How to smallmouth HELP!

If you are going out on the lake in a Bass boat,get a good radio, good life jackets, and good insurance.

ORIGINAL: spoonchucker

If you are going out on the lake in a Bass boat,get a good radio, good life jackets, and good insurance.

 
IF YOU DO GO OUT ........ DON'T FORGET TO ... WEAR ... YOUR LIFE VEST !!!!!!!!!!!!!! COLD WATER WILL KILL YOU IN A HEART BEAT ... FLATFISH

there's more to fishing than catching fish.  the 1st thing you want is to get home from fishing the big lake.  greenhead stated his friend just got a boat and never fish erie before.  so the 1st thing i would want someone to know is how dangerous it is to fish and what you need to legally fish the lake.  after that you can start to talk about techniques.  you seem to just want to give the guy a jig and send him on his way.  would you take the responsibility if he did what you told him to do and the boat got capsized and they drowned.  especially this time of year storms blow in fast and hard.  there have been quite a few times i was holding the steering wheel extra hard on that lake, because when i left the dock it was like glass and by 10:30 there were 4-5 footers and i still has 8 miles to go.
 
check the reg book for what the required equipment is for the lenth boat you have.  only fish the lake during a stable weather pattern with less than 3 foot waves.  this time of year the bass will be anywhere from 5 ft to 40 ft deep, with 25 - 40 been most likely, relating to rocky humps or small ledges.  jigs and live bait will work best.  change colors until you find the preferred one.  more than likely the wind will be blowing and you'll need 1/2 to 1 oz jigs to get to the bottom.  use a meduim rod with low strech, thin diameter line.  rig live bait on a 3-way swivel rig.  very basic set up will get you fish.

ShutUpFish,
 
Well aware of what greenhead was asking for. And yes, I have seen plenty of bass boats in those waters. But I have also been in conditions that were so rough, that a bass boat probably wouldn't get you back. The day I spoke of in my post above in which the waves were 10 ft, there was no avoiding it. They were worse than any conditions I have ever experienced on open waters (well beyond 5 miles out) of Lake Erie and we were only in 25 ft of water. The forcast was cloudy skies, waves 2 to 3 ft, diminishing to 2 ft or less, with no prediction of possible storms. And that is exactly the weather we were fishing in when all of a sudden the alarm on my VHF went off. We were trolling at the time and as soon as the alarm went off, I immediately told the guys to bring in the lines. No sooner than we had the lines on, the waves had already doubled in size. What's more, the storm was no where to be seen before it was upon us. The waves grew higher and higher. We were heading directly into them to get back to Lampe. I owned a 22ft Proline full cuddy (not a walkaround) at the time. There were several occaisions that when we'd go down into the trough,  green water would break over the bow, and a couple times even up and over the storm enclosure. I actually had to work the throttle to power up the face of the waves. It was like the movie Perfect Storm, only on a smaller scale. Before we set a course to head back in, I had my passengers put on their life jackets. Once we were in the 10 footers, I was thinking we might be putting the life jackets to their intended use. A bass boat wouldn't have made it. Period. The Coast Guard was attempting to re-establish communcations with a boat named "Sea Foam", but they couldn't. They asked any vessels in the area to keep a look out for the boat and said they last reported taking on water. The boat was no where in sight and I never did hear what the outcome was. We made it back, but it was scarey.
 
Going on Lake Erie in a bass boat is no different that going out onto the open waters of the Atlantic in a bass boat, the exception being that people are at the top of the food chain on the Erie. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but it's impossible to over emphasize how hazardous the situation can become.
 
On another trip, the fog set in so thick that visibility was 50 foot, maximum. And not everyone out there has the sense to adjust their speed. As a matter of fact, we were almost run astern by a charter boat (not naming names) that day. He missed us by about 20 ft when he veered at the last second. I was blasting the air horn repeatedly before then. He veered so hard, I could see his keel almost all the way to the stern of his boat. The piece of crap capt. just drifted off into the fog without even so much as an apology over the radio.
 
I have been boating those waters off and on since the early 1980s and I consider myself fortunate to have only had several close calls. The close calls have occurred only on a very small fraction of the days I have boated there. But greenhead needs to know how badly the poop can hit the fan there. Hopefully, greenhead will never have to experience the kind of situations I'm referring to.
 
I know I sound like a broken record and I apologize for that.
 
Brad 

Most bass boats do just fine on the lake. I haven an 18 footer and regularly fish the lake, just watch the waves and forcast.
 
Tubes, spoons, grubs, drop shot rig will catch you some fish in deeper areas. Fish bottom rises or breaklines. Once we get toward May and June, fish will go shallower. Jerkbaits and cranks will do the trick.

ORIGINAL: Carpet Bagger

I dunno if a vhf can save you if your boat is flipped over...

 
That's why it's a good idea to have a back up handheld VHF in a floating rapid ditch bag.
 
I always take my rapid ditch bag when I head out on the water. In it, I carry my backup handheld VHF, flares, whistle, my car keys (you want to make sure you can get home if you survive), my cell phone, boat registration and insurance info, and a floating compass (in case I'm out of sight of land).
 
Sorry to keep going on the safety thing.