Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Karl and Anthony 4/23/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/23/22Finally, after rescheduling Karl and his nephew, Anthony, for the third time, we finally made it out on the lake. I hadn't been out since the 12th, due to wind/weather reschedules, so I was happy to get back to work, too! Karl drove in from Chicago, and picked up Anthony in Indiana on his way over here last night.
The day's weather forecast sounded promising. An early morning start, with an east wind reading of 18mph at South Bass Island, would change to light south-southwest winds of less than 10 mph were expected later in the morning. The change showed up mid-morning. However, it never changed direction until around noon. The gusty east wind dissipated around 10am, and changed the 2 feet or less waves, to 1 foot or less, so no matter the direction...it was nice out there.
Just a side note....Mark this day, as the first day this gal got to go barefoot in the boat, too. It warmed up enough out there to take the shoes off and set my little piggies free! Woot! Woot! Okay...okay...who cares, right? I get it, but it's a big deal to me...lol :)
We started out in relatively shallow water not far from Catawba...17 to 18 feet, to be exact.
We ran Bandits behind the Off Shore boards with the shallow program I ran the last time out, which was 15, 20, 25, and 30 on the port side, and ditto on the starboard side.
Colors used today were:
"Furmi-Nuff" and "Psycho Killer" new colors by (Mike Schlimgen-slim Shady Baits)
Sunspot
Blue/Chrome
Taco Salad
Chrome Barbie
(2) Carrot Top
The Psycho Killer, and Carrot top, both at 30 back, on different sides of the boat both took a fish early, so we changed up the port side to all 30 foot leads, and changed the starboard side to 25, 30, 33, and 40.
We would put 8 fish in the box and watch a big fish swim away after losing it at the back of the boat. I didn't get a good look at it, because I was letting Karl net that fish for Anthony, but he got the hooks caught on the wrong side of the net and was unable to get the fish in it. It got off and swam away. It wasn't a trophy fish, but it would have been the biggest one for us today.
Now, let me first tell you, before you tell me that I should never let a customer net a fish, blah blah blah.... that Karl, is not a novice, and has fished with me on several trips over the years. He owns his own boat and does a lot of salmon fishing on Lake Michigan, so he's a well seasoned angler. It was just one of those things....I'm just glad I didn't knock it off with the net, because even though Anthony said, "That's okay", Karl and I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I almost did the same thing later in the day, but was successful doing the flippy-thing with the net, to get the fish inside the basket. :)
Anyway....we worked that area for about an hour before deciding the wind was laying down enough to venture north. We headed up towards Niagara to see what was happening up there. There were a lot of boats around, but they were spread out enough that it didn't feel crowded at all, so we set up south of the reef and headed west.
We set the starboard side out at 110 (longest leads on the outside), 97, 77, and 57 and the port side at 100, 80, 75, and 50. It was a very slow pick up there, but the 110 lead with the Furmi-Nuff color hit twice, and Carrot Top hit at 75 back.
Speed was anywhere from 1.5-2.0mph...because when we did turns, we caught fish on the fast side and the slow side, so there was no real pattern to the speed. If I had to narrow it down, though, I would say that we mainly stayed in that 1.7-1.9mph range the most.
Water temp, down inside, was at 46.8 degrees, but out by Niagara my Solix was reading 45.1 degrees. But, when the sun came got high in the sky, it didn't take long for that surface temp to start warming up. When we left Niagara, to head back down inside for the last hour of fishing, it had warmed up one more degree there.
We had set up again, with a short program of 25, 30, 35, and 40 on both side (deep leads inside with short programs), and it wasn't looking very promising, until we hit a couple pockets of fish, and it would get the adrenaline going again
.
We would have a double on at one point, and then a quad on. However, we only got two of the 4 fish in the boat out of that quad. Some were slamming the baits, and really hooking themselves, but others were not, and would pop off before the board was taken off. Oh, well...
It was the nicest day of the year so far, and we all agreed that it felt great to be out there on such a nice day. A good time was had by all, and they went back to Little Ted's with a cooler full of fish to clean. Karl and Anthony will be out in their boat tomorrow, giving it a try on their own. Hopefully, it won't be too windy in the AM.
The wind forecast for tomorrow is 15-20 out of the SW with gusts to 30mph. But, hopefully, the gusty stuff won't happen until later in the morning.
Karl is coming back in November to fish with me for two more days, to fish the Fall Brawl, and that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow, I have Casey Everette and his wife, who had to reschedule from last Saturday to tomorrow, because of the wind last Saturday, so we will meet at Mazurik's in the AM and see what the conditions are, then.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Just an Update....Lots of Reschedules....Stupid Wind!
by Capt Juls on 04/21/22I'm still alive...I just haven't been out since the 12th, due to wind and reschedules.
The problem with April is the unstable weather, cold water temps, and groups that schedule more than one day. So, when the groups are traveling a long distance and they may only get one of their three or four days in, I tell them to stay home, and reschedule. All of them are appreciative of the info, so they are not here sitting on shore looking out at the lake, wishing they were fishing.
Sure, others go out in nasty conditions during the spring, but they are either using bigger boats, or they are cowboys in tournament style boats, going on days that are not particularly safe. I prefer to make sure my customers have a safe and fun trip.
Fishing in 3-5s is not fun, because most people can't stand in the boat when it's that rough, so if it's not fun for them, it's not fun for me, and I prefer that everyone have fun out there.
Water temperatures are rising and are in the mid to high 40's now, so we're getting there. The bite has been good when we can get out though, and the fish are hungry.
My crew for today and tomorrow has rescheduled, so I will not be out until this Saturday. It feels like it's been a month, even though it's only been 9 days.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know why I haven't posted any reports lately. I'm fine....Mother Nature is just being a whacko this spring. Let's hope she takes here meds soon and straightens out!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Aaron, James, and Brian 4/12/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/12/22Aaron, James, and Brian came from SD to fish Lake Erie, and wanted to experience all the things they have heard about our fishery here.
