Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Levi and Michael...7/5/2025
by Capt Juls on 07/05/25I arrived at Huron at 4:30. I would be meeting my crew at 5AM. When I got there, and needed to use the bathroom, the bathrooms were shut. A sign said, "Closed for the Season". Wait...WHAT? lol Ugh...
I drove up to the gas station, but they were closed until 5:00....grrrrr.
I drove back to the ramp, and readied the boat. When Levi and Michael arrived, I asked them if they could take me up to the gas station before heading out. It was still very dark out, so we had plenty of time. They obliged me, and we were back to the boat in 5 minutes. I didn't like leaving it there unattended, but there was no one there, unlike the previous mornings that I've been there...I think everyone was slow moving this morning after last night's festivities. I wouldn't know...I slept through all of it.
We launched, and were at the mouth of the river by 5:20. It was just light enough to read the waves as we rode out. There were still some residual rollers coming in from the NE, from overnight, so the ride out was slower than normal.
The air temp was 82 degrees. The wind was out of the south at 5mph. The forecast called for a partly cloudy sky, but there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The sun was going to be shining on us all morning.
I pointed the Vexus towards Vermilion and set down over 36' of water. The FishHawk went down to record the water temp and "speed at depth", (which in my case is usually at 18-20 foot down). The temp read 78 degrees at 18'. The speed was set using the Ulterra and the baby Merc, in unison, to a speed of 2.5mph.
Once again, Bandits were running on the port side behind Off Shore boards.
I got a couple new colors from Slim Shady Customs, that I liked, so I put those on.
One is called, "Big John Here", and that one caught a bunch of fish. I had it at both 77 back and 120 back. The other one is called, "Fire and Ice"...(you can view both new colors on his website.) That one worked at both 77 and 120 back, too.
The starboard side ran two new colors of Flicker Minnow 11s...more Slim Shady..
one is called, "Pink Salamander", and the other is called, "Copper Confusion". They both caught fish...but, I eventually took them off, because the Bandits were doing better. I put a couple more Bandits out, but that side just didn't want to fire as much, this morning. Could have been a current issue, I don't know.
Dipsies ran on the usual zero and three settings (one set, on each side of the stern)
zero settings went anywhere from 35 to 54 and anywhere in-between. I was moving them a lot, due to the pesky little White Perch chomping on everything. They were very annoying to say the least.
Someone's going to message me asking these questions, so I'm going to answer them now. I run the size 1 dipsey with the ring. I run a shorter 6' Med Ugly Stik rod on the "inside", or furthest back in the rod holders. I run an 8'6" Downrigger rod on the "Outside", or second from the back rod holder.
The inside rod is on the zero setting, and the outside rod is set on the three setting. This allows them to stay separated, and avoids most tangles. Sometimes a hanging fish can cause a problem, but that doesn't happen too often. :)
The bite was constant, if you factor in those stupid White Perch, but the walleye bite was slower. The size is getting smaller too, so I think it's time find new water to fish. Our 18 walleye today were mostly 16-17 inches, with a handful of bigger ones in there. There were plenty of throwbacks, too.
Levi, and his 13 year old son Michael, did a great job! They said they had fun, and Levi stated he would like to come back to try for perch later in the season...and, that makes me happy! :)
Unfortunately, due to the economy (I'm guessing), I have nothing scheduled until the 21st. Normally, by now, I have half or more of July and August booked. But, people are hanging on to their money right now, with all the uncertainty, and I can't blame them.
So, with that said....if anyone is looking to get out on the lake...I'm available! ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Minges Family....7/3/2025
by Capt Juls on 07/03/25I was originally going to launch at Huron, this morning, but yesterday afternoon, I noticed that today's wind direction would be out of the west-northwest at 5-10mph with gusts up to 17, so I thought it would be a good idea to launch out of Mazurik's instead.
I had heard of some fish east of Cedar Point...and, knowing the area I had been fishing the last 8 trips out was probably still holding fish...I thought I would make one long troll from east of CP, to where I had been fishing.
I met my crew at Mazurik's. We launched at 5:30, and headed east.
The air temp felt like 70 degrees (I didn't look). The sky was clear with stars shining to the west, while the Sun was making its way towards the horizon to the east. The sky was just beginning to lighten up enough, so that I could read the waves on our ride out. The surface water temp was 76 degrees.
The Garmin marked fish, pretty much the entire way from Lakeside/Marblehead, to the white condos (east of CP), where I came off plane. The Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed over 28 feet of water, and set to a speed of 2.5mph using the FishHawk for guidence.
The water temp at 18' was, 77 degrees.
There were fish marks all over the water column, so we set the dipsies first.
The zero setting was at 28 and 35, but quickly dropped to the numbers I had been fishing with during the last trips out....43 and 54 back.
The three settings went out with my usual numbers of 65 and 71.
BadMO, Yeck, and Scorpion spoons all caught fish. Color mattered a little bit more today, though, so when one would keep getting hit, I would put another one out.
The copper Yeck#11 spoon, with the orange edges and orange belly was hot.
Scorpions: Blue/Silver, and a purple/maroon(ish) color, with one edge painted chartreuse.
BadMo: Silver belly with a green and black back
We kept it simple and only ran two Off Shore boards out each side, even though we could have had 4 out each side, along with the 4 dipsies...for a total of 12 lines out. Jason learned how to set the boards, and helped set lines, after I initially set them and showed him how I do it.
Bandit colors that caught fish were the Blue/Chrome (120 back) and Sunspot (77 back) All were unassisted...meaning, no weight was used.
The starboard side got changed out several times. I started with the baby Spros (85s), that had worked so well the last time out, but they weren't doing well enough, so I swapped them for the Flicker Minnow 11s. "Racy Shad" caught one, but then nothing....so, I swapped them out again for Bill Lewis PWC Lite's, with snap weights.
2oz snap weight was put on at 50' of line out, and then another 50' was let out, before putting the board on...that color was, "Green Tiger".
"Purple Tiger", ran 50/30 with a 2oz snap weight.
They both caught several fish.
Morgan, who is only 16, did a fantastic job learning how to run the dipsies, but still struggled to see when a fish was hanging on one or not. "I don't know how you see that", I was told. "The line angles change", I said.
It also helps when I'm the one controlling the boat, so I know if we are in a turn, or hitting a current, when a change does happen. I told them, "If you suspect it...check it...you don't need my permission". It takes less than a minute to check and reset a dipsey. And, if by chance there is a fish on it, we can get it in the boat...a win-win.
We didn't have a fast and furious morning, like I have previously, but it was steady enough to keep them busy and entertained. We only put 15 nice keepers in the cooler...however, we also threw back many legals...which would have filled our 4-person limit.
They were very happy with their catch, this morning, and said how much fun they had. Amy caught the biggest fish (27 1/2)...and, according to Jason and Morgan, she always does! Ha! Jason said he learned a lot, and wants to come back with some friends to fish with me again, and that makes me happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow....but, will be back out Saturday, with a crew from the Dayton area. They are driving up Saturday morning and meeting me at Huron.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Vallery Family...6/30/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/30/25Here it is, the end of June already... my favorite month...deep sigh.
I was meeting my crew at the Huron ramp at 5am, so I got there at 4:30, to do the usual things before they arrived.
I walked over to the boat that was behind me, to say good morning, and he knew who I was, but I didn't have a clue who he was. He was just a nice older gent, who was also getting things ready before his fishing partner arrived. I wandered back to my boat, and waited for the Vallery family to arrive.
