Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Jermey and Luke...7/10/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/10/26I contacted Jeremy yesterday to see if he wanted a fishing trip before I contacted anyone else that's on the list of "Give me call if..." people. He quickly confirmed it after talking to his wife, Erika, and moving some work stuff around.
I normally like to see the sunrise on the lake, not only for its majestic beauty, but also, because the walleye bite is usually pretty strong right before sun-up. It's also nice to be able to get at least one pass in before anyone else shows up to get in the way. ;)
However, they drove up from Columbus with a 7-year-old boy this morning, so we did a later start and didn't launch until 7:30. There was already a big pack of boats over where I had been fishing, so I decided to go west towards G-Can, since there was no one over there...just to see if there were any fish there. The wind would also be behind us on our troll back towards the east, making the boat less bouncy and more comfortable for the little dude.
The Garmin was marking fish, thankfully, so we stopped...and set up over 21 feet of water. The FishHawk speed was 2.5-2.7 mph.
The dipsies went down first. The zero settings were 20 and 23, and the three settings were both set to 30 back. Both three settings ran Yeck spoons with both sides of the spoon sporting a lot of orange. Those two dipsies outfished the zero settings by a lot. It could also be that as soon as the zero settings went down, a little White Perch would jump on it, and were never noticed until it was time to check them.
The Bill Lewis PWC Lites are still going strong. Best lead was 50/25 with 2oz...(total line out was 75). Several times, as soon as the board was locked in to jog to its spot....a fish would have already hit it.
"Green Tiger", "Purple Tiger", "Red Tiger", and "Chrome Barbie" were the colors again. All caught fish.
We were able to have an enjoyable morning without having to dodge a lot of boat traffic, and the boy reeled in so many fish his arms hurt. lol
We only fished a few hours, and went in per Jeremy's directive. The wind had died along with the bite...the sun was hot, the air was heavy with humidity, and the bugs were starting to find us, so we went in. We like to keep the experience a fun one for Luke, so his enthusiasm to fish with his dad doesn't wane.
Jeremy has his own Ranger boat, but likes to hire me so he can relax and enjoy the family stuff without having to do everything else, too. Now that he's had a refresher course in dipsies, he's going to be getting his boat out next week, and taking his Dad and Luke out fishing on their boat. :)
After dropping their fish off at Bay's Edge Fishing Cleaning, we met over at Casa Las Palmas for a quick lunch, so we could visit more and they could wait on their fish cleaning to get done. It's always nice to spend time with folks who feel more like family than just customers.
They all said they had a fantastic morning, even though we didn't limit out. We only put 8 keepers in the cooler, but caught a lot of fish. Unfortunately, there were a lot of White Perch, Sheephead, and short walleye, too. It kept it busy and fun for Luke, while Jeremy picked up some tips on how to do some things. So it was a successful trip in their eyes, and that makes me happy!
I don't have anything else scheduled until the 17th and 18th, next week, but if I get a call, I'll be sure to report.
I'm hearing that the hot and humid weather will be back next week....again....deep sigh. On one hand, I'm glad I'm not fishing in that weather, and on the other...I want to go fishing. There are several good wind days next week...with Tuesday looking the best right now.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Melinda and Caleb...7/8/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/08/26There was no sleeping in this morning. At 1:30 a.m., Ella decided I had been asleep long enough, and it was time to get up and go out on the back deck. As soon as the blankets were thrown back, Alfie shot up and started dancing on the bed.....deep sigh. To be honest, I could have kept sleeping, but I was fishing today, so it was better to get an early start.
When the coffee was ready and the dog treats dispersed, we hit the back deck to check the weather apps. The forecast was calling for winds less than 10 out of the WSW, clear skies, and no rain. I was just hoping there would be no bugs this morning.
Caleb and his twin brother have fished with me several times in the past. Their Dad would drop them off at Mazurik's to jump in my boat, then launch us and park the truck. Then, they would send him a text when we were done and on our way back in, so he could meet us there and pick up the boys. Back then, they were in their mid to late teens, I think. I have taken them bass fishing a couple of times, walleye fishing, and perch fishing before. Their dad only went when we did the perch trip.
I was sad to learn that their Dad passed away from COVID a few years ago; he was a great guy. :(
Melinda and Caleb came up from Waco, TX to visit family in Lakeside. Caleb reached out to me last week to set up a fishing trip for his mom and him, so we landed on this morning to make that happen.
I jumped in the truck at 4:30 and headed to the gas station for some ice. It felt good to have my truck back. Matt Wieland put new injectors and spark plug wires in it yesterday, and it's running like a champ. There are so many new parts on this truck now that it's "newer" than the day I bought it in 2020 (it's a 2016 GMC Sierra). Anyway...it's running great, so I think she'll be around for a while.
I arrived at Mazurik's at 5 a.m., but wasn't expecting them until 5:30. I readied the boat and polished up the motors while I waited for them.
They showed up right on time, and off we went. If you read the previous report, you know where I went on Sunday. The plan was to go back there again, and hope the fish hadn't moved yet. I was concerned, because of the big storm system that came through here on Monday. Thankfully, as I approached the area NNW of Catawba, the marks on the Garmin started showing up. As soon as the Vexus came off plane, the screen lit up with good marks. It was time to fish.
I started out with the same program that I ran Sunday. The water depth right there was 25 feet.
The dispsies went out first. The zero settings at 20 and 23 back.
The three settings went out at 37 and 42 back.
Speed was 2.5mph on the FishHawk.
Bill Lewis PWC Lites with 2oz snap-weights ran behind the Off Shore boards. Two boards per side.
Colors on the port side were: "Green Tiger" and "Red Tiger"
The starboard side ran "Purple Tiger" and "Chrome Barbie".
On the port side, the outside board was running 50/25 (weight goes on at the 50 mark and the second number is how much additional line is let out before the planer board is attached. So, 50 (weight) +25=75 total line out.
Now, to make it confusing for you...some people, including myself, will sometimes write it 50/75...meaning, the weight goes on at the 50 mark and the second number is the total amount of line out before attaching the board.
Anyway...I digress...
Port Side:
50/25 outside board (75)
50/11 inside board (61)
Starboard side:
50/30 outside board (80)
50/24 inside board (74)
All took fish. We had our 18 in the cooler in about 2 1/2 hours. I didn't look at the clock. We caught some Sheephead, short walleye, and White Perch, too, so that kept us very busy. The bite slowed a little as the sun got higher, so we were all glad that we were able to get out early and catch the tail end of a feeding frenzy.
They asked about fish cleaning, so I told them to follow me into downtown Port Clinton, so we could drop the fish off to be cleaned there. I knew that they would be able to get them cut fast, because we got there within a 1/2 hour of them being open. There would be several cutters to help process them. They were done in less than 10 minutes. If you come in after the "Fishermn's Wharf" headboats get in across the street, you'll be waiting longer. They usually have a lot more fish to clean when that happens.
Melinda and Caleb had a great time, and said they will be back, and that makes me happy. :)
Looks like I have a two-week dry spell now; I'm not scheduled to fish until the 17th and 18th.
If I pick something up between now and then, I'll be sure to report.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave, Danielle, and Keith...7/5/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/06/26I took my neighbors Dave and Danielle, and our friend Keith out as a "Thank you" for letting me use his truck this past week to tow the boat for my trips. My truck has an issue that should be fixed Monday morning. Fingers crossed!
Anyway...
We didn't go to Huron, and launched out of Catawba instead. There was rain in the forecast that would be showing up in about three hours, so we didn't want to waste any time driving and get that time on the water.
I had gotten a report of a large school of fish near the cans, so we went to check it out. The report was right. We didn't go far from the launch before I said, "We are marking fish...let's fish". So, we got the dipsies and Bill Lewis PWC Lites in the water and started catching right away.
Zero dipsies set at 20 and 25, and the three settings at 40 back started catching right away, so it took a few minutes before we got the cranks out behind the Off Shore boards.
The PWC's were set at a total of line out at 60 (2), 65, and 74 back. The 2oz snap weights were all put on at the 50 mark. Same colors I've been using in Huron..."Purple Tiger", "Green Tiger", and Red Tiger"....all caught fish.
We also caught some Sheephead, White Bass, and White Perch, along with some short walleye that we threw back. I was watching the radar the entire time, because the system that was moving in was expanding as it neared the lake, and the colors were going from green (just rain) to orange, yellow, and red (heavy rain). I was watching for lightning strikes on the Radar as it moved in, and when it showed some, I said, "It's time to head in".
We had 12 nice eaters in the cooler in about an hour and a half, but had caught a lot more than that with the junk fish and shorts, so it was a fun morning.
