Juls WFA Blog
Fishing Two Days with Cally and Diane Morgan...8/19-20/19
by Capt Juls on 08/20/19Yesterday, was the first of a two day trip with "Mr and Mrs Claus", as I like to call them. Cally and Diane Morgan are from MN and he is the spitting image of the commercial likeness of Santa Claus. They both dress up as the characters for the holiday season and play the parts for different occassions. :)
We went for walleye yesterday and went out to the same area I have been fishing NNE of Kelly's, somewhere out there between Kelly's and the weather buoy. The fish are a bit scattered out there now, compared to the last two weeks, so they are moving. Once you find them though, you can stay on top of them and scratch a limit out of there. However, on windy days, it gets rough way out there, so having closer options is always a good thing. ;)
We ran 4 dipsies and two Off Shore boards. The zero settings were 50 and 60 back with Ripplin Redfins on them. The Huff Daddy color ran on the starboard side, and the blue/chrome ran on the port side. Both caught fish, so they stayed on.
The three settings were running spoons, blue/silver, and a green silver caught fish.
The Off Shore boards were pulling two number 11 Flicker Minnows around and catching fish too. The Purple Flash and Seasick Frog both were productive at 85 and 99 back.
Speed was 2.3-2.6mph
We caught our 3 person limit by 10:30 and headed back in, due to Diane's seasickness. She had taken Dramamine, but it wasn't working. She never got sick, but she was not comfortable or having much fun even though she was a trooper and pretending to be having fun. lol I've been there, so I know that is NOT fun, no matter what one says. ;)
This morning, I picked them up and was surprised to see Diane decided to go again. She told me that she didn't take anymore Dramamine, because it made her drowzy, even though she took the kind that said "Less Drowziness", and she felt that is what made her queezy yesterday. I said, "Well, it should be less windy today, so that will help too".
We hit Rickard's for some ice and a few more "Seasick Frogs" in both the Flicker Minnow and the Bandit. Hmmmmm....maybe I should wait to tell you that color until I go pick more up for myself. Every time I tell a good color that is working, and I need to get another one, I can't find one...anywhere! lol
Anyway...it's a productive color. I was told about it by Steve Gregg over in Huron, and I picked one up to try it out. He was right...it's hot, not only over there where he's fishing, but out where I'm fishing too. Thanks for the tip on that color Steve! :)
Today, I ran two Seasick Frog Flicker Minnows behind the Off Shore boards and the usual Ripplin Redfins on the zero setting dipsies. The Huff Daddy took a 30 incher this morning and made Cally's trip, even though it's not his personal best. He's caught a 31 1/4" before, so it was close, but no cigar.
I picked up two black headed wonder bread Scorpion Spoons this morning at Rickard's too, and it turned out to be a productive one, so I put a second one out....they were on the 2 and 3 setting dipsies at 80 and 95 respectively.
I eventually took one of the wonder breads off though, and put my old trusted silver bellied, with purple and a chartreuse edge on the back, on and it took a few fish towards the end in pretty fast fashion.
We had our 3 person limit by 9:15 this morning in the same area. I found a small pod of active fish, and just kept turning on them, since the lake was flat and I could do that easily this time. I'm sure I could have just picked a direction and kept on trolling and found more, because that's how it is now....just keep going...they are all over the place out there. But, if you find some hungry/active fish and you can stay on top of them without any traffic...I suggest doing that....wink wink.
Diane had a much better day today out there too. She didn't get queezy, so that was a relief. She had a lot more fun today, and that makes me happy.
After we caught your walleye, we did go to a couple of perch spots near Kelly's but only caught one and missed some. It sucked, so we headed in at 11:30, because it was getting hot out....and....it sucked. lol
I'm off tomorrow, which is a good thing since we have scattered showers and thunderstorms forecast again, but will be out again with Brian and Laura Stanczyk on Thursday and Friday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bob, Alex, and Tim 8/17/19
by Capt Juls on 08/17/19Today's trip was actually paid for last year by Bob's Dad, and Stepmother, but he couldn't catch a break in the weather for the dates he had chosen, so we moved it to this year, and we were finally able to make it out today.
Bob Best Jr, and his son, Alex, and Bob's friend, Tim, made the drive over from Toledo this morning and met me at my house at 6:30am. We piled in the Excursion and headed to the other side of town to pick up ice at Rickard's and head over to Mazurik's to launch.
We headed east, over in front of Cedar Point and pointed the boat NNE at a trolling speed of 2.3-2.5mph. The waves built as the morning went on and the further northeast we got, but it was never over 3 feet, and then by late morning the winds diminished, and it was 2 foot or less for the ride in.
We caught our 24 walleye limit and one bonus piggy perch using 4 dipsies and 4 Off Shore boards.
The outside dipsies started out on the 3 setting but eventually ended up on the 2 setting at 80 back. The zero setting was catching fish at the 52 and 60 settings. I ran two of the smaller silver hammered Bay Rat spoons that are painted 1/2 blue with a black eye on them on the outside dipsies and two blue/chrome Ripplin Redfins on the inside dipsies.
Two "Walleye Nation Creation" "Reapers" were run on the port side behind the OST boards at 100 back on the outside and 85 on the inside. I can't remember the names of these two colors I have, but one is purple and I would guess a name like "Electric Purple" or something like that, and the one that I would call Pink Bubblegum was the other. Someone will correct me on the names of colors, I'm sure, so look for that in the comments section. There is a pic of the purple one hanging out of a fishes mouth that Bob is holding. ;)
Two Bay Rats were run behind the Off Shore boards at 125 back on the outside board, and 100 back on the inside board....
Cheap Sunglasses and Purple/Chrome
Everything posted above caught fish today.
We got off the lake in plenty of time before the afternoon storms arrived, and I'm hoping I'll have the same luck tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I'll be fishing with a new customer...John Duresky. I'm not sure if he's fishing alone or is bringing some friends along. I guess I'll know in the morning!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with my Big Brother, Jack, and Phil and Jake 8/12/19
by Capt Juls on 08/12/19Yesterday, after cleaning the house, cutting my grass, my two neighbor's yards, and getting food ready, I welcomed my big brother, Jack, who hails from Mississippi these days, for a night's stay. His work associate, Phil, and his son would be driving in from NW Detroit to meet at my house this morning.
