Forgot to mention
The area we fish most often fo rsaugeye and crappie is a drop off that goes from a twenty foot wide flat in about 8' of water down to 16'. That slope is weedy and everything hangs in there waiting to ambush whatever passes by. We'll anchor right at the start of the drop off so we can cast to shore for anybody who has moved in and we cast down that slope lakeside, pulling the bait right along the wed tops back up the hill. You cna feel thelure bouncing on the tops. It's been an effective approach for us so far.
VolFan -don't know where you ever got the idea that northerners think smallies are trash fish. The Lake Erie guides make a good living off smallie fishermen. We have a couple of local streams known fo rgod smallmouth fishing The fly fisherman around here target smallmouth more than anything. The bass tournament guys may not go after them, but anybody else who likes to tangle with a good sport fish does. - Roberta
"Anglers are born honest,
but they get over it." - Ed Zern