They stayed at the White Caps Motel, or what I call a compound...I call it that, because they have so much more than just motel rooms. They also have cabins, mobile homes, and RV's to rent, so I hate just calling it a motel. They are also one of the few places here that has a fish cleaning station on their premises, too. They've done some fantastic remodeling on some of the cabins and mobile homes that I'm envious of, and I really want their designer's name now. lol
Anyway, back to fishing...we launched out of the Portage River this morning at 6:30 and headed NW out of the mouth of it, to the Cans. I shut the motor down over 20 feet of water and deployed the Ulterra and the baby Merc...got them in sync to a speed of 1.5mph and set a course to the west.
We started at the same area I fished on Sunday with Pat Barrett, and used the same program to start, which was Bandits up high.
Both the port and starboard sides were set the same distance back behind the Off Shore boards with 15 on the outside, then 20, 25, and 30 anchoring the inside boards. We only ran 4 per side, because it wasn't necessary to have more out. There's something to be said for, "Keeping it simple". :)
Water temp was 44.9 when we started and up to 48 by noon. That sun was warm today, for sure!
The colors we used, and all worked, were:
(2)Blue/Chrome.....of course.
(2)Taco Salad
Chrome Barbie
Sunspot
IB Infected
Chart/Blue Back
Before I get any messages or emails... Yes...I do normally run the longer leads on the outside boards, but when the leads are so short, I prefer to have those really high baits out away from the boat as far as possible and the deeper, longer leads, on the inside. When they are this short, and most of the fish are coming up to the surface when they get caught, tangles are not an issue.
If I were running long leads, say 50-130 back, then my long leads would be on the outside. The longer lead on a bait, on the outside, will have a better chance of clearing the inside lines as it comes in.
We had doubles and triples this morning, and had a 3-man limit in less than 2 hours and over 40 fish by noon. Brian caught the only "Fish Ohio" that went 29 1/2 inches and weighed in at 9.5 pounds. He excitedly said, "That's the biggest fish I've ever caught!"
They were amazed at the size of the fish (Averaging 4 to 6 pounds, I think), and when I said, "Those are what we call 'eaters'", they laughed...mentioning that the average size where they fish back home is 14-15 inches.
Needless to say, they had a great time, and did an excellent job learning how to set the boards out, bring the fish in, and setting the lines back out again, in the spots they came from, and did the "boat dance" very well. :)
The weather today was absolutely beautiful, but once again, Mother Nature is going to throw a hissy fit again for the next three days and blow a lot.
Unfortunately, they are going home a day early.
My Thursday/Friday crew has been told to stay in MN, which I was sad about, because I really enjoy fishing with Bryon Haro. He's fished with me the past two springs, and we always have a great time. He was bringing his nephews, so they could experience this lake too. He's already rescheduled to next spring, though, so I just have to wait another year to fish with him again... deep sigh.
Weather permitting, I'll be back out this weekend. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pat Barrett 4/10/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/10/22My three day trip, with my North Dakota crew (that would have started Friday) rescheduled, so when I saw the forecast had improved for today, I contacted Pat, who was on my "Call me if you have an opening" list. He lives about an hour away, so it was convenient for him to agree to go on short notice.
We met at the ramp and headed out at 7am. We started out near K can with Bandits and one blue/white/orange belly jointed DHJ12. I had put the DHJ out first...65 back on the outside board on the starboard side, and then proceeded to put out the other two Bandits running on that side at 50 and 30 back. Pat set up with Bandits on the port side at 15, 25, and 40 back. Speed was 1.3-1.4mph. Water temp was 42.4 degrees.
The DHJ board was running weird, so I thought that it was just a different pull on the board than the Bandit, and let it drag out there for a bit. Then, it started to bug me, and I had Pat pull it in. Sure enough, it had a fish hanging on it....just a 17 inch fish. Then, his 15' lead took off, and he reeled in a nice 6 pound walleye.
We would go for 4 1/2 hours with just those two fish...making a couple of moves during that time to try and find some more active fish, and trying other baits, like the Flicker Shad and the Flicker Minnow. Nothing...so boring. lol Ugh..
On the third move, we only moved up a mile ahead of us, to save time, and set up again. We trolled North to South for about a 1/2 mile, and when I saw the water getting too dirty, I made a 90-degree turn, and headed east.
As soon as we made the turn, the first board at 15 back took off, and while reeling that one in, the 25 went back, then his 35 back. Once those fish were in the boat, I didn't have to be hit with a baseball bat to know that I needed to bring all my baits up higher, too.
I took the jointed off, because it had done nothing since that first fish, and put another Bandit on. Colors that worked were Taco Salad, Blue Chrome, Chrome Barbie, and RC Crush. We ran both sides at 15, 25, and 35 back, and proceeded to put 9 more fish in the cooler, since the first two fish, giving us 11...in less than a 1/4 mile. We turned around to see if it was directional, or if that was just a really active pod we hit.
As it turned out, it was a directional deal for us. They really liked it going from west to east, and when we made the turn again, to head east, we caught another 4 in short order. We were done. Time was up, so we headed in with our 12.
Three lucky fish got to live to swim another day, and one of them was a "Fish Ohio". :)
Pat had a lot of fun, and is a very good fisherman in his own right. I let him set his side up, and I worked my side. He did a great job, and learned a few tricks that I taught him, that he can use on his boat now. He said he had a great time, and that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I have a three-man crew from the MN/SD border Right now, it's supposed to be pretty gusty from the south, so we'll give it a go, and if it's too rough to fish, then we will head in and try again on Tuesday. Tuesday's forecast looks fantastic, and should be a stellar day on the water. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 4 Fishing with "Doc", Tom, and Heath 4/5/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/05/22Pretty much a repeat of yesterday, so I won't bore you with what time I left the house, picked up the boat, etc. You're welcome. :)
We were headed out the river at 6:30am. The program was the same as yesterday. Fished from 39-44 feet of water with Bandits and P-10s.
