Fishing with Frank...8/25/2026
by Capt Juls on 08/25/26Slept in until 2:30 this morning. The cooler nights are making sleeping deeper easier. I did wake up at midnight to go pee, and noticed that the moonlight was very bright. It's building up to a full moon that's happening on the 28th. I'm not a fan of fishing during full moons, especially if there is a clear sky at night. The fish eat in abundance during the night, and that can make it tougher when the sun comes up.
The back deck forecast showed a temperature of 64 degrees, clear to partly cloudy skies, and a light wind out of the NW. By 5 a.m., the wind would switch to the SSW.
I picked Frank up at the Whitecaps Motel at 5:40, and we headed to Huron. I stopped to pick up some ice for the coolers before hitting the highway. We chatted on the ride over, and Frank explained that he just needed to get out of the house for a couple of days, and his happy place is floating in a boat on a lake. He lost his wife last October to a sudden illness, and the house can get "suffocating" at times.
Frank has fished with me plenty of times over the years, but usually has his partner, Ray, along for the trip. Ray couldn't make it this time, due to his need to finish a deck job he was doing for a lady back home in Michigan.
The sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon when we arrived in Huron at 6:15...sunrise wouldn't happen until 6:51 a.m. We launched at 6:30 and took our time heading out of the river.
There were a lot of good marks just outside the river in 33-34' of water, but I kept heading out towards the south side of the dumping grounds. The Garmin was showing fewer marks out there in 36 feet of water, so I pointed the Vexus back 180 degrees and headed back to the shallower water. When the fish marks showed up again, I shut her down and deployed the Ulterra and Baby Merc, and set a course to the east.
The FishHawk went down, and the iTroll was dialed in to set a speed at the baits to 2.3-2.5 mph. The water temp was 75 degrees at 18' down.
Since there were only two of us, and we could only run 6 lines, I started with 4 dipsies and two Off Shore boards. I'm not going to report on the cranks, because they only caught one giant White Perch the entire time they ran.
The dipsies were running two per side. The zero setting was on the inside rod and, the three setting was set on the outside rods.
Zero settings were at 28 and 30 back to start. Eventually, the best numbers were 38 and 44.
The three settings were at 58 and 64 back.
BadMo, Yeck, Scorpion, and Stinger spoons were used, and all caught fish.
When the boat was even with the Huron lighthouse again, we turned to head west over the same 33-35' of water. This time, it would take us as far as the west side of the white condos, before we turned to head back east again.
The wind had laid down, so the wacky waves from the SSW hitting the NW rollers were dying down. Making it easier for Frank's sea legs to start working better.
The early bite was slow, but picked up about an hour and a half before our time was up, and we ended up putting Frank's 6 walleye and one big perch in the cooler for him to take home. One walleye was deformed in the tail end, so he got lucky and went back in the lake. His deformity let him stay just under the 15" line on the ruler. If he had been normal, it probably would have been a 16" fish.
Frank said his freezer is packed with fish, so this trip wasn't a meat run for him. He just wanted to relax, have fun, and learn the art of using dipsies without tangling....and we did just that. By the time we finished, Frank was definitely more proficient in using and setting dipsies. I love them; they are the easiest presentation, and fastest to reset, too.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the lake. Frank said he had a great time, and that's all that matters.
He and Ray will be back in November for their annual trip with me, and that makes me happy!
I'm off the rest of the week, but have a test-ride to give to a person interested in a Vexus DVX22 one of the days this week, so there's that.
My next trip is with two ladies who want to go chase walleye on Monday the 31st. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
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