After making my brother one of his favorite breakfasts consisting of crispy sauteed chicken livers over toast with sauteed celery, onions, mushrooms, and yellow bell peppers, we waited on the rest of our crew. We really didn't know what time they would arrive since we didn't know what time they left Detroit, but figured it would be around 6:30. They arrived shortly after at 6:40 and we loaded into the old girl (my Excursion) and headed into town to get gas for the Ranger, and ice for the coolers. Then, a quick stop at Rickard's for some Golden Shiners before heading over to Mazurik's to launch.
We had decided on perch today instead of walleye, due to the fact that the wind was forecast for gusty SW winds, and a ride out to where I had been walleye fishing would have been a bad idea.
They didn't care....they are both in high position jobs with a lot of stress, so they both said, almost simultaneously, "I don't care if we even catch any fish. I'm just glad to be out here. It's relaxing". Which is something any Captain would like to hear? lol
Anyway....
We went perch'n. My first spot was just east of the red can at Starve Island. We had some decent marks, but only brought up 4 pieces of gold there. They weren't on the large size either. Just good eaters. After texting Capt Kevin, who I found out was hitting all our regular spots up to the north side wasn't fairing well in finding them, so I with the knowledge of knowing that my crew was happy whatever we did, I opted to stay in the south passage.
After we tried a couple other spots, we went over to the last spot I was at, the last time I went perch'n, which was out in front of the Lakeside pier. We caught some there, but we missed many more than we caught. The bite was definitely a light one, and not aggressive like we always want it to be. But, we did catch another 18 for Phil and Jake to take home for a nice perch dinner. Jack flew in, so he couldn't take any back with him.
Capt Kevin had ended up there too, and had more than us closer in to shore than we were, but he also got rained on harder than us, as we were sitting on the outskirts of the rain cloud going over us.
The Pirate Clipper was over there today too, but he wasn't perch'n...they were trolling for walleye with an easy crew, who had the same mindset as my crew. So, I was one of the lucky ones to add to the photos of the "Pirate Clipper was Spotted Today" club when he trolled right by us. They did catch a nice walleye right beside us, so maybe that's why my perch bite was so on and off there. The walleye might have been chasing them down there. ;)
It was a fantastic visit with my brother, and I am so grateful to have had that opportunity. He is the first of my immediate family to come fishing with me. Last year, I had my cousin Jim, and second cousins, Matt and Joe, and we had a great time then too. There's just nothing like fishing with "family" to flood your brain with good memories. :)
I saw that some heavy rain was coming in for tonight and tomorrow, so I didn't schedule a trip tomorrow. I'll be back at it for 10 days straight starting Wednesday.
I don't know what we're fishing for on Wednesday and Thursday yet. I have the same crew both days, so it's all going to depend on the winds and where I need to go, I guess.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Jordan Crew 8/10/19
by Capt Juls on 08/10/19I was supposed to fish with Brian Jordan and his sons, Brain and Brad, yesterday, but with the wind forecast what it was, I asked them if they could fish today instead. They said they could, if I could pick them up from Kelly's at 8am.
I left Mazurik's at 7:40 and hit the island marina on time. They were ready to go and climbed in the Ranger when I pulled up to the dock. I made the usual morning, "get to know you" chit-chat as we idled out of the marina. I turned the boat and we headed NE.
As we got closer to a big pack of boats, I could tell my guys were getting excited. I didn't have the heart to tell them that we had a much longer ride to do yet, so I said...with my arm stretched out and pointing to the horizon..."We're going out there. We have about 5 miles to go yet." They settled in and we listened to the ETEC purr as it breathed in and out of rpms as we rode the trough.
Once the Helix started marking some fish on a regular basis, I came off plane and deployed the Ulterra and the baby E-TEC and set up on a SE troll, so the waves were on one corner of the boat.
Once again....the usual program, but this time, all Ripplin Redfins were on the dipsies. Speed with the crank program is 2.2-2.5mph. Faster with just spoons.
The dipsies on the zero setting were set at 50 and 60 back.
The dipsies on the three setting were set at 85 and 92 back.
We ran two Off Shore boards off each side too. The port side started with two Bandits...100 back on the outside board and 85 back on the inside board, and the starboard side had two Bay Rats set at 125 back and 115 back. The Bay Rats caught 2 and the Bandits caught 1.
After we moved up to make another pass, I switched out the Bay Rats for Reapers, and the Bandits for #11 Flicker Minnows. The Reapers were set at 100 and 85 back and the Flicker Minnows were set at 100 and 85 back also. The reapers caught 2 and the Flicker Minnows caught 2 or 3.
The majority of the catch was on the dipsies with Ripplin Redfins. I did put on a silver hammered "Scorpion" spoon on one of the 3 setting dipsies, and it caught fish too. So, what did we learn here? It didn't matter what crank they saw...they ate it. :)
We had a nice steady bite of really nice "eaters", which wasn't too fast and not too slow, so my guys kept busy and had a great time. We took a nice easy ride back to Kelly's after the 24th fish was put in the cooler.
I'm off tomorrow, but will be back out Monday. My big brother, Jack, who is in Detroit on business, will be staying with me Sunday night, and then fishing with me and two of his work associates on Monday. He will be the first family member to go fishing with me here on Lake Erie, so I'm looking forward to it! Monday's weather is looking fantastic, so it should be a great trip.
Like me, he loves chicken livers too, so I'll be making those for breakfast instead of hitting up Big Bopper's that morning. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bruce and Nate Hezlep 8/5/19
by Capt Juls on 08/05/19I picked my crew up at a designated spot close to the condo they rented and a parking lot that my rig could easily maneuver in. They jumped in the old Excursion at 5:30 and we were off. We hit speedway to get some ice and to fill a trailer tire that looked low. As I went to get ice, Bruce and Nate got to work putting air in the suspect tire. When I came back, Bruce said, "That one was down to 14 pounds". "Are you kidding me?", I asked. "Well, I'm glad we checked it then", I said, shaking my head. "I'll take it over to my guys at "Tri-County" to get it checked out later.