The morning started with a triple right away, then we caught one more after that. Then, it went a bit slow for a little bit. Then, it started being a slow, steady bite. The fish from yesterday had moved a little bit. The P-10s didn't stay on for more than 2 hours, when 7 of 10 fish had come on Bandits, so the P-10s were switched out to Bandits too.
It wasn't until after 10 am, when I changed direction from a S to N pull, to a NW to SE pull, that it got super fun. Someone flicked on the light switch, and those walleye were jumping all over our Bandits. We had doubles and triples going and cleared almost every rod out of the lineup, before we could get another bait back in the water again.
Bandit color with depth were the following...running (unassisted/no weight) behind Off Shore inline boards:
Cotton Candy (or if you prefer..."Pink Lemonade") @ 97 back and 130 back
(2) Taco Salad @ 120
RC Crush @ 77
Sunspot @ 97
Blue Chrome @ 77
Chrome Barbie @ 71
We only ran 4 boards per side, because my guys are from MN/SD and can't run more than one and two lines, respectively, so we kept it simple. They did a great job setting the boards out, and eventually, they were getting better at remembering what number each bait was supposed to be set out at, and where in the line up they were supposed to go. It's easier to remember that stuff when you do it all the time...I get it. :)
By the time we ended the trip, we had gone 38 for 49, and kept our 24. Their arms were getting tired from reeling in that outside board, because we all know that one goes back most often! When the thick fog rolled in, we fished for another 1/2 hour and then headed in at noon. We only had a short ride back to the launch, so it wasn't too bad for us.
They all said they had a great time, and would like to come back again next spring, and that makes me happy. :)
With the weather for the rest of this week/weekend, and multi day trips planned with two different groups, coming from very far away, we all decided it was best to reschedule them. I am extra safety conscious this time of year, when the water temps are this cold. Call me crazy....but, I'd rather be safer than sorry.
Speaking of water temps....it was 39.4 degrees today. I haven't seen it hit 40 yet anywhere that I've been, but it has to warm up sooner or later.
Mother Nature has got to straighten out pretty soon...Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Day 3 of 4 Fishing with "Doc", Tom, and Heath 4/4/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/04/22Left the house at 4:45 and drove across town, to hook up the boat, take it to get gas and ice, and get back to the building before my crew was to meet me there at 5:45. The plan was to trailer the boat to the east and launch over there, since it was going to start raining mid-morning, and a shorter run on the water is much better than a long one. :)
I will preface this report with the fact that I was given a location by my friend, Capt Bobby Greene, last night, so it's not my information to give out. I will only say that it was to the east, and that it would have been a very long run from Mazurik's.
What I can tell you, is that we targeted 39-43 feet of water with Bandits and P-10's.
Pretty much the same program from Saturday's trip. Bandits ran on the starboard side and P-10's ran on the port side. I even left the same Bandits on that we used on Saturday.
Taco Salad ran 120 back behind the Off Shore board...
Chrome Barbie ran 97 feet back...
RC Crush was 77 back...
And, Pink Lemonade or Cotton Candy (whatever you want to call it) ran at 67 back.
P-10s with 2oz snap weights:
Marvin was at 20/20 behind the Off Shore board....
Nascar was 21/21...
Lemon Lime Crush was 17/17...(at one point we kept the weight at 17, but dropped it back to 60 total, to make it deeper...that worked too)
Blue Chrome was 24/24....
Speed was 1.2-1.4mph
Everything worked today. We had lots of doubles and fire drills going this morning, and my crew was absolutely fantastic! Luckily, they remembered their "training" from Saturday, and did everything right. It made my job so easy! All I had to do was take off boards and net the fish. lol
We only had one tangle bringing the last fish in, but that was due to a crazy fish that just didn't want to play right. It, of course, was on the outside board, and took out the other three coming in. Normally, it would be okay, but this was one hell of a tangle with the lines and three of the 4 lines had to be cut. So, we took those reels off and replaced them with 3 fresh ones I grabbed from storage, that were already calibrated, and ready to go for tomorrow.
Anyway....my crew was awesome (can't say that enough), and we had their limit by 8:30, and my 6 by 9:45, I think. It slowed down a little when we turned and changed direction, to go back over the line we were on, so we picked everything up and made a run back to where we started, and set up on our line again, going the same direction we were going the first time, which was to the east.
I have this crew for one more day, and tomorrow's wind forecast is looking very good, so we will be doing a repeat of this morning. I hope those fish decide to hang out for one more day, at least. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with "Doc", Tom, and Heath 4/2/2022
by Capt Juls on 04/02/22Steve, Tom, and Heath, along with three others I don't know the names of yet, arrived from South Dakota, yesterday.
It's always tough to tell your crew to drive that far, after a big blow, and an iffy forecast, but the first of their 4 day trip was going to be a gentle weather day, compared to what we have been experiencing the past week and a half, and the rest of the forecast looked like they would get 3 of their 4 days in, if we were lucky.
I explained to them what the conditions were, and that they could make the decision to drive all that way, or reschedule to another time. They chose to come and fish. This is a two boat deal, since there are 6 people in their group, so I teamed up with Capt's Matt and Jenn Wieland, of H & H Charters on this one. I had 3 people, and they had the other 3, so it worked out well.
I hadn't been out since the 21st of March, due to rescheduling three different crews, and it was time to get back on the water.
I left the house early, and headed to the boat, where she was kept warm and dry over in Wieland's heated storage building. I was meeting my crew at 7am at Mazurik's, since sunrise wasn't until 7:17 this morning, and the other 3 were meeting the Wieland's at their boat over in Marblehead. After gassing up my boat, and getting ice for the cooler, I drove to Mazruik's and got there at 6:10am.
I got to the head of the get-ready lanes, and....well...got things ready.
I sent Steve (a/k/a "Doc") a text at 6:25 letting him know that I was there, and was ready to go, when they were. They showed up 10 minutes later, and we were in the water by 6:45.
My first plan of attack, was to hit the east side of Kelly's, find clean enough water with fish in it, and set up with cranks baits. After driving around for a little while, taking note of water temps in different areas, we went back to a spot that had a water temp of 38.9 degrees, and was a little warmer than the other spots that we stopped and checked out. It wasn't too muddy, and I could see the cavitation plate too. I was feeling hopeful.
It was a slow start, and we only had 4 in the box, when I told them, "Let's pick these up and head to another area I want to try". They made speedy work of getting all the lines in, and we headed further east to find cleaner water. When we found the water clarity I like best, we found some pretty good marks there too, so we set up with a heading from the west to the east to start. The bite was much better in this second spot, and the guys were having way more fun there.
When the fish marks ran out, we made a turn and went from east to west, and continued to catch once we were over that pod of fish again. We ended up going 17 for 23 for the day, which is actually better than I thought it would be, so no one was complaining. The weather was beautiful, even though it was chilly. The sun was out most of the morning, which is something we haven't seen in days around here, so that was appreciated by all.
We started out with P-10s on the port side and Bandits on the starboard side. The P-10's were running with 2oz snap weights at 20/20, 30/30, 35/35, and 40/40. Bandits were running unassisted at 45 to 120 back. The Bandits caught at 120, 97, 85, 77, 63, and 45 at a speed of 1.2-1.4mph.
We changed up the P-10 side to Spro Madeye 120's, but they did nothing. Then, we switched them to Reapers, and we caught one at 100 back, but eventually, I took all of them off too, and replaced them with Bandits.
Colors that caught today were: Taco Salad (best color...we had three of those out), Chrome Barbie, RC Crush, Blue Chrome, and Sunspot.
We will be off tomorrow, and back at it on Monday and Tuesday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Lake is Chocolate Milk Right now....3/28/2022
by Capt Juls on 03/28/22It's been blowing, snowing, and churning up the lake. The rivers are dumping mud from the previous rain too.
Tuesday, will be the first low wind day in several days, and many will be headed out to go fishing. Finding fish willing to bite will be the issue, due to the muddy waters.
When the wind blows on shore, like it has been, it churns up the shallows and turns the water to chocolate milk. The bite will be tough.
Hopefully, we can get a satellite picture before Tuesday, so we can see where the cleaner water is out there, if there is any on the west end right now. Then, it's going to blow the rest of the week again.
I had a 6 day trip that would have started yesterday, but I told them to stay home, so I won't be back out until next weekend, where I have the start of a 4 day trip with my next crew.
I will be honest with them and let them know what to expect, and let them decide if they want to drive all the way from out west to Port Clinton for a tough bite.
Hopefully, Mother Nature will start behaving and let us get back to normal fishing soon.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
She's a Blow'n....Rescheduling Some Early Trips
by Capt Juls on 03/24/22My next three groups are being rescheduled, so it will be a while before I write another fishing report.
Due to conditions, and the forecast, my trip on Friday, another on Saturday, and a 6 day trip starting Sunday, through next Friday, are all rescheduled. I couldn't see that group coming all the way over here from different parts of the country, just to sit on shore. Sure, there are going to be some charters that hit the lake, but at this time of year, with the size of my boat, I prefer to be more cautious, and let the lake do its thing. The water is still below 40 degrees right now.
Even if the wind stops blowing, the water is very dirty...making the bite a tough one.
I have another crew on standby for later in the week, next week, so if conditions improve, I'll get back on the water next week, and salvage a couple of those days. But, so far, it's not looking that good.
Mother Nature is hopefully going to go out like a lion this month, and will come in like a lamb, for April.
Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve Giannini 3/21/2022
by Capt Juls on 03/21/22The boat is still in heated storage right now, so I left the house at 5:50 and headed over to the building to hook her up and put the baits on the rods, that I wanted to use this morning. All P-10's to start, and Bandits on standby if the 10's didn't work.
Steve Giannini drove in from Illinois to fish with me. His son was supposed to come along, but had to work, so it was just going to be Steve this morning. His son will come when they come back at the end of April to fish with me again.
I picked Steve up at the hotel at 6:45, and we headed to Mazurik's. The boat was already gassed up and the cooler iced, so we didn't have to stop on the way to the launch. We headed out a little after 7am and headed north.
We searched for a bit and found a spot that the Solix was showing good marks between 17 and 30 feet over 41 feet of water.
We set the P-10's out behind the Off Shore boards with 2oz snap weights.
The port side was running all P-10's with white in them. Barbie, and a similar one in color with the Barbie, but with purple on the head and tail with white in the middle with three black dots on the side (I don't remember the name...I call it Purple Squirrel, but I know that's not it), and an orange headed wonder bread color. That side was set at 20/20, 30/30, and 40/40.
The starboard side, ran all chrome colors...blue/chrome/orange belly, Chrome Barbie, and some over painted concoction that didn't produce, so it was taken off and replaced with another purple squirrel, because that color was a hot one today.
The outside ran at 50/27, the middle at 50/20, and the inside at 40/40.
Everything listed above caught fish at 1.2 against the current and 1.4 with the current. Water temp in my area was 36.7 degrees.
We kept to a small spot that was producing and for the most part we didn't have too much interference with other boats, and I could keep on my line where we were catching fish. We got pushed off twice, but the right of way is the right of way, so you just have to deal with it when it happens, and regroup, and get on with it.
"My arms are getting tired", Steve said. I laughed and replied, "Well, now that you have said that out loud...you know, it's always going to be the outside board that needs reeled in from now on". Ha!
At one point, in the last half hour that we fished, I changed out the P-10's on the starboard side to Bandits. Daydream at 10 back on the outside, Sunspot at 81 back in the middle, and Khaki at 57 back. The Sunspot and the Khaki hit at the same time, and gave us a double. Steve was having such a good time!
The weather was absolutely beautiful this morning. The wind was calm, and the air temp was in the 50s. When the sun came up, it warmed things up even more. Steve was very happy to get out fishing again, after a long winter, and I was happy to be catching fish again. Last week, I thought I had forgotten how to. lol
Anyway....
We went 12 for 15 this morning, and when we reached our limit I said, "Okay, that's our limit...you have a choice...you can play catch and release if you want, or we can take these in to get cleaned, and you can get a head start back home." Steve opted for the latter, so we headed in, dropped the fish at Bay's Edge, put the boat back in storage, and hit Casa Las Palmas for lunch, and headed back to the fish cleaner to get his fish. I dropped him at the hote, and he loaded up his car and headed back to Illinois.
I love days like this. :)
We have weather moving in tonight and will be a three day blow, it looks like. My next scheduled trip is Friday with one of my regulars, Vito Centofanti, so I'll be contacting him on Wednesday afternoon about Friday's forecast, because it keeps changing. It's hard to look more than a day or two out when it comes to the forecast...just the nature of the beastie, eh? ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Gunner, Austin, and Ryan 3/17/22
by Capt Juls on 03/17/22Well, I have to suck it up and report this trip, because it's not cool to only post the most successful trips that I get in the books.
Today was one of those humbling days....deep sigh.
I got to Mazurik's at 6:10 (long before the sky would start to lighten), and got things ready for the day.
I was meeting my Illinois crew at 7am. Sunrise was to be at 7:42. Last night, there was an almost-full moon (it will be full tomorrow), shining down from clear skies, so we got the almost-full moon to the west, and the sun coming up in the east, this morning.
We hit the water a little after 7am and headed north. I'll tell you everywhere we went today, only because I sucked, and kept making the wrong decisions. I realize it happens, but it never "tastes" good when it does happen. Anyway...
We started east of Ballast and set up with all P-10's with 2oz snap weights at 20/20, 25/25, 30/30, and 35/35 behind the Off Shore boards. Speed was 1.1-1.2mph. The water temp had dropped from the day before, due to the NE wind last night moving colder surface water in.
We marked fish here and there, but they were tight to the bottom. My first guess was that they had been feeding last night, with that almost-full moon making it easy for them to see. We trolled along, and the boards started to disappear under the surface of the water and move back out of line. I had never seen that before, and didn't notice any ice on the water, so I had Gunner, Austin, and Ryan reel them in, and that's when we found crystals of ice covering everything on the boards.
I assumed it was due to the decrease in water temps, so I made the decision to move. I thought we would go over to the north side of Kelly's where I had ended up yesterday, because the water was a bit dirtier there, and I thought it might be warmer. I was wrong.
As we drove over there, I noticed the temp reading was dropping even more, and it was two degrees down from yesterday. I didn't even stop there, and turned the boat and headed west of the islands. We went to E can and marked some fish between 17-25' over 28 feet of water.
We set up with P-10's on one side and Spros on the other side. When nothing happened, I had them take the P-10's off and replaced them with Bandits. We caught our first fish on a Bandit 100 back. The skunk was out of the box, but I didn't have a good feeling. We trolled another mile, with nothing to show for it.
But, then, a friend texted me and told me they had 5 up north of us a couple miles, so we picked everything up and headed that way. But, when we got there, the screen was blank, so we didn't stay long.
The next move was back towards the islands. I wanted to check West Reef, but thought that with the NE wind pushing cold water in, that that might not be the best place to look, so we headed towards the north side of Green and set up with a pass towards Middle Bass. There were marks at first, but then they soon disappeared too. Aarrrrggghhh! Come on!! lol
The last stop was down at the Starve/Ferry Lane area. We set up again, and put a snap weight on one Bandit and one Spro (running the inside boards) at 50/25, and both of those took a fish, but only the Spro's fish made it to the boat. The other got off before it was seen.
If it wasn't for the positivity, and the good nature of my crew, it would have been a miserable trip. But, they were awesome, and so much fun! They said they had fished with another Capt yesterday, and they didn't catch any fish, so they said they were already ahead. lol
They donated their two fish to my neighbor, Jerry, so they didn't have to bother with them. Neighbor Jerry was happy to get them too, and he said to say, "Thank you!"
Well, I don't have any excuses, other than I didn't find the right fish today. (she hangs her head and shakes it slowly back and forth)...
They were scheduled for two days, but with another NE wind tomorrow, they decided to head back to Illinois in the morning. I can't blame them.
They did send me a text that made me feel a little better though...it read:
"All good. You changed up the program and made educated guesses at what move to make next, and trained your crew quick on how to make moves. We'll team up on some walleyes again, when the temp is right... they don’t stand a chance."
So, I am looking forward to fishing with these guys again, because they made a bad day GREAT! :)
Saturday, is the next scheduled day, but with a 96% chance of rain/snow and gusty winds...I'm not going to run.
Sunday, is probably a "go".
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Jeremy 3/16/2022
by Capt Juls on 03/16/22Today, was the first official charter of the season, and it was with two of my regulars, Steve Chapman and his son Jeremy. Steve was my very first customer back in 2012, and has been fishing with me for several trips a season for the past 10 years now....(this is the start of my 11th season, guiding.) They feel more like family than just customers now, and we always have a great time, whether the fish cooperate, or not, on any given trip.
This morning, they drove in from Columbus. We were supposed to launch at 8am, but they didn't make it to Mazurik's until 9am. Steve just had a complete shoulder replacement last week, and he can only move so fast right now. He wanted to be out there even if he couldn't reel any fish in.
Speaking of fish. We only went 9 for 11 today. We started out with a quick three fish in the box, but then it got crowded, and the bite slowed down. I don't know if it was the number of boats in the area, or it was just the mid-morning lull that happens on days with bright moon nights. The full moon is happening this Friday, so the big cheese is getting bigger and brighter in the sky at night, which is when the walleye love to feed, since they have those "special eyeballs" and all. Usually, the bite will be good very early in the morning and then mid to late afternoon as the evening approaches.
From what I heard on the radio today, it was slow for many. But, it wasn't slow for some others. There was one boat by me that was just hammering them, but I don't know what they were doing other than running baits behind inline boards, but they figured something out, that no one else did.
My puzzle never got pieced together.....different leads were hitting, and different colors, and different bodied baits. There wasn't a pattern showing up, so I never got dialed in today.
Bandits at 120, 110, 97, 91, 75, 67, and 62 caught and the P-10's with 2oz at 25/25 and 35/35 also caught fish.
Speed was 1.2-1.4
Water temp where we were was 35 degrees.
When I did find a small pod of biting fish and caught 3 or 4 in a row, I would turn, to go back through them, and would get cut off by other boats in the area that had the right of way, so we missed the pod on the way back through. We would watch as the other boats would pick a couple up on the line I wanted to take....deep sigh.
Time to start leaving when the packs move in on me....it's not worth the mood it puts me in. I can find other fish on this big lake.
Tomorrow, I have three fellas from Illinois, and we will be heading out very early compared to today, so hopefully, that helps us with the morning bite.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Chris Utter and Jim Stedke 3/10/2022
by Capt Juls on 03/10/22This morning, was day two with my friend, Chris Utter, from Wisconsin. We were also joined by Jim Stedke, an old friend I met through Rick Lacourse 21 years ago.
We headed out of Catawba this morning, and went north towards F can, but we didn't mark any fish in that area, so we turned and headed east towards South Bass. We found good marks there in 35 feet of water, and proceeded to set up on them.
Since both my guys are seasoned anglers, I went to the bow to relax while they set the lines. Chris ran all Bandits on his side, and Jim ran some Reef Runner Skinny Sticks, Deep Rogues, and a Bandit on his side.
Chris had one on before he could get all 4 Off Shore boards out on his side, and as he was reeling that one in, another one took a board back, so we had two in the boat right away. Jim would get the third one a short time later. All in all...we went 13 for 15 in about 4 1/2 hours, before we had to head in, so Chris could get on his way back to Wisco after his fish were cleaned.
We caught fish in the south passage going both with, and against, the current at a speed of 1.2-1.4mph. Water temp today was 36.2 degrees.
Bandits were set at 100, 85, 75, and 65 on Chris's side, and Jim's Skinny Sticks that caught were running at 70 back. One p-10 (Marvin) caught one with a 2oz Guppie weight at 50/25 (total of 75' back).
It was a beautiful morning on the lake today. The wind was calm and the sun came out a few times to warm up that chilly 39 degree air temp. Fun time was had by all!
Short report today....the dog needs my attention. He's staring at me and making squeaky noises. lol
As I sit here and write this, the wind has shifted and is starting to blow out of the NE. Tomorrow night, we are expecting 1-3 inches of snow. Boooo! And, the wind is going to blow hard Saturday and Sunday. NW on Saturday, and SW on Sunday and Monday. But, then it will all change and by mid week next week, it will start feeling like springtime again.
My next trip out will be on Wednesday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Springtime Shakedown Run with Chris Utter
by Capt Juls on 03/09/22Well, this was the first morning back on the water since December, I think. Maybe it was early January, but either way, it's been a while since I fished out of my boat. She has been tucked away inside a nice warm building all winter, keeping her batteries charged up.
Chris Utter drove down from Wisconsin to fish with me today and tomorrow. He's the fella that always brings me the venison breakfast sausage that I make my biscuits and gravy with, and he told me that he filled one doe tag just to make me breakfast sausage, so I truly feel honored to have a friend like him. :)
We launched at Mazurik's a little after 8am and headed to the SE corner of Kelly's, since there was a light NW breeze, and we could take it from there towards Huron. We stopped occasionally to check for fish marks on the Solix, but it was pretty sparse everywhere we stopped, so we kept going.
We set up out in front of the white condos, but didn't mark much once we started trolling, and only stayed there for about a 1/2 hour. We picked up and headed back to the west and finally found some willing to bite on the SE corner of the island, where we started looking earlier. Again...not marking much, and really didn't even mark the ones that did bite.
Bandits and Spro Madeye 120s run behind Off Shore boards caught us a limit of fish today (we only went 6 for 8 today in 4 1/2 hours). Baits with white and green in them did very well (RC Crush), as did the old tried and true Blue/Chrome. We caught one fish on a Red Headed Wonderbread and one a Chartreuse Wonderbread too.
The port side ran the Spros and the starboard side ran the Bandits. The Spros were set at 110 on the outside board, 75 on the middle board, and 50/30 with a 2oz Guppie weight on the inside board. The 110 back took 3 fish (RC Crush), the 75 (Redheaded W) took one fish, and the inside board never took one, and was changed out several times.
The starboard side was set by Chris, and the only setting I remember on his side was the Blue/Chrome Bandit set at 75 back, because that one caught two nice fish. His snap-weighted bandit had a good hit, but it came unbuttoned before he could get to it, and it never got touched again. We were busy with another fish at the time, and missed it.
I was playing with the speed all morning, going from as slow at 1.1mph to 1.8mph...and, when we did hook up, we were running at 1.6mph. The best direction for us was going against the south passage current (west), which at 1.6 mph against the current would have had those baits dancing pretty hard, I think.
It was a nice day to get out. The winds were light, but picked up to around 9mph from the west towards noon, which made it a little chilly, but the sun had some out, so it wasn't too bad.
We will be launching out of Catawba in the morning to try some new areas.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
"When One Door Closes...Another One Opens"...:)
by Capt Juls on 02/03/22
Big Change for 2022 coming my way....Woot! Woot!
During my 21 year professional fishing career, I have been running Ranger Boats, because of their quality and the safety, that I could appreciate when running big water here on Lake Erie's Western Basin. The 20 different Rangers I had over the years, served me well. The memories I have from all the time spent in my Rangers can never be replaced. However, it's time to make new memories, in a new boat, made by my old family....:)
Long story, shortened....
When Ranger sold to White River Marine Group, the best of the best of the Ranger craftsmen moved out, and started Vexus Boats. When that happened, I felt like the "Red Headed Step-Child" that was left behind when the "family" moved. My heart was broken.
A little over a year later, I have been given the opportunity to rejoin "my family" at Vexus Boats, through Fisherman's Central Marine.
After crawling around in the new DVX22 last week with Tyler Holben, at the Port Clinton, OH location, it was an easy decision to make. It's a great looking boat, and I think its fishability will be a positive experience for myself and my clients. I'm looking forward to this new chapter in my life, and working with my old family again.
My heart is full right now...:)
www.fcmarinegroup.com
Just a Quick Note....Available Dates for Spring...:)
by Capt Juls on 01/11/22
My typical season starts the last two weeks of March, (if the ice is out, and I'm not sure if we'll get ice this year yet), so I thought I would let you know what dates are open right now through the end of June. The rest of the season usually doesn't start filling up until June, so there's time for the later months, if that's what works better for you.
If you're interested in fishing with me this year, please contact me asap, so I can get you on the calendar! The dates are filling up, so don't get left out, because there's a lot of walleye to be caught...
March...the schedule is full, (unless all the ice is out earlier than usual, and the weather is decent.)
April...the schedule is full...thank you!
May… the schedule is full...thank you!
June…6, 9, and 13th
Later months still have a lot of availability too, if you're looking for a summer fun getaway!
Thank you! I look forward to fishing with my regular customers again, and getting to know, and fish, with new customers in 2022!
Capt Juls
Fishing Report for December 10th, 2021
by Capt Juls on 12/10/21Just a quick update on the walleye fishing in December, here on Lake Erie's Western Basin...:)
The fish are still stacked up from Cleveland to Huron, and are slowly making their way west.
Cedar Point, and north, to Kelly Island Shoal, is holding good numbers of fish right now too.
The Bass Islands are a little slower, but should start getting more active as the water temps cool even more. There were a lot of fish on the north side of Kelly's just last week.
The water temp this morning, on the south side of South Bass Island was, 38.4 degrees.
There are reports of nice sized fish being caught out of the Michigan waters of Lake Erie right now too.
The usual programs I've written about all season are still working.
Speeds are being reported anywhere from 1.3mph to 2.2mph, with 1.8-1.9 being reported the most.
December's forecast is calling for a warmer than usual month, so there might still be days you can get out. Most docks have been pulled from the launches, but there are still courtesy docks that can be used, to help you launch and load.
Good luck, if you get to get out there before Christmas....maybe I'll see you out there! Ho! Ho! Ho!
If I don't....have a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday traditions you follow, and I'll see you next "year"!
Stay tuned....;)
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pete 11/9/2021
by Capt Juls on 11/09/21Pete showed up at Mazurik's all alone, so it would just be him and me this morning.
He showed up at the park a 1/2 hour early, so we were able to get on the water just as the sky was beginning to lighten. It was still dark enough to need the navigation lights on, but because the sky was mostly clear, it didn't take much sun power from the horizon, to light the sky up pretty quickly. The air temp was a crisp 43 degrees at 6:30.
We set up where I ended yesterday. The Ulterra and baby 15 were deployed, and set for a speed of 2.2mph, and running a SE to NW line. We were fishing over 34 feet of water, with Bandits running only 35-45 feet back behind Off Shore boards. Bait colors with white in them did best for us yesterday, so I just kept those bait colors on each of our 6 rods this morning.
Pete already knows how to run boards pretty proficiently, so I just told him the leads I wanted on the port side, and he got busy setting lines. Both sides started with 45 on the outside board, 40 in the middle, and 35 on the inside board.
As we were both setting out our first baits to 45 back, a fish hit mine as soon as I stopped the line from going out, and it started to dive. That fish must have been sitting on the surface to have hit that high in the water column.
Uffda...now, that I'm sitting here, and that thought just crossed my mind, I could kick myself....I should have caught that thought out there on the water. I should have tried one side "nose bleed high", to see if that was the case. I didn't target the top 5 feet of the water column after that happened, and I probably should have. But, it's easy to see now, in hindsight, but at the moment, I missed it. Lesson learned.....I'll remember that next time it happens. :)
We got the rest of the baits out and proceeded to catch 4 or 5 more nice eaters in that area. Since Pete was fishing alone today, I thought I would waste some time and drive to the north side of Kelly's to check up there. I thought to myself, "If we don't get any up there within an hour, then we can always move back down here". But, we never had to move again, because we found some up there. Same leads, and a steady pick. We had three on at one time, but while Pete reeled in one, it got off, so he grabbed the next rod, and he got that one in. The third one managed an escape and lives to see another day. Lucky fish. ;)
We had our 12 fish by 9:45, even with a leisurely drive to the north side of Kelly's earlier in the morning. So, it was a relaxing and fun morning fishing with Pete. The lake was flat, and the winds were calm....it was a grand morning! He said he would like to come and fish with me again, and wanted to bring his son, who is an avid bass angler, competing on a college bass team, so that makes me happy!
I'm off for the next 5 days, and then I have a three day trip scheduled with a couple of my regulars from Wisconsin. But, we'll see what the weather has in its forecast for next week, as it gets closer.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Rick and Kirk 11/8/2021
by Capt Juls on 11/08/21I was looking forward to walleye fishing this morning, so I was a little ancy, and left the house too early.....again.
