Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Allen and Marilyn...9/3/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/03/24Allen and Marilyn drove over from Indiana, on Sunday. We were supposed to fish yesterday, but Mother Nature had other plans, and sent us a gusty NNE wind instead. It was a "no-go".
Initially, we were going to do one day of perch fishing, and one day of walleye fishing. I asked them which species they wanted to target, since we only had one day, and Allen chose walleye, so their day 2 trip was set....walleye it is.
A friend had texted me with some info, from the day before the blow, so that was going to be my starting point, this morning. Crawlers made the most sense, since we had a change in conditions, and what walleye can resist a big fat crawler?
I had told my crew, that I would pick them up at 6AM, but as usual, I got to their motel 15 minutes early...and, to my surprise, they were sitting outside, waiting on me!
I said, "You two are early, it's still very dark out...we're in no hurry". Allen smiled, and replied, "I get up early, too".
We headed to the gas station, bought ice, and some powdered donuts, and headed to Mazurik's, to launch. Yesterday afternoon, I got in the boat, and re-rigged all the trolling rods with crawler harnesses. My friend, who had texted me, told me that blue/silver harnesses worked best for them, so when I looked in my stash, I found I didn't have any blue/silver harnesses made up. So, I made some.
We headed to the east side of Kelly's, and found the residual waves from last night were coming from the NNE. The flag on the pier at Lakeside, showed the wind was still out of the north. My wind app was showing light south winds. Obviously, the flag was correct. That changed my plan a bit...I was planning on starting SE of Kelly's and trolling north. So, instead, we went north, to Kelly Island Shoal, to start there, and troll south.
The water temp was 74.2 degrees.
The FishHawk was dropped down to depth, and turned on. The Terrova and baby Merc, worked in unison to keep us at a speed of 1.5-1.7mph. The harnesses ran with 2oz inline weights behind Off Shore boards anywhere from 60-80 back... over 41 feet of water.
The first board out, was running at 77 back...it got hit before the second board was set in place. It was a big fish, too. Allen reeled it in...it turned out to be a big kitty cat. The rest of the 8 board spread was set out. I had marked fish on the ride up, albeit spotty marks, so we just kept going hoping to hit some of those pockets of fish. We did that for too long, though. 3 hours had passed already.
It was time to go elsewhere and try spoons behind dipsies, and some little cranks behind the boards.
We headed east, off the point of Airport Reef, and kept going until we were north of the white condos, east of Cedar Point, and the Helix showed some marks, that looked fishable. The fish weren't tight to the bottom, like they were in other places, so they should bite.
The dipsies were running on the zero setting at 50 and 55 back, and the other two rods were running on the two settings at 75 back. All four settings caught fish with Yeck (D-11) spoons, and BadMo Arrow spoons. It wasn't a fast bite, and we only had 2 1/2 hours left to fish, so we were only able to manage one limit, of our three-person limit. But, they were decent fish, so Allen was happy with the catch. He said it made him happy that we made a move, and tried something else, when the first program didn't work, too.
The weather was beautiful, and the lake only had a handful of boats within viewing distance. Allen and Marilyn said they both had a good time, and would like to do it again, and that makes me happy.
I don't have anything scheduled until Saturday, which is a perch trip, but the forecast is calling for gusty NNW winds again, so we'll see. I'll have to keep an eye on that, and communicate with my crew.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave, John, and Jay....8/31/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/01/24
This morning, I had the pleasure of fishing with Dave, and his friends, John and Jay. I had told Dave, yesterday, that the perch bite has not been kind to me...more like brutal, and that they could reschedule if they wanted to, but they insisted on going, and taking a chance on a better bite. After picking up some nice Emerald Shiners from "Jeanette's Bait", we launched out of Catawba at 6:30.
Well, to make a long story short....while we did twice as well as I did the day before, when I fished with Tom and Carrie...we were far from a limit for 4 people. But, they didn't seem to mind, and said they had a great time. And, I have to agree...John kept us giggling all morning. The rain stayed to the south, so we never got wet, and that makes me happy! :)
We started out by West Reef, but it was a Sheephead nursery, so we moved over to Niagara, and started catching. We missed so many bites, but when we did catch, they were nice perch.
With an hour and a half to go, and the bite slowed, so we moved on down to D Can and picked up 7 or 8 more keepers and had 5 throw backs.
I'm off tomorrow, and it looks like my Monday trip might have to be cancelled, due to a gusty north wind. I gave the crew the heads up, but they booked two days, so they said that if Monday is cancelled, they will just find something else to do to entertain themselves. East winds are forecast for Tuesday, but it looks fishable...rough, but fishable.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tom and Carrie...8/30/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/30/24Well, it's been 15 days since my last trip out on Lake Erie, due to some reschedules and then my sonar taking a puke, and having to reschedule another one, because of that. Thankfully, the sonar is working again.
The last time out was for walleye, and today was for perch. Tom, Carrie, and I launched out of Catawba at 6:30, and started towards D Can, but had some really good marks just SE of E Can, so we stopped there, to start.
To my dismay, when I opened my bait cooler, the minnows I was given were mostly Goldies with a few Emeralds.. (90/10), even though I asked, when I walked through the door this morning, "Do you have Emeralds, or are they a mix with Goldies?". I was told, enthusiastically, "They are all Emeralds", so I didn't question them, or look at them after they were scooped.
I'm not going to say where this was, because I'm not going to hurt anyone's business over this mistake, but I won't make that mistake again, and will look before I walk out of the store. I knew who had just Emeralds, but didn't go there...I will be going there in the morning, though.
Anyway, it wasn't a good morning for us, catching-wise, but we did have a nice time, on a nice day. It was a lot cooler out on the water, than it was on land, so we had that going for us on this very hot and humid day.
Unfortunately, we didn't even get close to a one person limit, even though we tried 6 spots, and all the spots had great "Lasagna marks" on the bottom and just above the bottom, and when we did catch, it was a nice fat yellow. We tried all kinds of rigs, too.
We caught a few sheephead, one kitty, and handful of white perch, also. So, we did catch some fish...just not the kind of perch fishing I'm craving.
Tom and Carrie, both said they had good time anyway, and that makes me a little happier. ;)
Tomorrow's crew wants to target perch too, and I gave them my results from today, and they still want to go and see what we can do, so launch time will depend on if there are any storms going through in the morning, like they are forecasting.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dan and Ed...8/15/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24My original plan was to go to Huron, but with reports of floating grass in the area, I decided that launching in Vermilion would be a wiser move. We could head north to escape the floating masses.
I picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5am, and headed to the gas station, to get ice for the coolers...we then headed east to Vermilion. No one was there, so the ramp was all ours. After paying the launch fee, and hitting the bathrooms, we launched at 6am. Sunrise is at 6:30 now.
The sky was lightening, so by the time we got to Lorain, it was light enough to remove the navigation lights.
The dipsies went out first, and were catching before I could start on the crankbaits behind the planer boards.
