Presque Isle Bay spring smallmouth: water temperature, season and rules
Smallmouth bass come into Presque Isle Bay at Erie, Pennsylvania, from Lake Erie in spring. This page shows how CastScience scores the bay and the lake side of the Presque Isle peninsula from April to June, and the Pennsylvania rules for those months.
The two areas
- Presque Isle Bay (east half: Marina Lake entrance to the bay mouth): 5-22 ft. Bottom: Mud, 12-22 ft in the centre (Coast Pilot); sand/mud (GLAHF). Scored in full from April to June; in other months its score is multiplied by 0.5 (starting value).
- Presque Isle lake side (Presque Isle Light to Gull Point): 10-30 ft. Bottom: Sand with breakwaters and shore protection structures (Coast Pilot); sand/gravel (GLAHF). Scored the same way all year.
Why April to June for the bay: Smallmouth come into Presque Isle Bay from the lake in spring to feed and spawn: PFBC finds them in its April and May surveys, and anglers report few after June (PFBC reports 2008-2025; tournament reports 2010-2024).
Water temperature
The lake temperature grid of NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), GLSEA (the Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis), counts Presque Isle Bay as land, so there is no temperature series for the bay itself. For both areas the app takes the eastern basin's mean and adds the month's mean difference between the 41 grid cells off Presque Isle and that mean (2007-2025). For the bay itself the difference is an assumption.
| Month | Basin mean: median (10th-90th percentile) | Difference off Presque Isle | Water the plan uses: median (10th-90th percentile) | Season phase of that water, share of days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 37.5 F (32.7-42.3 F) | +2.86 F | 40.4 F (35.6-45.1 F) | Winter 89%, pre-spawn 11% |
| May | 47.7 F (41.9-55.5 F) | +4.03 F | 51.7 F (46.0-59.5 F) | Pre-spawn 78%, spawn 13%, winter 7% |
| June | 62.9 F (56.0-68.6 F) | +2.80 F | 65.7 F (58.8-71.4 F) | Spawn 52%, post-spawn 22%, summer 18%, pre-spawn 8% |
Daily GLSEA basin means, 1995-2025. The phase of each day comes from that day's water and the basin's change over the 7 days before, by the eastern basin's rules: pre-spawn from 45 F, spawn from 58 F while warming, with the spawn window to July 15 in the eastern basin. Phases on fewer than 5% of the days are not listed.
How the plan scores the two areas, April to June
The phase sets the target depth. The depth factor, 20 of the 100 points, is the share of the area's depth range inside the phase's primary band, with half credit in its secondary band. The temperature factor, 10 points, is full inside the phase's preferred temperatures.
| Month | Most common phase | Target depth: primary (secondary) | Depth fit: bay, 5-22 ft | Depth fit: lake side, 10-30 ft | Bay months factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | Winter | 45-75 ft (none) | 0% | 0% | full score |
| May | Pre-spawn | 15-35 ft (35-45 ft) | 41% | 75% | full score |
| June | Spawn | 6-20 ft (20-25 ft) | 88% | 63% | full score |
In April the water off Presque Isle is in the winter phase on 89% of days, so the plan looks for smallmouth at 45-75 ft, deeper than both areas: neither gets depth points then.
At the median water of each month the temperature factor is full for both areas. The depth bands of pre-spawn and spawn rest on published reports; the band of winter is a starting value. The other factors (shelter from the day's waves, records, bottom, run distance) depend on the day and the launch, and the plan shows them for each area.
Pennsylvania rules, 2027
| Dates in 2027 | Bass |
|---|---|
| Jan 1 to April 9 | Open: keep 4 a day, 15 in or longer |
| April 10 to June 11 | Open: keep 1 a day, 20 in or longer |
| June 12 to Dec 31 | Open: keep 4 a day, 15 in or longer |
No bass tournaments: April 10 to June 12.
Dates in 2027 computed from the rule as of 2026-10-04. Source: 58 Pa. Code 69.12(f) (last amended effective 2022-01-01); 2026 Pennsylvania Fishing Summary, p. 14, Lake Erie and tributary streams.
Rule summary
- From the second Saturday in April until the second Saturday in June (2026: April 11 to June 12; 2027: April 10 to June 11) you may keep only 1 bass a day, smallmouth combined with largemouth, and it must be at least 20 in long; fishing, including catch and release, stays open.
- From January 1 until the second Saturday in April (2026: January 1 to April 10) you may keep 4 bass a day, smallmouth combined with largemouth, each at least 15 in long; the same limit applies again from the second Saturday in June to December 31.
- From the second Saturday in June to December 31 (2026: June 13 to December 31) you may keep 4 bass a day, smallmouth combined with largemouth, each at least 15 in long; the same limit applies from January 1 until the second Saturday in April.
- It is unlawful to conduct or take part in a fishing tournament for bass on Lake Erie, Lake Erie tributaries or Presque Isle Bay from the second Saturday in April until the second Saturday in June (2026: April 11 to June 13); the summary words the end as midnight of the second Saturday in June, so this row includes that Saturday until the end is confirmed; any other bass tournament in Pennsylvania needs a PFBC special activity permit.
The source gives the end of the tournament closure as midnight of the second Saturday in June; this page counts that Saturday in the closure until the end date is confirmed.
Cautions the plan shows on both areas:
- Near Gull Point (Presque Isle): the Gull Point Natural Area is closed to all public use from April 1 to November 30; do not land or wade there (PA DCNR, Presque Isle State Park).
- Within 500 ft of the Presque Isle shore and in Marina and Misery Bays: slow, no wake speed only (58 Pa. Code 111.25).
CastScience does not endorse fishing in spawning areas during the spawning season. The spawning sites are shown so that they can be avoided.
Sources and related pages
- Lake temperature: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, GLSEA, the eastern basin mean of Lake Erie, 1995-2025; the Presque Isle difference from GLSEA, 2007-2025.
- Areas, phase rules, depth bands and fishing months: the eastern basin's values in the app, the same the plan uses.
- Abbreviations in the area and rule texts: PFBC, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission; PA DCNR, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; GLAHF, Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework; Coast Pilot, NOAA's United States Coast Pilot.
- Presque Isle Bay (east half: Marina Lake entrance to the bay mouth): its records and the run from each launch
- Presque Isle lake side (Presque Isle Light to Gull Point): its records and wave table
- Regulations, Lake Erie (eastern basin): every rule with its source
- Bass season dates 2027: New York, Ontario and the other waters
- Fish and temperature: the phase rules and a calculator, with Lake St. Clair's values
- Plan: the day ranked for your boat and limits