It's hard for me to time when I should leave the house in the morning now, because I have to run to the heated storage bldg to pick up the boat first, instead of just walking out to my driveway. I miss that. But, it's also super nice for it to be in a clean and heated storage building for the cold months.
Anyway.... I was picking my guys up at the Country Inn and Suites at 7AM, so I knew I should leave by 6:00, so I could hook up the boat, go get it gassed up, and throw some bags of ice in the cooler, before heading to their hotel.
Rick and Kirk are brothers, who drove in from Indiana to fish with me. Well, actually, they were scheduled to fish with me back on April 22nd, but we didn't get the trip in due to wind. So, they rescheduled a couple of times over this past summer....only to find more wind.
But, Mother Nature was kind, and we were finally able to chase some walleye out on the lake this morning.
I showed up at their hotel at 6:30... I was a 1/2 hour early. I texted Rick, and told him I was early, and out in the parking lot, but explained that they could take their time, if they needed it.
However, Rick was already outside by his truck and boat, and ready to go, so he just had to let Kirk know. It only took him a couple of minutes to come down and jump in the truck. We hit Dempsey's launch around 6:50, and we were on our way out by 7. The brother's goal today was to learn how to run inline planer boards more efficiently, because their experience using them in their own boat, yesterday, was somewhat problematic from what he described.
We didn't run far, and worked an area from 17 feet deep out to 30 feet. We set up with Bandits set behind 3 Off Shore boards on both sides, along with one dipsey off each corner. The dispsies would prove worthless for us after 2 hours, so I removed them and put out a 4th board on each side.
The leads were short today. At one point, I had one side deeper and one side higher in the water column. Early in the morning, we were set at 20, 30, and 40 back on one side, and 50, 40, 35 back, on the other side, and caught fish on the 35 and 40 settings, and one on the 50 setting. But, as the sun got higher in the sky, I changed up one side to run deeper (as we moved out to the deeper water). The deeper side ran 110, 97, 77, and 63 back, and the higher side ran at 50, 45, 40, and 35 back. 35, 40, and 45 back were the hot leads, but 97 back also caught a couple.
Our speed was kept between 2.0 and 2.4mph. The water temp was 52.4 degrees where we were.
I had the guys setting lines, and reeling in boards, and netting their own fish...with some "instruction" from me thrown in there from time to time, because that's the only way to get someone to learn quickly. Make them do it. I have every confidence in the world, that these two will be able to jump in their own boat tomorrow and repeat what we did today
The brothers did a fantastic job this morning, and managed to boat our 3-person limits....with only one tangle to speak of, and it was a minor one at that. They said they learned a lot and are feeling more confident about using inline boards now, too. So, that makes me happy...:)
Tomorrow, I have another walleye trip, and will be headed out of Mazurik's around 7AM with Pete Knaar and his crew.
I did bring the boat home for an overnight visit with my driveway, so I could leave at a normal time tomorrow. Only going to be a low of 50 degrees overnight.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Marc and Grace 11/6/2021
by Capt Juls on 11/06/21This morning, I was meeting my crew at Mazurik's at 8:15, but as usual, I was up early and moving, so I left the house early to go and get the boat, gas it up, put ice in the perch cooler, and securing some Emeralds from Hi-Way Bait, before heading over to the ramp.
I showed up an hour early, so I putzed around in the boat, and then talked to others in the get-ready lanes, while I waited on Marc and Grace, who were driving in from the Cleveland area. Thankfully, Marc knows my habits and showed up a 1/2 hour early too.
We launched, and headed towards the Marblehead lighthouse just as the sun was coming up. The big orange ball had the perfect backdrop of a clear blue, yet slightly dark, sky. It was beautiful this morning.
The air temp was around 40 degrees, I think. I didn't actually look at the temp info in my truck, but it was definitely a lot warmer than yesterday morning.
The wind was light out of the south, and forecast to be nothing more than 5-15mph.
I didn't look at the water temp though...sorry.
We set up east of the point, and about 1/3 mile from the nearest boat, after the Humminbird showed some perchy looking marks below us. I deployed the Ulterra with a touch of a button, hit another button and boom...we are "anchored" with the Spot-Lock.
Marc and his daughter Grace are the kind of people that are just happy to be on the lake and fishing, and as Marc says, "The fish are just a bonus to the day", so it just makes the fishing so much more relaxing.
We made the usual monetary bet of a dollar for the first keeper "yellow" to get in the boat. Marc won that one. Then we made a bet on the 30th fish to go in the box, and I won my dollar back. Then Marc said, "Ok, five bucks for a double of keepers...each time". I didn't think anyone was going to get that one, since it was a slow, but steady bite, this morning. However, I was wrong....I did catch a double about an hour later. So, now, I'm up 6 bucks...woot woot!
Then, we had a dollar bet on the 60th fish, and Marc won that one, so I gave him his dollar back.
The last bet was for the last fish, and it was worth 5.00 this time. Marc and I each had one coming up at the same time. Mine hit the boat first, so technically I won, but I said, "Your's is bigger, so you win". He laughed, then replied, "It's a draw".
So, I kept the 5 bucks I had won. Woot! Woot!
We only kept 81 of our 90 perch today, because of time constraints. Grace had to get back home to go to work this afternoon.
The bite was pretty light most of the time...and, most of the time, it just felt like a little more weight on the end, when I would go to jig it a little. If it felt different in any way, I would set the hook, which resulted in more catches than misses.
A bonus was two nice walleye that bit my minnows. One was maybe 3-3 1/2 pounds and the other was just a 17 incher. When you tell Marc, "Get the net"....he jumps... fast! lol Thanks Marc! :)
All in all, it was a fantastic morning on the water with two good people that I have known for a long time now. A very good day...and, that makes me happy!
I'm off tomorrow, and will be cleaning the boat. I'll be back out walleye fishing on Monday with Rick Baker and his buddy, so we'll probably be going out of Huron again.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
