untitled2

Every year the Niagara Bassmasters and guest prepare to spend a November day on Lake Erie trying to break the illusive 30 pound 5 bass barrier. At this time of the year most days are not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. November winds can whip Erie into a frenzy with waves even the tankers don’t want to see, at least that’s the impression you get when you think of late fall days on this famed Smallmouth Lake. But the only thing that was uncomfortable about this day in November was having too much clothing on and having to peel out of the floater suites by 9 am.

Although Erie can get a little rowdy, there are more perfect bluebird days in the fall on Erie than you would think and the Niagara Bassmasters pick one of the best. Not only was it warm but there wasn’t a ripple from Windsor to Buffalo and the entire field was fishing on a mirror. In Fact the original launch location was to be in the Niagara river but the forcast was so perfect the launch site was changed to Crystal Beach on the north shore of Erie

Mirror Perfect Day

Unfortunately, even Erie smallies who are known to be very cooperative don’t work on days like this. The clear mirrored water casts a long shadow and if you can see down 30 feet they can certainly see you against a perfect bright sky.

The fishing was slow but in the end most caught their limit several times over and Kim and Roy Poirer of Grimsby to best the field with 22.71 pounds for the win. This was certainly not the 30 pounds they were looking for but they still had to cull 30+ fish to get there. Second place went to Jason Bates & Marco Grenier with 21.90lbs, and third to Pete & Julie Elphinstone with 21.87lbs. Big fish (5.88) went to John Whyte and Gary Sanderson.

As impressive as the weather was all contenders agreed that it made for a hard bite but in the end there were still a remarkable amount of smallmouth bass caught. Equally impressive was that everyone in the Niagara Bassmasters club knew how to fizz or vent their fish before releasing them. “Our members fish Erie a great deal and realize perhaps better than most, the challenges involved with catching and releasing deep water smallmouth. Therefore we have taken the time to ensure we know how to fizz properly ... The bottom line is we don’t want to have floaters associated with this tournament and fizzing helps – so that’s what we do!”, said Al Gorrie, president of the Niagara Bassmasters.

Thanks To All

The Niagara Bassmasters would like to thank the guests that participated and like to remind everyone that bass season opens earlier on the US side of Erie.

Peripheral