Some of the best fishing of the year for bruiser-sized smallmouth bass will happen before most anglers even consider bass fishing. This is especially true on Presque Isle Bay, where fish in the five-pound range aren't cause for a raised eyebrow during the early spring.

Presque Isle Bay, which fronts the city of Erie, sees the first smallmouth action of the spring. Dave Lehman, a skilled and experienced bass angler from eastern Crawford County, begins making regular forays to the bay soon after the ice is gone.

During the early spring, smallmouth bass will begin showing up in the bay. These are fish that wintered over in the lake but move into the bay for food and suitable spawning habitat.

Though a percentage of the lake's smallmouth bass spawn in the bay, the early movement is trigged by the need to feed.

Lehman has found smallmouths will first appear in the bay from mid- to late March to as late as the second week in April, depending on the weather. He might make a few fruitless trips to the bay before he makes bass contact, but it's worth the effort for the chance to catch the first bass of the year.

"They are almost all big fish," said Lehman, referring to that initial surge of fish. "They run from three to six pounds."

Presque Isle Bay is a soft-bottomed bay that features an abundance of natural and man-made structures. The northern rim of the bay has extensive sand flats that transition depths of 15 to 20 feet.

A navigable shipping channel runs from the entrance of the bay to the city docks in Erie. The channel edge is another breakline that consistently holds bass. It's easy to find this break because it's marked with navigational buoys.

On the city (southern) side of the bay, an angler can find numerous breakwalls and areas of riprap that will hold smallies from time to time. Add to this an assortment of offshore humps, and there's enough niches to keep you busy throughout the day.

Once the smallies make their early-season appearance, Lehman has confidence the fish will be on most of his prime spots.

He likes Yum tubes, grubs, blade baits and Hopkins spoons, depending on the type of water he is fishing. I would add that bucktail jigs can be productive when pitched up on emerging weed flats or snap jigged along a drop-off edge.

Suspending jerkbaits like the Rapala Husky Jerk and X-Rap, and the Excalibur Xt3 Twitchbait, also can be effective when working shallow sand flats and when the fish are suspended high in the water column over deeper water.

The Erie area is a great place to base an early season smallmouth trip. Several motels are located near the peninsula leading out to Presque Isle State Park.

The Erie Area Convention and Visitors Bureau can be helpful in setting up such a trip. Phone 800-524-3743 or visit: www.VisitEriePa.com.