Warrior I better see on here.

[roadwarrior]

The three top destinations are Lake Erie, St. Clair and Champlain. Once you decide where you want to go,

you will need suggestions on a guide. You can reasonably expect 20-30 fish per man/ per day in the 3-5 lb

range. With some luck, the numbers might double or even triple and you might catch a 6 or 7 lb smallie.

[SirSnookalot]

Never used this service but have fished these waters both charter and our boat many dozens of times. For us it was driving distance so never needed lodging. Been years since I've fished there, I live out of the area now.

http://www.mitchellsbaycharters.com/fishing.html

[J Francho]

Here's the best places I know.

Erie:

Chaumont Bay (Lake Ontario):

Oneida:

Conesus:

Lake Ontario:

[G_money]

Fracho

Are these ranked in order?

Tell moe more about Oneida and Onesus...don't hear much about them I'm intrigued.

Also more about Ontario? Compared to Eerie,?

Road Warrior seriouusly?...20-30 fish in the 3-5lb range!! Wow!

Am I looking at the best time of year? Or is it going to still have ice on in April?

Nice Pics Francho...if I ever figure out how to put pics up I'll at least have to upload an avatar, and post some pics.

We don't have many smallies like that around here. I've only caught 4 smallies over 4.5-5 lbs.

However I do catch a ton of monster largemouth...but they're just not as fun

[J Francho]

No order at all. End of April is usually ice out on most lakes. You're looking at presapwn. For the past few years, the spawn up here has started around the second week in May.

Oneida and Conesus are great smallie lakes in spring and fall. Mainly largemouth in the summer. They are great secondary destinations, should it be too rough to go out on Erie or Ontario.

Oneida is what I'd call "Erie Minor." It can get rough out there, too.

An honorary mention should be given to Kueka as well. Lots of big smallies there, too.

Ontario is more about fishing the bays mostly for smallies, though there are some with knowledge of where to catch them in the lake. I have spots, but if they aren't there, they aren't there.

Erie is big time structure fishing. It's much more shallow than Ontario, and it's a little easier to prefish with just a map - the structure is that good.

Conesus, Honeoye, Keueka, or any of the Finger Lakes for that matter, in spring is as simple as beating the banks until you run into them.

Out of all of them, Erie and Oneida are easily my favorites. I've only fished Champlain twice (two 3-day tournaments) and while I came in 2nd place on one, all my fish were green. And they were easily the largest average sized fish in the state. The 2nd tourney, I focused on brown fish up north, and failed. Dead last. Whatever knowledge I accumulated growing up on Lake Ontario, did me no good on Champ. I'm sure someone here knows it well, and can answer.

[G_money]

No order at all. End of April is usually ice out on most lakes. You're looking at presapwn. For the past few years, the spawn up here has started around the second week in May.

Oneida and Conesus are great smallie lakes in spring and fall. Mainly largemouth in the summer. They are great secondary destinations, should it be too rough to go out on Erie or Ontario.

Oneida is what I'd call "Erie Minor." It can get rough out there, too.

An honorary mention should be given to Kueka as well. Lots of big smallies there, too.

Ontario is more about fishing the bays mostly for smallies, though there are some with knowledge of where to catch them in the lake. I have spots, but if they aren't there, they aren't there.

Erie is big time structure fishing. It's much more shallow than Ontario, and it's a little easier to prefish with just a map - the structure is that good.

Conesus, Honeoye, Keueka, or any of the Finger Lakes for that matter, in spring is as simple as beating the banks until you run into them.

Out of all of them, Erie and Oneida are easily my favorites. I've only fished Champlain twice (two 3-day tournaments) and while I came in 2nd place on one, all my fish were green. And they were easily the largest average sized fish in the state. The 2nd tourney, I focused on brown fish up north, and failed. Dead last. Whatever knowledge I accumulated growing up on Lake Ontario, did me no good on Champ. I'm sure someone here knows it well, and can answer.