They stayed at a place in Huron, and took a drive over to the launch last night, to make sure they knew where to go. They arrived at 5am, right on time, so we got the boat launched, and the trailer parked in a good spot.
It was still dark out, of course, so we took our time going out of the river. By the time we got on the lake, it would be light enough to see any objects floating in the water.
Speaking of floating objects...I'll tell you this event from today, right here...because, there's really no good spot in this day's report to put this, other than behind a good lead-in. :)
Here goes...
Tom (the dad), was reeling in a fish...and, as he's doing that, a floating log slides quietly down the starboard side of the boat, (scraping the boat kind of "close"), and when it appeared at the back of the boat, it freaked Tom out a little. It was a pretty big log.
But, when I saw it, and saw what was tangled in it....my heart dropped. Nooooo!!!
As the log moved away from us, the FishHawk probe was being moved away, too.
Luckily, though, the log was bark-less and smooth, so the 100# Power Pro had nothing to get stuck on, and I was able to gently pull it up over the log, and free it...whew! The thought of losing it, and having to replace it, made my heart skip a beat..Ugh!
Okay, back to the report....
We headed to the same area as yesterday... the fish were still there. All sizes, from itty-bitties to 26"... but, there are more White Perch in the mix now, too. They were annoying, actually. We were catching fish before all the lines were set, and started the morning off with some weird tangles caused by stupid little White Perch...doing weird little White Perch antics. (Those two tangles were it for the morning, and everything went smoothly the rest of the morning...well, other than that log incident, of course.)
Speed was 2.5 on the FishHawk...
Bandits ran on the port side, behind the Off Shore boards...
Blue Chrome at 120 back (outside board), and Green Lantern (a Slim Shady Custom) ran at 67 back.
Dipsies ran the usual BadMo, Yeck, and Scorpion spoons on the zero and three settings. The zero ran anywhere from 43 to 60 back...depending on how deep of water we were over, and what depth the fish were showing up at, on the Garmin.
The three settings ran at the usual 65 back on the port side, and 71back on the starboard side. (Hey, those numbers keep working, so I don't change them).
Evan and Eric are Tom's sons, and had never been on Lake Erie before, so this was new to them. Both of them did a great job, and Evan even helped me set lines, this morning. We were all reelers today, and kept throwing back smaller keepers, so we could stay out longer, but they finally called it at 9:00, and we headed in with our 4-person limit.
We said our goodbyes at the ramp, and I headed home. The river had a nasty slime (the brown bubbly kind) in the furthest launch from the bathrooms, and that's the one I loaded out in. It was nasty, so I had to hit the car wash on the way home. It would take too many towels to clean it in the parking lot, and then I would have to clean the towels, too. No thanks! Car wash it was....
They said they had a great time, and would like to book another trip next season, and that makes me happy!
I'm off tomorrow and Wednesday right now...but, I'm available for a trip on Wednesday July 2nd, if anyone is interested. The wind forecast for Wednesday is showing 6-9mph out of the NW, which isn't bad at all, and no precipitation until late afternoon.
My next trip will be Thursday July 3rd. I never book anything for the 4th, because I don't like being on the lake during the 4th of July, so I'll be back out on the 5th for another trip after that.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Gary Pennington and Jeremy...6/29/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/29/25I was meeting my crew at Huron, this morning, so I left the house at 4AM, hit the gas station for ice, and hit the highway. The roads were empty, and it was dark out, so I took my time and did 60mph in a 70....figured I might as well save a little gas, since I was so early, and I wouldn't slow anyone else down.
I arrived at the Huron ramp at 4:30, and started getting things ready, when I saw a vehicle pull in without a boat. I thought to myself, "There's no way that my guy, it's too early. He must be here to use the bathrooms". Well, it was my guy. "Good morning", he said as he exited his car. "Morning", I replied back. "You're early". He laughed and said, "I knew you would be...I think you passed me on the way here". I asked, "Where was that?" He said, "Lorain". I said, "It wasn't me, because I came from that way (pointing to the west)". "Well, it was a silver Vexus, so I thought it was you".
We just had to wait on Jermey, who replied to my text saying that he was on the way, and would be there shortly. We launched at 5AM and took a slow ride down the river, so the sky could lighten a little before we hit the mouth of the river. It was too dark out yet, for me to put my yellow lens glasses on, for the ride out, so I was hoping the bugs were still sleeping, so I wouldn't get one in the eyeball. That's never fun. I keep forgetting to buy some clear lens glasses for just such an occasion.
The wind was 7mph out of the ENE, the sky was clear, Venus was brightly shining, and the air temp was 70 degrees.
It wasn't going to be a fast ride, as the NE rollers were still coming down the lake, making it a slower ride out. We headed NNE to 40' of water, before turning the Vexus around and heading back towards the lighthouse. There had been marks on the Garmin the entire way out, so it was good to see that the fish were still in the area.
The FishHawk went down, showing a water temp of 74.6 degrees at 20 feet. The Ulterra and baby Merc were dialed in for a speed of 2.4-2.5mph and set on a course to the SSW.
Baby Spros (85s) were running behind the Off Shore boards on the starboard side, while the usual Bandits ran on the port side.
Bandits:
Blue Chrome at 120 back
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom) ran at 67 back
Baby Spros:
Blue Chrome at 140 back
Purple Glass Perch at 97 back
Dipsies on the zero settings were at 50-54 back and 40-45 back.
Three settings were the usual 65 and 71 back
Yeck, BadMo, and Scorpion spoons were used on the dipsies....color didn't matter They loaded up within minutes of going down each time. Sometimes, we were too busy with other fish coming in, that they just had to hang there, until we could get to them.
Everything above caught several fish.
My crew listened and got the "boat dance" down, so there were no tangles this morning, and they did a great job. We were all reelers and put our 3-person limit in the cooler by 8am, and headed back in. They both stayed at Huron to use the fish cleaning station, and I headed home...and, that makes my dogs happy! :)
Tomorrow, I have a new crew, and the winds will be a nice 7-10mph out of the south...yay! :)
I have a ton of available dates for July yet. Normally, by now, I have half the month booked, but not this season....people are nervous about the economy, I think, and are not spending recreational money, like they normally do....and, I see it in the amount of tourists here in Port Clinton this year, too. The number of vehicles that normally clog our roads are way down from previous years. :(
Anyway....if you want to get out fishing...contact me. I'd love to take you fishing. :)
Anyway....if you want to get out fishing...contact me. I'd love to take you fishing. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Marty and Zane...6/26/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/26/25I left the house at 4AM, because I was meeting my crew at the Huron ramp at 5AM, and I wanted some extra time there, so I could shine up the motors and clean the windshield, before they showed up. I hit the speedway in town, to get ice, and headed to Huron.
No one was there at 4:30, so I readied the boat, and started cleaning the motors. I jumped in and did the windshield, and when I turned around and saw the cooler, I realized I never grabbed the ice on my way out of the gas station. I threw my face up to the heavens and said, "F&#@* Me"! I looked at the clock and saw that I had 15 minutes before they would show up, and I HAD to have ice, so I strapped her back down and hit the gas station in Huron. Not the way I wanted to start the morning, but it is what it is, and tomorrow's ice is already paid for, so I guess that's the silver lining on that one.