A funny tidbit was my favorite pair of pliers disappeared, and I thought they went overboard...we looked everywhere, but they were gone. I could only suspect that someone accidentally sent them overboard when a line that was being reset quickly got tangled in them. I know this can happen, because I did it myself earlier this year on a pair of pliers I didn't really like. lol
However, out of the 4 pairs I had on the boat, that is the one I used all the time, so it made me sad. I kept saying they went overboard, and Keith kept saying, "I don't think so, I think I would have heard them go in the water". I just shook my head.
After we got in, we decided to go to Casa Las Palmas for breakfast, and while were standing at the door waiting to be seated, Keith was digging in his pockets and then pulled out my favorite pair of pliers! He didn't realize he stuck them in the deep pocket and didn't feel them until then. Ha! I was so happy! :)
We were lucky we got off the water when we did, because it rained hard, and there was some lightning while we were eating breakfast.
It was a fun morning, and it felt good to just go "fun fishing" with friends...everyone had a good time, including me! :)
My next trip is scheduled for Wednesday, with a previous customer from years ago, whose dad would drive his twin boys to the launch, and send them off with me to go fishing, and then pick them up when we got back. Unfortunately, their Dad died of COVID a few years ago, and his twin can't make it, so his Mom is going to go fishing with him this time. They were mid to late teens when I first started taking them, and I fished with them 3 times, I think, so now he's got to be in his early 20s.
Tuesday is their preferred day to go, but it looks like the NNE wind will still be gusting on Tuesday, and Wednesday looks calm, so if Tuesday's forecast changes, we will go tomorrow; but if it doesn't, we will go Wednesday. I'm pretty positive it's going to be a Wednesday trip, though.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Chris and Jeff...7/3/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/03/26Chris contacted me yesterday afternoon, after I got home from fishing, and asked if I still had Friday open, and I told him I did, so we set up a meeting time at Huron for this morning. I asked them to be there between 5 and 5:15a.m.
I was up early again and managed to get the kitchen clean, gardens watered, dogs fed, cat fed, showered, emails returned, and messages answered before walking out the door at 3:45.
I hit the gas station for some ice and headed to Huron. I would be early, but I needed that time to clean the boat a little. It was too hot to do it when I got home yesterday, so I took advantage of the 81-degree temp at 4:30 a.m. to do it.
I only had to do the windshield and get the fish slime off the black 400. Only one side gets the fish slime from the netting process, whereas the other side is just water spots and wipes off easily. Fish slime takes a little more elbow grease to remove it.
The windshield just had some bugs on it from the ride over, so that was easy enough.
Chris and his Dad Jeff showed up at 5:10, and we launched. The ramp was busier than it had been at that time of the morning for the last few days. This morning, there were probably 8-10 boats launching at 5:15.
As we headed out the river, we talked about the program I'm running, and they told me how they hired me, because they wanted to learn to troll. They have only done drift casting with their own boat. It's not really set up for trolling, so Chris wanted to see how I troll and what gear I use to make my trolling more efficient, so he could take some ideas back and implement them on his own boat.
We didn't go far before I shut the Black Mama-Jama down and deployed the Ulterra and baby Merc. While the Ulterra kept us on course, I let the kicker warm up, and I put the FishHawk down to 18'. Then, I adjusted the iTroll controller to get the kicker's speed up to 2.5mph.
We started in 25' of water, with good marks....Like I have the past several days out, but this time they were mostly White Perch, Sheephead, and White Bass, with a couple of walleye mixed in. The past few days, by the time we were near the south side of the dump, there would be 2 limits in the cooler already. This morning, we had 7. They were kept busy with removing undesirables from the lines and resetting the lines.
I showed them how to use the dipsies and set them out. Short rod on the inside (furthest rod holder to the rear), and the long rod on the outside, and how to get the outside rod set without tangling in the inside rod line.
The inside rods ran dipsies on the zero setting, and the outside rods ran on three settings.
Zero settings started at 25 and 27 back. As the sun rose and we traveled over deeper water, they were lowered to 33 and 41 back.
The three settings started at 40 and 50 back, and then lowered to 64 and 82.
Bill Lewis PWC Lites ran behind the Off Shore boards with 2oz snap-weights...leads were:
50/100, 50/85, 50/80, and 50/75. (Put the weight on at the 50 mark, and then the second number is the total amount of line out, before you put the board on).
Colors used were:
"Purple Tiger" (2 of them)
"Green Tiger"
"Red Tiger"
They all caught fish.
When we got to the top of the Huron Dump, I turned the Vexus east-northeast for a bit, before turning back around to go back over our trail. Sometimes, it's just a directional issue, and I wanted to see if they would bite better going back the other way.
I got off course, though, when some boats showed up right at the moment my Ulterra remote said, "I'm done. I need new batteries". I had to quickly change them out, so I could operate the motor. I had a boat heading straight on at me, and I needed to turn to starboard. Luckily, it happened, so the crisis was averted. Whew!
Thankfully, I keep a lot of extra batteries in the boat, and have them handy at all times.
Yes, I know, I could have turned the big motor on to control direction....but, it's still a panicky/icky feeling when you see something out of your control, and there's a big boat in front of you. ;)
All is well...
I let Chris and his Dad set lines as I watched and gave instruction when needed, so they could remember how to do it more easily. People only learn when they can actually do it for themselves, and figure it out. Chris and Jeff certainly did that. I wanted them to do everything together, because they fish together, so they also netted each other's fish, which was funny to watch. The only advice I gave them was, "Use the net like a shovel and not a pool skimmer when you reach for the fish". After they started doing that, they got the fish in easily. :)
After the remote mishap, we were headed from east to west over 38' of water, and just kept going. We picked a walleye here and there and more junk fish.
The marks on the Garmin were getting fewer... and what looked like bugs coming up were showing on the screen instead. So, I turned the boat north to start a turn to go back. We had trolled maybe a 1/4 mile when one of the planer boards went floating away after it released from the front clip. One of them had not properly secured the line on the Snapper release before letting it out.
We picked up all the dipsies and brought the boards in, then headed back to where it floated away. It was a pretty calm morning, so it was easy to find. I don't think the wind ever got over 10mph at any time this morning. After picking up the board, I just turned the boat to the east, which was the plan in the first place, so that board floating away right when it did was pretty fortuitous, because we hit a frenzy of bites as soon as we got set up. I wouldn't have hit that area in my turn if we had kept going.
We set the dipsies out and got the planer boards out, and they suddenly went bonkers.
"Fish on the inside dipsey", "Fish on the outside board", "Fish on the inside board opposite side", Fish on the other board now, too", "There goes the other dipsey". lol They thought that was great and were giggling throughout the chaos. We put the last fish in the cooler and headed in. They got their limits this morning, and I reeled in mine too.
It was getting hot out, and I knew it was going to be even hotter when we got back on land. The good news is, there were no bugs out this morning. That would have been miserable, as humid as it was. They would be sticking to every inch of exposed skin...ick.
The water temp out there was 79 degrees on the surface and 18' down. The water is getting hot now, too.
I'm off tomorrow, but will be fishing with my neighbors Danielle and Dave, and our friend Keith (whose boat we sometimes take instead of mine) on Sunday.
My truck goes into the shop on Monday. Dave has been generously letting me use his truck for the past several trips, so I wouldn't blow mine up before I can get it fixed. Thanks, Dave! :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Gary, Matthew, and Milo... 7/2/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/02/26I had gone to bed earlier than usual and slept until 1 a.m. The dogs and I went out to the back deck to check the weather forecast for the day. The air was thick and muggy, and the air temp was already 81 degrees. The sky was partly cloudy. The wind was less than 10mph out of the SW.
Thankfully, Gary told me he and the boys would meet me early at the Huron ramp. I had told him 5:15, because of how dark it still is at 5am, but they showed up at 4:50, so we waited around and chatted a little before launching.
Matthew is 13 years old, and Milo is 10. Both looked like fishermen to me, so I was looking forward to the morning. Gary is their grandpa, and has his own 22' boat, but it's in the shop right now, and he wanted to get the boys out on the water, so he hired me. I'm glad he did, too! Those boys were awesome in the boat!
Matthew played "First Mate" after a quick refresher course on setting dipsies. He's run them before, but it's been a little while, and it didn't take very long for him to start doing it on his own.
Milo, he was watching the rods like a Hawk and was often the first one to the rod. He did great with both the dipsies and the boards. He didn't set any boards, but his brother did. He did set the dipsies, though. I was really impressed by both of them.
Grandpa takes them fishing a lot. :)
We headed out of the Huron River at 5:15 and headed back to the same area I have been fishing the past two weeks....but, it's expanding. There are fish in close and out by the dump, and deeper, so there's a lot of water to choose from to catch fish.
We ran the same program I've been running over there the past two weeks.
