Frank Scalish knows how to catch Great Lakes smallmouths. Just look at the recent tournament record. Scalish finished fourth in a recent BASS Open out of Sandusky, Ohio, and he caught the largest fish of the tournament – a 5-pound, 7-ounce smallie. Last summer, Scalish topped the entire field in a BASS open on Erie. The Cleveland pro, who won the 2002 Bassmaster Tour Rookie of the Year award, is considered one of the anglers to beat any time the tour stops on the Great Lakes – especially Lake Erie.
Many fishermen consider Lake Erie the nation’s premier smallmouth fishery. At this year’s BASS open, the top 15 anglers all had more than 45 pounds of bass in three days. The top 28 anglers had at least 40 pounds.
Through mid-summer, when the big smallmouths move to reefs and rock piles in the lake’s massive main basin, Scalish relies heavily on two baits: 5-inch YUM Dingers and YUM Mega Tubes.
Scalish does most of his mid-summer fishing by executing what he terms, “precision drifting.” Most bass anglers understand that the best way to catch Great Lakes smallmouths when the fish are in the open water is to drag a Mega Tube across the lake’s bottom
However, catching good numbers of smallmouths consistently and finding the schools that contain the largest fish calls for a precise approach. Scalish uses his electronics extensively to study the lake bottom, and most drifts are designed to pull his Dingers or Mega Tubes through specific rock piles or other well-defined spots. Even a vast reef that has smallmouths scattered all over it has very specific “sweet spots” that hold the best concentrations or the largest fish.
Hitting ideal spots requires accurate marking of those spots with buoys and careful planning of drifts. More often than not, Scalish uses wind socks to control the direction and speed of his drifts on Lake Erie, where the wind usually is blowing.
Bait presentations are likewise precise, defying images conveyed by the commonly used term, “drift and drag.” YUM Dingers and Mega Tubes must work the bottom or they are not in the strike zone. Erie smallmouths feed mostly on crawfish and gobies, both of which stay close to the lake bottom. However, baits lose much of their appeal if they drag flatly and uncontrolled across the bottom.
Given the uneven bottom and the wind and waves that are the norm on Lake Erie, presenting baits naturally along the bottom while retaining a good “feel” of the offering creates an undeniable challenge. Scalish varies his leadhead weight, line size, drift speed and line angle as needed.
Because of the amazing quality of Lake Erie’s smallmouth fishery and the sheer effectiveness of YUM Dingers and Mega Tubes, most draggers who know the location of (or stumble across) any type of structure will catch some chunky smallmouths. However, study of structure and a precise approach to presenting baits are the types of things that set apart Frank Scalish, allowing him to consistently top large fields of outstanding anglers.