Dipsey settings that worked well for us were:
zero setting 60 back (port side) and 65 back (starboard side)
two setting at 80 back (starboard side)
three setting at 80 back (port side)
Spoons were out-fishing the cranks this morning. Yeck (D-11s) in colors I don't know the names of..sorry. They had pink bellies though, and I think that was the key to those two. Those were on the two and three setting dipsies.
A Black/Silver/Green striped back w/silver bellied BadMo Arrow spoon fished behind the zero setting on the starboard side. A Yeck spoon with copper/red/black on the back, with a royal blue belly, worked behind the zero setting on the port side.
Speed on the FishHawk was 2.3-2.5mph. The currents over in Lorain are all over the place, and flowing like ribbons in a gentle breeze, through the water. We would be scooting along at 2.3mph and then all of the sudden, the FishHawk shows the speed at 2.7-3.3mph, or 1.7-1.9mph....then, it would go back to 2.3mph after a short period. So, we were weaving through these opposing currents, continually.
The baby Spro (85s) ran behind the Off Shores on the port side, and the Bill Lewis Lites ran on the starboard side.
2oz Guppie weights ran 50/70, and 50/60 on the starboard side, and at 50/57 and 50/55 on the port side. All of these caught a fish or two.
Color were:
Spros: Chrome Perch and Blue/Chrome
Lites: Blue/Chrome and Purple Tiger
Water temp was 75 degrees on the surface...and, the same, on the FHawk, 20 feet down.
Dan and Ed did a great job getting their fish to the boat and netted...we only lost two that came unbuttoned from the spoons.
They each caught their limit, and I caught mine too. They were happy campers, to say the least, and so was I.
I told them on the way back to Port Clinton, that they should take a nap, and then go back out to try for some perch, because we have wind coming tomorrow through the weekend, and their boat isn't really made of this lake. They were planning on going up to the Detroit River to fish, if it got too windy here.
I was happy to hear that.
We had a great time today, and that makes me happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow, but have Saturday and Sunday trips scheduled for a one day perch trip, and a one day walleye trip. I'll be watching the wind forecast, because where I have been fishing, is not where I would go in any SW wind, gusting to 20-25mph. I'll discuss it with my crew. We may reschedule, if it doesn't improve.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Stacy and Keith Scheurer...8/14/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24I had fished with Keith a couple years ago...his wife likes to read my reports, and relay info for their own trips, because Keith isn't online a lot. He has a Ranger 621, and doesn't live far from the lake. The other day, when I had a cancellation for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Stacy told Keith about it, so he called to see if they could do a perch trip with me.
I was available. :)
I met them at Catawba at 5:45...they were right on time. Stacy got in the boat, and Keith and I got in truck. As I'm driving down to the launch, I see a crew of two, loading their boat in the approach...ugh.
It was still dark out, so there was no hurry at all to get going, I told Keith, "He's lucky it's still dark out, or I would have said something by now." He laughed, and told of his own experiences at other boat launches.
They were taking much longer than we had expected, so I got out of the truck, and walked over to chat with them. As I approached, I said, "You're lucky it's still dark out", and smiled. He nodded, knowing they were in the wrong.... then said, "Morning Captain, we're your crew for tomorrow", and reached out to shake my hand.
I about died...thinking of how close I could have been to becoming a Karen at 6am in the morning, but refrained, and went the nice route instead. It just goes to show you....you should always try to be nice...it always comes back to you when you least expect it. That could have been a very bad experience, otherwise. lol
Anyway....we got launched, and I even waited for Dan and Ed to launch, so they could follow us out to D Can, because they're from Missouri, riding in an aluminum bass boat, and this was their first time to the lake. They wanted to try for some perch today, too. They followed us out, and we both got set up near the can.
We caught, but it was a very slow bite, and I wasn't happy with the marks on the screen, so we moved. The boats were piling in, so ...we left. I pointed the nose of the Vexus to the north, and went up to Niagara. No one was there, but there were good marks, so we set up again.
Stacy and Keith were using the Fishing Addiction Fly Rigs, and I was using one of my homemade crappie rigs. The bite was slow for us again, but the marks were good, and when we did catch one, it was a big fatty yellow perch.
Looking back at D Can, we couldn't even count how many boats were there, because there were so many. I wasn't going back there. I hate fishing in crowds.
Algae formed on the surface of the water, due to the absence of wind, and looked like pea soup. We decided to turn the Spot Lock off and just drift ever so slowly.
We didn't catch our limits of perch, but they were very happy with the amount and size of them. Memories were made, and we all had fun, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have Dan and Ed for a walleye trip.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tracy, Dan, and Elliot...8/12/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24Tracy brought his son Dan, and his grandson, Elliott for a perch trip, this past Monday. We hit 4 spots from the east side of South Bass to the west side by Green, and didn't limit out. They got a couple family fish fries, though...and, they had fun being together, on the lake.
The bite was not generous to us, even though we had good "Perchy" marks on the sonar....when we did entice one to bite, it was usually a nice, fat, Yellow Perch.
The lake was supposed to be 2 foot or less, but it was easily 1-3's, or more like 2-3s, for most of the morning. Then, as we headed in, it started to lay down.
Tracy has fished me several times now....he said, he would be back again....and, that makes me happy! :)
The next trip is a perch trip too...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Brian and Mandy...8/4/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/04/24Brian and Mandy were driving in from near Dayton, this morning, so I told them to meet me at the Huron ramp at 5:30.
(Note...It's not getting light until 5:45 now, so I'll be changing my meeting time to 5:45 instead of 5:30, so we can be launched by 6am.)
Sunrise this morning was at 6:28.
I left the house at 4am, so I could hit the gas station, before heading to Huron. I wanted to get there early, so I could clean the boat, before they got there. I was going to clean it yesterday, but it just go too darn hot out, and I figured the morning dew would come in handy for wiping it down.
I was in the get ready lanes by 5am, and they showed up at 5:05. It was still very dark out, so I told them we were waiting for it to get light enough, to see the Off Shore boards out there. We were headed out of the mouth of the river at 6am.
As the sky lightened, a partly cloudy sky revealed itself. The air temp was in the 70s, and the wind was light out of the SSW, and below 5mph.
The lake had residual NNW rollers from last night's wind, so we just took our time going out. We didn't have to go far, before we were marking good fish out in 36 feet of water. It's right where I left off 3 days ago, so I was happy to see them still in the area.
Brian had set up this trip as a learning trip, so he and Mandy could get more proficient using both the dipsies and the Off Shore boards, on their own boat.
Their board's releases were set up differently than mine, so I explained why I run them with the orange OR-19 on the front arm, and the Snapper (OR-18), on the back. I showed them the loop trick, so the line will release from the front arm, and turn the board around, so it comes in backwards, attached to the Snapper. Brian saw the advantages of that, right away.
We ran Bill Lewis Lites on the port side, with 2oz snap-weights, at 50/70 and 50/43 back. Colors were Purple Tiger and Chrome Perch.
(For those that are new to reading my "fish speak" language...this means the snap-weight is attached at the 50 mark, and then another 70 or 43 feet of line is let out, before the board is attached... I run the longer leads on the outside, and the shorter leads on the inside).
