Smallmouth bass are one of the first species to wake up from the winter sluggishness.

Many of the biggest brown bass of the year are taken during the early spring. Here are two of the best western Pennsylvania waters to go try for a lunker.

Lake Erie

You have to pick your times well, and hope nature cooperates, but when things line up, Lake Erie provides the best chance of taking your personal best smallmouth. Though not exactly common, five pounders show up with regularity. And there’s honest potential for six-pound-plus brown bass.

Lake Erie’s waters warm much slower than the bay’s. So the fish may well be a month behind on the main lake. As spring commences, movements of smallmouth will occur.

Rocky humps and ridges found in the 20 to 35 foot range will gather up fish. Others will move shallower, in the five to 15 foot range. Generally, the shallow fish will be relating to rocky shoals that exist out in front of tributary streams.

When Erie’s spring bass are going well, it’s not uncommon to hear reports of anglers catching them out in 35 feet of water, and others faring well in the shallows using a completely different approach. Several patterns can be going at the same time.

The City of Erie sits in the approximate center of Pennsylvania’s modest share of Lake Erie’s shoreline. The rocky humps and bottom irregularities that attract lake smallies are more common to the east of the city. That’s not to say there isn’t good fishing to the west. In fact, there are rocky ledges that drop sharply from 25 to 40 feet near the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.

Many spring bass anglers launch in or near Presque Isle Bay, adhering to the notion that if the lake is too rough to fish, they can work the bay.

The North East Marina is found just east of the town of the same name. A multi-lane ramp spills into a protected basin. Anglers will find an abundance of rocky humps out in front of this marina and to the west. You can only go about a mile east until you are in New York waters.

The Fish and Boat Commission’s Walnut Creek Access serves boating anglers wishing to visit the waters west of Erie.

Lake Erie isn’t a place for the unprepared angler. Only deep-sided boats are appropriate. Safety dictates having a marine radio and/or cell phone on board, as well as the Coast Guard required safety equipment. Marine forecasts are available from the website: http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/LE/149.html.

Middle Allegheny River

The middle Allegheny flows from the Kinzua Dam tailrace down to the navigable portion of the river near East Brady. From the upriver end, the best smallie water starts around Tidioute (Warren County).

Bass numbers are more marginal upriver, as water temperatures stay colder due to the discharge of Kinzua Dam. Trout, northern pike and muskies are common between the dam tailrace and Warren. Tidioute to East Brady encompasses over 100 miles of river.

By late March or early April, water temperatures will quickly hit the 40 degree mark and smallmouth bass will become catchable.

The first catches of smallies will happen along the edges of the deeper, slower pools where the fish spent the winter months. Though the pool itself may contain water 10 to 15 feet deep, the active bass will move up along the edges, and will eagerly eat a tube jig, bucktail jig or hair jig.

Some fish, bigger ones in particular, will locate to quiet pockets of water found below rock bars and other shoreline obstructions. Suspending jerkbaits are often the best lure for duping these fish.

The middle Allegheny is a free-flowing river characterized by pools, riffles and runs. Throughout its length there are many naturally deep pools that will provide the first action of the season. Add to this dredge holes at Oil City, Reno and Tionesta.

As the water warms, smallies will begin moving to shallow, protected areas that furnish good spawning conditions. This includes creek mouths and island areas.

When they move into the shallows — usually about the time the water hits the 50 degree mark — they can be taken on soft jerkbaits like the Yum Houdini Shad, soft swimbaits of the Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad style, and popper-style topwaters such as the XCalibur Zell Pop.

As a shallow river, the middle Allegheny is best suited for shallow-draft boats, either jet drives, or short-shaft prop drives with guards. Access areas are located in Tidioute, Oil City, Franklin, Fisherman’s Cove, Emlenton and Parker.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle