“Summer Fishing in the Northern United States with Ernie Calandrelli”

Part 1: Use the TUBO for Trophy Smallmouths

Editor’s Note: Ernie Calandrelli of Orchard Park, New York, the public-relations director for Quaker Boy Calls, has fished below Niagara Falls on the Niagara River for more than 50 years and guided on the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario for 21 years. This week, Calandrelli will tell us where to fish and how he catches, fillets and cooks his catch.

Question: Ernie, how do you catch big smallmouth bass?

Calandrelli: Early in the smallmouth season, we have a trophy-bass smallmouth season that generally begins about May 15. Although this is in the middle of turkey season, I still go fishing. The smallmouth-bass fishing on the Buffalo end of Lake Erie is incredible. Sometimes I’ll catch and release 100 smallmouth bass, weighing from 3- to 6-pounds each, in a morning of fishing.

Question: How do you find and catch smallmouth bass?

Calandrelli: The smallmouth bass hold tight to shore in May. Because they’re in the pre-spawn mode, they’re eating everything that swims by. One of the best baits I’ve found for catching smallmouths during this time of year is the new Mister Twister TUBO in green pumpkin, green-pumpkin copper and watermelon-seed/red flake.

Question: How do you fish the Mister Twister TUBO?

Calandrelli: I fish it a variety of ways. Generally I’ll use a 1/4-ounce jighead inside the TUBO, unless I’m fishing in 20-, 30- or 40-foot-deep water, in which case I may use a 3/4-ounce jighead. My favorite way to fish the TUBO is to use a three-way swivel coming off my main line. On the second eye of the swivel, I use a 1-ounce lead dropper tied with about 10 inches of leader. I’ll drag the leader on the bottom. On the third eye of the three-way swivel, I’ll use 6 or 7 feet of 10-pound-test fluorocarbon line. Then I’ll attach a No. 2/0 or a No. 4/0 wide-gap hook to the leader and run the hook through the TUBO.

Question: What pound-test line do you use for your main line and dropper line?

Calandrelli: I’ll use 10-pound-test fluorocarbon line. The dropper line is a kind of a pencil-lead with a wire on the bottom. I’ll drag this across the bottom, with the wind, depending on how close I am to the mouth of the river. If I’m close to the mouth of the river, the current will pull me in the direction it’s moving. But if there’s got a northern or a western wind in that area, the wind will blow me into the American shore, which also is good. On the mornings when there’s no wind, I use my trolling motor to give the bait a little bit of life.

Question: How do the bass take the TUBO?

Calandrelli: The bass usually slam it. The bass have been pretty dormant all winter and only eat what they must to stay alive. So, when the water starts to warm-up, and the smallmouth get in the pre-spawn mode, they gobble-up everything in sight.

Question: During the trophy bass season, how many smallmouths can you keep?

Calandrelli: We only can keep one, but my clients usually throw all their smallmouths back.

Question: How big are the smallmouth you catch?

Calandrelli: They’ll weigh from 3- to 6-pounds each.

Question: Why did you start using the TUBO?

Calandrelli: I needed a bait that would last several strikes and look natural in the water. The TUBO looks like a goby, a kind of local baitfish. Too, I’ve found that the smallmouths like to eat the TUBO. Some mornings we can catch 100 or more smallmouths with this bait before we stop fishing.

To fish with Ernie Calandrelli, call Ernie’s Guide Service at (716) 609-3064, or email ernieqv@yahoo.com.