2026 Lake Erie B.A.S.S. Open

At nearly 10,000 square surface miles, Lake Erie is the second smallest of the Great Lakes, yet it supports the largest population of black bass. Its Eastern Basin is known for big smallmouth, and that is where B.A.S.S. chose to hold our final event of the 2026 Opens schedule. 

The Outer Harbor in Buffalo, New York, was designated as our official take-off and weigh-in site — less than two miles from the mouth of the Niagara River, which flows toward Lake Ontario. 

Relying on past experience, I decided to test Erie’s shallower waters first. That is where my strengths lie, and it is by far my preferred way to fish.

Practice Begins 

At daylight, I launched at the harbor and headed straight for the Canadian shoreline, to where I had good success in previous tournaments. Once there, things looked about the same — rocky shoals with scattered boulders and patches of grass. I traversed the flat for more than a mile, but never saw a single smallmouth. That was concerning, as they have always been present in the past.

From there, I moved offshore to try some deeper contours. Alternating between a Yamamoto Hinge Minnow and Shad Shape Worm, I caught fish after fish. Unfortunately, none of them were big enough. Lake Erie is a smallmouth factory, and 4-pounders are common. Anything less wouldn’t cut it, not in this derby. 

By afternoon, I decided to move back to the bank … thinking a high sun might draw some big fish into the shallows. It was a good hunch. Throughout the remainder of the day, I saw and marked numerous quality smallmouth holding on shoals near large boulders. My confidence was building.

The next day, I decided to go deep first and then move shallow as the sun got high.

Fishing over a series of rocky, underwater points, I caught a number of smallmouth in 25 to 35 feet of water. Although the bite was steady, it still yielded only two to three pounders. To be competitive in a forward-facing-sonar event, I would have to have more than 20 pounds each day of the competition. And the deeper bite wasn’t providing that … at least not for me.

I spent the rest of the afternoon scouting shoals along the shoreline.

On the final day of practice, I went shallow immediately. And to my surprise, each stop produced quality bites. The most productive lures were a 1/2-ounce Hildebrandt Tin Roller spinnerbait with tandem gold and silver willow blades, 1/2-ounce pink Chatterbait with white Zako trailer, Hildebrandt Drum Roller swimbait in chartreuse and a green-pumpkin Yamamoto Uni.

The better areas featured current with a mix of boulders and scattered patches of grass.

Finding more consistency, my confidence was strong. So I headed back to the Airbnb to prep my tackle for the event.

Competition Begins

Having drawn number 48 out of 175boats, I was hoping to reach my best area first. When my number was called, I passed through boat-check and idled out of the harbor. Ahead of me were numerous boats taking aim for the part of the lake I planned to start in. 

Wondering who might get there ahead of me, I put the boat on plane and raced to my best shoal on the Canadian shore. When I arrived, there was no one there. In fact, the closest other competitor was a half mile away. All of the sweet spots I found in practice were untouched. I couldn’t believe it.

 

After deploying the trolling motor, I started with the Hildebrandt spinnerbait, hoping to pick off any aggressive fish first. In minutes, I scored a 3¾-pounder. Shortly after, I boated a five. With those two aboard, my blood was pumping. And in the next two hours, I put together a solid stringer of Lake Erie bronzebacks.

Not wanting to pressure the best areas, I decided to scout other nearby shoals. There again, I found quality smallies roaming the flats. When the spinnerbait bite slacked off, I went to work with the Drum Roller swimbait, then the Yamamoto Uni.

By days end, I had put together a 20-pound bag of smallmouth. 

Believing my work was done, I headed to the scales and that’s when reality slapped me upside the head. My 20-pound bag was only good enough for 105^th place. Yes, 105^th place!

Never before had I witnessed such a catch in a major competition. When the scales finally closed, there were 114 stringers over 20 pounds! The cutline was set at more than 22 pounds and I had my work cut out for me.

Back at the rental house, I confided with roommates Stephen Browning, Terry “Big Show” Scroggins, Cliff Prince and Fred Roumbanis. All of them fished offshore, and all caught solid bags of fish. But each of them would need a strong second-day effort to survive the cut.

One Last Shot

The next morning, the flights flipped and I was among the last to leave the dock.

When I arrived at my starting spot, everything looked the same. Unfortunately, the bite was much slower. Either I had picked off most of the fish on day 1, or they had moved to another area. Either way, I saw and caught very little.

Moving to the next shoal, I scored a quick 4-pounder on the Chatterbait-Zako combo. Soon, another came aboard. Then the action stalled, so I switched to the Hildebrandt swimbait, then to the Uni. Two hours passed before I caught another quality fish. Eventually, I amassed a stringer weighing 15 to 16 pounds. Knowing I needed more, I pulled the trolling motor and headed offshore, hoping to find a school of five pounders.

Relying on some tips from my roommates, I decided to go even deeper to 40 feet of water. And almost immediately, I found fish. Unfortunately, they were walleye and drum. Not a single smallmouth in the bunch.

The next stop produced the same, and still more at a third. With time running out, I decided to move back to the shallows and take my chances there.

As the minutes ticked away, I culled several more times, boosting my weight to approximately 19 pounds. I knew it wasn’t enough, but that’s where I ended up. 

In all, it was a fun week. I caught dozens of fish each day, some of which were trophy sized.

There aren’t many places where you can weigh a two-day, 10-fish limit of 40 pounds and not even break into the top 100, but that was the case in this event. Lake Erie showed her stuff and I’m glad for that experience. 

Now it’s time to regroup and plan for next season.

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