Lake Erie Fishing Reports & Blogs
Lake Erie Reports & Blogs with Captain Destin DeMarion
Spring is Trying Its Best — And So Are the Smallies!
Presque Isle Bay & Lake Erie Fishing Report – Week of April 13th, 2025 Spring is slowly but surely taking hold here in Erie, PA on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie. We’ve had some beautiful days teased in between those classic reminders that winter isn’t quite ready to let go—yeah, that “unnamed” white stuff still flying around here and there. But you know what really tells us spring is here? Big prespawn Lake Erie smallmouth bass showing up hungry and ready to eat. The last couple of weeks on guide trips have turned up some thick, healthy prespawn females and plenty of fired-up bucks,
Big Lake Erie Smallmouth are Beginning to Flood Presque Isle Bay
As consistent as the sun rising and setting each day, each spring, big Lake Erie smallmouth make their pilgrimage to their temporary home in Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania. The timing largely depends on the severity of the winter. If the winter is mild and the water begins warming sometime in February, smallmouth usually arrive in the Bay in good numbers by March. However, if it’s a harsh winter with heavy ice coverage that lingers, it can be early April before we see a strong push of smallmouth into Presque Isle Bay. This year fell into the latter category. Over the past week, though,
The Bass Guys Go Perching
I’m always up for an adventure. Something new and exciting this past week was being part of the Doc’s Tackle King of Spring perch tournament at Cayuga Lake, New York. My sponsor, Doc’s Tackle, put together this awesome event last year for the inaugural tournament, and it continued to build in year two—becoming New York State’s largest-ever perch tournament, with 100 boats (a full field plus a waiting list) and around 300 anglers (three allowed per boat)! Last year, I fished their inaugural Rumble on the River at the St. Lawrence and can attest to how professional and well-run these events are. Now, after experiencing
Changes on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie
“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” – Tony Robbins It’s good to be back. March was a month of changes in weather and changes in our own life. We are back to guiding full-time once again on Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay, with some added wrinkles. We’ve been guiding bass for the past ten years (with the scattered perch or laker trip), but are adding some early and late season perch fishing (largely with artificials) to give our customers some additional options. Also, for those wanting a more technical experience of walleye fishing and
Open Water Fishing Season on Presque Isle is Here
Open water season is finally here! Like most of us, the cabin fever was very strong up until this point. I used to spend my winter’s guiding in Florida at the St. John’s River and at least breaking up the cabin fever fishing tournaments across the country in the winter, be it when I was on the Bassmaster Elite Series, fishing the Bassmaster Opens, or even the Bassmaster Team Championship. The open water fishing on Lake Erie is largely seasonal, and this “hardwater” period was especially long for us diehard open water guys. The ice fishing on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie can be
Guide Trip Greatest Hits