The starboard side ran the baby Spros (85s), with 2oz...colors were Blue/Chrome, and Pink Lemonade. The outside bait was set at 50/67 back, and the inside bait was set at 50/27 back.
The early morning bite was the best for us. It slowed way down, from what it was earlier, at around 9am. We had our 18 by 10am(ish), I'm not sure...I didn't look at the clock.
Mandy managed to catch her personal best, with a "Fish Ohio", that went a little over 28 1/2 inches. I couldn't weigh it, because I had stolen my 9V battery out of the scale, to use in the voltage meter the other week, and I never put it back. My bad....but, I'm guessing she was in the high 8 pound range.
Both said they had a good time, and they learned a lot. I feel confident, from watching them work the dipsies and boards, that they will be able to easily do this on their boat, too. Mission accomplished...:)
Tomorrow, I have a perch trip with a father and his two grown sons. The weather is looking good for a perch trip, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the bait shops have some Emerald Shiners in the morning, but if they only have Goldies... I have some frozen Emeralds in the freezer, I can take.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 3 of 3 with John and Janet....7/31/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/31/24John and Janet, had one more day of fishing, and one more night in town, before they head back to Missouri. Janet told me that Missouri is known as the "Show Me" state, so I wanted today to go even better than it did yesterday, and yesterday was pretty darn good.
It was going to be a nice day, either way. There was no rain in the forecast, the sky was clear, and the winds were expected to be light. The air temp this morning, was 74 degrees.
I picked them up at the Whitecaps Motel, at 4:40am. After picking up ice for the coolers, we headed to Huron, again. I had been given some good info last night, using Flicker Minnows, so I took off my "confidence baits" that had been working for the past two months, and put some number 11s on.
I'm not going to give the area, or the depth on that one, because it wasn't my find, and the info was given to me, so it's' not my info to share. I know you understand.
All I'll say is, is that we caught 5 there, before deciding it was too slow, and headed back to where we caught them early, yesterday. The plan was to get the walleye early, again, and then go try for some perch in the area.
We left the first area, and headed out to where we started yesterday, in 38' of water NNE of the river. (This will be known as "spot 2").
Yesterday, we had our limits in one pass, so I was kind of expecting the same, this morning.
After the boat was set up, and headed in a NNEasterly direction, the Flicker Minnows were replaced with my tried and true little hunters...the Spro 85 and the Bill Lewis PWC Lites.
Speed was set to 2.3-2.5mph on the FishHawk.
The wind was out of the SSW at around 10mph, so the waves were much less than they were yesterday, with that 15-20mph SW wind we had.
Today was 1' or less, and yesterday was 1-3s, 10 miles out.
There was just enough wind to keep the bugs at bay, but not enough to make it rough. It was... kind of... perfect. :)
Perfect weather, but not a perfect bite...
The area we fished yesterday has been infiltrated with A LOT of white perch, so we had to continually check the dipsies, and reel in the Off Shore boards, every time a flag laid down. I think we caught close to 90, or more....I wasn't keeping count, but it was constant work for me, and my "First Mate" Janet, to keep resetting lines. But, she enjoyed every minute of it, while John was enjoying seeing his wife of 30+ years doing what she loves to do, and kept our moral up by being positive.
After picking up a keeper walleye here, and there... in-between the onslaught of white perch...we found a good school of bigger walleye, than we had been catching. (spot number 3).
Most of the fish in the early morning cooler were 16-20 inch fish, and the late morning catches were 20-24 inches.
We were fishing over 36 feet of water in the third spot.
The program that I ran yesterday, in the 38-43 feet of water is in the previous day's report, so if you need it, you can find it there.
The program for our third spot, over 36 feet of water, was similar, but with little changes in leads.
A Spro 85s ran with a 2oz snap weight, on the starboard side's outside board, at 50/67 , and a BL PWC Lite ran behind the inside board at 50/27. Colors were Pink Lemonade and Purple Tiger.
The port side ran two Bill Lewis PWC Lites (Blue/Chrome and Barbie) at 50/65, and 50/43 with 2 oz snap weights.
The two inside dipsies ran on the zero settings at 45 and 50 back back.
The three setting dipsey ran at 70 back and the two setting dipsey ran at 65 back.
In the second spot, I was changing out colors of spoons, and lures, trying to catch walleye and not white perch, but those little buggers eat everything. It would be nice, too...if, the white perch could learn to just take ONE hook in their mouths, instead of all three...every time.
The third spot was mostly walleye and not white perch, and they were hitting everything we had out, so it didn't take long to finish our tickets.
We ended right on time, with 10 minutes to spare, but we caught all our fish, and even beat yesterdays weight, so John and Janet were very happy with their three day adventure, and want to come back again, next season. I can't wait to do it again! Janet's last words to me, as we parted, were, "Well, I guess you showed us!", then, nodded and smiled.... and, that makes me happy! :)
My next scheduled trip is Monday, August 6th, for a perch trip.
Weather permitting, I have this weekend available.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 of 3 with John and Janet...7/30/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/30/24The dogs woke me up a 1/2 hour early this morning, so I had to get up to see what they wanted. Turns out, they just wanted me up, so I stayed up, brewed some coffee, grabbed the dog treats, and went outside.
The weather this morning, had a light breeze out of the SW, a partly cloudy sky, and a 77 degree air temperature. I checked the radar first, because scattered showers and thunderstorms, for the area this morning, was the last thing I heard, last night. The radar showed a line of rain coming in from the WSW, but it looked like it was going to move north, before hitting Port Clinton.
The plan this morning was to launch out of Huron. The radar showed no precipitation headed in that vicinity any time soon, so I felt good about that decision. The wind direction was also favorable for Huron, so that made it even better.
I'm glad we went perch fishing yesterday, because I'm sure it was rough at Green Island today. :)
I picked John and Janet up at 4:45, and we headed to the gas station for some ice. The boat and truck were already gassed up, and ready to go. We hit the Huron ramp at 5:30 and waited for it to get lighter out, before launching at 5:50am.
I explained to them, how an offshore wind makes small waves inside, and it looks calm, but the further you go out the rougher it is going to get. They understood. The wind forecast for the morning, was 11-14mph, with gusts up to 21, out of the SSW. But, it was more SSE early this morning, and changed to SSW around 8:30-9:00am.
The Vexus was pointed NE, out of the river, and set down over 38 feet of water. The Helix was showing us there were fish down there, so the usual things happened. The Terrova got deployed first, sand a course set to the NNE. The FishHawk went next, to read the current speed down below. Then, the baby Merc was throttled up with the iTroll, to a desired starting speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
Dipsies ruled this morning... with BadMo Arrow spoons (the smaller ones), Yeck spoons (D-11s), and Michigan Scorpion spoons running behind them.
The inside rod, on both sides were set on the zero setting. The port side started at 45 back. The starboard side started at 50 back. Both, were dialed in a little more as the morning went on, and they constantly caught fish anywhere between 50 and 60 back.