Two dipsies off each back corner... the inside rod is set on zero, and the longer outside rod is set on the three setting. Leads were the zero setting at 25 and 27 back, in shallower water (24-25'). and then dropped to 33 and 47 back over 39'-42' of water.
The three settings started at 47 and 50 back, then dropped to 64 and 72 back over deeper water.
Speed was 2.5-2.9 on the FishHawk.
We caught fish going from directions south to north, west to east, and north to south. The bite was best very early, and as the sun got higher, the bite slowed down for us, but it was still steady enough to keep it fun.
The Bill Lewis PWC Lites did fantastic behind the Off Shore boards this morning, too. I only ran two boards per side; even though I could have run 4, I wanted to keep it simple for the boys, and it worked out.
I started out with the PWCs on the starboard side and the Flicker Minnow 11s on the port side, but took the Flickers off eventually and replaced them with more PWCs.
The best lead for the PWC Lites was 50/30 and 50/35 with a 2oz snap weight. The best colors were the "Purple Tiger" and "Green Tiger". I ended up running 3 Purple Tigers and 1 Green Tiger. All of them were catching fish. The larger fish came on the cranks over the spoons, though.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water. We caught fish and got off the water before it got too hot out.
They all said they had a great time, and that makes me happy!
Spending time with their Grandpa, and doing fun stuff...that's what it's all about. Memories made. :)
Tomorrow...hmmmm...
Well, at this point in time, I may or may not have a trip tomorrow. I'm waiting at the moment for a decision from them.
If I don't have a trip, friends want me to go with them, so I'll be fishing either way. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Shawnee....7/1/2026
by Capt Juls on 07/02/26This was a short day.....same place and same program as yesterday. lol
We were off the water by 8:30.
No need to repeat it all ...I have things I need to get done at the house. :)
Tomorrow, I have Gary Flemming and his two grandsons, Matthew and Milo...13/10 years old, respectively.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim Renaldo...6/29/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/29/26Started the morning off at 1a.m., because the dogs felt that I had had enough sleep and decided it should be time to go out on the back deck. I had gone to sleep an hour earlier than normal, so I guess their internal clock was keeping track. So much for that extra hour of sleep I wanted. lol
We went out on the back deck after I made some coffee, grabbed a couple of dog treats, and some cat food for my "back porch kitty". I checked the apps for the morning's forecast and found it would be warm, humid, and no wind. The lake would be calm.
Originally, Jim set this trip up for his son and an exchange student from France, but they had other plans, and the student went home to France, I think. Then, Jim asked two of his church friends to come, but they bailed at the last minute, too, so it would just be Jim.
Jim is a local (Akron area) and has had his own boats, but he sold both of them recently. He often fished out of Vermilion, and would text me his reports if he got into some fish, and I would text him back with my reports of where I was fishing and how I was doing where I was. I've communicated with him for years, and fished with him a couple of times.
So, we went from having to get a 4-person limit down to a 2-person limit. I decided to put the trolling rods away and just use the 4 dipsey rods, so we wouldn't get done in a half hour. lol
We launched at Huron at 5:15 and took a slow idle down the river, because it was still pretty dark out, and I wanted it lighter by the time we got to where I wanted to start. It wouldn't take us long to get to where we were starting, because I was only headed out to 35' of water.
It was close enough to "light enough" to remove the navigation light in the back and turn the rest off. It was a Monday, and I knew the traffic was going to be low, so there was no danger of anyone hitting us this morning.
The sunrise was beautiful, because of the thick humid air, I think. It was definitely different than the clear air sunrises.
The Garmin was marking fish from 25' all the way out, so I stopped over 28 feet of water to set up. The Ulterra and baby Merc worked together to keep a speed of 2.5 on the FishHawk, and the iPilot was keeping us on a course from the south to the north....out to deeper water.
As the Vexus moved over deeper water, the dipsey settings were adjusted to what I was using the past two weeks.
The zero settings were set at 25 and 30 to start and eventually adjusted to 33 and 47 back.
The three settings were initially set at 50 and 60 back, but would be set to 64 and 72, like I had been using in my previous reports.
Yeck and Scorpion spoons started taking fish right away.
I did eventually cave and put two Off Shore boards out, pulling the Bill Lewis PWC Lites in the "Green Tiger" and "Purple Tiger" colors with a 2oz Guppie weight attached at the 50 mar and the boards put on at 97 and 83 back. Both took multiple fish right away.
The bugs found us early on. Lots of them. Caddis Flies, Muffleheads, and Midges...all the ticklely kind. They covered us head to toe and all over the boat. And, because the boat was damp from dew, they stuck to everything once they landed.
It was a fast bite this morning, and we had our 12 good eaters by 7:10. We played catch and release after that, but not for too long, because Jim had to get home to meet an electrician who was coming to install something on their new swimming pool, so the decision was left up to him on how long he wanted to stay out.
The air temp was already up to 81 degrees at 8am, and it was only going to get hotter, so he called it, and we went in.
He didn't want to keep any of the fish, because he already has a freezer full, so he gave them to me. I didn't have any left in mine. Thanks, Jim! I appreciate it!
I'll be out again between the 1st and 3rd fishing with a friend out of his boat. I don't know if we are walleye fishing or perch fishing yet. Then, on the 5th, I'm going to take my neighbors, Dave and Danielle, out fishing, as a thank-you for letting me use his truck while mine is incapacitated. I'll be getting mine fixed on Monday the 6th.
I have a lot of open dates available in July, right now. I usually have half the month booked, but the economy is weak, obviously, and people aren't scheduling trips like they normally do. It's scary. :(
Anyway....As I get out, I'll report....But I don't see a lot of reporting happening in July right now.
Update: I just picked up trips for Wednesday and Thursday...thank you! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill, Tom, and Austin ...6/26/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/26/26Woke up before the 2am alarm again, so I got up and made some coffee, grabbed a dog treat for the knuckleheads, and we headed out to the back deck to check the weather.
The sky was partly cloudy, but mostly clear. The stars were shining, and the moon was lit. The air temp was around 60 degrees, and the wind was barely a whisper.
The forecast for the morning was calling for wind out of the WNW at 5mph and then switching to the east in the afternoon... it was going to be a gorgeous morning.
I had told Bill in the last phone call that I would pick them up from the Whitecaps Motel at 5am. He repeated it back to me, letting me know that we were on the same page.
I left the house at 4:45 and headed to the Motel. I arrived a few minutes later and sent Bill a text stating that I was there, I was early, and there was no hurry. I didn't get a response. At 5 minutes to go, I called him...no answer. I tried calling 5 times over the next half hour, and started to think the worst....that they had been in an accident on the way over and didn't check in last night.
I almost left, and then thought I should try calling the Motel first, to see if they checked in last night.
I was surprised Dawn answered that early, but she did, and I asked her about them, so she checked.
They had checked in. At least I knew they were alive. Dawn gave me their room numbers, so I could go knock on their doors to see if they still wanted to go fishing.
Turns out, Bill had told Tom and Austin that I was picking them up at 6am, so they were surprised to see me so early. lol
They got ready fast, and we were on our way through town by 5:45 (the time I'm usually launching). They apologized again for the misunderstanding. I just smiled and said, " It's okay, I'm just glad you're here....let's go fishing...it's going to be a beautiful morning". :)
We hit the Speedway for some ice and a couple of snacks, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch. It was almost 6:30 by the time the Vexus was headed east again.
The past two days were really good between CP and the Huron Dump, so we headed back there. The target would be that 35-38' of water again. The Garmin was picking up fish in the area, so we stopped over 35' of water to start.
It was the exact same program from two days ago, which also worked yesterday. I didn't change anything yesterday, or today. The first day took longer, because I had to dial in the program that the fish wanted.
Yesterday and today, it took 3 hours each day to catch our 24 for the cooler.
It was a steady, busy bite.
Austin did great learning how to set the Off Shore boards and dipsies. I only had to tell him once how to do something, and he would do it. He said he does a lot of deep-sea fishing down south.
I promoted him to "First Mate" for the morning, so he helped me keep up with getting lines set back out.
As soon as you would get one back out, another one was coming in.
Bill, who was the oldest (80s), was eager to learn how to do the loop/twist on the first release, which makes the board release and flip around, when a fish is on. He really liked that.
Tom is Bill's friend, Austin's Grandpa, and is around my age. I'm guessing Austin was in his 20s....just a good, smart, kind, and funny kid. He's going to go far in this world, I think.