We hit Mazurik's at 5:50 and headed NE out of there at 6am (navigation lights on, this time). The lake was flat, and the G2 hummed at 4500 RPM's, while we glided across the water in my sparkly red and white Ranger, towards a promising sunrise. It didn't take as long to get to the area I'm working, as it did the previous two days, so that was a good feeling to have this morning.
Same program as yesterday, but we did adjust a little as the morning progressed. We started with dipsies on the zero setting at 50 and 60 back, but eventually, those would go to 50 only. The Three Setting was at 85, but would also be sent down to 92 back by early to mid morning. The most active biters were at 28 foot, out where I was. We were done with a 3 man limit by 9am. We also had several throwbacks, which is always good to see. The 2018's are getting some meat on them now. They're still little shits, but they are growing....and, surviving. :)
Bruce and Nate said they had a great time, and were extremely happy with their catch this morning, and that makes me happy.
I am off tomorrow, which is probably a good thing, since they are calling for scattered showers and thunderstorms in the morning....good timing, I think. lol
I'll be back out Wednesday with a crew that is staying in Huron, so I'll be launching from Huron on Wednesday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Marc, Grace, and Triston 8/5/19
by Capt Juls on 08/05/19I told my crew to meet me at Mazurik's at 6am....and, they were only a few minutes late, driving in from the Cleveland area. I've fished with Marc for many years now. He first starting fishing with me about 6 years ago. Last year, he brought his daughter, Grace, for the first time, and she loved it, so now he fishes with her instead. Grace brought her new boyfriend Triston along. He's never been fishing, and was looking forward to catching his first walleye.
Both of these "young adults", are the kind that would make any parents proud to have raised. Triston caught on to using the dipsies pretty quick and was helping me a lot by checking baits, often. The banter between Marc and his daughter was delightful to listen to, and made me smile.
If you haven't read any other of my reports recently, then here is the info posted in them. It's the same program I've been using for several trips now...
#1 Dipsies w/Ring: Zero Setting 50 & 60 back. The Three Setting is set at 85 back.
The "Extra Deep" Bay Rats in Blue/Orange Belly, Purple Chrome, and Cheap Sunglasses at 95, 105, 115, 125 back behind Off Shore inline planer boards.
Speed is 2.3-2.5mph sometimes at 2.6-2.7mph.
As for a location....as most know, I've been fishing the east side of Kelly's. The water there isn't messed up from the algae bloom yet, and fish are willing to bite. There are ton of fish out there, and Helix proves it time and time again, so just drive until your electronics show you some good marks, and set up on them. It's pretty much...that simple right now.
It was a fun morning. We had our 24 walleye in the cooler...plus some throwbacks and "junk fish", by 9:30, I think. I don't usually look at the clock to see how fast we get done, but my customers always do...and they always giggle when it's relatively fast. So, when Marc commented on the time, I took note. ;)
It was a gorgeous morning too. We watched a beautiful sunrise under mostly clear skies, with an air temperature of 70 degrees. The wind was 8 mph out of the west. The NE rollers from the day before were diminished to nothing with the calm wind we had overnight. The lake was 1-2's out where I was, and a little calmer down inside, closer to the Ohio shoreline.
They all had a good time, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more reports from Marc and Gracie....and, hopefully, Triston too. I liked him, and hope he gets to go again in the future.
Tomorrow, I am fishing with Bruce and Nate Hezlep. The first time I fished with Bruce, Nate was only in 3rd grade. Now, Nate is a firefighter...all grown up!
The weather looks perfect for the morning, with a light and variable wind, clear skies, and a temp around 68 degrees in the morning. I hope the fish are still biting like this tomorrow!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tony, Tony, and Alex 8/3/19
by Capt Juls on 08/03/19The days are getting shorter, and the sun doesn't come up until 6:30 now, so there was no hurry to get to the launch by 5:30. I left the house at 5:20 and ran to the gas station to pick up some ice for the cooler, before picking my crew up from their hotel at 5:50. We had agreed to meet at 6am, but they were all downstairs and ready to go when I arrived, so they piled in the old truck and we headed over to Mazurik's.
The sky was clear and the eastern sky was getting lighter as we drove to the launch. We timed it just right, and would be hitting the water on the edge of needing and not needing the navigation lights. By the time Tony backed the Ranger in and parked the truck, it was light enough to leave the navigation lights stored away.
We headed ENE out of the launch. It was one of those mornings that bug the crap out of me. The lake looks nice and flat, but after a NE wind overnight, there were still the "Northeast Rollers" coming in, which makes driving a lot slower. I told my crew that we were making a long run, and they settled in for the ride.
After a 13 mile run, we found the wind picking up a tiny bit out of the NNW, so the rollers were going one way and the waves going another...but, it was still a 2 foot or less sea. I came off plane and turned the boat to the SSE, and deployed the Ulterra and the baby E-TEC. I set them up to troll together at a speed of 2.2-2.5mph.
This is the second time in two months that Tony and his nephew Tony have fished with me, and this time they brought their relative, Alex, with them. The two Tony's ran dipsies the last time with me, so they "kind of" remembered what to do. Alex was a clean slate and picked up on it pretty quickly. It was a quick bite this morning, and the first fish hit a silver spoon behind a dipsey set on a three setting at 85 back...that was even before the second rod was let out. The bite stayed pretty steady all morning. Fast enough for "controlled chaos", and slow enough for me to get these guys into a routine of rotating to whose turn it was to reel'm in, grabbing the net, and setting the baits back out.
The 3 setting ran at 85 back and the zero settings were run at 60. Silver spoons were the ticket for us. One I use, is just a plain hammered one, and the other is so chewed up there is just a dot of blue paint left on it, so it's mostly just a silver hammered spoon. One "BS Kustom" spoon ran behind the zero setting dipsey on the starboard side...(I circled the one used in the picture that's posted). It caught a handful of fish too. A Blue/Chrome Ripplin Redfin ran on the zero setting dipsey on the port side and did its own damage to the walleye population. :)
Bay Rats...the "long extra deep divers", Blue/Chrome and Purple/Chrome, ran on the starboard side behind Off Shore inline boards at 125 back. And, the Cheap Sunglasses and Blue/Chrome ran on the port side at 99 1nd 105 back. All of them caught fish this morning.
Unlike the last two days of disappointing walleye and perch fishing for me and my crews...this morning's outing... was perfect. And, I needed that....bad! :)
The crew had fun, and were happy with their catch today, and I can't ask for more than that.
Tomorrow, I am walleye fishing with a regular return customer, Marc Miller, and his daughter Grace, and her boyfriend (to be named tomorrow). We will be launching out of Mazurik's at 6:20, so we can watch the sun come up on the lake again. Woot! Woot!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Wilburn Family 8/1/19
by Capt Juls on 08/01/19After several days off, due to reschedules, it was back to business this morning. There was a 15mph NE wind on my back deck at 3am, which kind of pissed me off. It's been NE for days now. I looked at the iWindSurf app to see what the forecast would be over in Huron for the rest of the morning, and it showed it laying down a little bit...not much, but enough to make it a "go".
I drove into town at 4:30am to gas up the old Excursion and Ranger for the ride over to Huron. Capt. Kevin was unusually early this morning, as he was already filling up when I got there. He was going to be launching out of Huron too.
The Wilburn's are from the Columbus area, and were up for the week staying in Huron and vacationing in the area. Doug (the Father) brought his three sons, Aaron, Matt, and Nathan for a day of fishing, because none of them have ever caught a walleye before.
We left the Huron River at 6am and headed NNE from there. I marked fish on and off for many miles, but never quite found anything that got me excited. The conditions this morning were 2-4's, but they were a mix of waves and swells, so they weren't all close together, which made the driving a little easier...however...still slow going. Running around was not going to be an option...so, getting negative fish to bite was going to be the order of the day.
We stopped to take a pic of the beautiful sunrise as it peaked over the horizon and, then, continued on. We made it to the 27/24 line when I stopped to make a pass back to the south. Most of the fish showing on the Helix were tight to the bottom and below 41 foot. Sure, there was the occasional higher fish, but the majority were down....down...down. We went about a mile and a 1/2 before we moved up to the 33/24 line and tried again.
We set up with the Scorpion spoons on the dipsies. I had one Silver/Black Ripplin Redfin out, but it didn't do anything today, so eventually, it was taken off and replaced with a spoon.
Now, I'm sure someone, somewhere, got on a good actively feeding pod of walleye and had a spectacular morning catching fish. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for us this morning. While my crew of novices enjoyed the morning of "fishing"...we only caught 5 keepers to put in the cooler.
I'd like to say, "The junk fish kept them busy", but that's not the case either. I can count on two hands the number of white perch, white bass, and sheepshead we caught.
I ran spoons high, med, and low in the water column. The Off Shore boards started out with all #11 Flicker Minnows, but eventually, those were changed out to two Bay Rats on the port side at 100 and 85 back, and Bandits on the starboards side at 85 and 75 back.
Speed was anywhere from 2.2-3.1mph throughout the morning, as I tried different things to get them to bite.
The fish we did catch came on the #3 setting at 75 and 85 back and the zero setting at 60 and 65 back. The Blue/Chrome Bandit at 85 back caught one too.
We only had 4 short walleye that went back...so, with junk fish, and the fish in the cooler...we had maybe a total of 15-20 fish today. :(
I felt bad and apologized that the catching wasn't better, but they wouldn't hear it. They said they had fun, and caught plenty of fish for the dinner they have planned tonight....and, that made me happy. :)
We headed in a little early, due to a couple of them being seasick....poor guys.
Tomorrow, I have some repeat customers I haven't seen a few years. Kathy and her son, Mathew will be going out to try for some walleye or perch...we haven't decided yet. I would really like to find some perch that are willing to bite, but I won't get my hopes up. lol I'm sure we will end up walleye fishing, but if I come across something that looks perchy...I'll stop and set up on them and let you know what happens.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mick and Kyle McMahon Day 2 7/27/19
by Capt Juls on 07/28/19I hit Mazurik's at 5:20 and waited for someone to show up, who would be willing to back me in, since my crew was out on South Bass Island. I didn't have to wait long, before fellow Capt., Tony Hernandez, showed up with a friend and offered to help. Thanks, Tony!
I headed out of Mazurik's in the dark with a light SW wind. I wasn't worried about not being able to read the waves in the dark, since I knew they were going to be 1 foot or less at that time in the morning. As I approached Ballast Island, where I entered to go around the island, the sky was lightening enough that I could see things much better. The nice thing about that time of morning, is that there is absolutely no boat traffic yet, so it was a nice peaceful ride over there.
I had texted my crew and told them when I left the dock, so they could be there waiting for me when I arrived. And, they were. Right on time. I picked them up at 5:45 from Put-In-Bay, and headed back out east of the island. This time though, knowing it was going to blow a little harder as the morning progressed, I opted to fish between Kelly's and the Bass Islands, instead of running miles to the east of Kelly's.
We used the same program with the dipsies as I have been using, and the silver with blues are still out fishing anything else I put on. I know the bait shops can't seem to get any silver with blue, so if any custom guys reading this can tell me why that is...that would be great. lol I don't get it? "Match the hatch" they always say, and what matches the minnow hatches around here better than a silver with blue schemed spoon?
Anyway....
We caught a ton of non-target species along with their two man limit too, so they were kept very busy. They said they had fun too. I told them though, that if they came back again, that they would need to stay on the mainland. I told them, that with the SW wind, we would have probably driven over to launch out of Huron, had they not been on the island. It would have given us a lot of great areas to fish right now.
I doubt very much I will approve anymore island pick ups for the above reason, unless it's in the spring and early summer.
I am off today, and have rescheduled some regulars for tomorrow, to next Saturday, because of the gusty forecast....so, I won't be out until Tuesday...weather permitting.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mick and Kyle McMahon 7/26/19
by Capt Juls on 07/26/19I got to sleep in this morning. My crew wasn't expected to fly into Port Clinton until 8:30am, so I set the alarm for an extra hour and took advantage of some REM and weird dreams this early am.
I had already gassed up the Ranger the other day, when I canceled my trip, so I didn't have to make that usual stop this morning. I did have to stop at Rickard's though, because I needed lots of ice. The Wisconsin crew consisting of a Father and Son team had me pick up some groceries for them, and beer, for their trips today and tomorrow, so the extra cooler was going to need ice too. I thought I had enough, but it was melting fast in the afternoon heat....and, it got hot out there when the wind died around 1:00pm.
They caught their limit and only one of mine today. It was a slow bite, but close enough together to keep them interested and watching the dipsies for a telltale sign of fish. And, in between the walleye bites, they caught plenty of sheepshead, white perch, and white bass too.
Standard size 1 with the ring is what I use...in black. The three setting today was set at 65/70/75 and the zero setting was best at 60 back. Speed was 2.4-2.7mph. I have heard more than once today though that some were catching at even faster speeds...upwards of 3.0-3.5mph.
I tried the new 3 5/8" spoons sent to me by BS Kustom Lures (Steve Helmuth), and they worked well. You can see a picture of them on my biz page...just scroll down the wall. They outfished the Ripplin Redfins today, but a simple silver hammered "Michigan - Scorpion" spoon probably caught the most fish. :)
I will be launching early tomorrow, so I can pick them up from PIB in time for a sunrise on the lake. And, hopefully, the early bite will be better than it was after 10am. Well, either way, it will be cooler earlier and more comfortable....so, there's that. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Eric and Rachel 7/21/19
by Capt Juls on 07/21/19Eric and Rachel came in from Nebraska, to spend some downtime from their EMT/Fire Fighter jobs, and to catch some wiley walleye here on Lake Erie's Western Basin.
I picked them up from the White Caps Motel at 4:30am and we headed into town to gas up the Ranger, pick up some ice for the coolers, and eat some breakfast at Big Bopper's, before launching out of Mazruik's at 5:30.
We headed up to the NE side of Kelly Island Shoal, but didn't find the fish I had there two days ago...this time, they were mostly sheepshead...."Baaaa". So, after trying to change the angle of the dangle in the current and waves a few times, with little success, I decided a move to the east would be in order. The wind was laying down nicely, so the ride was an easy one.
As we traveled, we came across a series of nets set that we had to dodge by going north to move above them. We took our time, because they were not easy to see, and I wasn't sure how many there would be. I think there were 5 or 6 in a row, but mostly inline, so it wasn't too hard to go around them. We made it to the weather buoy area and set up to the south of it with an easterly troll over 47 foot of water.
The Ulterra and the baby E-TEC worked together to control our speed at 2.3-2.4mph.
The dipsies were set on the zero and three settings....0@55 & 60...3@65.
Since Eric is friends with the man who created the "Walleye Nation Creations" "Reaper" lure, we ran two of the three colors given to me this past spring to try out. I should have been running them a lot sooner, because they were very productive in catching walleye in this warm weather. If the board went back, it was guaranteed to be a walleye. We didn't catch any junk fish on them.
We were running the Bubble Gum and Electric Tiger colors at 75 back.
Both Eric and Rachel caught on quick on how to set the dipsies and "pop" the mechanism to bring the fish in, so it was an easy day for me, and all I was doing was netting fish for them. They did a great job and had a lot of fun. After we had our 18 walleye in the cooler, we headed back in, because it was hot and sticky, and the black flies had finally found us out there. :)
I am scheduled to fish with them again tomorrow, but there's no way we would be going back out there with the winds that are forecast. Right now, iWindSurf is showing a sustained wind out of the north at 15 and gusts to 20. I'll see what it looks like in the morning when I get up at 2:45 and decide what the plan is then.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve Gulas and Jim 7/18/19
by Capt Juls on 07/18/19As I headed down the highway towards the other end of town, I realized I had forgotten to put a cooler in the boat before I left. "Ugh", I thought. I didn't have time to go back home and grab one, so I texted Steve to ask if he could bring his. He could, and said it already had ice in it, so that was a relief. I was meeting them at Big Bopper's at 4:45, and they were right on time.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30am, and headed to the north side of Kelly's. I marked fish from the time we left the launch to the time we got up to the line east of Middle. They are everywhere....just choose a spot and fish them. You don't have to make a long run to catch them right now, so if you can save some gas....you might as well. ;)
Nothing new on the program...other than the crankbaits didn't want to produce behind the Off Shore boards this time. All our fish came on the dipsies with spoons or the black/chrome Ripplin Redfin. The zero setting was at 44 and 55 and the three setting was at 65...speed was 2.3-2.5 mph.
We had our 18 fish by 8:21am. It was getting hot, and buggy, so the guys decided that they had enough fun for the morning. :)
I didn't schedule anything for tomorrow, knowing it was going to be a scorcher, and I reschedule my Chicago peeps for Saturday to a new date in August, for which they thanked me, so I'll be staying in my nice air conditioned house for the next couple of days. Be back out on Sunday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Scott and Cathy 7/15/19
by Capt Juls on 07/15/19This morning, I met Scott and Cathy, of Philadelphia, at Mazurik's at 5:15 and we launched at 5:30. It was still dark enough to need the navigation lights, but the eastern horizon was glowing hues of reds and oranges against a gray blue sky. It was going to be a gorgeous sunrise. The lake was flat, so our ride out was a pleasant one.
We headed to the northeast side of Kelly's and set up with the usual program of 4 dipsies and two Off Shore boards. Flicker Minnows were run behind the boards at 55 and 65 back, and the dipsies were set to run at 49 and 55 back on the three setting and 35 and 47 back on the zero settings.
Speed was again 2.2-2.5mph.
Everything caught fish this morning and we were done with our 3 person limit by 8am. We headed back in, because Cathy was ready to go back in after the wind kicked the lake up with 2 foot waves from the southeast. She had recently had a knee replacement, and reeled her fish in from the passenger seat. With dipsies, that seems to work out pretty well. lol They both had a great time, and enjoyed the morning....and, that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow's weather looks to be good right now too, so I'll be back at it with Steve and Jeremy Chapman...my regulars.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Cheryl and Diane 7/14/19
by Capt Juls on 07/14/19Today's charter was delayed a bit, so the north winds could lay down. I had two ladies fishing with me today, and I thought it was a better idea to wait for better conditions. Cheryl and Diane met me at my house at 7am and we drove into town for some ice for the coolers, before heading on over to Mazurik's to launch.