The outside rod on the port side, ran a three setting at 75 back. (It was the busiest of the 4 rods.)
The outside rod on the starboard side ran a two setting dipsey, at 65 back. That one stayed busy too.
Two Off Shore boards ran on each side, pulling Spro 85s on the starboard side, and Bill Lewis PWC Lites on the port side. All ran with 2 oz Guppie weights.
The port side ran a Chrome Perch at 50/77, and a Black Headed Wonder Bread color at 50/47 back.
PWC colors were, Pink Lemonade at 50/80 back, and Purple Glass Perch at 50/43 back.
John and Janet had a great time reeling in their limits, as did I, and they did a great job, for never having used dipsies, or planer boards, before. We had our three-person limit by 8:15, but stayed out and played catch and release for another hour, or so, before heading back in.
We will be trying another area tomorrow, and heading out of Mazurik's.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 1 with John and Janet...7/29/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/29/24John and Janet, drove in from Missouri yesterday, and made it to Port Clinton around 3:30pm. John called, and said he had some Bison (a roast and some strip steaks), and some homemade salsa for me, and asked if I would come and pick it up, since the little fridge in their room only had a tiny freezer in it. "I'll be right over", I said. Heck yeah, I want that! lol Yum!
It gave me a chance to meet them, before our three day trip started, and I knew then, that we would have a good time. They are really nice people. :)
John, who is an avid outdoorsman, and fishes and hunts all over the world, had never perch fished before....so, I didn't want to disappoint, and felt the pressure to get on some. Having not been perch'n a lot, yet, I was a bit nervous, since I had reports saying some did very well, while many others did not. I didn't want to be one of the "did nots", this morning.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:45, and headed towards Green Island. I checked the red buoy on the south side of Starve Island first, because that rock pile can sometimes hold a good school of perch...but, they weren't there, this morning. So, we kept going until we got to the west side of the Ferry lane, then slowed down to get better sonar readings.
When we hit 29 feet of water, the Helix started marking fish on the bottom, so I put the Terrova in the water, but I wasn't ready to stop yet. I just wanted it down, so when I did find the right fish, I could stop the boat with the big motor, and hit Spot-Loc on top of them. We found better marks in 28 feet of water, and "anchored up".
After a quick explanation of how to work the crappie rigs, and bait the hooks with minnows, John and Janet got to work. "A dollar for the first yellow?", I asked, and John said, "I'm in"....so was Janet. Luckily, John caught the first White Perch, but I caught the first yellow...woot! woot!
The crappie rigs are some that I make myself, and the Emerald Shiners came from Hi Way Bait. They are small, but big enough. I used some that were frozen in Wintergreen Rubbing Alcohol, and they used the fresh ones. Both caught fish.
It wasn't a fast bite, but it wasn't super slow either. As Janet would comment on the ride home, "The bite was fast enough to keep a person interested". I didn't want to go looking for other fish, and potentially lose a good spot, if the bite got better, so we never moved.
We ended up with 48 of our 90 fish limit, but both of them were more than happy with that count...especially, John, because he was planning on cleaning them all himself. "That's going to take me a couple hours", he said. I smiled, and shook my head in agreement.
Our time was running out, when some heavy rain was approaching from the SSW, so we headed in. Just as we got back to the dock, the heavy clouds dumped buckets of water down on us...that was fun...(smirk with an eye-roll inserted here).
They mentioned more than once, how much fun they had, so mission accomplished! I had a good time fishing with them, too...and, am looking forward to the next two days fishing for walleye.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Val....7/27/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/27/24Woke up at 2am, grabbed a cup of coffee, some dog treats, and headed out to the back deck with the dogs, to check the weather.
The air was clean and crisp, the stars were shining, and the temp was a comfortable 65 degrees. The wind was absent, so I checked the iWindSurf app, to see what it was doing, and would be doing this morning.
It showed light winds out of the SSE last night and through the morning hours, so that would help knock down the NE rollers from yesterday's wind.
Joe and Val are local, so they planned on meeting me at the launch, this morning. I asked them to meet me in Huron, because it was closer to the fish that I was on, Monday, and I had heard the fish were still there, yesterday, so I didn't want to launch from Mazurik's if there were still NE rollers out there. I'd rather drive the truck that distance, and launch over there....go out 4 miles, and set lines, than running 13 miles from Mazurik's. The truck gas is less expensive. ;)
I told them to meet me at 5:45.
At 5am, they passed me on the highway, and I was 45 minutes early! I wanted to add a bead to the 4 dipsey lines, to keep customers from reeling the snap swivel up into the tip, while I waited for them (so they got to watch me do it).
That can cut the guide, which in turn can cut the braid...making one lose an entire dipsey set up.
If I hadn't thought of it, while I was drifting off to sleep last night, I would have done it yesterday. But, it was still dark out, so we had lots of time to waste.
I was early enough to get the spot under the light, up by the bathrooms, so I could see what I was doing, while cutting lines, adding a bead, and retying. It didn't take very long, and was done just in time to get the boat launched, before it got busy.
We headed out of the river at 5:45, to a beautiful scenic view of the lighthouse, lit by a morning sky in the background. The Sunrise wasn't happening for another 35 minutes, so we had time to get to the area near the Huron Dump, before the Sun would show itself. It was beautiful this morning. :)
The lake had some residual small NE rollers still, so the ride out was slower than normal, but it wasn't bad. Once we hit 39 feet of water, we came off plane and started marking fish. The bow mount and the kicker were deployed after the FishHawk was, and synced together... to maintain a speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
Once again, the baby Spro (85s) were set behind Off Shore boards, (because, that's what I had on the last time out)...with 2oz Guppie weights, and run at 50/75, 50/67, 50/50, and 50/47.
Colors were:
Chrome Perch
Purple Glass Perch
Blue/Chrome
and, one I don't know the name of, but it's purplish-perch on its back and has a white belly
The dipsies ran the usual zero settings on the two inside rods, at 50 and 54 back...sporting BadMo Arrow spoons (smaller ones).
The two setting on the starboard side ran at 65 back, and had a Yeck Spoon (D-11)
The three setting on the port side ran at 75 back, and fished a spoon Val picked out. It looks something like Veggies on the back and had a pink belly.
The largest of the fish came on the spoon Val picked, (it may have gone 3 1/2-4 pounds, I think), so she was pretty happy about that. She said it was the biggest walleye she's ever caught. In fact, she caught the top three best fish in the cooler this morning. lol
We had to go through a ton of itty-bitty walleye, white perch, white bass, and sheephead to get to our 18 fish limit, but we did it. I showed them how important it is to keep checking the dipsies, because if they aren't doing something, there is probably a little fish on it. It didn't take long for them to learn how to reset the dipsies, and get them fishing again. Val really liked them, and I know they will fish them more on their boat now, because they both did a great job handling them.
Joe gained plenty of experience with the Off Shore boards, by learning how to set them, and has more confidence now, to use them on their own boat. They have some, they just weren't sure how best to use them. Now, they do.