Forgive the ignorance but some of these lesser known lakes I haven't heard of; not being from the North.

Are these all pretty close together?

thanks for the info.

Since my builder fishes eerie a lot I'm leaning that way but things are still up in the air.

Also my style of fishing could come into play, b/c a lake that has my type of structure would make my trip more enjoyable.

I prefer fishing rocky ledges, banks with quick drop-offs into deep creek channels, docks, and wood laydowns.

Ditches, humps, and points are still fun but not as much as the aforementioned types of structure.

[J Francho]

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=42.67032,-76.819153&spn=1.508511,2.469177&t=h&z=9&vpsrc=6

I live in Rochester. Oneida is on the right, and Conesus is on the left. Kueka is the one shaped like a "Y." Ontario is to the north, Erie just an hour to the west.

Erie has all these structural features, but they are huge. You could spend a season learning the intricacies of a spot like Seneca Shoals, which is basically a mountain in the middle of the eastern lake basin.

You'd probably fish closer to Presque Isle. Dwight Hottle could be of some help - he fishes that area.

[G_money]

Thanks Fracho. Really great info!

I feel like I'm going into this with way more info than I had before I started this thread.

[J Francho]

Definitely reach out to Dwight, if he doesn't find this first.

[G_money]

http://maps.google.c...t=h&z=9&vpsrc=6

I live in Rochester. Oneida is on the right, and Conesus is on the left. Kueka is the one shaped like a "Y." Ontario is to the north, Erie just an hour to the west.

Erie has all these structural features, but they are huge. You could spend a season learning the intricacies of a spot like Seneca Shoals, which is basically a mountain in the middle of the eastern lake basin.

You'd probably fish closer to Presque Isle. Dwight Hottle could be of some help - he fishes that area.

Are Oneida, Conesus, and Kueka all to the South of Rochester? And is Kueka the one with Penn Yann on the North end? Does Oneida have Geneva on the North end of the lake? And does Conesus the one with Canandaigua on the north end of the lake?

Trying to see if I'm finding the lakes right...?

Ontario is way bigger than I realized.

[midnighthrasher]

Lake St-Francis is a amazing lake. The Berkley B1 was on it for the past 2 years. I go to Lake Erie every year and get guided by Simon Frost. He is amazing. 50+ days are almost a given with 5 and 6 lbs being the biggest i've caught.

[Champlain Angler]

My first post to this forum allows me to jump right in on a topic close to my heart. I am an advocate for Champlain, its mixture of brown and green and its sheer numbers, but I feel Erie has more large sm bass than any of the others mentioned so far in this thread. If you choose St Clair try Kevin Long, Long Cast Guide service. If you have considered Canada. Lake St Pierre and other segments along the St Lawrence hold plenty of large sm bass. As for Champlain we get into big fish as early as the third week in April in the tribs. The Saranac River has an amazing run of big smallies looking for the first sign of warm water. Slow is the key in early spring as it is in late fall, our biggest big fish seasons. Great pictures of beautiful bass Francho!

Captain Mick

www.LakeChamplainAngler.com

[J Francho]

Oneida is the big one all the way right. I'll send links to each lake in a PM. You aren't kidding about Lake Ontario. Thing about Erie is, you can cut that, "I think we should cut back to the launch before it gets too rough" window into quarters. You start to see white on the tops of the waves, you got about 20 minutes to get back.

Are Oneida, Conesus, and Kueka all to the South of Rochester? And is Kueka the one with Penn Yann on the North end? Does Oneida have Geneva on the North end of the lake? And does Conesus the one with Canandaigua on the north end of the lake?

Trying to see if I'm finding the lakes right...?

Ontario is way bigger than I realized.

[NBR]

Taking out your time of the year I'd take Erie, Grand Traverse Bay in MI, Chequagon Bay(sp) at Ashland WI, Green Bay near Sturgeon Bay, WI, St. Clair or Champlain but and a great big but. Those large bodies take a lot longer to warm up so if I was going in April I'd either go to Dale Hollow or Pickwick.