We launched at 7:45 and headed north out of the ramp area, and on up to the Canadian line. We set up with my usual 4 dipsey/spoon/Ripplin Redfin program and set out two Bandits behind Off Shore boards.
The marks were okay, but nothing to write home about. We caught 4 walleye up there before I decided it might be better to move to another spot, and see if we couldn't find a bigger pod of fish, so we packed it all up and took off to the east.
I eventually ended up in a spot that I had been fishing in early June, thanks to a tip from a friend in a big yellow boat, that told me that fish were being caught there this morning. So, I found my old track on the Helix and set a course to run it, from west to east. We set the baits out again. Cheryl and Diane picked up easily on how to run and read the dipsies, and started putting some fish in the cooler. A little over an hour later, and we had another 14 in the cooler, to finish out our three person limit.
They had a very good time, and so did I. The conversation was easy and very enjoyable today. When I brought them back to my house to get their car., they said they wanted to come back and do it again....and, that makes me happy! :)
Dipsies set on the zero setting were run 47 and 55 back and the dipsies with the three setting were run at 49 and 65 back. The silver/black Ripplin Redfin caught fish, but the other's weren't, so I took them off and experimented with different spoons until we found a couple that caught consistently. The red-headed wonder bread (because I don't have a black WB spoon), and one that is orange on the skinny end, silver in the middle, and green on the tail end, with an antifreeze underside were the hot spoons today.
Speed was 2.3-2.6mph.
Tomorrow's crew consists of a husband and wife team. We will be launching out of Mazurik's at 5:30 am. I am thankful tomorrow is Monday, and the ramps will be normal again. I hate weekends here in the summer....way too much traffic and stupidity....deep sigh.
The forecast for tomorrow is calling for light SSW winds....less than 10mph, so it will be a great morning to go fishing.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Shane, April, and Scout 7/13/19
by Capt Juls on 07/13/19That's it...I'm buying a regular alarm clock! I can't trust my phone anymore. I know I set the alarm last night before bed, and when I woke up this morning, I thought I had woken up before my alarm...which I do quite often, but when I looked at my phone it was showing a time of 3:43. I set the alarm for 2:45....now, I only had 15 minutes to feed the dogs, have a cup of coffee, and brush my teeth before grabbing my boat bag and heading out the door to go get my crew, who would be waiting for me at East Harbor Campground's welcome shack at 4:30am (with a 7 year old!).
I stopped to get gas and ice on my way to meet them, and was only 5 minutes late. I really didn't like how the day was starting...it was rushed, I had no shower, and quite frankly, I was worried about my bowels, since I didn't get to do my normal routine that takes care of that business....deep sigh.
Shane and April had brought their Grand Niece along with them. Seven-year-old, "Scout". She was awake and very talkative for the ride over to Big Bopper's, which is very unusual. Most kids I meet very early in the morning, don't say a word unless they are asked a question directly, and then give an answer with a sleepy delivery.
Scout didn't have that problem, she was alert and talking...non-stop. lol
I asked Shane, who was riding shotgun, "Have you ever used dipsies before?" He replied, "We've never trolled for walleye, so this will be our first time with dipsies and off shore boards". April agreed... from the back seat. I smiled while looking in the rearview mirror.....(and, inside)...:)
"Well, that's okay", I said. "We will probably just run the 4 dipsies then...those are easy to use".
Teaching "Newbies" how to troll is favorable...here's why. It takes a good hour of instruction, but eventually, they will start relaxing, getting their sea legs, and able to listen and understand what I'm asking or telling them. Sooner or later, I don't have to say anything and they will be working all the rods like seasoned anglers. Today's crew was no exception...they did a great job, and put some fish in the cooler for their fish fry.
At 8:30, we had 19 of our 24 fish limit when the wind decided to kick up a little, which turned Shane a little green, so April decided that the cooler had enough fish in it for an upcoming fish fry and they could go in. Shane didn't argue and was ready to go in. I put everything away and stowed the Ulterra and Baby E-TEC, and off to homeport we went.
There was a ton of bait balls in the area we were fishing today, which I believe slowed the bite down a little bit. The walleye that we did catch were spitting up tiny shiners all over the place. And, I couldn't be happier! It's been years since we had a great shiner hatch (which happens the first week of June, I think?). With all the young walleye to feed, the shiner hatchlings are going to be a great food source for them. It will help our perch population too.
I set a heading, going with the waves to the NNE, from the NW corner of the Huron dump this morning, at a whopping speed of 2.3-2.5mph. We ran two dipsies on each side of the boat and two Off Shore boards with different cranks. Okay....okay....I know I said we would only run 4 dipsies, but I'm a woman and changing my mind is my prerogative. Ha!
The port side ran my go-to color Bandits 42 and 55 back (blue/chrome and Buck Fever for those that don't keep up or are new to my reports). And the starboard side ran Yozuri's at 45 and 65 back.
The port side dipsies were run 35 back on the zero setting and 65 back on the three settings. A spoon and a Ripplin Redfin sported those lines.
The starboard side settings were 0/41 and 3/55 and also running one Ripplin and one spoon. All four dipsies were catching fish, but not as fast as the past several trips, and it had me assume that the bait balls showing on the Helix might have something to do with that.
Anyway...it was slower, but not bad. It was a steady bite. There have been previous years where I would have been thrilled with this morning's action.
Even though I was slightly disappointed in the action...my crew had a great time, and that's all that matters. :)
Tomorrow's wind will once again be out of the NE....sigh. That means downtown Port Clinton's roads, on the river side, will be flooded again, along with all the businesses situated there.
I have an all female crew tomorrow consisting of Cheryl Stimpson and Diane Leeson. We might have a slightly later start in the morning, if the forecast remains the same as it is showing right now, so.....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Don and David Goodrich 7/12/19
by Capt Juls on 07/12/19This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with return customers, Don and his son David. Don was 79 when he started fishing with me, and is now 81. He and David make it an annual trip, to add to their memories together, and usually do it in June, but their trip had to be rescheduled, due to weather last month.