I got back and unhooked the straps, and got things ready again. Marty and his grandson, Zane, had just pulled in, and hopped out of the truck. "Good morning", said Marty. "Good morning...ready to go fishing?", I asked. "We are", he said.
It was dark, but I knew that by the time we hit the mouth of the river, that the sky would have things light enough to see over the water. It was a repeat of yesterday's conditions...80 degrees, calm SW wind, and a 6" chop on the lake's surface, and a hope that the fish were still where I left them. They were. :)
I'm getting tired of sounding like a broken record, but the same programs I've used for weeks now, is still putting fish in the boat pretty fast.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards:
Port side:
Blue Chrome at 120 back
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom) at 70 back
Starboard side:
Remember that one I couldn't remember the name of? I finally asked Mike (Slim Shady Customs) and he said that one is called, "Whiskey and Water". It's the chrome blue/green one with the orange belly. That one ran at 97 back and took several nicer fish.
Purple Mist ran at 57 back
Dipsies produced the most with small spoons, because the fish are puking up tiny little minnows about an inch long. They also produced more shorts and 15-16" fish, but were constantly busy. We were throwing those all back. The fish that came on the crankbaits were typically larger.
The zero settings did best at 43 and 50-55 back
The three settings were set at 65 and 71 back
If you haven't noticed...I like odd numbers best. :)
Speed was set to the usual 2.4-2.5mph over 38 feet of water, to start. We trolled up to 43 feet of water, then turned back around when the fish marks disappeared on the Garmin. However, even though I wasn't marking anything...we were still catching fish.
We had our 3-person limit early again, and headed in before the heat arrived. It was a beautiful, fun, morning on Lake Erie, and both Marty and Zane had a good time.... and that makes me happy!
I have one more trip tomorrow, but then I'm off Saturday.
I have Sunday open if anyone is looking for a trip. The weather looks like it will be pretty great on Sunday. Contact me, if you're interested. Thanks!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pete and Chuck...6/25/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/25/25My Indiana crew was staying at Little Ted's Cottages, out in Marblehead, so I swung in there at 4:15, and once again...they were already up and waiting for me, even though I told them 4:30. :)
I had already hit the gas station for ice, and I had gassed up the Vexus the day before, so we headed straight to Huron from there. Okay, I just lied...we stopped at the Speedway again, because I had to pee, and wasn't sure I could make it to Huron. lol
Anyway....
We were there pretty early, and it was still dark, so I took my time getting things in the boat ready to go. After launching, we were at the mouth of the river at 5:15, and headed north about 4-5 miles. I slowed the 400 down over 40 feet of water, and found good marks again, so I shut her down, and deployed the Ulterra and baby Merc. The speed was once again set to 2.4-2.5mph according the FishHawk reading the currents below.
Chuck had limited experience running planer boards and Pete had none, so this was a learning trip for them. They both have their own boats, and often fish together, so they wanted to expand their options.
My fishing lingo was confusing to them, so it took repetitive instruction, and explaining why I do what I do, when I do it, and told them, "Don't worry, your subconscious is getting it. Most people only hear Mwah Mwah Wa, like the teacher's voice in the Peanut's/Charlie Brown cartoons for the first 1/2 hour, but it will start to make sense, eventually, and you'll be doing it on your own".
Eventually, they did get it, and ended up doing just fine with setting the Off Shore boards, and dipsies.
The program is the same as the last 4 trips out there. I'll repeat it, so you don't have to go look for it, if you're new to reading these reports. :)
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards on both sides...on the port side Blue/Chrome and Purple Mist ran at 120 and 80 back.
On the starboard side, that blue/green one from Slim Shady Customs, that I can't remember the name of, ran at 97 back, and another Purple Mist ran at 80 back.
All of the above caught fish.
I did swap out one Purple Mist for a "Green Lantern" from Slim Shady Customs, and it caught fish, too.
Dipsies (I use the size 1s) were the busiest again, and we were throwing back legal fish, because I didn't want to finish up before I felt that they had a good grasp on techniques.
The zero settings were at 54 and 45, and the three settings were at 65 and 71. BadMo spoons, Yeck spoons, and Scorpion spoons all worked....color didn't really matter, but I did change them out from time to time, just to verify that...and, my assumptions were correct. ;)
I don't think my brain logged the water temp this morning, but it is right around 70 degrees, right now.
The lake was like it was yesterday....just enough wind to put a 6" ripple on top, and out of the SW. The air temp on land when we launched was 82 degrees, but a little cooler out on the water. The sky was mostly clear, but there was a band of clouds that never covered the sun as it moved across the sky, so it stayed sunny the entire time we were out there.
We finished up at 8:00, over 45 feet of water, north of where we started. The bite was very good, but not chaotic, so they were able to keep up, and we all took turns reeling in our fish.
Pete and Chuck had a good time, were happy with the grade of fish, and said they learned a lot, so my mission was accomplished, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have repeat customer, Marty Parker and his grandson, who will be meeting me at Huron at 5AM.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Mary...6/24/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/24/25Steve and Mary drove up from Springfield yesterday, and stayed at the Fairfield Inn. Luckily, the FI has a nice big parking lot that is easy to maneuver a boat in tow, so I was able to pick them up from there. When I pulled in at 4:15, they had just gotten back from the gas station, where they bought ice for their cooler. I wasn't supposed to be there until 4:30, but I always like to be early, so I can get a few minutes scrolling social media.
Steve popped his head in the window and said, "I told Mary that you would be early", and laughed. They parked their vehicle and jumped in mine, and off we went. We hit the gas station again, so I could get ice for the coolers we would be using, and for some gas for the truck. We were headed back over to Huron to launch.
We made it out of the river around 5:20, when the sky was just starting to get light.
The wind was out of the SW again, at 5mph. The air temp was already 82 degrees, and the humidity seemed a little less than the previous two days. The water temp is close to 70 degrees.
We drove out 4 miles to the area I fished with my previous crew, and hoped they were still swimming out there. The screen on the Garmin was loaded with marks, so the Ulterra was deployed, along with the baby Merc, and set to a speed of 2.4mph, (on the FishHawk).
Bandits ran on both sides, behind Off Shore boards. Blue Chrome at 120 back, Purple Mist at 80 back, ran on the port side. That blue/green nameless one ran at 97 back, and another Purple Mist ran at 67 back, on the starboard side. All of them caught fish.
The dipsey settings are the same as I've been running...
zero at 45 and 54, and three setting at 65 and 71 / 75.
A black and gold Ripplin Redfin on the three setting at 65, it caught several bigger fish, like it did, yesterday, too.
BadMo Arrow spoons, Yeck spoons, and Scorpion spoons were used, but again...color didn't seem to matter. All caught fish.
Steve and Mary were a lot of fun to fish with, and said they had a great time, and will be back, and that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I have a two man crew from Indiana, that want to learn the boards and dipsies, so we will probably be pretty choosey about size, so we can take longer out there, than we did yesterday and today. Both days we were done by 7:30 with real nice eaters, and happy customers.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day Two with Curt and Cheryl...6/23/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/23/25My Wisco crew was up and ready to go at 4:30, when I pulled into the White Caps Motel, to pick them up. We hit the gas station for some ice, and headed to Huron to launch. I found out, that the work at the Huron parking lot was finished, so instead of hitting Vermilion, we would save some time and gas by launching at Huron instead.
