By Dave Kidd

Idling out of the harbor I couldn't stop the anticipation from welling up inside me.

Needless to say I had a good case of the jitters, not the kind from a nervous condition mind you, but those associated with something you just can't wait to do. My quest here was exactly such an occasion.

Upon reaching the mouth of the inlet we unleashed the horses powering the boat and experienced a fast, smooth and easy ride across the two footers on the relatively calm, big lake.

Reaching our first stop we quickly prepared to do battle and our quarry was the king of freshwater battlers, the smallmouth bass. I was fortunate to be sharing the boat with a man regarded by many to be one of the best smallmouth anglers in North America, Ohio's own Jeff Snyder.

"The technique is simple," Snyder explained. "Cast the tube jig as far as you can behind the boat and let it sink to the bottom before engaging the reel," he instructed. After my jig began to bounce along the bottom, and we slowly drifted with the waves, I was instantly greeted with a heart stopping strike and immediately set the hook; which found the rod doubled over and engaged in battle with a nice bronzeback, all on my first cast.

June can provide exceptional smallmouth opportunities all along the shores of Lake Erie. Depending on the actual water temperature smallies can typically be found in water from 15 to 35 feet deep. Rock humps and shell beds, which are extensively located just offshore, seem to concentrate the best numbers of these fish.

Snyder has developed a technique that is absolutely deadly for Erie bronzebacks. It incorporates the use of light line and jigs, tipped with either a tube or a grub.

"This technique has become regionally known as "Snyder Style,"" Snyder informed me with a modest smile. " At one particular tournament the director asked the winner how he caught his fish and the guy answered Snyder style," he continued. Quite a testament to the technique.

As if that were not enough Snyder holds three records for smallmouth bass from Lake Erie. The largest six fish limit at 35 pounds, 4 ounces, largest 10 fish limit at 57 pounds, one ounce and the largest bass ever caught in a Lake Erie tournament at 6.83 pounds.

Although proficient and highly regarded, Snyder is as personable as they come. He is always willing to share his insights and expertise to anglers at all levels.

The basic rig is remedial. For tubes Snyder uses a Tournament Lures (dart head style) tube jig to which he affixes a Kalin's tube which is impregnated with fish attractant and salted. The strikes are sometimes so subtle that you often need that little extra reaction time to set the hook.

On the other hand, wait too long and the fish will try to eat it. Usually after a couple of fish the angler will develop a feel for the bite and react accordingly.

Once the bait touches the bottom all you really do is let it drag, occasionally sweeping it forward to detect bites or the presence of debri or zebra mussels on the bait. It is obvious that the smallies mistake the tubes for crawfish, which is a mainstay of their diet.

This provides us with the reason why dragging, as opposed to hopping, the bait results in more strikes. Ever watch crawfish moving about in the water? They scoot along the bottom in a fairly steady motion.

WORKING THE DRIFT

Drifting is by far the best method for this type of presentation. With the boat positioned upwind use the bow-mount electric to control the drift, keeping the bow of the boat down wind as you drag the baits across the humps and shell beds.

I should point out that on a sonar screen, these shell beds look like a series of small jagged rises along the lake bottom. This procedure enables the angler to show his or her bait to as many fish as possible. Fishing being a game of numbers, one can easily see how that would increase the odds of a bite.

Once these areas are found, and you begin to catch fish keep in mind that a released smallmouth will alert the school to the presence of danger and the bite could shut off.

Small, undersized fish do not seem to have as much effect on a school as, say, a three- to four pound specimen.

"Every legal fish that is caught (up to a legal limit) goes in the livewell and is released when I leave that particular spot," Snyder stated as we talked on this subject. Even as we spoke another boat pulled into our drift and immediately boated and released two nice smallies.

Up to that point Jeff and I had caught numerous fish up to six pounds but after the release of those two fish we blanked on that drift the next two times. Hmmm!

If such an event should happen you can get them going again, although it will cost you.

"Dump a bucketful of emerald shiners in the area that you experienced the best action, that usually works," Snyder offered.

The time is here, the place is the Lake Erie shoreline. From the Pennsylvania border to the Bass Islands and beyond the smallmouth are waiting. Are you ready for battle?