The program from the other day is...behind the Off Shore boards:
Bill Lewis PWC Lites would run on the starboard side with 2oz snap weights at 50/50, 50/35, and 50/24. Colors were:
"Black Headed Wonder Bread on White" at 50/50
"Purple Tiger" 50/35
"Green Tiger" 50/24
For the newbie who might be confused about the 50/#...this is the Precision Trolling Data info used with a 2oz Guppie weight or snap weight. You put the snap weight on at the 50 mark, and the board on after you add the extra number listed. Example: 50/50=100 total line out...put the board on at the 100 feet out mark.
Flicker Minnow 11s replaced the crawlers on the port side. They ran at 125, 115, and 75 back (unassisted). Colors were:
"FireTail Chrome Candy" Ran two...125 and 115 back
"Slick Sunset" ran at 75 back
Dipsies were set on the usual settings of zero and three, and ran all Yeck spoons this time.
The zero settings ran at 30 and 40 back. The three settings were set at 64 and 72 back.
Speed was 2.5-2.7 on the FishHawk.
Water temp was 69.9 degrees, 18' down.
Looks like a NE wind this weekend....but, Monday and Tuesday look nice.
I have a trip this Monday (29th), but after that I don't have any trips lined up until the second week of July right now. So, if anyone is looking to get out, I'm available. I don't usually fish the 3rd/4th/or 5th due to the Holiday, but it seems boat traffic is way down this year.
It was a beautiful summer morning, and I think I counted fewer than 20 boats on my ride to and from Huron, this morning. It felt weird. This is not normal.
Bill, Tom, and Austin all had a great time, and I did, too! They are on their way back to the Cincinnati area with a pile of fish for their efforts.
Until the next time....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day Two with Ed, Tim, and Rick...6/25/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/25/26The original plan was to pick up my guys at 4:45 and head to Huron, but when I got in the truck at 4:30, the check engine light wasn't just on, it was flashing. I know that when it's flashing, it means something is very wrong, and I didn't want to take the chance of driving all the way to Huron at highway speeds, so the plan changed.
Let me first say that this check engine light was scanned, and it came back as "Cold Start/ Fast Idle", so last week I had Matt Weiland clean the injectors and change the spark plugs. He didn't change the spark plug wires at that time, though. It also required another oil change due to the injectors being cleaned, even though it was still at 78% oil life from the last change.
Back in April, I had the coolant flush, tranny flush, and the oil change done. He also put new springs and shocks on it at that time, too.
The light was off for most of the week after he worked on it, but came back on a couple of days ago. The truck isn't making any weird noises or vibrations, so I drove it to the launch and back...that's it.
Since it was flashing this morning, I'm guessing there is a clogged injector that needs replacing, or it's simply the spark plug wires needing replaced. I can get it in on Monday the 6th, so I'm not too worried about it.
My neighbor, Dave, is going to let me use his new truck to run my trip tomorrow, so I don't have to worry about it. Then, I'm good. Well, not really....July's bookings are dismal to say the least. Normally, by now, I have half of July booked, but I only had 5 as of the other day. But then one of my customers who had a two day-trip booked called to cancel, so now I only have three days booked for the entire month of July.
After talking to another Captain, I have found out that a lot of bookings are down for a lot of Capts, too. I blame the economy right now. People are hanging onto their money with the unbelievably high prices of everything, and no relief is in sight right now. I can't blame them.
Anyway....
This morning, I picked my guys up at 4:45 anyway, even though we would be launching at Mazurik's instead of Huron, and got to the ramp when it was still dark. We waited until 5:30 to launch, so I could see when we were driving out.
The rain had stopped, so that was a relief, too. Somehow, we managed to miss most of the rain all morning. It either went south of us or to the north of us, but never on top of us. We got a little drizzle for about 5 minutes, but that was it.
We went to the same place as yesterday, and ran the exact same program and lures as yesterday, too. I didn't change anything all morning, and we were done with our 24 eaters by 8:15. My guys were happy, because they are older, and the forecast was calling for some wind to come in, but it was nice while we were out there...thank goodness, because they are older and their sea legs were out of practice. lol
Since it's the same program and info as yesterday....I'm keeping this short, because I still have to clean the boat for the new customers fishing with me tomorrow. :)
The forecast for tomorrow is showing light winds out of the west and switching to the east by late morning. We will launch out of Mazurik's, because with my luck, if I drove my neighbor's truck to Huron, some stupid deer would jump out and wreck his truck. Ha!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ed, Tim, and Rick...6/24/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/24/26Yesterday, Tuesday, was supposed to be the first of three days for Ed, Tim, and Rick, who came down from Eau Claire, WI, to fish with me, but Momma Nature said she had other plans for us. She was angry and was blowing out of the NNE.
The forecast was calling for it to lay down as the morning progressed, so I told them I would pick them up at the Whitecaps Motel at 8am instead of 5am. We got to Mazruik's at 8:30 and sat there in the truck looking at an angry lake. I told them it was a no-go, and I don't do afternoons because of my regular schedule, and that it was still going to be rough with the NE rollers continuing to roll in from the east end. They were okay with that.
This morning, the wind was going to be light out of the SSW, so I picked them up at 5am, and after getting some ice for the coolers, we went back to Mazurik's to launch. I pointed the Vexus east once we were out of the breakwall, and off we went.
The plan was to start on the east side of Cedar Point and work our way over to Huron as long as we were marking fish. If not...we would move. Luckily, we were marking fish. All we had to do was figure out what they wanted this morning.
I had gotten a tip to take crawlers, because the kitchen sink had been thrown at them by a friend yesterday, and they didn't like what was in the sink. So, this morning, before I picked up my crew, I jumped in the boat and re-rigged 6 rods to crawler harnesses (double willow-bladed wire harnesses). We would start with those and two dipsies off each back corner.
After the FishHawk, Ulterra, and baby Merc were set on a course to the east at a speed of 2.5 (FishHawk speed), the dipsies went out first. By running the willow leaf harnesses, I could keep the speed up enough to still use the dipsies.
Dipsies were set on the usual settings of zero and three, and ran all Yeck spoons this time.
The zero settings ran at 30 and 40 back. We had set up over 36' of water to start, and my aim was to hit the 38 to 40' of water. Once we got to deeper water, the fish were holding deeper, so we dropped the zero settings to 40 and 54 back. The three settings started at 50 back, but would eventually end up at 72 on both sides.
The crawler harnesses ran behind the Off Shore boards with 2oz inline weights at 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 back. Nada...not even a nibble. I ran them for half an hour and decided to pull them and put small cranks on.
Bill Lewis PWC Lites would run on the starboard side with 2oz snap weights at 50/50, 50/35, and 50/24. Colors were:
"Black Headed Wonder Bread on White" at 50/50
"Purple Tiger" 50/35
"Green Tiger" 50/24
(For the newbie who might be confused about the 50/#...this is the Precision Trolling Data info used with a 2oz Guppie weight or snap weight. You put the snap weight on at the 50 mark, and the board on after you add the extra number listed. Example: 50/50=100 total line out...put the board on at the 100 feet out mark).
Flicker Minnow 11s replaced the crawlers on the port side. They ran at 125, 115, and 75 back. Colors were:
"FireTail Chrome Candy" Ran two...125 and 115 back
"Slick Sunset" ran at 75 back
Everything took one or two fish this morning. We had our 4-person limit by 10:30, so it wasn't on fire, but it was steady enough to keep my guys busy and entertained. We did have one triple that made them giddy. They had a lot of fun, and it was nice to see the family get together and spend quality time like this. :)
We will be launching out of Huron tomorrow, instead of Mazurik's, due to the wind forecast for the morning, which is 15-20 out of the SW. It might be raining in the morning, too.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Danielle 6/21/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/24/26Didn't write a report for this one....Dave and Danielle are my neighbors, and booked a trip for walleye. We had a slow bite for some reason and only caught 13 of our 18 over between Huron and Cedar Point.
All were just eaters between 16 and 20 inches, so few pics were taken. It was a beautiful day on the lake, though, and we had fun. When we got off the water we went to Casa Las Palmas for lunch, before heading home.
We did pull out the perch gear at one point, when the Garmin marked what looked like perch to us, so we pulled the trolling gear and tried it for 15 minutes. Good marks but no nibbles on the Emerald Shiners, so we went back to trolling for the last 1/2 hour.
The three-day trip scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is rescheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, due to heavy winds on Monday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day Two with Steve, Dave, and Doug...6/16/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/16/26I didn't write a report for Day one of Steve, Dave, and Doug's trip, because we had a late start, and by the time I got home, I only had time to feed the dogs, go to the bank, and make a quick dinner. For those that know me, you know what time I go to bed...for those that don't know me, I am going to bed when most normal people are sitting down to dinner. I like to get up at 2am, so by the time I have to meet my customers, I am in a good mood, and I've already gotten lots of things done before I leave the house. It's not for everyone, but it works for me. ;)
Anyway...day one, we caught their 3-person limit and a couple of mine. We fished the SE side of Kelly's with spoons behind dipsies and Bandits behind the Off Shore boards. The spoons outfished the cranks, but the crank fish were still larger on average.