When we arrived, it was still dark out, so I took my time readying the boat and gear, before launching. But, by the time we were at the mouth of the river, it was light enough to see if there were any floating logs, or other obstacles that needed to be avoided on the ride out.
The air temp was already 80 degrees, and very humid. The sky was cloudless, the moon was a crescent, and Venus was shining bright. The wind was very light out of the SW at maybe 5mph, and the waves were 6" or less. :)
I decided that we would drive up to where we ended our trolling pass yesterday, because the fish were a little bigger over 43-44 feet of water, than they were back in the shallower stuff...hoping they were still around. They were. It took a while to get all the lines out, because they started chomping right away.
Bandits ran on both sides, behind Off Shore boards. Blue Chrome at 120 back, Purple Mist at 80 back, ran on the port side. That blue/green nameless one ran at 97 back and Sunspot ran at 67 back, on the starboard side. All of them caught fish. The bigger fish came on the cranks, while the smaller fish still jumped on the spoons.
The dipsey settings are the same as I've been running...
zero at 45 and 54 and three setting at 65 and 71 / 75.
After I took a spoon off and put a black and gold Ripplin Redfin on the three setting at 65, it caught several bigger fish, like the board cranks were catching, in quick fashion. It wasn't down a minute and fish were on it!
It was non-stop action and we were all reelers this morning.
Curt and Cheryl had so much fun they have already booked a 2-day trip for next May, on Cheryls birthday, and that makes me happy! :)
The fish were very cooperative today, and made their experience an exceptional one, and I explained that it's not always like this, and that they had two great weather days....on the lake, anyway. Once we got back on land it was very hot and humid...ugh.
Tomorrow, I have a reschedule from last season, due to Mother Nature's fury, so we'll finally get that trip in. I'm headed back to Huron in the morning, hoping to have the same experience with these guys.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day One of Two with Curt and Cheryl...6/22/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/22/25At 2AM this morning, the wind was pretty blustery out on my back deck. I checked iWindSurf, and it showed a forecast of 10-20mph SW for the early morning, with it diminishing a little as the morning went on.
I picked my Wisco crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5AM, and hit the gas station, and then Mazurik's. I didn't want to drive back over to Huron after seeing the fiasco the work crews were causing with the repaving/repainting of the lot, and being a weekend day, I figured it would be worse.
My plan was to launch from Mazurik's...hug the shoreline over to the Huron...start in shallow, and head NE, over the dumping grounds. So, at 5:45, we were headed east. The water was pretty smooth, close to shore, and not bad as we crossed the open area in front of Sandusky Bay, and we made it to Huron in about 15-20 minutes.
We started in 30 feet of water, out in front of the "White Condos", and set a speed of 2.4 (FishHawk reading) to the NE. That would take us right over the top of the dumping grounds, and to the area I was fishing two days ago.
There were a ton of marks in the shallower waters, and the action started immediately with smaller fish, some keepers, and Sheephead. The sheep weren't bad though. I think we only caught 3 or 4 all morning.
The water temp at 20' down was just under 69 degrees.
Spoons ran behind dipsies on the zero and three settings. The zero settings were 35 and 40 to begin with. Eventually, as we got deeper, they were running at 45 and 55 back.
The three settings were 65 and 71 the entire time.
BadMo Arrow spoons, Yeck spoons, and Scorpions spoons did the job. Color didn't matter. They were always busy with fish on.
Two Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards on the port side at 97 and 67 back.
That blue/green one from Slim Shady Customs, that I can't remember the name of ran at 97 back, and Purple Mist ran at 67 back. They both caught fish early on, in the shallower water. Then, as we went further out, they were lowered to 130 and 120 back, and again, both caught fish.
The starboard side ran Flicker Minnow 11s at 97 back and 57 back. Firetail Chrome Candy, and Slick Purple Bengal... both caught fish.
The lake wasn't as rough as I thought it would be, with the forecast that was projected, so it was a beautiful morning on the water. It was definitely a lot cooler out there, than it was on land. I'm thinking that we might just run the 4 dipsies tomorrow, and take more time out there, because it's freak'n HOT on shore, and tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer!
According to a source, the Huron parking lot is done now, so I think we will be launching over there in the morning. I was going to go to Vermilion, but I'd rather go out of Huron, and use the wind direction to our advantage.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Chapmans...6/20/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/21/25For anyone that has been following my reports for the past 14 years, you know the name Chapman. Steve was my very first customer, way back when, and Jeremy started coming along later that same year.
Since then, they bought themselves a Ranger, to do what I have trained them to do, but when Jeremy wants to take his boy along, he hires me, so he doesn't have to be in charge, and can concentrate on helping his boy learn to love fishing. :)
We had a later start, due to their drive up from Columbus (2 hour drive), and I met them in Huron. I was disappointed to see that the crews working on the repaving and repainting of parking lot lines, had not finished yet, had the place really restricted...making it hard to maneuver with a boat in tow. Hopefully, it's done soon. I won't be going back until it is.
The river was pure chocolate milk, and the current was super strong...with lots of debris floating around.
Anyway....
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water. The sky was clear, the waves were 1 foot or less, and the water temp was 68 degrees.
We got out to the Huron dump around 9AM, and set lines. Once again, the speed was set using the FishHawk for guidance, at 2.5mph, and the Vexus pointed to the north.
Dipsies were running on my usual program of a zero setting at 43 and 54, and the three settings at 65 and 71. BadMo, Yeck, and Scorpion spoons ran behind the dipsies....color didn't seem to matter. They were checked often for itty-bitties, for which they were plentiful.
Bandits ran behind Off Shore boards on the port side at 130 and 120 back (unassisted). Blue Chrome and Purple Mist did the job.
Flicker Minnow 11s ran on the starboard side at 97 and 57 back. Colors were Firetail Chrome Candy, and Slick Purple Bengal.
We only ran two on each side to keep it simple, since we were entertaining a 6 year old, and didn't need more chaos than we were already dealing with. The bite was non-stop, and we were busy, busy, busy, so Luke was never bored! He did a great job reeling, as his Dad held the rod for him. We all caught our limits, and ended with a 4-person limit in 4 hours, and headed back in.
They wanted their fish cleaned at Port Clinton Fish, Co, so they met me there. It took forever to get back, thanks to road construction on RT2, and added an extra 1/2 hour to the normally 20 minute drive....ugh. I'm sure my dogs were wondering where I was, because they needed to be fed, and when I got home it was very dramatic....needless to say, they were very happy to see me. lol
Jeremy had sent me a text on their way home to say how much fun they all had, and that Luke couldn't stop talking about how he caught the biggest fish, and said that he wanted to be his Dad's fishing partner, and that made Jeremy very happy...which makes me very happy! :)
I'm scheduled for the entire week, starting Sunday, so hopefully Mother Nature doesn't cook us too bad with the heat and humidity that is forecast. Stay cool, everyone!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill, Pete, and Marv...6/17/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/17/25Picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5AM. Bill, Pete, and Marv drove in from Iowa last night, and were a little tired, but awake and ready to go.
We launched at Mazurik's at 5:30, while the sun was just peeking up over the horizon, to the east. The plan was to head to the SE side of Kelly's and troll the east side of the island.
The speed was set using the FishHawk, and when it hit 2.5 mph, I began the set up. My crew is older, so I didn't bother showing them how to set boards and dipsies, and instead, just did all the work myself, while we rotated, taking turns reeling in fish.
I was exhausted by the end of the trip, due to so many hungry little fish in the system, hitting our offerings, and having no help resetting lines. It was basically non-stop action all morning.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards at 120 (outside board), 80, 67, and 47 back (inside board). Colors that did best were the Purple Mist (47), blue/chrome (67), Sunspot (80), and that blue/green one (120) that I can't remember the name of.
The starboard side started out with the Livingston Walleye Minnow 111s, and caught a few. Then, I changed them out, and ran Flicker Minnow 11s at the same distances back as the Bandits, and they were catching more frequently.
Dipsies were best on the zero settings at 43 and 54 back. The three settings were the usual 65 and 71 back. Yeck, Scorpion, and BadMo Arrow spoons were a continuous exercise. I would just keep rotating my checks, because I think as soon as they went down, they picked up an itty-bitty. We caught some legals on them too, but those were very noticeable when they hit, of course. But, if you don't keep checking for itty-bitties, you're just going to drag them around forever, and never catch anything bigger.
Our 5 hour troll started in 34 feet of water as we headed NNE, and then when we got even with Airport Reef, we headed east, out to 44 feet of water. Then, when we were a little NE of Cedar Point, I pointed the Vexus back south, until we hit 41 feet of water, and turned her back to the west towards the dumping grounds.
The plan for tomorrow, was to head to Huron, for a change of scenery, and maybe some bigger walleye, but after I got home, I received a text asking if we could perch fish tomorrow, instead of going after walleye, because they felt they had enough walleye going home with them already. I said, "Sure, but I can't make any promises on how we'll do, because I haven't chased any perch yet, this season". They're okay with that. Yay! I love perch'n and am excited to go look for some.
So, if anyone has been fishing for perch out of Mazurik's and can help me out...that would be greatly appreciated! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 3 with Marion and Ruth Baker...6/12/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/12/25The original plan was to go to Huron again, so my crew was instructed for a 4:45 pick up, but I had changed my mind this morning, and wanted to launch at Mazurik's instead. I didn't want to deal with the traffic if the re-paving wasn't done yet, and they still had the accesses blocked.
So, I pulled into the White Caps Motel at 4:35, and there were Marion and Ruth, sitting on the front steps of the office...waiting, on ME!
I told them, that I had changed the launch location, and that we would be early, so we had time. We drove through town, and hit the Speedway for some ice, before heading to Mazurik's.
It was still dark out, when we pulled into the get-ready lane, so I just took my time getting things ready, and after a couple of us used the bathrooms, we were headed out at 5:20. This reminds me, I need to get a pair of clear lens glasses, for the early morning rides out. The yellow ones I have are too dark, for that early in the morning. I can't go without, because if you have ever had a bug hit your eyeball, you would never go without glasses, driving a boat, ever again. ;)
The wind was less than 5mph out of the SW, the sky was clear, and the air temp was 69 degrees.
We headed to the east side of Kelly's, and set up over 36 feet of water, headed to the NNE....moving out to deeper water as we went. Speed was 2.5mph on the FishHawk, and the water temp was 65 degrees, at 20 feet down.
The dipsies were non-stop with little itty-bitties, and a handful of keepers. The larger fish are on the Bandits at 47, 57, 67, 77, and 97 back, behind Off Shore boards.
Dipsies:
Zero setting at 43 and 54 back caught with Yeck and BadMo Arrow Spoons, and the three settings were at 65 and 71 back....running a Michigan Scorpion spoon and another Yeck spoon. Color didn't matter.
We caught a Steelhead! They had never seen one before, so I told them they were really good, smoked, so they kept it. I was surprised to see it caught right there, (northwest of Cedar Point).
We only caught one Sheephead, but it was a tanker, with a big belly. No White Bass or White Perch, either.
My crew wasn't choosy today... if it was legal, it went into the cooler, because they had a 12 hour ride back to Iowa, ahead of them. They talked about coming back for a week next time, and that makes me happy! :)
It was getting rough, anyway. The wind had switched from the SW to the NE around 7AM, and kept picking up as the morning went on. I don't think it was ever over 15mph, though. The waves grew to 1-3's by 9AM, when we finished with our limits, and headed in.
I'm off for a few days. My Saturday trip just rescheduled to the 28th, due to a forecast of a gusty NE winds, and rain.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Marion and Ruth Baker...6/11/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/11/25I picked Marion and Ruth up 15 minutes earlier than yesterday. After picking up some ice for the coolers, we were headed to Huron a little before 5am. The parking lot at Huron was empty, except for one rig that was backing down the ramp, as we drove in.
PUBLIC NOTICE INFO....They are resurfacing the roads, and lot, with that tar spray stuff.
They started on it yesterday, and have the get ready lanes blocked off...so, you'll have to go left, and the wrong way, in order to get in the "second lot", by the cleaning station. That's the only way you'll be able to access the ramps.
I hope they have it done by the weekend, because when it gets busy, and if they are still blocking access, there are going to be problems. There is only one lane to get in and out, so what are you going to do when someone is coming in, and you want to get out?
I had that happen yesterday, but I was able to pull off on the grass, where the curb hadn't started yet. I let them pass, and they were grateful....But, if I had been any further, on my way out, I couldn't have done that. That's a big curb, and I wouldn't want to take my trailer over it. So, there are going to be problems.
When I left Huron, this morning at 9 AM, they hadn't arrived to start working on it yet.
_________________________________________
As we approached the mouth of the river at 5:30, the sky was clear, the air temperature was around 60 degrees, and the wind was out of the SW at around 11 mph.
We weren't going to go far, and would start in the area that we finished up at, yesterday. In fact, I burned a whopping 1.5 gallons of gas today. lol The 400 purred, quietly, as we made our way out, (1 mile), to 34 feet of water. We fished 36 feet, yesterday, but the fish were showing up on the Garmin at 34, so I figured we would start there.
The Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed, and adjusted so that the kicker would do most of the work, while the Ulterra would use just enough power to keep us on course, and use minimal battery. The speed was set to 2.4mph to start. It would fluctuate between 2.0 and 2.7, as I played with speed. 2.5 seemed to be most liked by the walleye, this morning.
The program was the same as yesterday, with Bandit and Walleye Minnow 111s running behind Off Shore boards.
Bandits did best at 80, 67, and 47 back, and the Walleye Minnows worked best at 80 and 47 back.
Dipsies caught a ton of shorts, and a few keepers, and had to be checked every spare moment, when we weren't bringing fish in, or setting lines out again. There was usually an itty-bitty hanging on, and I didn't want them to have to hang on too long. All were unhooked carefully, so as not to rip their tiny lips...and given a kiss for good luck, before swimming back down.
The zero setting ran a Yeck spoon at 50, and a BadMo Arrow Spoon at 35-43 back.
The three settings ran a Yeck spoon at 65, and a Stinger spoon at 60 back.
All caught fish. It was pretty much non-stop action, even if they weren't all keepers. :)
Marion and Ruth are farmers. The farm they are on, is where Ruth spent her entire life. They do hay, corn, soybeans, pigs (lots of piggies), and something else, that I don't want to say without being sure. It could have been chickens, but I don't know. I know it's not cattle/cows, because I know they said they used to have them, but don't anymore.
They did even better today, since they had already had some training, yesterday. And, they already knew me, so that nervousness strangers have when meeting new people was gone. It was like getting in the boat with family, instead of strangers....you know....comfortable.
We had a successful morning, but Ruth was still kind of upset for losing the biggest fish that we had seen, in the two mornings of fishing. It got caught in the whirlpool suction in that corner by the motor and stern, and was flopping around, while I was trying to get it in the net....then, it spit the hook, and was heading back down, before I could get it.
I told her, "At least you saw it", to which she replied, "I did, but I'm still not happy about losing it." I said, "I'm sure the fish is happy"....she laughed...understanding. It was maybe a 5 pound fish...so, to me, that's just a "good eater", but to her it was a wall-hanger. ;)
We will give it another go in the morning, and maybe she'll get an even bigger one. Fingers crossed! :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Marion and Ruth Baker...6/10/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/10/25Marion and Ruth had a trip scheduled last season, but due to major flooding in western Iowa, they had to cancel. I moved their deposit to this season for them, and we were able to make it out this morning. They have a three-day trip planned, and it looks like we'll get all three days in! Yay!
As usual, I got up early, to have my coffee out on the back deck with the dogs, and check the weather. My initial plan was to go out of Mazurik's, but the forecast was calling for kind of gusty winds out of the WSW, so I thought it would be better to go out of Huron, which was closer to the fish I wanted to target. I hadn't met the Bakers before, so I didn't know how old they were, and didn't want to make a long rough run from Mazurik's, if I didn't have to.
I picked them up from the White Caps Motel at 4:45, and we hit the gas station for some ice, and jumped on the highway. We got to the ramp a little before 5:30 and were passing the lighthouse on the way out, at 5:45.
The sky was clear, the air temp was 59 degrees, and the wind was light at around 5-7mph. The lake was relatively flat, and made for an easy ride out.
The Garmin marked fish, here and there, for the entire ride out. No big schools, but a lot of smaller spotty ones....enough to keep my interest. So, when we were on the west side of the Huron Dump, I shut the big 400 down and deployed the Ulterra and baby Merc, and let the kicker warm up while I set the FishHawk out. Water temp was 63 degrees at 20 feet down.
I turned the Vexus to the NE, and set a speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
We ran three Bandits behind the Off Shore boards on the port side, and two "Livingston" Walleye Minnow 111s on the starboard side.
Bandit colors were:
That green/blue fade one that I don't know the name of from Slim Shady Customs at 80 back.
Buck Fever, from Domka Outdoors, at 67 back, and Green Lantern...another Slim Shady Custom at 45 back.
All of the above caught fish.
Walleye Minnows:
LimeLight at 93 back, and Sherbert at 57 back. Both of those caught fish, too.
Dipsies were the usual...
Zero setting at 54 on the starboard side, and 35-43 on the port side.
Three settings were 71 on the starboard side and 65 on the port side.
Dipsies caught the most fish, but the crankbaits caught the bigger fish.
Marion and Ruth both did a great job, learning my "fishing language", and even though it took a little while to get the hang of it, they managed to do just that. They said they had a good time, and are looking forward to getting out again the next two days, and that makes me happy! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Danielle...6/8/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/10/25
Fishing with the Neighbors…6/8/2025
Took my neighbors, Danielle and Dave, out this morning. We had a late start and launched at Huron at 10 AM. It was still cloudy and a little drizzly on the way out….(it was cleared up and the sun was shining an hour later).
The lake had some rollers, due to the wind direction, but it wasn’t bad.
Capt Sam (Pork Chop Express) was on his way in, as we were going out, and he told me where to start, (out in 44’ of water), so that’s where we went. Thanks a bunch Sam! 
We made one pass and caught around 30 fish in 2 hours.
Same program I’ve been running the last several trips, so I’m not going to repeat it again, since it can be easily found.
We kept our 18…all good eaters, and released a bunch of shorts that came on the spoons, running off the dipsies.
They had a great time, and scheduled a perch trip for the 21st, and that makes me happy!
I’m ready to do some perch’n! Woot! Woot! 
I’m off tomorrow, and need to clean the boat, because I have a two day trip with a nice couple from Iowa, that had to cancel last season, due to the massive flooding that hit western Iowa last summer.
Stay tuned…
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Hubbard Family...6/6/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/06/25I was up earlier than usual, so I left the house a 1/2 hour earlier, and headed to the gas station at 4 AM. Bought my ice, and skipped the smokes, because they went up again. I'm going to have to be done with them now...it's ridiculous to pay so much just to take years off of my life. Thanks, you greedy bastards, for making me quit!
Anyway...rant over...lol
I hit Mazurik's at 4:30, so I had 45 minutes to get things ready before my crew showed up at 5:15. When I pulled in the park, it was completely empty, and very quiet...just how I like it. I readied the boat and the gear, and spent a little time on the internet.
Brian (Dad), Mitch, and Nick are from Wisconsin, and live not far from where I lived, when I lived there.
Even though they showed up right on time, we still had to wait a bit, for it to get lighter out, so I said to them, "I'll go hit the bathroom, and get rid of the last bit of coffee, then we can go". By the time I got back, more rigs were starting to pull into the park.
The air temp was 65 degrees, the sky was cloudy, and the wind was around 5-7mph out of the NE. I looked at the radar, and it showed scattered showers headed towards the lake, which surprised me, since my weather app was saying, "No precipitation" for the entire day. I guess that's what happens when the NWS and NOAA lose funding for important weather tests needed for proper forecasts.....deep sigh.
We launched, and our destination was north to the line, and then, I would figure it out from there. The drizzle started about halfway, and made my visibility even worse, and I had to keep wiping my glasses off, so I could see. At one point, we almost ran over a Perch net that was set up on the NW side of Kelly's....not far from the red buoy at American Eagle Shoal. It was on the port side, and the bow seat was blocking my vision at that angle, so I didn't see it until we were almost on it. Luckily, it was the single flag end, and I only had to dodge the little floats that are on the outside of the flags, and didn't have to worry about anything in the middle.
Once we got up to the line (west side of Middle Island), I turned the boat and headed to the east side of Gull Island Shoal.... and, north of Kelly Island Shoal. The plan was to hit the area I fished my last time out, and see if the fish were still in the area. The Garmin had marked fish here and there, but there wasn't any big schools showing up. Reports from the days I wasn't fishing told me that they should still be there.
The FishHawk was deployed to 20 feet (showed a water temp of 63.6 degrees), and the Ulterra and baby Merc worked in unison, at a speed of 2.2-2.5mph on a southerly troll. The waves were set on the port stern, so speed control could be maintained. We were over 42 feet of water, and that would change here and there as we trolled south.
The dipsies went out first, with the zero settings on 35 and 54, and the three settings at 65 and 71. Yeck, Stinger, and BadMo spoons were on all of them.
Color didn't seem to matter....they all caught fish.
I ran the same crank program I've been running the last several times out, and they all produced, too, but the spoons definitely out-fished the cranks this morning.
Bandits and Livingston Walleye Minnows ran behind the Off Shore boards. The Bandits ran on the port side at 120 back (outside board), 80, 67, and 50 (inside board).
The Walleye Minnows ran at 97 (outside), 80, 65, and 57 back (inside).
Colors were:
Bandits: 120 back was that one I don't know the name of...it's a custom color by Slim Shady Customs, and is like a green and blue fade, (maybe Mike Schlimgen will see this and tell me what it is, because I can't find it on his site). 80 back was Buck Fever, by Domka Outdoors, 67 back was Pooh Bear, Domka Outdoors, and the 50 back was Green Lantern, by Slim Shady Customs.
Walleye Minnows:
97 back was LimeLight, 80 back was Sherbert, 65 back was Chrome XXX Shad, and 57 back was another Sherbert.
Everything above caught fish.
The dipsies had to be checked often, to make sure the itty-bitties were not being dragged around, and almost every time we checked, there they were....anywhere from 5 to 12 inches, just spinning around and around...poor little fishies. They were all returned unharmed, and with a kiss for good luck. That's why dispsies need to be check regularly. :)
They caught their three-man limit, and I reeled in mine, too. It's been years since they had been to Lake Erie, so learning to troll was the game plan. They did a great job, and picked the routine up quick. I showed them how to attach the Off Shore boards, and set them back out into their original spots, without having to move other boards, to do it. We only had a couple of tangles due to the wind, but nothing bad, thankfully.
I have the same crew tomorrow, and told them I would like to visit Vermilion in the morning, so they will be meeting me at my house, and we will drive over there together. It's a lot cheaper in gas, and a better ride, than riding across the lake with another NE wind. The winds should be the same tomorrow, which is forecast to be 8-10mph.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with David, Fred, and Craig...6/1/2025
by Capt Juls on 06/02/25My crew today, are friends with the Jay Prater group, from last week, and were supposed to go tomorrow, but the wind forecast for today was more favorable, and they were able to move it, so it all worked out.
I left the house at 4:30, but didn't need to pick my crew up, since they were meeting me at Mazurik's at 5:15. I stopped to get ice on the way to the ramp. I wanted to get there early, so I could get things ready before they showed up. But, Jay must have told them I like to be early, because they showed up at 5 AM.
It was still dark out, so I took my time. While it's possible to drive in the dark out there...I do not like it, because I can't see if there are floating logs, or perch nets, and it kind of freaks me out. Those nets are always moving....so, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
The sky was partly cloudy, the wind was less than 10 mph out of the south, and the air temp was a chilly 51 degrees. It's the beginning of June, and I'm still wearing my BlackFish Gear out there, (it has a fuzzy fleece liner in both the jacket and the pants). This spring has been the worst I've ever experienced in my 62 years on this planet....deep sigh. On the bright side, though, it looks like it's going to get hot by mid-week.
We left the dock at 5:25 and headed north to the line, near Gull Island Shoal, and set up on the west side of it. The Vexus was pointed to the east, with the Ulterra and baby Merc moving us along at 2.1-2.2 mph (FishHawk speed).
The water temp was 60 degrees.
The port side ran Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, and the starboard side ran the "Livingston" EBS Walleye Minnow 111s, with the same leads I used the last time out. 97 (outside boards), 80, 75, and 57 (inside boards). Eventually, the Bandit at 97 was set to 120 back, and started taking fish. That's the "SlimShady" Custom, that I can't remember the name of, and can't find it on his site, but it's a fade of blue and green with an orange belly.
Other Bandit colors that took fish were..."Domka Outdoors" Buck Fever at 80 back, and Red Headed Wonder Bread at 67 back. Sunspot didn't catch this morning, and neither did an orange and sliver one, that I can't remember the name of, either.
The Walleye Minnow colors that took fish were the LimeLight at 97 back, and Sherbert at 80 and 67 back.
Most fish came on the dipsies using BadMo Arrow Spoons and Yeck Spoons.
Two dipsies off each corner ran with the zero and three settings. The zero setting was changed often and settled on 40 and 54 back, while the three settings were catching at 65 and 71 back. We did catch one fish with a black and gold Ripplin RedFin off the three setting at 71 back, but that was it for that one, so we swapped it out for another BadMo spoon. Colors didn't seem to matter....we had the whole spectrum, out there.
David, Fred, and Craig were on a learning trip, to up their skills in their boat, when they are here, so after a little training, (and, me chirping in their ears for hours) they practiced setting lines all morning, and did a great job. I have no doubt they will be able to take what they learned and apply it...giving them the confidence to duplicate what we did today. :)
We fished the Canadian line, and were mostly all alone, except for an occasional boat here and there, but it wasn't a crowd, and made it a very nice morning. The south wind stayed below 10 mph, and the waves up on the line were 2 foot or less.
The crew all said that they had a good time, and learned a ton, and that makes me happy. David and Jay have scheduled to come back in October, to fish together, so I'm really looking forward to that.
My next trip is Wednesday, with John Ackerman. The forecast looks bumpy, but fishable. Hopefully, the winds do not get any stronger in that forecast. Right now, it's showing 17-20 out of the SSW.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Danny and Charlie...5/29/2025
by Capt Juls on 05/29/25This morning, I had two brothers from southern Ohio, who are in their 70s. I was supposed to have them out yesterday, but when given the opportunity, they opted for today's west wind, over yesterday's east wind. It was a good decision.
I left the house a few minutes before 5 AM, and drove the mile it takes me to get to the White Caps Motel, down the road. I was early, of course, and had told them 5:15, but they saw me pull in, and were ready to go, so they hopped in the truck and off we went.
I only had to get some ice for the coolers, since the Vexus and truck were already gassed up from the previous trip, so that didn't take long. We hit Mazurik's around 5:20.
We were in the water by 5:40, and headed over to the Cedar Point Dump, to start.
The water temp at 18 feet (on the FishHawk) was 58.7 degrees, this morning.
The air temp was 55 degrees. The sky was partly cloudy to the east, with some high-hanging fog to the west, but the lake was clear of fog.
The wind was forecast for less than 10 mph, out of the west, for the early morning, and up to 11 mph later in the morning... (It hit 15mph by the time we were heading in).
There were still some residual rollers from last night's east winds, so we didn't go very fast, on our way out.
On the last trip out, I had left some good fish out in front of Cedar Point, so I wanted to start there, and troll my way up the east side of Kelly's following contours in that 42-44' range....at a speed of 2.0-2.2 mph. When we were east of the shoal, we were in 46' of water.
I ran the same program as the last time out, and they started catching again, but there were a lot more short fish, than last time. The further north we got the better the fish got. There were less shorts up that way.
Since there were only three of us this time, we ran three Off Shore boards on each side, and two dipsies on the port side, and only one dipsey on the starboard side.
"EBS Walleye Minnow 111" ran on the starboard side behind the boards, and Bandits ran on the port side. The dipsies ran with Yeck spoons. The zero setting was best at 50 and 60 back, and the three setting was best at 70.
Danny had showed up with in an old peanut butter jar, or something similar, and it had two shallow running baits in it. He couldn't remember who makes them...only that he got them at Bass Pro or Cabelas.
He said, "These are my lucky baits...we hammer fish on these all the time". I was a little skeptical, but I liked the little lip on it, and the color (black/gold/red belly), and had him pull one out. I put it on the dipsey using the three setting, because....why not? If it didn't pull a fish in 15 minutes, we could change it out again.
Well, that little bait pulled several fish this morning, and they were usually bigger fish.
Now I have to go find some to use on the dipsies in the future. I just used Google to look it up. It's a 3 1/2" "YoZuri Pins Minnow". I really liked the action behind the dipsey, so that's worth spending a few bucks on, to have in the arsenal for future trips. He said they were cheap, and I just found that Walmart carries them, so I'll check it out later. :)
The Walleye Minnows were set at 97 back (outside board), 77, and 57 back (inside board), and the Bandits ran at 97, 67, and 57 back.
