My timing was impeccable for developing a passion for smallmouth bass. I lived near Lake Erie all my life and spent my time pursuing its smallmouths. Over the past decade, Erie emerged as the world’s finest smallmouth fishery—arguably, more smallmouths from 4 to 6 pounds have been caught on Erie during that period than anywhere else. When fishing deep structure in summer, it’s common to catch at least one smallmouth over 5 pounds.

History suggests that Erie’s western basin often acts as an indicator for smallmouth fisheries of the other Great Lakes. If this trend holds true, the famous fisheries of the Thousand Islands, Saginaw Bay, Presque Isle, and Door County may be in for a boom in outsize bass, followed by a decline in size and numbers. Though recent tournament results demonstrate remarkable fishing, I feel that Erie’s western basin bass fishery maybe on the verge of collapse.

Clarity, Forage, Behavior

Exotics can change habitat, and Lake Erie is well known for the introduction of exotic species into the Great Lakes. The most famous case is the introduction of zebra mussels through the ballast water of commercial vessels. “Zebes” adapted immediately to the shallow western basin and, once established, began filtering Erie to unprecedented levels of clarity. Visibility down to 6 feet was once considered ultraclear. Today, visibility to 20 feet is common. Increasing light penetration opened a new world of deeper habitats for smallmouths, which now commonly inhabit flats and structures in the 30- to 40-foot range. My first tournament win on Erie came in 32 feet of water—a depth unheard of for bass fishing at the time.

Today, deep water is understood to be home for the biggest bass on Erie most of the year. Bass under 3 pounds are rarely caught when fishing the deepest structures of the western basin. It’s important to understand that at no time are bass required to inhabit shallow areas other than the first year of life, but that could now change.

Bass in Lake Erie have been discovered spawning at 18 to 22 feet. Underwater cameras reveal the same behaviors exhibited by shallow spawners: Deep-spawning smallmouths look for some kind of object—a stick, a boulder or the hull of a shipwreck. Following the spawn, most bass move out to even deeper structures, where they spend the remainder of the summer and most of the fall.

The best shallow-water spots are close to deep water. These areas produce thanks to exposure to strong, main-lake currents that create feeding opportunities for bass. Some of these shallow areas are so productive that the numbers of big fish seem endless. Last August, two pros and their amateur partners combined to catch 40 bass weighing over 150 pounds in two days from a small, isolated, shallow structure bordered by deep water. Exposed to the heaviest current of the west basin, this spot highlights how smallmouths can flock in huge numbers to small areas.

During that tournament I fished a spot 32 feet deep. I caught only 10 bass over two days, but they weighed 43 pounds. The following weekend the shallow structure failed to produce a single bass, while the deep sanctuaries continued to put fish in the livewell. I believe deep sanctuaries are now the holding areas, the main ambush and feeding spots for smallmouths of the Great Lakes. Smallmouths certainly appear to be roaming less and holding tight to deep cover more than in previous decades.

After bass spawn on Erie, I don’t spend much time fishing shallower than 25 feet. Fishing has no absolutes, but deep-water fish are more reliable and certainly less pressured. Two good anglers can properly cover a rockpile in 15 feet of water, but fish an isolated boulder 35 feet deep in 6-foot waves, and entirely different skills and far more precision are required.

Specialized rods, line, trolling motors, and baits are needed. Until recently, the ISG Dream Tube on a 1/2-ounce jig was the only lure I used. A heavier jig would get down faster, but the 1/2-ounce is just heavy enough to reach bottom in rough conditions and harder for bass to throw.

Recently, I’ve had to rely more on drop-shot fishing, especially when the lake is calm. I believe this is due to the increase in fishing pressure on deep structure. The advent of GPS chart-plotter systems and underwater cameras means more anglers find and hit the “good spots.” And a bait like the Poor Boy’s Goby mimics the forage better than a tube, in some situations. All the big tournaments that came to Erie in 2004 were dominated by drop-shotting, and many won with the Poor Boy’s Goby.

About Gobies

The most notable behavioral change among Great Lakes smallmouths has been the shift in preferred forage, precipitated by the introduction of another exotic—the round goby. Gobies are similar to sculpins—bottom-oriented (due to lack of a swim bladder), with a preference for hard substrates and objects. Gobies first appeared on the radar of fishery biologists around 1992. Within a few years, goby numbers increased exponentially. It’s now impossible to view any rocky structure down to 40 feet in Erie with a camera without seeing gobies.

This incredibly adept fish may wreak havoc with fishery officials, but gobies are just fine where feeding bass are concerned. Gobies make up about 70 percent of the smallmouth diet here, and their abundance has led to a remarkable increase in the overall size of bass in the lake.

In short, the goby has changed the feeding habits of smallmouths. A homebody on hard structure, the goby is a reliable source of food. Bass are feeding less on shad, smelt, shiners, alewives, and lake herring, all of which suspend. Gobies stay near bottom. As a result, big bass on Erie look up less and look down more.

The fishery now centers less on drifting expansive flats—following the bait to catch bass. Instead, the current focus is precise presentations on small “spots-on-the-spot.” A powerful 36-volt trolling motor with an extra-long shaft is required to hold the boat in a key position for casting to such spots on Lake Erie. One isolated reef in 35 feet of water produced only one fish in 3 years, but it weighed 5 pounds, showing the spot’s potential. I unlocked the vault to that potential when I located the sweet spot on the structure in the summer of 2004, a spot where smallmouths stacked on a small pile of sharp rock off the edge of a break. That comparatively tiny spot-on-a-spot produced 26 bass topping 4 pounds, over the next 30 days.

Precision is the key, but to consistently produce at those depths requires harmonious use of quality depthfinders, chart plotters, trolling motors, and big-water hulls that can take on lots of water without becoming somebody else’s smallmouth structure.

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.