I picked them up at their hotel at 5am, and we headed off to Big B's for some breakfast. I checked the wind forecast and found that it would be around 10mph out of the north. I didn't want to take a 16 mile run with Don in the boat, so I told them that we would drive over to Huron after breakfast to launch instead. It would be easier to run to my spot north of Huron instead of running east out of Mazurik's and save us some miles.
Nothing new on the program...same thing as the past several trips (see previous reports). I only ran 4 dipsies, to keep it easy for them, and to keep the chaos down to a minimum. The bites came at a nice steady pace. Don stayed in the port side chair and I would hand him a rod to fight a fish, and David worked the other side, reeling in fish, while I netted them, and setting the baits out again.
It was a pleasant morning, with the light north wind and cloudy sky. The humidity we have had of late was not present today, so that was a big relief too. The waves were 1-3's north of Huron, but were laying down a bit as the morning progressed.
We fished until 10am, and headed back in at a nice leisurely pace with a following sea, so the ride was smooth as could be. :)
They said they had a wonderful time, and that makes me happy. Don, has won a battle with stage 4 cancer in the past, and suffers from COPD now, so he's uncertain of the future. I wish him the best and hope to see them again next year!
Tomorrow's wind forecast is for 10-15 mph winds out of the SW, so the plan is to launch from Mazurik's and find some fish east of Kelly's again. I may or may not make the long run again.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Mike and Ben Roseland 7/10/19
by Capt Juls on 07/10/19Mike and Ben fished with me on Monday, and went to Cedar Point Amusement Park yesterday, and then fished with me again this morning. Monday's trip was delayed due to wind, so there was no blog. I got home too late to add it. We had gone out of Catawba on Monday and fished between the islands, just west of Green, and down to Catawba Point. The fishing was poor in my mind, but the father and son team said they enjoyed it. They didn't mind catching sheepshead, white perch, and white bass along with the walleye. We only kept 14 walleye that were anywhere from 15 1/2" to 18 inches for a total of 22 pounds.
This morning, we launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30 and headed back to where I was yesterday with the Sulcheki twins. It was the same as yesterday....a quick three person limit and non-stop action. How does that saying go? "Second verse same as the first...". It was the same program, same area, same speed, same line....everything.
However, one thing I did do after putting their fish in the cooler is put out a blue/chrome Rippling Redfin on one of the dipsies. It wasn't swimming more than 30 seconds before it got slammed by another walleye. I waited until it caught a second one in quick fashion before putting a couple more out. I added the chartreuse/purple head, and an IB Frozen colors and those two were catching right away too. The fish seemed to be a little larger on the cranks than on the spoons too, so I might just start out with two Ripplin's and two spoons on each side, and keep it simple. If the cranks produce the bigger fish again, then I will change them all out to Ripplin's.
They had a good time and decided to get off the lake before it got too hot, and head back to Chicago. They said they would be back again, and that makes me happy...:)
Tomorrow's charter is with John Zielinski and his brother (who's name I don't know yet). The forecast is calling for winds out of the west tomorrow, so that will be a nice change of pace from the ENE winds of late. I just hope we don't have any thunderstorms in the morning.
THURSDAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 7 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
I may or may not be able to make that run again, if there are storms a brewing near the Indiana/Ohio line, and will have to find some closer fish.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Caleb and Jacob 6/9/19
by Capt Juls on 07/09/19
This morning, I went to Big Bopper's alone, because my crew of twin brothers Jacob and Caleb Sulcheki, were meeting me at Mazurik's at 5:30. The first time I fished with these two was back in 2016 when they were only 16 years old. Today, was the 3rd trip with them. They had to go with another charter last year, due to my schedule already being full when their annual visit to Lakeside takes place.
In the past, I have bass fished and perch fished with them. Today, we did walleye. I told them, "We'll be going that way for quite a while", and pointed east. They settled in and we took a comfortable ride out for approximately 16 miles ENE.
Hey, guess which program I ran today....lol Yep, the same one I have been running for the past two months now....if you missed it....
Standard size 1 dipsies (w/rings) set on the zero and three settings. The zero setting was very productive at 35 back. The three setting was hitting on 49/55/and 65 back. There would probably be a lot more numbers, but those are the ones we chose and since they caught fish, we didn't bother to change them or try any others.
Silver spoons of all combos were working very well. (I would like to see more silver ones offered at our local bait shops as they all seem to be out of them or have a small inventory of color choices when they do have them). The Emerald Shiner is one of the lake's best food sources for the walleye, so it only makes sense that they would want to chase down a silver spoon that imitates an Emerald, eh?
Anyway...I digress....
Speed was....2.3-2.5mph. However, the waves were surging us as high at 3.0mph, at one point, and the fish still kept biting, soooo...they that proves they will chase it down and eat it, if they can.
We had a three man limit in the cooler and many fish let go in 45 minutes, so we just played catch and release until the boys had had enough. We were back in by 10am. They had a great time, and did a great job with the dipsies, and that made me happy.
Tomorrow's trip is with my crew from yesterday. They had to split up their two days, because the twins had already booked today ahead of them. I'll be picking Mike and Ben up at 4:30am and doing it all over again.
Tomorrow's weather looks even better than today, so I'm looking forward to it.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Norm 7/6/19
by Capt Juls on 07/06/19This morning did not start as I had planned...deep sigh...
I had set my alarm for 2:45am, and when it went off...I got up, made my coffee, and took it out on the back porch. All was well, I was sipping my coffee, looking at facebook, and checking the weather, when I noticed that the time on my phone suddenly changed from 3:21 to 4:21. It had never changed time zones when I drove through Indiana yesterday on my way home from Wisconsin.....stupid phone. For a 1000.00 phone, you would think it would easily keep track of time zones (rolling my eyes here)...hell, the minivan I rented changed time zones right where it was supposed to, but an expensive Apple phone can't do it? Ugh!