Day 2:
I got up at 1:30, feeling like I slept very well, and was feeling good. While sitting on the back deck with the dogs and my hot cup of coffee, I remembered telling them I would make them some of my brownies today, so after checking all my weather forecast apps, we went back inside.
I whipped up the brownies, and while they baked in the oven, I jumped in the shower and got ready. When I went outside to put stuff in the boat, I saw it....my electrical cord was on the ground. #%@*/! Ugh....I forgot to plug the charger in when we got back late. I said a few words, knowing I was the only one to blame.
Luckily, I have "Miller Tech" lithium batteries in the boat for the Ulterra. They have an app that lets me check the percentage of usage, and it showed there was still 65% left on all three batteries. Whew! If they were still AGMs, I would have been in a panic, knowing the batteries wouldn't last for a second trip without a charge.
The forecast was calling for wind out of the SW at 10-18mph.
The air temp was 64 degrees at 4:30, and I could see some stars in the sky, so I figured it was clear to partly cloudy. The high today would only reach the mid 70s.
My guys are staying at Camp Perry, which is 2 miles west of my house, so they met me at my house and jumped in my truck for the ride to the launch.
This morning, I thought it would be a good idea to launch out of Huron, because of the wind direction and the location of the area I wanted to fish. It would be closer and not as rough as launching out of Mazurik's and fishing the east side of Kelly's.
These friends are in their mid to late 70's, so I didn't want them to take a rough boat ride if I could help it.
After stopping at the Speedway on 250 and Rt2 to get ice, we hit the Huron launch a little after 5am.
**Note: If you're driving in from the west, you need to get off on Rt6 West and go through town, because 6 East is closed.
I got the boat ready and took the Bandits off the port side and attached Flicker Minnow11s instead. I wanted to try a smaller profile to see if the fish preferred those to a Bandit right now.
We didn't go far out of the river and headed west until I hit 25' of water. The fish marks were good, so I shut the big Merc off and deployed the Ulterra. The baby Merc and Fish Hawk were also deployed. The FishHawk usually gets set at 18' down, because that's far enough to get a good reading of opposite currents.
The target speed was 2.5mph, and the course was set in the direction of the dump.
The wind was still light when we started and was less than 5mph. By the time we would end, it would be blowing at 15mph(ish), and the lake would go from calm to 1-3s a mile out, 2-3s two miles out, and 2-4s on the north side of the dump.
Dipsies ran off the two back corners, as usual. Two on each side. The zero setting started out at 25 and 30 back, and the three settings were initially set to 50 and 60 back. They would be let out as we got over deeper water to what has been working the past two weeks.
The zero settings at 35 and 54, and the three settings at 64 and 72 back.
The Yeck spoons, DJ Custom Eye Lures, paints the bellies blue for me were consistently catching fish. I don't know the name of the other Yeck color, but it has a pink belly and orange/chart/and pink on the back. It did well, too.
The Off Shore boards on the starboard side pulled Bandits at 100, 90, 80, and 63 back. (I run the long leads on the outside and shorter leads on the inside...it works for me).
Colors were:
"Sunspot" (stock color) 100 back
"Blue Shiner" (stock color) 90 back
"Halographic Natural Shad" (Slim Shady Custom) 80 back
"Fruit Dots" (stock color) 63 back
The port side ran Flicker Minnow 11s (unassisted) at 115, 90, 80, and 63 back.
Colors were all stock colors:
"Firetail Chrome Candy" (115)
"Firetail Hot Perch" (90)
"Flashy Chartreuse" (80)
"Racy Shad" (63)
All but the Fruit Dots caught one or more fish this morning. Slim Shady's "Halographic Nat. Shad" caught the most of all the cranks, though. I need to order another 3 or 4 of those. I only have one in my box, and I really like that one. :)
Thankfully, my crew had a day of training before we had the kind of bite we had. And, they knew more about what to do. Dave was helping set dipsies, but they left the board setting to me. They helped net each other's fish while I was busy resetting lines.
The first pass was from inside to the north side of the dump. We picked everything up and made a run back to the start, so we could make another pass. The first pass had produced 12 keepers and several throwbacks. The second pass gave us the other 12, along with more Sheephead Dave wanted to keep for his traps back home. He called them "Bobcat Bait".
They caught their 3-person limit, and I reeled in mine, too. We had our 24 by 8:45 this morning, which made my guys very happy. Steve said, "This is the kind of experience we always read about, when people talk about Lake Erie...thanks, Juls". I smiled, and nodded, and that made me happy! :)
They have two more days scheduled with me, and it looks like tomorrow will be the last day, because Thursday's forecast looks nasty!
We'll be headed back to Huron in the morning...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ken and Jeff...6/13/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/13/26I beat the alarm clock again and got up at 1:45, due to my Golden Retriever pacing the floor, because he wanted me to get up. My alarm is set for 2am. I said to the maniac, "I guess it's time to get up, eh? Okay, you win...only because it's only 15 minutes".
The back deck was calm, dry, and warm. The forecast was calling for sunshine and winds out of the SW at 5-13mph, so I knew it was going to be a good day. I left the house at 4:40 and went to the Whitecaps Motel to pick up my guys, who had a 5am pickup. I wanted a few minutes to wipe down the trailer. I did the boat yesterday, but forgot to do the trailer, so it was bugging me.
I sent a text to Ken to let them know I was there, that I was early, and there was no hurry. They walked out at 4:50 and jumped in the truck. We only had to pick up ice for the fish-cooler and a couple of snacks, so we made a quick stop at the Speedway in town. Apparently, the lights were not turned off last night, so the entire place was covered in a thick layer of Mayflies. While they can be bothersome, it's always great to see them, because it's a clear sign of a healthy lake.
We got in the water at Mazurik's at 5:30, and after the big motor was warmed up to 140 degrees, we set off. The Vexus was pointed to the east, instead of north this time, and we just drove until we got out of the river channel (more wind in the channel). I was marking good fish marks on the Garmin, so we stopped. We set up over 28' of water, and kept the boat pointing east for our trolling pass.
The Ulterra gets deployed first and set to a power level of 5, with the iPilot taking control. The baby Merc goes next, and is powered up enough to get the FishHawk to read 2.3-2.5mph on its graph. For those reading these reports for the first time, the FishHawk is a probe that runs down below in the undercurrent. It tells me the speed and temp down there. The surface current and the undercurrent are very seldom the same, so it's good to know how fast your baits are actually swimming down below.
Ken and Jeff were not old gents like I thought they were in my last report, so it was a pleasant surprise to see these two walk up to the truck. I knew they would have no issues standing up in the boat. They told me they wanted to learn, so I showed them how dipsies work, and how the boards work, and then showed them how to set all of them out.
It took a few tries, but they picked it up pretty quick and were setting lines and netting fish in no time.
Dipsies were set out first. You know the settings....a zero and a three on each side of the boat.
The zero settings started out at 28 and 35 when we were over 28' of water.
The three settings started out at 50 and 72.
Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons were used.
The dipsies definitely outfished the cranks, but the crank fish were consistently bigger.
As we got out to 43' of water, the dipsies were adjusted to:
Zero settings were 54 and 47, and the three settings were 64 and 72.
The Off Shore boards pulled Bandits behind them...two on each side.
The port side ran one at 67 and 57 back, early, and then at 97 and 67 as the sun got higher.
The starboard side ran them at 100 and 80.
Colors that caught were:
"Halographic Natural Shad" (Slim Shady Custom) <----best one for cranks today!
"Whiskey and Water" (Slim Shady Custom)
"Psycho Killer" (Slim Shady)
"SunSpot" (stock color)
Water temp on the surface was 69.6, and the temp down below was 71.
Ken and Jeff did a great job after getting the hang of it and were running the back of the boat by themselves. I just reeled in my fish, and let them set lines. I believe they will now be able to do the same in their own boats.
They said they had a great time and learned a lot, so that makes me happy! Mission accomplished...:)
I'm off tomorrow, and then I have a 4-day trip starting on Monday. Monday and Tuesday look good, but Wednesday and Thursday are iffy, right now. Hopefully, it changes for the better. My guys are coming all the way from Wyoming, so I want them to get all 4 days in while they are here. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with John, Arnie, and Rick...6/10/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/10/26I couldn't go out on the back deck when I got up this morning, due to a thunderstorm moving through at 1:30am. Even the dogs didn't want to go out there and went back to bed. I went to the kitchen to whip up a batch of buttermilk biscuits and put some coffee on. By 3:30, the rain had stopped, so I went out and checked the wind situation. It wasn't blowing, and it was a gentle SW wind.
iWindSurf was showing some orange and red in the forecast, which is gusts to 20-25 out of the SW showing up around 5am....But I figured that was because the thunderstorm was going through, and their app usually shows higher winds when a storm goes through. There wasn't much wind outside at 3:30, so I figured the app was just being cautious, and it would be fine.