Today's best direction for us was from west to east, or SW to NE...every other direction was mostly junk fish, and a slower bite.
I'm off tomorrow, but then back at it Monday, for a three day trip, with a couple from Missouri (I think). They want to chase Perch and Walleye next week, so I'm really looking forward to the perch'n. Did I ever tell you, that I LOVE perch fishing? heheh
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Debbie....7/22/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/22/24Sorry for the lack of reports the past couple few weeks but, those that follow me on Facebook already know that I was having some electronics issues, a sprained ankle, and a couple of cancellations during that time, so my time on the water has been limited this month.
My electronics are working fine again, my ankle is healed, and I have a handful of trips scheduled for the rest of the month. In other words, I have some openings. :)
With that said....let's get on to today's report.
Yesterday, I prefished with some old friends, for this morning's trip, and where we ended yesterday, is where I was going to start this morning.
The alarm went off at 2AM, and, as usual, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to the back deck with the dogs. The air was calm, crisp, and clear. The temperature was 61 degrees, and the full moon that lit up the backyard with a dull light, was waning.
I picked up Steve and Debbie from The Whitecaps Motel at 5AM. We drove through town, to the gas station. After gassing up the truck, I grabbed some ice for the fish cooler, and some for the boat cooler, too. It was only 5:15 when we got to Mazurik's, so we waited until it was light enough to launch. With the commercial nets moving from area to area this time of year, I prefer to wait and launch when I can see the little flag markers on the nets.
We were headed to the area between Cedar Point and Huron. When we got close to where me and my friends were fishing yesterday, the Vexus came off plane and the Helix lit up with good marks...I felt confident we would have a good morning of fishing, and catching.
Once the FishHawk was sent down to its designated depth of 20 feet, the Terrova and the Baby Merc were synchronized to acquire a speed of 2.3-2.5mph...then, directed to the east.
Water temp was 76 degrees
(4) Baby Spros (85s) were riding behind Off Shore boards with 2 oz Guppie weights hitting the 21-26 foot range in the water column.
(2) Chrome Perch, Blue Chrome, and I think, a Purple Tiger (?) (It's purple tigerish on the back, and has a white belly).
The cranks caught the bigger fish, this morning... but, they sometimes dragged itty-bitties around until we checked them, too. But, the dipsies caught the most fish.
The dipsies kept busy with Scorpion spoons, Yeck spoons (D-11s), and a Yaleye Mooneye Minnow.
The inside dipsies ran on the zero setting anywhere from 40 to 54 back.
The outside port dipsey was on the three setting, and bounced back and forth from 70 to 85 back.
The outside starboard dipsey was on the two setting at was set at 65 all morning.
I'm often asked what rods and reels I use for my dipsies:
The inside rods are 6' Med Ugly Stiks, and the outside rods are 8'6" Okuma Classic Pro GLTs "Downrigger" rods.
I'm using the old style Shimano Tekota 500 reels, that were used on my board rods, until I bought new Tekotas for the board rods, and moved the old ones to the dipsies, to replace the older Diawa Sealine 27s.
The reels are spooled up with 30# Power Pro in yellow, so it can be seen in the water, and a visual of a line angle change easily noted.
I run the size 1 dipsies with the ring, and use an 8" snubber, from Amish Outfitters, (I just like their snubbers best), behind the dipsey.
The leader length is whatever my arm spread is. I'm tall, so they are probably around 6 footers.
Everything caught fish....We all kept busy reeling in fish, and talked about how the future of the fishery looks strong, and in about 4 years, the fishing is going to be awesome. All these little fish will be really nice reproducers, and good sized fish that anyone would be happy to catch in the future. :)
The smallest walleye caught was around 5 inches, and the biggest was a nice chubby 26 incher. Debbie was thrilled to be the one that caught that one, because it is the biggest walleye she has ever caught to date. Woot! Woot!
They had a good time, and did great! Their positive attitude, and energy to just have fun, whether we caught fish, or not, was just super cool, and relaxing. But, we did manage our 3 person limit, so it's safe to say, it was an awesome morning of fishing and catching with the Jones's. :)
Right now, I don't have anything scheduled until next Saturday, so unless I pick up a trip, I'll be entertaining the dogs, cleaning the house, working in the yard and gardens, and cleaning the boat, this week.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Tara....7/12/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/12/24Left the house at 4:30, and headed over to the Super 8, to pick up Joe and Tara, and on my way there, three Raccoons were crossing the road in a very dark area, so by the time I saw them, it was too late to make a maneuver and avoid them. There was a car coming from the other direction, so I couldn't go around them in the other lane. It was two adults and a little one. I was hoping that I didn't get any of them, but on my way home today, I saw that the tiny one was on the side of the road. That made me sad, and broke my heart. :(
When I got to the hotel, early as usual, I thought I would sit and browse Facebook for 15 minutes, while I waited for their pick up time to arrive, but they were already outside, and ready to go. They hopped in the truck, and we hit the gas station for some ice, and headed over to Mazurik's, afterwards.
It was a nice morning, with little to no wind out of the SE, partly cloudy skies, and an air temp of 70 degrees. I told them that we are early, so we would have to wait until it got light enough to be able to see any commercial nets, that get set up east of Kelly's.
Oh, and for those of you following my Humminbird drama....everything is working like normal again. I have a new unit at the dash, (which probably wasn't a necessary expense), and I purposely didn't upload any waypoints, because I just wanted to go out, find fish, and start fishing.
We did just that, and the funny thing was, when I turned the back Helix on, that still has the waypoints on it, we had set down about 100 yards east of where I have been fishing the last several times out. lol
I just went with the same program I had been using for the past month, and it did the job. Joe and Tara are MN anglers, who are used to fishing with a rod in hand, with Lindy Rigs, or jigging, so I did the set up with the Off Shore boards, and explained how dipsies work, and how to set them. Joe caught on to the dipsies pretty quick, and did a great job resetting them, without getting tangles.
Baby Spros (85s) were running behind the boards with 2oz Guppie weights at 50/80, and 50/27 on the starboard side, and 50/61, and 50/30 on the port side.
There were three chrome perch baits, and one purple glass perch. All caught fish.
The dipsies were the usual with the shorter inside rods running on the zero setting, and the longer outside rods running on the two and three settings. The zero settings were 40 back on the port side, and 50 back on the starboard side.
The two setting ran on the starboard side at 65 back. The three setting was on the port side, and started at 85 back, but also caught fish at 75 and 55 back...it was running a black/gold Ripplin Redfin.
The two setting started with a Yeck spoon in the "Confusion" color, but was eventually switched out to another black/gold Ripplin Redfin.
The zero setting on the port side was a Red Headed Wonder Bread Scorpion spoon, and the port side was another Yeck spoon with a blue belly and copper-goldish color with bits of red and black on it.
All of those caught multiple fish.
Speed was 2.3-2.5 on the FishHawk.
We didn't have any big fish today, but we managed our three person limit of good eaters. We went through a bunch of itty-bitties this morning, too.
Joe and Tara were very happy with their catch, and since Tara is the only one that eats fish in their family, she was especially happy. :)
I have a trip on Monday, but I'll be watching the weather for that one. Right now, it's not looking very good. Hopefully, that will change.
I have a lot of dates still available for July, and the perch bite is looking pretty good right now, so hopefully, I can get out after some of those this week. I'm dying to go perch'n!
If anyone is looking to get out this month, shoot me a message, email, or text.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Karen...7/5/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/05/24My crew was driving in this morning, and asked if we could launch a little later than my usual time of 5:30, so we launched at 6:30, out of Mazurik's. Jim and Karen have fished with me before, but it's been a while. The last time was back in 2019. Jim bought a gift certificate last winter, and gave it to Karen for Christmas, and we finally made it out this morning.
It was a beautiful morning, with light winds out of the WSW, sunshine, and an air temp in the 70s. There was supposed to be chance of rain and storms this afternoon, but the system split as it neared the lake, and most of it went north, and some of it went south, but missed Port Clinton. Either way, it wasn't going to be an issue for a morning trip.
We headed ENE from Marblehead and when we hit 43 feet of water, the boat came off plane, and we started marking fish, so we set up there. After the Terrova and baby Merc were working in unison,and headed on a ENE trolling pass, the FishHawk was deployed, so I could dial in my target speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
As I refreshed Jim's memory on how to attach, and set the Off Shore boards out, I explained why I was rigging them the way I do now, with the front arm releasing from the line...allowing the board to swing backwards, center up behind the boat, and come in much easier, especially when a big sheephead decides to bury it under water. He agreed that it was a much better system, than the way I used to do it...(where I was keeping both releases attached to the line, until it got to the boat).
The set up was the same as the past several reports on my page, so a simple search/scroll down will give you that detailed info. It's too close to my bedtime right now, for me to be inspired to write it all out again....forgive me. ;)
We went through a lot of fish to keep our 18 keepers of 16-20" inch fish...(most being 16-18")...and, Jim and Karen were happy with their catch, because they've been wanting to cook up some walleye for a while now, and those are perfect eaters. :)
The bug hatch was horrendous north of Cedar Point/SE of Kelly's, but hopefully, it won't last long.
I'm off again until Tuesday....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Attempted Fishing with Vicky, Greg, and Steve....6/28/2024
by Capt Juls on 06/28/24This was just one of those mornings that went from bad to worse...
So....
While I was waiting at Mazurik's for my crew to arrive, I had already gotten the boat ready to go. I was looking forward to fishing with Vicky, Greg, and Steve, because they are all retired ODNR and WaterCraft officers, and Vicky was friends with my late ex-husband, Rick LaCourse.
Anyway...while I was waiting, I had stepped up on the trailer fender, to reach for something in the cubby hole in front of the steering wheel. When I stepped down, my foot caught the edge of the concrete and the grass, and twisted my ankle pretty bad...down I went...right as they were pulling in. They saw it all...lol
They got out of the truck and asked if I was okay. I said I would be in a few minutes. I have to tell you though, it hurt really bad, and I was cursing under my breath, hoping I didn't do any serious damage. The pain subsided enough to get the boat launched, and we headed out.
Then, as we headed out into the rough morning water, the Hunmminbird at the dash lost power, and I had no GPS, or sonar. I had an issue with it the last trip out, but it worked once we got to our spot the other day. I checked the connections when I got home, and everything was tight. So, I thought it would at least turn on when we got out to the area I was headed to, and work like it did the other day. Well, it turned on for about two minutes, and then went off for good.
"We're going to have to fish on faith, I guess. We're out here, we might as well, see if we can catch something, since you wanted to learn how to set these Off Shore boards." They were game.
We caught 4 sheephead and three small walleye, before I said, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call this trip over. My ankle is starting to throb, and I can't charge you a full price without working electronics to make this trip the best it can be". They were good with going back in, because it was rough, and they couldn't stand up in the boat. Steve learned what he wanted to learn in the short time we spent out there, so had no problem going back in.
To make a long story short...after checking the fuse, which was good, I thought I was going to have to change the power cord, so I ran to BPS to get one. Matt Wieland came over this afternoon with a power checker thingy, and found that the original cord still had power to it, so it had to be the connector. I had checked it yesterday, but while it appeared to be in the right spot, correctly...it wasn't. Matt readjusted it, and cured the problem, making it a tighter fit, and making this fiasco a cheap and easy fix. Thanks Matt!!
My ankle is on the mend, and feeling a little better now that it has had ice on it, and a couple of ibuprofin were swallowed, so I think after a good night's rest, it will be fine.
I don't have any trips scheduled for the weekend, and tomorrow looks like crap anyway, so no loss there. My Monday and Tuesday trip was a couple coming from Iowa, but emailed me last night to let me know they can't make it, due to all the flooding happening out there right now, and that more rain is on the way. They are going to try again next June.
So, I won't be back out until the 3rd and 4th with a couple fellas from MN. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with TJ, Layla, and Jager...6/26/2024
by Capt Juls on 06/26/24TJ Williams called me yesterday, with a hope that I had an opening this week, because he was here camping with his family through the weekend, and wanted to take his kids fishing. I told him that I had the this morning open, and that the winds looked good to get out for a short trip, before forecasted winds and a thunderstorm were due to show up. He was all for it.
I told them to meet me at Mazurik's, and we would launch by 6am. I stuck to my original schedule and showed up there at 5:15, and got things ready, so we could just jump in the boat and go when they got there. They showed up on time, and we headed out. I headed for the area north/northeast of Cedar Point, and marked fish there, so I got busy setting out lines.
You guessed it, the same program I've been using the past three trips was set.
Bill Lewis PWC Lites on the starboard side, and baby Spros on the port side ran behind the Off Shore boards with 2 oz Guppie weights set at 50/80, 50/50, and 50/27 on the starboard side, and 50/67, 50/47, and 50/30 on the port side.
PWC colors were the Green Tiger, Blue Shiner, and Black Headed WB (chrome).
Baby Spro colors were Chrome Perch, Purple Glass Perch, and Blue Chrome.
The dipsies ran on the zero settings at 45 and 4 back. The two setting was at 65 back, and the three setting was at 85 back. The black/gold Ripplin Redfin did best on the 3 setting at 85 back. The Red Headed WB Scorpion spoon on the zero setting at 47 back was good, too. The Baby Walleye Yaleye Mooneye Minnow caught three, I think. The 2 setting ran a Confusion Yeck (d-11) spoon, and caught fish, also.
Speed was kept at 2.3-2.5mph
Water temp dropped from 75 degrees (from my last time out) to 73 degrees this morning.
Jager is 7 years old, and reeled a few in, before he went to the bow to go back to sleep. Layla (12 yo) and TJ reeled in their limits, and put them in the cooler for a family fish fry with relatives back at camp, before it was decided that a 4 hour trip was long enough for them.
We went through a lot of small itty-bitty fish, and sheephead also, so it was pretty much non-stop action for the time they were out there. They had a great time, and were grateful to be headed back with enough fish to feed everyone, and that makes me happy!
