Lake Erie smallmouth

The NY state trophy season is still living up to its name. In the past few weeks in June my clients have managed to boat several smallmouth in the 20-22 inch class weight up to 6 lbs. The average size is way down, however some big post spawn females are still around. Best consistant bite has come deep in 27-30 feet of water for myself. Trips to the shallows has been spotty with lots of small fish. The topwater bite hasnt really started yet, but I suspect with water temps climbing into the mid sixties they should start hitting topwater with a vengance. Tubes, jigging spoons, drop shotting and emerald shiners are doing the trick for us. The tube bite is best with a good breeze while the jigging spoon bite is good on those calm days. Emeralds work all the time! The Ontario season opens soon and the topwater bite is historically amazing, usually lasting a couple of weeks. In the past, I have been able to catch fish as deep as 25 feet on surface baits. Of course, the weather has to be perfect. Last year was the first year as far as I can remember where I couldnt get out other than a couple of times to fish topwater. Hopefully this year will be good.