I picked up John, Arnie, and Rick from the Whitecaps Motel at 5am. We drove to the gas station for some ice, then headed to Mazurik's to launch. There were two boats already in the water at the dock when we arrived, but no one else yet.
The sky was just getting light to the east. The air temp was 68 degrees, and the sky was partly to mostly cloudy. The sunrise wouldn't be making a big show of it this morning, unfortunately, either. I got the boat ready over by the bathrooms, so it would be a shorter walk for anyone who needed to use it before we left the shore.
I do carry one of those handheld urinals that the hospitals use, in case someone needs to use it out there....a Vexus doesn't have a bathroom on it. Men get the urinal thingy, and ladies can use the bait well. :)
The wind was just picking up as we were launching, but it wasn't bad.
We went to the north side of Kelly's to start. After passing over American Eagle Shoal and getting to the deeper side, the Garmin was marking enough fish for me to want to stop over 28' of water and set up.
The Ulterra and the baby Merc were deployed, and the Ulterra's iPilot was set to a NNE course (on power 5) while the baby Merc pushed the Vexus along at a speed of 2.3-2.6mph according to the FishHawk.
Water temp on the surface was 67.8 degrees, and at 18' down it was 69.6 degrees.
The surface of the lake is loaded with the husks of Mayflies, so don't forget to turn your outside lights off overnight. By the looks of the amount of husks...it's a BIG HATCH!
The dipsies were set out first. The usual zero and three settings on both sides.
The zero setting on the port side was set to 28 back, and the three setting was set to 50.
On the starboard side, the zero setting was set to 35 back, and the three setting was set to 64.
I started with Yeck, BadMo, and Scorpion spoons, but eventually dialed it in to using the special Yeck spoon color that DJ Custom Eye Lures paints for me, with the blue on the belly. I've added a picture of it in the album. I know he's sold them at Hi Way Bait before, but I don't know if there are any there right now.
After dialing in the settings...the zeros at 35 and 54 back did best, and the three settings were 64 and 72 back.
Bandits behind the Off Shore boards went out next...3 per side this time, since I had a crew of 3 this time. Yes, I could have run 4 per side plus the 4 dispies, but I wanted to keep it simple since I had two people who don't fish on the boat, and I was doing all the setup by myself this time. John has been fishing with me before, but it's been almost 10 years since he has. He likes to fish, but doesn't get out as much as he would like to. :)
Bandit colors that caught today were:
"Halographic Natural Shad" (Slim Shady Custom) 57 back...caught several.
"Psycho Killer" (Slim Shady) at 80 back
SunSpot (stock color) on both sides at 63 and 80 back.
That one color I had run the past several trips, but don't know who paints it or what the name is....sorry. One of those ran on each side on the outside board at 93 and 97 back. Both caught fish.
The spoons definitely outfished the cranks, but the cranks never had any throwbacks hanging on them.
One spoon had a walleye so small, it wasn't much bigger than the spoon and was maybe 3 1/2 inches long....sooooo cute! This is your reminder to always check your dipsies from time to time. Had I not checked, he would have been dragging the entire time, and it would have been useless.
The shorts all got the hooks taken out as carefully and gently as possible, and then got a kiss on the boo-boo, and were sent back to grow up.
John, Arnie, and Rick all said they really enjoyed the lake once it laid down and stopped blowing so hard. While it wasn't bad earlier (2 foot or less), it laid down to 1 foot or less for the last couple of hours.
We all caught our fish and were done by 10am. We packed it up and took a nice leisurely ride back in, so they could enjoy the morning on the water a little bit more. I knew it was going to be hot and humid on land, so I wasn't in a hurry to get back. It was beautiful out there...perfect weather.
They all said they had a great time, and would be back again someday....and that made me happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow, and will need to clean the boat of all the Mayfly carcasses before my two-day trip starting on Friday. Friday's wind isn't looking very good, though, so we'll see if Friday is a go or not.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Gary and Rick...6/5/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/05/26I left the house at 4:15am, because I had to do an island pickup for my customers, Gary and Rick, this morning. The plan was to get ice and then head over to Mazurik's to launch. Since I had to do it alone this time, I wanted to do it while it was quiet there. But, thankfully, at 4:45, three guys from Wisconsin showed up in the get-ready lanes, and one said he would be happy to dump me in when I asked.
Thank you, nice man, whoever you were...I appreciated your help! :)
I sat out front until 5:10 and let the motor warm up. The air temp was 68 degrees, the wind was light out of the SW, and the sky was mostly clear. Then the sky was lightening up enough to let me see the surface of the water. I don't like to drive in the dark when stuff can be floating out there. I didn't have to meet them until 6am, so I had a lot of time to just take it slow on my way over there, so I did a whopping speed of 25mph.
It was kind of neat...being my birthday today, it felt almost spiritual, or maybe it was that fact that I was thinking of my Dad on the ride out there (he passed in 2022). It's kind of creepy driving out there in the dark, all alone, but I felt my Dad was with me, so it wasn't as scary anymore.
I arrived at Put-in-Bay at 5:30 and pulled up to the wall by "The Boardwalk" restaurant. It was easy, since no one else was parked on the wall. The guys showed up right on time, and off we went.
The plan was to head back over to where I left off yesterday, on the east-northeast side of Kelly's, about 3-4 miles off the island. We trolled over 43-45' of water on a SW to NE path, at 2.5mph on the FishHawk. At some point, we turned and went from the NE back to the SW. Then, we went from east to west, on a troll back towards the island. Fish were caught in all directions.
The program was slightly different than the past two days...
Dipsies on the zero and three settings on both back corners. The zero settings run on the inside rod (furthest back) and the three settings run on the outside rod just behind the inside rod....for newbies, that keeps the lines from tangling.
Zero is straight down, and the 1, 2, 3 settings on the back of the dipsey determine how far apart they will be from the zero setting, out to the sides.
Zero settings were 54 back on the port side, and 58 back on the starboard side. One ran a BadMo Arrow spoon, and the other ran a Yeck spoon. That Yeck with the blue belly...the one DJ paints for me is still killin it. The BadMo I most often use is silver on the underside and forest green and black on the back.
The three settings were set at 83 on the starboard side, and 72 on the port side...the port side ran a Scorpion spoon, and the starboard side had another green-and-black BadMo Arrow spoon.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards, and once again "Psycho Killer" took the first fish at 80 back. The rest of the cranks (3 of them) that caught some this morning would be that one I talked about two days ago...I left a pic in the comments on that dated 6/3/26. I don't know who paints it, or what its name might be. 80, 85, and 100 back were the leads.
The dipsies caught the most fish, but the cranks caught the bigger fish this morning. We didn't catch any sheep this time, but we did get a nice, healthy kitty cat that went back. We caugt several short fish that got a kiss before being sent back to grow bigger, too.
We had our three-person limit by 10am, and after dropping them off at the island again, it was 11am by the time I loaded the boat out. I didn't have to do that alone either, there was a pontoon boat that came in the same time I did, and one of the young men offered to help when I said, "You want to make an easy 20 bucks? Just hold my boat while I go get the truck" (I didn't want to tie it off) He approached with a smile and said he would do it. :)
My guys had a great time, and Rick, who has his own boat here on Lake Erie, said he learned a lot....and that makes me happy! Gary kept us laughing all morning with his one-liners, too!
My two-day trip for tomorrow and Sunday has been moved to June 11/12, due to iffy weather tomorrow, and my customer's decision to move it to next week, so I'm off for the next 4 days. My dogs will be very happy about that.
I'll be back out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Danny and Boyd...6/3/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/03/26When I got up at 1:45, I knew it was going to be nice out on the back deck. The wind forecast for the day was going to be less than 10mph out of the north. The air temperature was going to be in the low 60s in the AM, but rising to 75 by noon. I knew the sky was clear, because the moonlight was shining off the tin roof on the shed. I grabbed a cup of coffee, a couple of dog treats, and headed out the back door, so I could check all the forecast apps to make sure nothing had changed overnight. Nothing did....the expectation was for a beautiful morning on the water.
Today, I would be fishing with Danny Harris, from last week's report, and his friend Boyd, who came all the way from Utah to try Lake Erie.