The forecast is for 12-15 with gusts to 20, out of the north tomorrow, so the couple I was scheduled with will be rescheduling, due to the Mrs being prone to serious seasickness, so we will pick a better day for them to get out. They are local, so rescheduling is not an issue for them.
I will be back out Friday with another couple that is local.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Jeremy, Greg, and Steve...6/22/2024
by Capt Juls on 06/22/24The dogs woke me up 45 minutes before my alarm was to go off, so I just got up, and stayed up. A cup of coffee, out on the back deck, hit the spot. While the dogs were busy with their morning routine of sniffing the yard for any critters that may have traveled through during the night, I checked the weather apps for the day's forecast.
I use iWindSurf for wind, Clime-NOAA for the weather/wind/precipitation, and RadarScope for incoming systems.
This time of year, when we will travel several miles out on the lake, I like to check the "Erie West Buoy", or otherwise known as the, "Weather Bouy", to us locals...because, it gives a good idea of what the lake will be like far off shore, and east of Kelly's.
This morning, it was 76 degrees, and muggy, when I left the house, and headed to Mazurik's, to meet my crew. I told them to meet me at 5AM so they could help me with a missing bolt in one of my trailer bunks. I got there at 4:30, so I could have the boat ready to go, when they got there. They showed up at 4:45.
We launched the boat, so I stayed with the boat, and they went to work on putting a new bolt in its spot on the trailer. We were headed out at 5:05am. Sunrise, right now, is 6:01, so it was still pretty dark out. I wasn't comfortable leaving that early, but the sky was glowing yellows and oranges, against a dark purple backdrop, to the east. We would just go slower, so we could avoid the commercial nets out there.
I wanted to stay closer today, and found a big pod of fish NE of Cedar Point, in 43 feet of water, so we set up there. I was able to get all the lines set, which kind of puzzled me, so I wondered if they were even walleye....or, why the heck they weren't biting.
Maybe, you could say, I get a little bit spoiled by these fish and expect that kind of bite all the time. lol
Anyway, as soon as I said, "I think, we should pick up and head back to the weather buoy. I don't think the wind will be that bad up there, today."....whoosh, the outside board on the port side went flying back. I was in the middle of putting dipsies away, when it happened, so I could only laugh, and say, "It happens every time I say I'm going to move!" The three of them laughed. It was a nice little eater around 18 inches long.
We caught another one, but I didn't want to spend the morning taking little fish off, and resetting lines. I was the only one setting lines yesterday and today, because my crew likes to fish, but they only get together once or twice a year, to do it. So, rather than try to train them, and have things take three times as long to set up...I did it all myself. "Let's get out of here", I said. We headed to the NE, for another 14 miles.
The lake was relatively flat, so I was able to let the big motor open up, and set a cruising speed of 52 mph. It wasn't going to take long to get there. Once we did, we moved on over to the area we fished yesterday. While there were more boats up there this morning, it was still considered, light traffic. Also, they were closer to the buoy than we were, so no one would be in our path.
We set up with the same program, that was dialed in during the two previous adventures up there.
On the starboard side, the Bill Lewis "PWC Lites" ran with 2 oz Guppie weights, behind Off Shore boards, at 50/80, 50/60, and 50/40.
On the port side, the baby "Spro 85s" ran at the 50/70, 50/57, and 50/43.
Colors were the same as the previous day, too.
PWC Lites: Green Tiger (2), and Blue Shiner.
Spro 85s: Chrome Perch, Purple Glass Perch, and Blue Chrome.
Dipsies ran the Ripplin Redfin (2), Yaleye Mooneye Minnow, and a spoon.
They didn't catch as many as the cranks behind boards did, but they caught some nice ones.
Zero setting at 47 and 50, the two setting at 65, and the three setting at 85 back.
Speed was normally held at 2.3-2.5mph, on the FishHawk. Sometimes, we went faster, and sometimes we went slower. They ate at every speed. However, let it be known, that the little baits, running behind the boards do not necessarily like to go over 2.6mph. They sometimes blow out...twist up...and, ruin the line/reel calibration, due to all the line that has to get stripped off, due to twisting. I have four reels getting respooled tomorrow. Uffda.
During one of those horrific tangles...I ended up having to handline a fish in, because the line wouldn't go through the guides. "Get the net! We've got a big one here", I yelled. And, one of them netted it, to get it in the boat. I wasn't going to swing it like a handliner, because the dipsey rods were in the way, and she was too big to swing. I think, that one went 27 inches.
We finished at 10am with 24 walleye in the cooler, and threw back around 7 sheephead, 2 white bass, and 3 shorts.
The water temp at the buoy was 75 degrees.
My guys were very happy with their two day outing, and are going back to Wisconsin with their fishy bounty to share with their friends and family, and that makes me happy.
Jeremy said he was told about me by someone back home, that reads my blog, has his own boat he brings down here, and fishes out here any chance he gets. Jeremy said his friend was on his way down here this weekend, and will be staying out on one of the islands for the next week. So, to Jeremy's friend, thank you for recommending me to them, and good luck next week! :)
I'm off tomorrow, and need to get a lot of chores done, but will be back out Monday and Tuesday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeremy, Greg, and Steve...6/21/2024
by Capt Juls on 06/22/24
Short story today...it's hot and I need to cut my grass before this thunderstorm rolls in.
Fun morning, with this Wisconsin crew. Launched out of vermilion at 5:15, and hit the weather buoy area again…set up by 6:20. Same program I got dialed in mid morning, yesterday, and finished in half the time, today….the fish were not as big as yesterday, but still didn’t have to measure any. Only two legit throw backs, and a handful of keeper size, that we let go, to get bigger.
Fishing with "Papa Mike", Mike, and Michael...6/20/2024
by Capt Juls on 06/20/24At 2am, it felt like I was stepping into a sauna, when I hit the back deck with the dogs, and a coffee in hand. The wind apps were showing light and variable winds, so I thought the lake would be smooth enough to launch out of Mazurik's and head out towards the Weather Buoy, and not take forever to get there.
I met my crew at Mazurik's at 5:15, and we headed out at 5:30. The sky was clear, the air was a humid 75 degrees, and the wind was around 5mph out of the E in the South Passage....NNW on the east side of Kelly's...and the NNE-E up on the line. Needless to say, the lake was not smooth, and it took us around 50 minutes to go 17 miles. It looked smooth, but the rollers were enough to keep me from going fast, and beating everyone, and the boat, up.
Once we got out there, I wasn't marking fish, like I have over the past several years, at this time. I silently panicked a little bit, because that was a long run to a spot that wasn't holding fish.
I decided that the marks we were being shown were enough to set up on, and hoped that they would improve as we trolled, so I got busy. "Do you want to learn how to set lines, and stuff?", I asked Mike. He replied, that he didn't have a boat, and didn't need to learn it, so that saved me a lot of time, and talking. :)
I started with the same program that has been working for me, over the past couple of weeks. The "Blue Shiner" Baby Billy PWCs (Bill Lewis "Precision Walleye Crank Lite" for those that don't know what I'm talking about)....caught the first one at 100 back (50/50 with a 2oz Guppie weight). We saw it, and it was a nice fish, but we lost it. I said, "Good, at least we know there are some hungry fish around".