I have never been able to fish Champlain or Erie but I've fished all the others mentioned by me and the others and in most years I wouldn't think about a north trip until May. Some states don't open the bass season until late June and in southern Ontario not until the fourth Saturday in June.

I now live in NH and our ice is rarely out before the first week in April, usually later.

Excluding an April trip date my first choice would be the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay in MI. If the wind blows you can fish Torch Lake, Torch River or Skemog (sp)

[Dwight Hottle]

Flash,

I left you a voice mail.

[A-Jay]

Flash,

I left you a voice mail.

Dwight - are you accepting cash for gps coordinates again?

Shame on you . . . .

A-Jay

[Dwight Hottle]

Dwight - are you accepting cash for gps coordinates again?

Shame on you . . . .

A-Jay

Hey it's christmas time & I need some money for shopping.

[Lund Explorer]

Taking out your time of the year I'd take Erie, Grand Traverse Bay in MI, Chequagon Bay(sp) at Ashland WI, Green Bay near Sturgeon Bay, WI, St. Clair or Champlain but and a great big but. Those large bodies take a lot longer to warm up so if I was going in April I'd either go to Dale Hollow or Pickwick.

I have never been able to fish Champlain or Erie but I've fished all the others mentioned by me and the others and in most years I wouldn't think about a north trip until May. Some states don't open the bass season until late June and in southern Ontario not until the fourth Saturday in June.

I now live in NH and our ice is rarely out before the first week in April, usually later.

Excluding an April trip date my first choice would be the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay in MI. If the wind blows you can fish Torch Lake, Torch River or Skemog (sp)

Fully agree with heading south during the month of April. Only bodies of water you didn't mention that I thought about would be Bay De Noc, Burt/Mullett, or Saginaw Bay.

[clayton86]

Taking out your time of the year I'd take Erie, Grand Traverse Bay in MI, Chequagon Bay(sp) at Ashland WI, Green Bay near Sturgeon Bay, WI, St. Clair or Champlain but and a great big but. Those large bodies take a lot longer to warm up so if I was going in April I'd either go to Dale Hollow or Pickwick.

I have never been able to fish Champlain or Erie but I've fished all the others mentioned by me and the others and in most years I wouldn't think about a north trip until May. Some states don't open the bass season until late June and in southern Ontario not until the fourth Saturday in June.

I now live in NH and our ice is rarely out before the first week in April, usually later.

Excluding an April trip date my first choice would be the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay in MI. If the wind blows you can fish Torch Lake, Torch River or Skemog (sp)

Bass season is open all year for Ontario and Erie in new york but it's C&R and artificials only till 3rd sat in June then u can use live bait and keep if u wish.....

[NoBassPro]

Fully agree with heading south during the month of April. Only bodies of water you didn't mention that I thought about would be Bay De Noc, Burt/Mullett, or Saginaw Bay.

I don't know the others as well, but on days you can't get on Bay de Noc, the surrounding rivers also offer some excellent SM bass fishing.

[NBR]

Clayton, I was thinking of Ontario the province not the lake. Thanks for your post since I was not very clear. One of the reasons I like Grand Traverse Bay in MI is that there are several good spots in case the wind really blows and you can't safely get out on the big water. Nothing worse to me than sitting in a cabin or motel room watching huge waves roll on to shore.

[Crankenstein_MI]

Northern Michigan is about as good as it gets when it comes to smallmouths. Elk lake, Torch Lake, Grand Traverse Bay, Long Lake, Burt Lake, Mullet Lake, just to name a few. Lake St.Clair is probably the best for numbers with size. Saginaw Bay is my favorite for both numbers and size. Everytime I find em on Saginaw Bay, there is 5 and 6 pounders in the mix. My buddy caught a 6-14 this fall on da bay.