Nabbing big smallmouth bass in Lake Erie keeps me hooked

Nothing in the fishing world is quite like the sensation an angler experiences in hooking a big Lake Erie smallmouth bass.
There are bigger, stronger and tastier fish than smallmouths. And exotic fishing locations have their special appeal. But for a spectacular angling experience close to home with the simplest of tackle, one can find nothing to match the moment when a 5-pound smallie decides to bite.
I've been fortunate to catch 9-pound walleyes, acrobatic steelhead and muskies longer than a big man's legs. They all were battles I'll never forget. The biggest file in my memory archive, however, is stuffed with recollections of Lake Erie bronzebacks.
The most recent additions happened Sunday out off Presque Isle.
Those who've never caught a 4-pound Erie bass might sniff at my whimsy over those fish. Yes, the walleyes are great, the steelies are more powerful and monster muskies are impressive.
Still pretty awesome
But a 4-pound smallie on a short length of 10-pound fluorocarbon line on bass tackle is a pretty awesome deal. From the moment you sweep the rod to set the jig hook firmly in the fish's mouth, you know you're in for a never-give-up tussle that will include a couple of wild tail dances and several boatside dives.
The bass were scattered last weekend out on the 20- to 25-foot depths, cruising the bottom for gobies, crawfish and other little creatures in Erie's smorgasbord food chain. The action wasn't fast and furious, yet bites came often enough to keep anglers' attention focused.
Strikes are like plugging into an electrical outlet. The hooksets are rock solid, like anchoring the bottom, but it quickly becomes apparent that it's not a boulder that's snatched the jig.
Veteran anglers learn the difference between smallmouth strikes and those of the ubiquitous sheephead. More often than not, a smallie battle takes place at or near the surface, while the sheephead beat the drum down deep in spiraling dashes and dives.
Erie's clarity provides a fisherman with a visual link to the battle. When an oversized smallmouth churns into view, its size is magnified in the clear water, providing a jolt of adrenalin to the angler whose only wish at that moment is to lay hands on the trophy fish.
Smallies abound in nearby reservoirs and rivers, but they are mere shadows of their Lake Erie cousins. The big lake's bronzebacks are muscle-bound, beer-belly bruisers, thick from their lips to their tails and wide across their backs.
And the best thing about those big, beautiful fish? They're out there in big numbers. With any luck at all, you'll enjoy the strike and fight many times on even average days on Erie.
Record sunfish certified
A catch by an angler from Ashtabula County has been certified as the new state record warmouth by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee.
The trophy sunfish weighed 1.19 pounds and measured 10.5 inches. It was caught May 6 by William J. Reed of Kingsville at Ladue Reservoir in Geauga County.
Virus blamed for fish kills
A viral hemorrhagic septicemia infection that swept through the populations during the cold water season has been blamed for yellow perch and sheephead kills in Lake Erie this spring, according to a news release from Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
The ODNR says the virus poses no threat to human health and the infection appears to have waned as the water warmed. The optimum water temperature for the virus is between 40 to 60 degrees F.
Most of the dead fish were in Erie's western basin, though a less severe kill was detected in the central basin.