I picked them up from the "Whitecaps Motel", and we headed to the Speedway on the other side of town, to gas up, get some ice, and a few snacks. To my disappointment, they were closed. I was able to gas the boat, but the store was closed. A sign stating, "Due to staffing issues, we will have new hours". They were supposed to be open at 5am, but at 5:05, the doors were still locked, and no one could be seen inside. (They were probably in back getting the breakfast sandwiches made for the display).
We left there and hit the gas station by RT2 and State Rd, to get the ice and other snacks, and then took the back roads over to Mazurik's. We arrived at 5:30 and got the boat ready. We were headed out by 5:45. I decided to go back to the area north of Kelly's that I fished with my last crew and start there.
The Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed after the FishHawk was sent down, and set to an ENE direction, at a speed of 2.3-2.5mph (FH speed). We started over 44' of water.
Danny can't stand in the boat, due to physical issues at the moment, and this was Boyd's first time on Lake Erie. He doesn't do much fishing, so I said I would set all the lines and they could just reel in their fish...they were good with that decision. :)
The dipsies went out first...running Yeck and Badmo Arrow spoons:
Zero settings at 27 on the port side and 35 on the starboard side.
Three settings at 55 on the port side and 72 on the starboard side.
Eventually, the zero settings were 33 on the port side and 41 on the starboard side...and caught fish.
The three setting at 72 was getting a lot of action, so the port side was set to 72 also.
Three Bandits and one Spro 120 Madeye ran behind the Off Shore boards. I started out with the port side at 115 and 80 back, and 130 and 67 on the starboard side. The 80 and 67 caught, so the two deeper ones were both brought up higher and set at 97 back...they started catching.
Colors were:
"Psycho Killer" (Slim Shady Custom)
"Whiskey and Water" (Slim Shady)
"Slick Purple Bengal" (stock Spro color)
And, a custom color I don't know the name of or who painted it. I checked all the sites and can't find it....sorry. That one, I put out after about an hour and a half, and it took a fish before it could get lined up. Then, it took another shortly after being set out again. I will have it out in the morning again. Might even have two out. lol
I'll get a few pics of it when I'm done here and put it in the comments.
We went through a lot of fish, with several throwbacks and keepers we threw back, along with a few Sheephead, and had our 18 in the cooler by 9am.
Danny and Boyd had a good time and will be with me again tomorrow. I marked some good fish on the way back to the ramp, so I'll be starting there in the morning. If they are walleye, they will be nice ones. If not, they will be big Sheephead. But, since there is going to be a south wind in the morning, I'll start from the south and work my way back up to the line. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Ernie...6/1/2026
by Capt Juls on 06/01/26Steve and Ernie came from Indiana to fish Lake Erie. They have never fished here before. I picked them up from the Whitecaps Motel at 5am and we headed to Mazurik's to launch after topping the gas off in the Vexus and getting some ice for the coolers.
The air temp was in the low 60s, the wind was calm, and the sky was mostly clear.
We arrived at the ramp first and got in the water before it started to get busy. The satellite pic from yesterday showed some cleaner water to the north of Kelly's, so we headed there.
The Ulterra's course was from the SW to the NE over 43' of water. The FishHawk was sent down to 18'. The baby Merc was set to push the boat at a speed of 2.5mph.
However, the FishHawk was reading 1.2mph no matter how fast or slow I turned the iTrolls controls, and I was scratching my head on that one. That just wasn't right.
Eventually, I pulled it up, thinking I should change the batteries in the probe, and that's when I found my issue.
My dumb ass attached the mainline to the hole that has the little chain that holds the weight, so it wasn't running right down there.
After I attached it to the correct hole, it performed the way it is designed. Lesson learned.
Dipsies were sent out first....the usual zero and three settings on both sides of the boat.
The zero on the port side was set to 30, and on the starboard side it was set to 40. Both were running Yeck spoons with the blue belly that DJ Customs paints for me. He adds the royal blue to the underside, and they just plain work.
The three settings were 53 (port side) and 72 (starboard side). Those were running BadMo Arrow spoons.
Bandits were running behind the Off Shore boards on each side. On the port side, a Slim Shady custom called "Psycho Killer" ran at 80 back, and "SunSpot" (stock color) ran at 120 back.
On the starboard side, it started out with "Blue Shiner" at 90 back and another "Psycho Killer" at 80 back.
Each one caught fish, but the starboard side slowed down and were switched out to the Spro 120 Madeyes in "Perch Chrome" and "Slick Purple Bengal" at 130 and 80 back, respectively.
We caught 25 fish plus 3 sheephead, but only kept 16. The bugs got to be more than my guys wanted to deal with, so they decided to head in, get the fish cleaned, and head back to Indiana instead of trying to finish out the last hour and a half.
They enjoyed the morning. It was probably the quietest trip I've ever done, since neither had any interest in learning how to set the lines, and just wanted to reel their fish in, so they just relaxed and listened to some good music, while waiting for a fish to bite.
I, on the other hand, was working my butt off, setting and resetting lines, changing lures, watching the speed, and dipsey lines, to keep those fish coming in. lol
It was a fun morning, and the dogs were happy to see me home early today, and that makes ME happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow, but am scheduled for Wed, Thurs, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The wind is looking good for Wed/Thurs, and on the edge for Friday/Sat (15-25 SW on Friday and 13-20 on Saturday), and Sunday looks like a blow day if it doesn't change. It's calling for gusts in the 30s out of the SW on Sunday, right now.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I have Danny Harris again. This time, he's bringing a friend who is coming all the way from Utah to fish with him.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Two Trips with Mick, Mark, and Jeff...5/27 & 29...2026
by Capt Juls on 05/29/26Since this is a two-day report in one, I'll keep the story short for both and it will still be long enough. Ha!
Day 1:
Picked the guys up at the Whitecaps Motel at 5am, stopped to get ice, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch. We were headed north of Kelly's, up to the line, at 5:45. When we got up there, the Garmin wasn't marking very much, so I decided to try the north side of North Bass Island. The Garmin was marking a few more fish than before, so I stopped over 34' of water.
Down went the Ulterra, and the baby Merc was started. The troll would be from east to west on the outside of West Reef, but south of the Canadian line at 2.3-2.5mph on the FishHawk.
Since we had 4 people on the boat, we could run 12 lines. 4 Off Shore boards ran on each side with Bandits in tow. Two dipsies ran off each corner in back, too.
The dipsies ran a "Worm-Burner" and a spoon on each side. The inside rods ran on the zero settings, and the outside rods ran the three settings.
The zero settings started at 25 and 27 back, and the three settings ran at 37 and 50 back.
BadMo Arrow spoons, Yeck Y11 spoons, and Worm-Burners all caught fish.
Bandit colors were:
Psycho Killer (Slim Shady Custom)
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom)
Blue Shiner (stock color)
Fruit Dots (stock)
Khaki (stock)
IB Infected (DJ Custom Eye Lures)
Pooh Bear (Domka Outdoors)
Buck Fever (Domka Outdoors)
Bandits were running anywhere from 117 to 57 back.
After passing the NW side of the reef, I saw the water getting dirtier, we turned and went from west to east over the same fish, but they didn't really like that direction, and we only caught two or three going that way. As the sun got higher the bite slowed down for us, so we decided to move down towards Kelly's. At that time we had two of their three limits in the cooler.
I decided to try going shallower in North Bay to see if there were any hiding up in there, like they are know to do from time to time. There were a lot of boats 1/2-1 mile off the outside of North Bay, but no one was in there, so we slid in and set up over 21' of water. We started on the west side of the bay, and worked our way around to the east side of it. We didn't catch any until we got to the east side of it...near those two humps just inside the bay. We now had 14 fish and needed two more in the next 45 minutes, before we ran out of time.
We trolled out of the bay and to the east...through the cut between the island and the shoal, and caught a few more in the cut. We needed one more fish to finish out their limit....had it on, and lost it at the back of the boat, so they only had 17.
We had thrown several shorts back and one that was 15 inches. I don't keep them unless they are 15 1/2", and only if the customer wants to keep it. (15 1/2" because they shrink when they get on ice, and I don't want one shrinking under 15 inches from the cold...that would cost ME a ticket!
They said they enjoyed the morning, learned a lot, and had a great time, and that makes me happy!
That night, the forecast was showing much stronger winds from the north for the next morning, and calm winds for Friday (today), so after discussing it with my guys, they decided to fish Friday instead of the next day.
Of course, it wasn't the same forecast when I got up the next morning, and we could have fished, but they had made plans for the day, and were still good with going the next day.
That brings us to this morning....Day 2:
Initially, my plan was to drive over to Lorain (55 minutes from my house), and launch at Hot Waters, but that changed. I was given good reports from the island area, and decided to nix the two hour round trip that would go through miles of construction on RT 2, and stay closer to home. My guys were good with that decision.
