Erie harbor entrance east to Sixmile Creek (Fourmile Creek shore)
Ranked plans for Lake Erie (eastern basin) are not available yet: its tournament record has 2 events with a known winning area, too few to test the ranking. The areas are listed without a rank.
WaterPennsylvania
Depth10-30 ft
Bottomsand/gravel and rock (GLAHF)
CurrentNo
River plumeNo
Well-known spotNo
Position42.164, -80.046 (approximate center)
Candidate area for review (Mike, 2026-10-05): the shore east of the Erie harbor entrance, between EE-PA02 and EE-PA03, ranked second for smallmouth catch in the PFBC angler diaries of 2005 (grid 34); the winners of the October 2014 Bass Trek took their smallmouth just outside the bay at 10-12 ft; keep clear of the harbor entrance channel (slow, no wake between the North Pierhead Light and the Inter Range Tower)
Run from each launch
| Launch | Run | Open water | Crossing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Harbor State Park boat launch (New York) | 76.7 mi | 72.7 mi | Yes |
| Erie Basin Marina boat launch (New York) crosses the U.S.-Canada boundary | 77.0 mi | 75.0 mi | Yes |
| Sturgeon Point Marina (New York) | 62.7 mi | 56.2 mi | Yes |
| Sunset Bay State Marine Park (New York) | 54.2 mi | 18.1 mi | Yes |
| Dunkirk Harbor boat launch (New York) | 42.6 mi | 25.1 mi | Yes |
| Barcelona Harbor boat launch (New York) | 26.2 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Presque Isle State Park, Niagara Boat Launch (Pennsylvania) | 4.5 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Presque Isle State Park, Lagoon Launch (Pennsylvania) | 2.5 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Presque Isle State Park, West Pier Launch (Pennsylvania) | 3.6 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Lampe Marina public launch ramps (Pennsylvania) | 1.9 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| East Avenue Boat Launch (Port Erie) (Pennsylvania) | 1.6 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Shades Beach Park boat launch (Krupinski Launch Facility), Harborcreek (Pennsylvania) | 4.7 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| North East Marina public launch (Pennsylvania) | 14.4 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Walnut Creek access (PFBC) (Pennsylvania) | 11.7 mi | 0.0 mi | No |
| Sugarloaf Marina public boat ramp, Port Colborne (Ontario) crosses the U.S.-Canada boundary | 63.6 mi | 62.0 mi | Yes |
| Esplanade Park boat ramp, Port Maitland (Ontario) crosses the U.S.-Canada boundary | 53.5 mi | 52.2 mi | Yes |
| Port Dover Harbour Marina boat ramps (Ontario) crosses the U.S.-Canada boundary | 44.0 mi | 39.5 mi | Yes |
| Port Rowan Harbour Marina public ramp (Ontario) crosses the U.S.-Canada boundary | 38.1 mi | 32.2 mi | Yes |
Run: the distance along the water route. A crossing (the open lake, the border or a long stretch of open water) needs over-water wind under your crossing wind limit (default 15 mph), waves on the route within your wave limit and no small craft advisory.
Evidence
- Old Milwaukee Bass Trek Challenge - Erie (Bassmaster, Mark Hicks, 2014-10-15) Wed, Oct 15 2014One-day team event at Presque Isle, 2014-10-11, one largemouth and one smallmouth per team. The winners took a 4.5-lb smallmouth on a drop shot from a community hole just outside the bay at 10-12 ft (EE-PA02 or EE-PA06; not located); the report says the bay's spawning smallmouth summer in the lake and few had come back by mid-October; the second team's lake smallmouth came from rock piles topping at 19 ft and dropping to 25 ft (not located). Facts from the copy of 2026-10-04; bassmaster.com is not fetched automaticallySource
- PFBC Lake Erie Fisheries Status and Trends Report 2005 (prepared March 2006), Table S-6: grids with the greatest smallmouth catch in the Lake Erie Cooperative Angler Log Wed, Mar 1 2006Angler diaries (14 participants, 323 trips): smallmouth grids ranked 31, 34, 20, 52. Grid 34 is the shore east of the Erie harbor entrance to just west of the Sixmile Creek mouth (EE-PA06), grid 20 Sixteenmile Creek to the New York line (EE-PA04), grid 52 the east end of Presque Isle Bay by the Marine Terminal and Horseshoe Pond (EE-PA01); grid 31 lies west of Presque Isle. Grid limits read from the PFBC grid map; cited as a link (PFBC states no data licence)Source
- GLAHF fish spawning and nursery sites (after Goodyear et al. 1982), smallmouth bass records in the eastern basin Smallmouth spawning or nursery records within about 5 km of the areas: Eighteenmile Creek (gravel and stone, 1-2 m), Big Sister Creek (gravel, rock, bedrock), Silver Creek and Cattaraugus Creek (early June), Dunkirk Harbor (prime spawning and nursery ground), Van Buren Bay, Point Gratiot (nursery, 9-18 m), Canadaway Creek and Chautauqua Creek (June, rock and gravel, 1 m), Sixmile, Twelvemile and Sixteenmile creeks (PA), Fort Erie, Abino Bay, Gravelly Bay, Rock Island and the Grand River shore (sandy beaches), Long Point Bay and Long PointSource