I was relieved to have one hit so quickly, while I was still setting lines, because I was marking very little on the Humminbird, when it did. However, I know from past experience, that this has happened to me before...where I wasn't marking anything, but the bite was good, so I had a glimmer of hope of being able to stay there. And, not have to go find fish. (We had already spent 50 minutes of their time on the ride out).
We started in 42 feet of water, directly south of the buoy, and had the nose of the Vexus pointed SW, at a speed of 2.3-2.5mph. When we hit 46 feet of water, there were no marks at all. So, I turned the boat around, so we could get back up on top of that bar, and stay in the 42-44 feet of water. It seemed like it took forever to get back to the right depth, but once we did, we started picking away at them.
However, I wasn't happy with the speed of the bite, so I started changing up baits. Three ineffective spoons came off the dipsies, and were replaced with "Rippling Red Fins" in blue/chrome, and black/gold chrome (2). The fourth dipsey remained a spoon, but I changed it out several times, until the fish told me they liked the NASCAR "Michigan Stinger" spoon.
The Redfins caught several nice fish, and the spoon caught 3, I think....it wasn't out that long.
I changed out one black/gold Redfin with a "Baby Walleye" (I think that's the name) "Yaleye Mooneye Minnow"....and, it caught some beauties.
The zero setting lines, were set at 47 and 54 back. The two setting, was set at 65 back and the 3 setting started out at 55, but when I changed out the spoon for the Redfin, I moved the dipsey to 85 back, and it started catching better.
All these set ups caught fish.
The starboard side ran the baby PWCs at my usual program of "Green Tiger" at 50/80 with 2oz, "Blue Shiner" at 50/50, and "Barbie" at 50/27. Barbie did nothing for a couple hours, so it came off, and another "Green Tiger" was added.
Bandits started out on the port side at 120, 100, and 80 back, but didn't catch anything, so they were replaced with the "Baby Spros" in "Chrome Perch 50/80, Blue Chrome 50/50, and "Purple Glass Perch" 50/47. These all caught at least one fish each, if not two.
We only put 16 walleye in the cooler today, but we lost 9 nice eyes, so we would have limited there, had we been able to get all the fish in the boat. We only had one throw back, and 4-5 Sheephead, so it was nice having a good grade of fish, that didn't need to be measured, for a change. :)
Grandpa Mike, Dad Mike, and Michael (son/grandson) did a great job today, and kept the mood positive, and friendly, so it was a good time. Michael pitched in, and helped me set lines, after getting some quick instructions, and did great.
It was nice to get the help, since the sun was high, and the heat was getting pumped up. I was drip sweating down my face, which drives me nuts. lol
Which reminds me, I should go take a shower.
Tomorrow's crew, came down from Wisconsin, and fished with Capt David Kraut today, because I didn't have today open. I will have them for the next two days.
The weather is going to be hot again, and the winds around 3mph out of the same directions as today.
I think I'll launch out of Vermilion tomorrow. I'd rather pay for truck gas, than the premium stuff the big black beast on the back of my boat drinks. Vermilion will save me several miles of travel, and I can run the trough out, if it's out of the ENE.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Gary, Denny, and Gina...6/18/24
by Capt Juls on 06/18/24The family went back to Wisconsin on Monday, so I had my normal morning routine, of taking the dogs out on the back deck with my cup of coffee, and my phone. I check the weather and wind apps for the morning's forecasts, and figure out my game plan for the day's trip, while the dogs eat their morning treat, and carry stuffed animals around, to show each other.
I liked heading out at 4am the day before, so I did it again, and after hitting the gas station for ice, I headed for Huron. The parking lot was empty, and so it was quiet. It was already a warm 75 degrees at 4:30, and the wind was light out of the SE. The app said it was supposed to be SW, but it was definitely coming out of the SE.
Gary, and his Nephew, Denny, and Denny's wife, Gina were driving over from Norwalk, and showed up at 5am...15 minutes early.
I told them, "We can launch, but I'll go real slow on the way out of the river...I need for it to lighten up a bit, so I can see out there".
(I don't know where nets are being set out there, but I have seen the commercial fisheries boat headed out of the river, each morning.)
We were out of the mouth of the river around 5:20. The Vexus got on plane and headed NNE. I had no where in particular I was headed to, because there are fish all over out there, right now. I just wanted to get to a little deeper water, like 43-44 feet, before I slowed down, to start looking at the fish marks.
It didn't take long, to just say, "Let's just start here", because I had been marking fish the entire way out, and why leave fish, to go find fish. ;)
The FishHawk was deployed, and the speed set with the Terrova, and the baby Merc, before setting lines. This time, I decided to get the Off Shore boards out there first, because trying to get boards out, when the dipsies keep going off...can be frustrating.
I still have the same three Bill Lewis PWC Lites running behind the boards with 2oz Guppie weights, that I have been running the past 5 trips, or so..."Green Tiger", "Emerald Shiner", and "Barbie.
Green Tiger ran at 50/80, EShiner at 50/50, and Barbie at 50/27 at a speed of 2.5mph. These ran on the starboard side.
(For those new to this fishing speak... it means, 50 feet of line out...add the weight...let another 80 feet of line out, and attach the board).
Bandits ran on the port side at 120 (outside...color was "IB Infected" by DJ Custom Eye Lures) 100 (middle..."Buck Fever", by Domka Outdoors) and 80 (inside...Green Clown / stock color), unassisted, (which means no weights).
The cranks were getting hit right away, so it took a while before we could get the dipsies out, but when we did, it was the same program I have been running for two weeks, over deep water.
The zero settings were running at 50 and 60. The two setting was at 65, and the three setting was at 55 back. Scorpion spoons and Yeck D-11s were chosen. "Confusion" was a hot one, so we ran two of those., Another one was one I don't know the name of, but I got it at Hi Way bait, from the suggestion of DJ (DJ Customs), who was working the day that I stopped in. All I can tell you is that it's copper, with a bit of red, and a black dot...and the back, or belly as I call it, was painted blue.
The wind app was wrong this morning, and the wind it was showing never showed up, so the lake was beautiful, and had a 6 inch chop. There was enough wind that the bugs that tormented us yesterday, were no where to be found today. What a relief!
Denny and Gina are from Arkansas, and had never fished for walleye before, so Denny was hands on learning, this morning, and worked hard to learn as much as he could. They had all caught their limits, and I reeled in three of mine, before Denny said, "If we have a limit, we can go in...I have to clean all these myself". To which I replied, "Okay, if you're all good, we'll head back in, my dogs will be very happy to have me home early". They all agreed.
They said they had a great time, and would like to come back again next June...and, that makes me happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow, to take the new pup to the vet for a check up, some shots, and a chip.
I'll be back out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