Anyway...rant over. I had 9 minutes to get ready and out the door now. I didn't have time for a shower, or breakfast, so I got dressed real fast, threw my ponytail under a hat, and brushed my teeth...out the door I went. The dogs were not used to that routine, so they looked a little sad when I left...poor dogs. :(
I hit the gas station for gas and ice. My guys pulled in behind my boat and said, "Good morning, Juls". I turned and said, "Good morning", as was walking into the Speedway to pay for ice, not knowing that they were my guys. I kind of thought it was them, so when I came back out I said, "I'm guessing you're Bill and my crew for the day." He smiled and said, "Yes, we are".
I finished gassing up both the truck and boat, and put the ice in the coolers, and told them to follow me out to Mazurik's. They had never been there before, and are usually launching out of the marinas to the west...Wild Wings, Turtle Creek, Meinke's, etc.
We headed out of Mazurik's at 5:30am with the navigation lights on, because it was just dark enough to need them, even though the sky was lightening up to the east...the direction we were headed. By the time we drove 14 miles we didn't need the navigation lights anymore. We set up with the usual program...4 dipsies..two set on the zero setting and two set on the three setting...a pair of them on each side of the boat. The zero setting goes straight down, while the three setting goes out to the side, which keeps them from getting tangled while trolling.
Speed was the usual 2.3-2.5mph.
We started out with two of the new Yozuri's (see previous blog about them) on the port side, and only caught one this morning. I changed them both over to the starboard side, because you know that sometimes one side of the boat does better than the other, so I thought that may be the case this morning and switched them. The last time out, I ran them off the starboard side and they whacked the fish.
I took one off and put the Buck Fever Bandit on, and caught one on that one at 42 back. The Yozuri took one, but the fish was dragged for a while before I could tell it was on. That wasn't the Yozuri's fault though, it was mine. I didn't check it when I thought "maybe" there was on there. It was a smaller walleye, so it was hard to detect (I had the spring tension settings pretty tight, due to the speed we were trolling).
The dipsies were constantly going off though, so I was always reaching for the net, and bothering with that outside board that may or may not have a fish on it was not one of my high priorities....call me lazy, but I didn't want to mess with it with everything else that was going on. We did indeed drag that fish around for a while. It was still alive though, and set itself free before we got it in, so that was good....whew!
We caught our limit of 18 nice eaters, and many smaller ones, along with a plethora of white bass, sheepshead, and white perch, so the guys were kept busy reeling and setting the dipsies. They had a lot of fun and when we had our 18 in the box they called it, since it was starting to get hot and humid out. The black flies hadn't invaded the boat yet, so that was a relief, and I was happy to be heading in before they found us.
This trip was set up for tomorrow, and today was supposed to be an off day for me after getting back from a week in Wisconsin yesterday, but after seeing the wind forecast for Sunday, I asked them if they could go today instead. It all worked out, and it was a perfect morning. The heat index today will be scorching, so I'll leave the boat cleaning for tomorrow when the NE winds bring in a cooler and dryer air to work in.
I'll be out again on Monday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joel, Roxy, and Chris 6/29/19
by Capt Juls on 06/29/19The day was forecast to be a hot one, so I wanted to get an early start again, and picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 4:20. Joel and Roxy are from Wyoming, and Chris is a relative from Michigan. We headed into downtown to eat at Ala-Carte, which opens at 4:30am, before heading over to Huron to launch.
It's the weekend, and I felt that there would be fewer boats over there than over by the islands or Cedar Point, and I wanted to be able to troll without having to look over my shoulder every couple of minutes to take note of moving traffic, and who has the right of way.
As the morning light began to break, we were idling out of the Huron River. It was still dark enough to probably need navigation lights, and yet light enough not to have to, so I opted to leave it in the rod locker. I figured by the time we got to the end of the river we wouldn't need it. Besides, there were only two other boats heading out ahead of us, and the lake was ours. :)
I put the sparkly red and white Ranger up on plane and headed NW from the river, and watched the Helix for the sign that there were fish below. We only went a mile or so, before I shut the G2 off and deployed the bow-mount trolling motor and Baby-E-TEC. The Ulterra was set at a power level of 5 and directed on a SW to ENE course. The Baby-"E" pushed us at a speed of 2.2-24 mph for most of the time, but was also pushing at 2.5-2.7 mph...both speeds caught fish.
My crew had never used dipsies or Off Shore boards before, but quickly learned and were working them proficiently in no time at all. When we were setting up, Chris was letting out a Yozuri crankbait, and before he could get to 75' back, I saw him set the hook on a fish that didn't want to wait. The skunk was out of the box in less than a minute of fishing. I smiled inside knowing it was going to be a great morning.
The forecast was for partly cloudy skies with wind gusts from the SW at 15-20, which would be no more than 1-3 foot waves out of Huron. But, for most of the morning it was less than two's. We caught our 4 man limit early and played catch and release for a few more hours. They came a long way to fish here, and I wasn't about to take them in that fast, and I didn't have any perch stuff in the boat.
Same program as the past several trips....but the Yozuri Crystal Minnow (4 3/8) were new. Capt Kelly Schmidt painted some and gave me three to try. I used the blue/orange belly and the one that looks similar to a "Huff Daddy" scheme...(I don't know the names he's calling them...sorry). All I can say about their performance today is, "It's going to cost me a lot of money!"....deep sigh. I was pretty impressed with their performance today, and I want to pick up some more.
Bandits 42 and 55 back....blue/chrome and Buck Fever
Yozuri's were eventually dialed in at 51 back.
The dipsies were set on the 3 and 0 settings on both sides of the boat. Spoons with either blue/silver, green/silver, or purple/chart/silver very productive. The 3 setting was set anywhere from 49 to 71, and caught fish on every numeration we thought to try.
The zero setting was either 27 or 35 most of the time and also caught a lot of fish.
Joel, Roxy, and Chris said they had a great time, and were all smiles....and, that makes me happy!
Needless to say, the fishing is excellent right now, so if you have a window of opportunity...and, a means....you should come and fish Lake Erie's Western Basin for a good time, and some great memories. :)
I'm headed to Wisconsin for the week, to visit family, so I won't be blogging anything until my first trip, on the 7th.
Good luck this week....stay safe....and, have fun!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
