Tips for weekend shore fishing trip to bay area

Anyone can help with advice or tips where to shore fish and what baits are good in bay area.Any types of fish just anything sure to be a good time for me and a few buddies.Going to head to area around end of month.We are coming from the sad fishing grounds in the southwest.

No boat required to find fish in Presque Isle Bay
By KARL WEIXLMANN
Contributing writer
Last changed: Jun 22, 2008
"Wadering," what author David DiBenedetto's 9-year-old nephew called fishing in a pair of waders, is one of the best ways to enjoy the great outdoors with a rod in hand on the beautiful Presque Isle peninsula.

As the waters of the bay and outer beaches warm during summer, all that will be needed are a pair of shorts and an old pair of sneakers. The wade fisherman immerses himself in the water and becomes a part of the natural environment. The enjoyment comes from not only a pull on the line, but also from all of the other natural wonders that the park has to offer. A red-winged blackbird call beckons you to the water as a Great Blue Heron takes off at your disturbance. Birds of all shapes, sizes and colors flit about the trees. Bald eagles, ospreys and turtles share your fishing grounds.

All of this visual splendor alone is reason enough to visit Presque Isle, but one of the best reasons is to catch fish. A $20,000 bass boat is not needed to enjoy some of the best fresh warmwater fishing the country has to offer and would only detract from the total experience that wade fishing offers. When you're wading, it's just you, the water and the fish as you ease into a liquid, emerald city where the residents have fins. You're not relying on high-tech gadgets used today to find and catch fish. It's fishing in its most primal element. While virtually the entire south side of the peninsula can be successfully waded and fished - that's more than 7 miles of publicly accessible water - game-fish species often concentrate in areas where habitats converge and edges occur.

Here's a list of some of the best spots and areas for wade fishing on Presque Isle:
Head of the Bay
A neat spot to access the head of the bay is not the first, second or third parking lot near the entrance of Presque Isle State Park. It's actually located on the south side of the bay at the foot of Sommerheim Drive off West Sixth Street.

A firm, sand bottom leads to tall stands of reeds that largemouth bass call home. Openings in the reeds provide largemouth lairs and ambush spots for a well-cast weedless swim bait, rubber worm or popper. The farther anglers cast into the reeds, the more likely it is that the lure will entice. Wading west of these reed beds is hazardous on the soft, mud bottom, but decent footing can be found to the east along several coves.

Northern pike and a lot of largemouth can be caught along the first, second and third parking lots to the north as well.

This area has a smaller, wadeable, sand flat and a near-shore dropoff. Caution should be shown when wading west of the first parking lot because of the soft bottom.

Stink Hole Point A variety of freshwater habitats that hold largemouth, smallmouth and panfish can be found at Stink hole point, named for the sturgeon carcasses that used to be dumped here in the hidden cove when Lake Erie once had a commercial sturgeon fishery.

The area can be accessed by taking the first dirt road to the right near the viewing platform overlooking the stink hole. A reed point extends out into Presque Isle Bay here. There is a large, sand-flat dropoff along the west side of the point that holds largemouth and an occasional smallmouth. The demarcation line between shallow and deep water can be seen where the yellow sand bottom hits the dark green water that indicates depth and the growth of weed beds. Channels can be found running through the reeds that lead to a large flat and bowl-shaped cove on the east side of the stink hole.

This area has a large sand flat along the east flank of the reed beds, with the dropoff running closer to