Erie’s Changing Smallmouth Scene

Deep and Precise Joe Balog on the spot-on-the-spot: “This spot is a rockpile on top of a deep reef. It’s the highest spot on the reef at 35 feet. Wind is 20 knots, waves 2 to 4 feet. “I approach watching my Garmin 188C GPS unit, graphing everything first to see where the fish are. If I’m alone, I put a buoy on the spot, with slightly more string than required to reach bottom straight down. I want the marker directly over the target. Otherwise, I use my front GPS to hold on the spot. I drop the 36-volt, 101-pound thrust, long-shaft Minn Kota Maxxum. A long shaft is critical. If the blades come out of the water, the boat loses momentum. “I cast upwind at the spot, starting with an ISG Dream Tube on a 1/2-ounce jig. The Dream Tube is quad-dipped and weighs almost as much as the jig, making it easy to throw upwind. With less wind I use a 3/8-ounce head, and a 3/4-ounce jig works better in stronger winds. This is precision casting—not dragging. The jig has to get down quick. “I use 10-pound Berkley Vanish most of the time, for its density and abrasion resistance, spooling it on a large Daiwa Capricorn 2500 with a 7-foot heavy-action Daiwa spinning rod, because I need hard hooksets and it’s tough in deep water. If the bite is tough, I use the same gear to present drop-shot rigs with a Poor Boy’s Goby. Use 3/8- to 3/4-ounce weights. The key is to feed line as the lure drops, and let it drop right on the spot. If the fish are home, one of these options gets bit without any other presentational tricks.”

Fluorocarbon is another key. I use Berkley Vanish exclusively—mostly 10-pound test. It’s very strong, I’m convinced the fish can’t see it as well, it survives hard hook-sets with heavy rods, and doesn’t abrade on zebra mussels as badly as mono or braided line. And fluorocarbon is denser than monofilament. It sinks—a key factor in making precise presentations in poor conditions over open water. Fluorocarbon takes the bait to bottom faster with a slightly lighter jig, and keeps it there.

The Bass Decline

At first the two exotics, zebes and gobies, seemed perfect additions for Erie smallmouths; but it appears they have led to a decline in the fishery. Western basin smallmouth numbers are down—another factor contributing to the need to fish more precisely in deeper water. Where anglers used to catch 40 or more smallies in a day, there are now entire weeks that pass without producing 40. Reasons for the decline are theoretical, at this point.

Fishery departments surrounding Erie tend to put more emphasis on walleyes than smallmouths, so data are scarce, so far. As average fish size increases in a system, the species generally declines in number. With an unheard-of biomass of forage available in Erie, however, it’s unclear what the limiting factors might be.

Some cite the population explosion of cormorants. Others believe charter-boat traffic curtails numbers—since most charters still operate on a catch-and-keep basis. But I feel that large bass tournaments hurt more than anything else, due to massive relocation to weigh-in sites 30 miles or more from capture sites. Studies suggest that some smallmouths can find their way back home when displaced by 9 miles or less, but any farther, it becomes almost impossible.

Recruitment suffers for a variety of reasons. Transported fish may not return “home,” and spawn in unfamiliar locales. Local forage can be depleted by new crowds of displaced bass, which can’t put on enough weight in the fall to support a healthy spawn the following spring.

Exotics also threaten the spawn. Spawning habitat is reduced, as bass don’t seem to spawn well on top of zebra mussels. Vast reef complexes like West Reef off North Bass Island, once prime spawning and fishing grounds, now seem dead. Viewing the reef with an underwater camera reveals why: The reefs look snow-covered and evened out by a blanket of zebes. It’s also affecting crawfish populations, removing cracks and crevices they require for shelter.

The goby could hurt bass even worse. Recent Ohio DNR research suggests that gobies wear out male bass and destroy nests through sheer weight of numbers. Ohio finally went to a closed spring season to protect spawning bass, but smallmouth numbers are also down in Ontario, where spawners have been protected for years.

Some fishery experts say the first sign of a collapsing fishery is an overall increase in the average size of fish caught, with increasingly fewer small fish being caught. That’s Lake Erie smallmouths to a T.

In addition, Erie faces some old enemies, these days. Raw sewage is once again a problem. Didn’t we learn anything from the days when the lake stank, suffered fish kills, and harbored declining populations of fish? Thanks in part to exotics, harvest, and even tournaments, we now have fewer fish that are older and wiser. We have more anglers concentrating on a dwindling list of spots—more pressure for fewer fish. And Erie isn’t alone among the Great Lakes—it’s just first.

*Joe Balog, a Great Lakes tournament angler with a degree in fishery science, has won 11 major tournaments on Lake Erie and the Detroit River.