Bandit colors that worked today were "Sunspot" (stock color), "Big Bad Bill" (SlimShady Custom color), "Glacier Shad" (SlimShady Custom), and another SlimShady color that I can't find on his site to look up the name...but, it's a chrome bluish-green fade color.
The Walleye Minnow colors were:
Sherbert and Limelight (2 of these)
My crew did a good job, even though it was very difficult for them to stand up, while the boat was rocking in the waves. We boxed 18 fish, but had a lot of shorts we threw back, and some fish showing up as we were clearing lines, before heading back in at 10 AM. They said they had a good time, and that makes me happy! :)
On the way back to the White Caps Motel, we stopped off at Port Clinton Fish Co, to drop off their fish, to be cleaned, so they didn't have to do it before heading south again.
Tomorrow I'm fun fishing with a friend, because it's supposed to be nice out, and I could use some fish in my freezer, now that I bought a chest freezer for my garden's bounty later this summer.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Just Sharing This....:) 5/27/2025
by Capt Juls on 05/28/25
I got an email today, that made me happy, so I thought I would share it, since he took the time to make it so long...
I'm Out of A Lot of Money and It's Partially Your Fault!!!
Juls,
June 1, 2019 was my second time walleye fishing. My uncle, Jeff, and dad, Greg, booked a trip with you. I wasn't a fishing enthusiast but wanted to experience Erie again, only having a few memories of my first trip. You taught us how to troll using dipsies and boards with bandits and flicker minnows. The weather was good, we had a great time, and I have a photo of 24 fish in a cooler at 11am.
It'd be two years before we'd go again. A friend of my dad's, an exceptional walleye fisherman, Mike Bentz invited us up to fish. Our first time with you was an enjoyable experience so I wanted to go again. For a second time, good weather, minimal wind. Mike had us trolling with boards and bandits so everything we learned from our trip with you came in handy. We caught our limit and pulled in a 30" fish on that trip. We fished 4 days that spring with Mike and his son Andy. After that, the hook was set.
I was ready to try trolling myself but the only boat I had was a 27' SeaRay cruiser. I built my own rod trees out of exhaust tubing and bought some buggy bags to slow the boat down. I bought a pile of Bandits and four cheap counter rods. We went fishing for two days in late October and caught five fish. Had a fish fry and had a great time.
This year is my 5th year fishing on my own. I've collected an arsenal of rods and tackle. Last year I purchased a center console with an iPilot and added a kicker. Mike has been giving us colors, speeds, depths, and locations over the years, and I typically check your blog, but I've also found fish on my own. This year Mike showed us how to tie and run worm harnesses, and we limited out several days on those.
I've had the opportunity to introduce many people to walleye trolling. I've taken anyone from my family that wanted to go, countless friends, hosted their friends, and this weekend I'm taking three guys from work that have never been on a Great Lake. I've shared walleye fillets with so many people and they all rave about the quality. I've shared more fish frys with friends and family than you can shake a stick at. Everyone loves it.
My first trip with you and the next two with Mike were all decent weather. It wasn't until I started scheduling my own trips that I got to learn how often it's windy out there. This Saturday looks to be a blow day also.
I haven't kept an exact count of how many fish we've caught but im close. If it didn't already happen last week, with some luck this weekend, we'll have boated 500 walleye in the last five years. That's a pile of fish that came with a bigger pile of memories.
Thank you for everything you do. I'm sure you've gotten thousands of people addicted to this sport. There's tens of thousands of people that have caught fish because of your blog. But imagine the money I would have saved if you wouldn't have put us on fish that day!
Best of luck out there,
Ryan Withered
Fishing with Jay, Jimmy, and Bob...5/26/2025
by Capt Juls on 05/26/25I got up at 2 AM this morning...but, I still had 7 1/2 hours of sleep, so I was feeling refreshed.
Grabbed my cup of coffee, fed the dogs, grabbed their tennis balls, and hit the back deck, to check the weather.
It was 55 degrees, clear sky, and not a breath of wind. I smiled, knowing that it would be a fun day on the lake.
Jay, had scheduled this trip for last week, but Mother Nature was having another Tizzy-Fit, and their day would be rescheduled to today.
Jay, Jimmy, and Bob would be meeting me at Mazurik's at 5:15. I made sure I was there 1/2 hour early, so I could ready things before they arrived. I like to do things in the quiet of the morning, so I don't get distracted and miss something.
They showed up right on time, and we launched. The sky was glowing to the east, but still dark to the west. We headed back up to the ENE side of Kelly's, where we would start.
I didn't want to pull crawler harnesses, slow, again, so I had swapped them out for Bandits on the port side, and a new-to-me lure...the "EBS Walleye Minnow 111", by "Livingston" (a Texas Company, I believe). It's similar to the Flicker Minnow 11s, but they dive deeper than the Flickers. Example...the Flicker at 15 feet would be 74 back. The Walleye Minnow is only 55 back. They also have a different rattle sound than the Flickers.
Both sides ran the same distances back, behind the Off Shore boards, in the beginning....120' (outside), 80', 67', and 57' (inside), but eventually the 120s became 97 feet back, and took a lot of fish.
The "Sunspot" Bandit was hot, so we changed out a couple of the others and had three of them running out there. They all produced.
The Walleye Minnow 111 colors were... "LimeLight", "Sherbert", and "Chrome xxx Shad" (ran two of those), and they all took several fish. At one point, I was ready to take them off, due to no action, but as soon as I tripped the outside board to bring in the Walleye Minnow, and change it out to a Bandit, two of the inside boards took off. Needless to say, they stayed out and caught a lot of fish from then on. I didn't keep track, but it seemed like it was a pretty even tally between them and the Bandits.
Dipsies started out with a couple of "Worm-Burners" on the starboard side, and a couple of Yeck spoons on the port side. The Yeck out produced the worms for us, so eventually, the worms were removed and more spoons put out.
The zero setting was catching at 30' back, and the 3 setting was catching at 60 back.
I have a few Yeck spoons that DJ (DJ's Custom Eye Lures) painted the bellies of them for me with a royal blue. The top side is a mix of gold/copper/red/and black.
That was a hot spoon, so we ended up with three of those out, too. The fourth one was a mostly orange one...orange belly with wide edge strips of orange, over gold, was on the top side.
Speed was 2.0-2.2 on the FishHawk. Most of the time, SOG was 3-4 tenths faster.
The water temp on the surface was 57 and down 18 feet, it was 58.7.
We made one big half circle, from east of the south end of the shoal...out to the NE side of Cedar Point, and then back towards the dumping grounds. The bite was spotty...we would get one here and one there, and then we would have doubles or triples happening.
The crew did a great job, and said they had a blast, and learned a lot, and that makes me happy! I really had a good time with these guys, too! They worked me to near exhaustion, but it was worth it! Ha!
We had our 24, and threw back around a dozen, in just over 3 hours...most of which, would have been legal, but Jimmy's kind heart said, "Let them live, to get bigger"....and, I can respect that.
I have tomorrow off, and will be back at it on Wednesday, with Dan Harris and his brother. Fingers crossed the weather doesn't stop us.
Update: I got a phone call while I was writing this, and they must have had fun, and weren't just saying that, to say it, because Jay's friend, David, just called and booked June 3rd, for himself and two of his friends. Woot! Woot! Thanks, Jay!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