Mick didn't make the trip this morning, due to feeling sick, and stayed back, while Mark and Jeff headed to the truck. Same routine...hit the gas station for ice, and then head to the launch. This time, we used Catawba. At 5:30 we were on our way north to the west side of the islands.
As we approached the west side of Green the Garmin screen was showing a decent amount of fish over 31' of water, so we set up there.
This time, we could only run 9 lines, so I only set up 8, to keep it simple. Two Off Shore boards on each side and two dipsies on each side.
Dipsies: zero setting at 27 and 30 back
Three settings at 50 and 60 back
Slim Shady's "Psycho Killer" Bandit took the first three at 80 back on the port side, so I put another one out on the starboard side at 80 back, too, but it didn't pull any....so weird.
Other colors that eventually worked were:
SunSpot at 50/45 w/2oz (stock)
Blue Shiner (stock) 107 back
Marvin (Domka, I think?) 97 back
And a "Slick Purple Bengel" Flicker Minnow 11 at 95 back
We worked from Green to the east side of Rattlesnake...the north side of Rattle to West Reef, and then back down in front of the west side of the islands....back to Green. We marked fish, but they weren't that interested and most that did hit were not aggressively hitting, and were barely hooked.
We only ended with their two limits today, and I was kicking myself for not going all the way to Lorain this morning. But, I really had higher expectations for the area we fished this morning. Oh well....another wrong decision to put in the books. The road construction was my biggest deterrent in that travel plan.
We worked hard for them this morning (changed a lot of bait colors), and it was a grind to get the 12 we did (plus 4 throwbacks that went back). The day ended with a big sheephead that took both of them reeling it in. Jeff handed it off to Mark, who eventually got it in.
While they fought its roley-poley body in, I started pulling the dipsies, because it was time to head in, and that way I could cut the baby Merc off, and slow the boat down, so they could get it in the boat easier.
They both said they had a good time, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. There were no bugs out there today, either...yay!
I just received a text from Mick, who stayed on shore today, stating he was feeling much better...thanked me for everything and said, "See you next year", and that makes me happy! :)
I'm off the next two days, an will be back at it on Monday with Steve Jeziorski and his friends. Right now, the forecast for Monday looks really nice. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Danny and Randy...5/25/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/25/26Left the house at 4:45am, hit the gas station for some ice, and headed to Mazurik's to get things ready before my customers showed up at 6am. The wind was very light out of the north, the air temp was in the low 60s, and the sky was cloudy.
When I got to Mazurik's, it was dark, and there were a few others already there and launching their boats. After the usual boat prep, I jumped in to dig out some crankbaits that are in the front storage compartment....those are the ones I don't use that often. This time, I was going to try the Reef Runner Mag 44s on one side and Bandits on the other side. They've worked in May before, so I thought I would give them a try.
Danny and Randy showed up on time, and we launched just before it got really busy at the ramp. I hadn't seen Danny in a year, and this year he was walking with a cane, so I told him to meet me at the courtesy dock instead of trying to climb the EZEESteps on the trailer to get into the boat. It would be much easier for him. Randy parked the truck and came down, jumped in the boat, and off we went.
I knew I wasn't going back to where I was yesterday, and decided to head towards Starve Island area, and the east side of the Bass Islands. On our way there, the Garmin kept marking a lot of fish in 20-22' of water, so I turned the Vexus around and went back to a starting point, and set up.
The Ulterra and baby Merc worked in unison to keep us on a course to the north at a speed of 2.5mph (FishHawk speed).
The water temp on the surface was 58.5 degrees, and at 15' down it was 60.2 degrees.
The lake was only a little rough from all the boat wakes...not the wind. The north wind was less than 5mph at 6am. A fog threatened to come in, but never really did, so that was a relief. I hate fishing in the fog.
Danny wasn't able to stand up, so Randy helped set lines after I showed him how to attach the Off Shore boards and set dipsies.
Two dipsies ran off each stern corner. I use a 6' rod and an 8.6' rod on each side. The shorter one is the "inside," and the longer is the "outside".
The inside run on the zero setting, and the outside run on the three settings.
The zero settings were set at 25 and 27 back. The three settings were at 35 and 37 back. Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons were used. I didn't even bother with the worm-burners this morning.
We had 8 in the cooler in no time at all, and then we had a major mishap happen...it was no one's fault, but it was disastrous.
Here's what happened....
Since Danny can't stand very well, when a fish was on a dipsey, he would heave himself off the driver's seat and sit on the starboard compartment, so he could reel in a fish. Well, this time, he sat on the Ulterra remote that I had set down, and the remote freaked out.
The trolling motor lost it's paring to the remote, so I couldn't do anything with it, and it had gone berserk....speed was at power 10...it was turned to the right...and not responding to commands to turn the prop off. By the time I was able to put the kicker motor in neutral and get up to the motor itself to turn it off, the boat had done 1 1/2 circles and had board lines under the boat, and eventually had three lines wrapped around the kicker's prop. I was at least able to use the net to get the Off Shore board that was hanging off the end of the kicker back in the boat.
The line wasn't budging, though, so we would have to go back to the dock to free it. I wasn't about to go swimming at this time of year to fix it. Maybe when the water is 80 degrees, but not when it's 58! lol
Three lines had tangled in the kicker prop, and one even found itself around the trolling motor shaft. Two Bandits were still floating out back, and when I got the boat on plane, one of them came flying into the boat. A "Buck Fever" Bandit was lost, and it is floating out there somewhere.
We made it back to the dock around 7:30, and it was busy, so we pulled up to the courtesy dock and were able to free the kicker prop of line. However, since I have the day off, I have three reels that will need to be respooled tomorrow. Too much line was removed to keep them in calibration.
We went back out, but this time we only set the dipsies, because the crankbaits did nothing in that first hour, and the spoons were catching. We only fished four lines, but were able to get our limits before we ran out of time. Whew! Nothing big...just good eaters today.
Some days aren't perfect, but they can be interesting. ;)
Randy has his own boat, and it will be launched for the season tomorrow. He's got a nice 1988 Tiara.
Danny will be back next week for a two-day trip with a friend who is coming in from Utah.
I'm off tomorrow, but will be back out for a two-day trip with Mick Jandl and two of his friends. They are coming down from Wisconsin. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Mike...5/24/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/24/26Joe Conley, who used to fish the same walleye tournaments that I did back in the early 2000s, reached out to book a trip with me, because he didn't want to pull his boat back here again this month. He was here last month with his own boat, and was able to get out each of the 5 days they were here, and limited each time out, too. :)
This time, Joe brought his friend, Mike, who is originally from MN, but now lives in California, because he's never been to Lake Erie, so this was his first time.
After this two-day blow we just had, with gusty NE winds, the water was going to be muddy in areas. Since there was no satellite pic to see where the dirty water is, it was just a matter of heading out, driving around, and finding clean enough water holding some fish, to fish in.
The obvious direction was to head north, since it was the shoreline that got beaten up in that wind. It wouldn't be as muddy up there, and that proved to be correct.
We started SE of Kelly Island Shoal in 36' of water, and trolled to the NE...out to 45 feet of water. There were good marks from 10-40 feet down in the water column. The kind of screen that gets a person excited, because they look like very active fish. However, that wasn't the case. It was a slow bite and a grind to just get their 12 fish.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards, and the only ones that would catch would be "Buck Fever" (Domka Outdoors Custom) at 63 back, Blue Chrome at 85 back, and "The Big Kahuna" at 93 back....that's another Domka color.
The Bandits would only catch 4 fish all morning. There were also two pull-backs, but the fish came off. I tried the Bill Lewis PWC Lite with a 2oz snap weight, but it didn't do anything. I tried the Spro Madeye 120 "Ghost Purple Perch", which is usually a producer, but it didn't do anything either.
Most of the fish came on dipsies with Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons. The "worm-burners" only got their crawlers stolen this time. The bite wasn't aggressive, so the fish would grab the crawler's tail and rip it. The last time out, they were engulfing it to the back of their throats.I removed the worm-burners and replaced them with more spoons.
The 2 zero settings were at 30 and 40, and the 2 three settings were at 57 and 82. All of them caught fish.
Speed was 2.3-2.5 on the FishHawk. Water temp on the surface was 58 degrees, and at 18 feet down it was 60 degrees.
We only ended up with their limits and none of mine, but it was still a fun morning to be out there. The weather was beautiful, the lake was pleasant, and the company was entertaining. At one point, Joe called his girlfriend to tell her, "I've never had a woman tell me what to do in a boat before"...hahahah That made me giggle.
He confessed he learned a trick or two, and that made me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I have Danny and his friend, Mike (I think his name is Mike)...they were rescheduled from last Tuesday, when it was blowing out of the NE, and we cancelled.
We'll be launching out of Catawba tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
