Fishing Day 1 with Greg, Jeff, and Dave...April 12, 2023

We left Mazurik's at 6:30 and headed north. When we set up, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. The wind was out of the SW at around 13mph, with gusts to 20. Waves were 1-3s. Water temp was 44.3 degrees on the east of Ballast Island. We set a course to the NE at a speed of 1.3-1.6mph, on the Fish Hawk. Speed on the GPS was 1.7-2.0mph.

Marks on the sonar were good closer to Ballast, but as we ventured further out away from the islands, and towards the Canadian line, the marks were few and far between.

We set up with Bandits on both sides first, but after a dismal start, we changed up the port side to WNC Reapers. The blue chrome with groovy stripes on it took one at 57 back. Then, nothing. We decided to move closer to Kelly's north side.

We set up again with the Bandits on the starboard side at 100, 70, 60, 50, and 40 back behind the Off Shore boards, and the Reapers set at 97, 77, 67, 57, and 47.

Fish came on the Reaper at 97, 67, and 57 back closer to Kelly's.  The Bandits only caught a plastic bag today. 

We made one more move, after that pass from west to east, and when we hit the east side of the island, we moved back to the NW corner of it. This time, I decided to try the 38-40' of water contour lines, headed north, towards Gull Island Shoal.

We changed out the Reapers to Flicker Minnow 11s, and caught a walleye at 67 back on the purple chrome/foil color.  Nothing more on that pass up to the shoal and across the bottom of it, headed east.  

We had good marks everywhere in that area, so it's just a matter of time before they become hungry and active again.  I hate this time of the spawn, when they are recovering...deep sigh.

We changed up colors so often, I can't remember what caught, and what we had out. We ended up with 6 fish though, and that's it. Not a great day of catching, but it was a great day fishing. My Wisco crew is a lot of fun, and very patient, so they made my job less stressful on a tough day. 

We will try again tomorrow, but this time headed out of Catawba, and headed to the west side of the islands.  The satellite picture is looking better and better every day, the water temps are coming up, the air temps are going up, the full moon is diminishing, and the winds are going to lay down a little bit again. The bite is sure to get hot here pretty soon.

Yes, some people are in the right spot at the right time, and will do very well, and catch their limits....but, for the rest of us that are over fish that do not want to participate, this blog is for them.  

Keep the faith, and never give up. Don't lose your confidence, which I know can happen. Right now, I feel like I have forgotten how to fish!  But, we're just in the right spot at the wrong time, so just keep plugging away. The lake is huge, and there is no way to cover it all, so just remember, the easy days are just around the corner. 

But, this Monday, and Tuesday are going to blow again....and, Monday is a big cold front, again. Wednesday is a NW wind forecast, making for rough seas. Welcome to Lake Erie...be smart and be safe.

Tomorrow, I have the same crew, and we will try our best...that's all we can do.

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls