Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Capt Jenn 11/24/2020
by Capt Juls on 11/24/20It was cold and dark this morning, when I went out on the back deck with the dog to check the wind. It was 33 degrees with a "feels like" temp of 24...brrr.
After taking care of the usual things before I leave to go fishing, I headed over to Jenn's house, so we could walk the dogs before going to the building to get my boat. I showed up at her house about an hour and a half before sunrise.
We took the dogs for a 20 minute walk and then dropped them off at her house. Dexter would get to hang out with their pups for the morning. Capt Matt, (Jenn's hubby), was headed to Cleveland to fish with Capt David Faller...looking for the "Big one".
After stopping to gas up the boat and truck, and put ice the cooler, we hit Mazurik's at 7:15. Sunrise was at 7:28 this morning, so we were on the water waiting for the engine to warm up when the sun hit the horizon.
The wind was 7mph out of the NNE when we headed out, but it was quickly changing to the ESE in the first two hours, so we had changing currents happening. We started at the 33/35 and headed back to the west.
The Ulterra had the autopilot on a WNW course. The baby ETEC was nothing more than an idle speed to keep us at 1.7-2.0mph.
The port side ran two Bandits and one Spro Madeye 120. The RC Crush Bandit was on the outside at 125 back, the Chrome Perch Spro was 100 back, and the Red Headed Wonderbread Bandit was 75 back.
The starboard side ran too many to keep track of. For some reason, the port side took 10 of the 12 fish this morning. It might have had something to do with the current where we were too, but I know I changed things up several times.
I was playing with speed a lot too. We caught fish as slow as 1.4mph and as high as 2.3mph this morning.
The first 7 fish came from that pass, and when that slowed up we picked everything up and headed down inside to the SE. We started at the 28/33 and again went on a westerly troll back towards Cedar Point over 42/43 feet of water.
We ran the same program and caught fish anytime Jenn ate something, or when I played with the speed...hoping to entice them. Whatever it was, it worked, and we put the last 5 fish in the cooler over in that area.
We were done by noon, and headed in. Rain was on the way...we timed it just right. The boat was back in the heated building, dogs let out to pee, and the fish taken over to Port Clinton Fish Co to be cleaned before it started to drizzle a very cold rain.
Matt and David caught a brawl'n fish over in the Cleveland area and took it over to Erie Outfitters to be officially weighed. The fish went 30.25 inches and weighed in at 11.22 pounds. Just out of the money....deep sigh. lol
We will be out brawl'n again on Thanksgiving Day. Those fish will go to the "Back to the Wild" wildlife rehab center to help feed their critters for a few days. None of the fish cleaning businesses will be cleaning fish on Thanksgiving anyway, so we'll help feed the critters instead.
The weather looks good for Thursday and Friday, so if you still have a boat you can use...get out there! The fishing is very good right now.
Good luck if you're brawl'n too, but we're hoping to catch the "Big one" instead of you! Sorry....not sorry! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Todd, Kelly, and Scott...again...11/14/2020
by Capt Juls on 11/14/20I left the house at 4:50, because I had to go to the building to get the boat and gas it up before picking my crew up at their hotel. We were launching out of Huron, otherwise I would have just met them at the launch. I told them I would pick them up at 5:45, but I showed up 15 minutes early and sent Todd a text telling him that I was there and that they could come down whenever they were ready. They complied with my request to wear masks inside the truck, and we headed on down the road.
We hit Huron a little after 6am and there was already a line of boats all the way out to the road. Had we been five minutes later, we would have been sitting up on the bridge waiting to turn in. I'm sure the locals that use that road, hate us! lol
We made our way up to the front of the line and launched in the dark. Luckily, all the boats that were launching this time of year are fishermen, so the line moved fast, and no one took up space at the docks....allowing everyone to launch quickly.
It was just getting light when we reached the mouth of the river and headed out to the big lake. The wind was 7mph out of the west, so the waves were only 1 foot or less, which made for a pretty easy ride out.
I headed for the Sandbar area first. Once we got there, the Helix was marking some fish, so we set up with the Spro Madeye 120's and Bandits again. Pretty much the same program as this past Thursday, where the Spro's were running 120, 100, 95, 90, 85, 75, 50 and a Bandit out 75, at a speed of 1.8-2.0mph.
We caught 3 pretty quick, but they were on the smaller side, and two went back to grow up. Then, as we got closer to the bar, the marks disappeared, so we picked up to move to the SW a bit. Those fish I had on Thursday had moved too. (I found out later that I should have just moved west instead of SW. The fish moved north from where they were on Thursday.)
We ended up moving one more time towards the white condos and Cedar Point, and found a small pod of active fish, so I kept turning on them to stay on top of them. We managed to put 19 more fish in the box for a total of 20 before our time ran out.
Oh, I forgot... I had a dipsey out a few times...set on the zero setting at 56 back with a Yaleye Mooneye Minnow ("Baby Walleye"), which caught the two nicest fish in the cooler.
The guys kept a positive attitude even though we had a slow start to the morning, catching-wise, and it paid off. They had a good time and have already reserved an early spring date...which makes me happy! :)
Mother Nature is going to throw a fit tomorrow, with gale force winds up to 50mph, and rain, so needless to say, no one will be fishing tomorrow. It will be a good day to cook something that has to simmer all day.
I'm not scheduled again until Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so as usual...it will all depend on the forecast.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Mike 11/12/2020
by Capt Juls on 11/12/20This morning, Steve Fessler and his friend, Mike, were meeting me at the Huron ramp at 7:45, so we could be on the water by 8am. Steve makes an award-winning line of sauces, and was kind enough to give me a couple to try. I'm looking forward to my day off tomorrow, so I can make something to try them.
The NNE wind was around 12-14 at 7am, but by 8am it was down to around 10-12mph. The forecast was calling for it to lay down to around 8-9mph by 9am.
We headed straight out of the Huron River and went approximately 5-6 miles before setting the boat down off plane and turning it around to go with the waves.
The Ulterra was deployed and the autopilot set for a SSW course. The baby ETEC was on and "just in gear", so it wasn't much more than an idle speed on her part. But, she did give us just the right amount of push to allow me to keep the power level on the Ulterra at 4-5.
Okay, so I've been hearing good things about the "Spro Madeye 120" crank bait, so I went to "Fisherman's Central" yesterday and picked up a dozen baits in various colors that I thought would work well on the walleye right now.
Spro baits ran on the port side of the boat, behind the Off Shore boards (deepest on the outside)....100 back (blue/chrome), 85 back (I didn't look at the name, but it's the same paint job as the Marvin P-10), 65 back (Lime (again, P-10 Lime Crush)), and 50 back (Chrome Perch).
Bandits ran on the starboard side at 120, 90, 70, and 50 back.
Speed was 1.8-2.1mph.
The Spro actually caught more fish than the Bandits, so I ended up putting two more on the starboard side, which were the Marble Brown and Chrome Perch colors. The Marble Brown was a hot color as it turned out. I was putting that one out 120 back and it was catching fish before the next board could be set out.
We had doubles and triples on this morning and had cleared all but a line or two at several times. The two biggest were a pair of twin 28.6 inch girls that went 7 1/2 pounds each. The rest of the fish were a nice quality grade of "eaters" (22-25 inchers).
Steve and Mike fish over in MI waters by Breast Bay and wanted to learn what it is we do over here to catch walleye. They said they struggle to catch fish, but always have fun fishing. :)
So, we chatted while we fished and at the end of the trip they said they learned a lot, and will use what they learned to help them back home....and, that makes me happy!
I'm off tomorrow, but will be back out on Saturday with the crew that I had this past Monday. They are in the brawl and would like to try it one more time. Woot! Woot! :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Todd, Kelly, and Scott (Garrett) 11/9/2020
by Capt Juls on 11/09/20Yesterday, I didn't blog, because it wasn't a charter. I took Chris and Julie First, from Huron, out to shoot some video of trolling and fishing for walleye on Lake Erie. They are creating a promotional video of Northern Ohio, and showing what it has to offer. We caught 11 walleye and two white bass to take the "Back to the Wild" wildlife rehabilitation center, over in Castalia, OH. The center was very grateful for the fresh fish, and I'm sure the Eagles and critters were too.
This morning, the forecast showed warming temps, sunshine, and light southerly winds. Basically, a summer day in the second week of November....it doesn't get any better than that....except, for when it's actually summer. Needless to say, I was looking forward to fishing today.
We motored out of Mazurik's at 6:30 and turned right. We were going to Huron, since the lake was flat and it wouldn't take long to get there. Once the big motor was up to temp, I put the throttle down and off we went at a nice cruising speed of 45mph.
I slowed the boat down at the south-east corner of the Huron Dump and deployed the Ulterra and baby ETEC and pointed her to the NNE. We started in 38 feet of water and would finish in 42 feet.
The port side ran P-10's 75', 60', 30/30 w/1oz, and 30/30 w/2oz behind "Off Shore" inline planer boards, and the starboard side ran Bandits 120, 100, 85, and 75 back. The speed was 1.7mph.
The P-10 at 75 back was "Marvin", and it took a fish before the second board could be attached to the line of the second rod. A nice, fat, 5 pound fish was a good way to start the morning. It got the crew excited for good things to come.
We caught a couple more in the P-10's, but ended up switching to the Bandits, because they were doing a little better.
Bandit colors today were (In no particular order of success rate):
Green Clown
Metallic Muffin
RC Crush
An all white one with just red eyes (I don't know the name of that one).
Attention Deficit
Chrome Marvin
Todd Brooksher has fished with me before, and today he brought his brother, Kelly, and his friend, Scott to fish with. Todd remembered my program for running Off Shore boards from the previous trip, so he was able to make my job a lot easier by working as my first mate. Kelly had never been on Lake Erie before, so this was a new experience for him. He's a great angler in his own right, and showed me pictures of fish caught on other adventures. He had just never fished Erie before.
I think Scott said he has fished Erie before, but it had been a while.
We caught their 3-person limit, and 5 of mine. We kept one slot open to go after a big fish. Kelly was keeping count on the fish in the box, and those released to swim another day, and said we had released 10 fish before we put that last eater in the box to head in with.
They said they had a great time, and want to come back one more time in November, and reserved a date in late March too, so that makes me happy!
I'm off for the next two days, and will be back out again on Thursday...if weather permits. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Greg, Ryan, and Zach 11/7/2020
by Capt Juls on 11/07/20Since it was so nice out last night, I decided to bring the boat back home for the night, so I didn't have to stop at the storage building to hook it up this morning.
I left the house at 5:30, so I could go gas up the truck and boat and grab some ice for the cooler, before heading back to the Kroger store's parking lot to meet up with DJ of "DJ Custom Eye Lures". He had a couple baits I needed and was kind enough to meet me there at 6am. We did our parking lot "crank bait drug deal" and off I went to Marblehead to meet my crew for a 6:45-7am launch.
Greg, Ryan, and Zach showed up a little early, so we were able to be on the water by 6:45. The sun was just making the sky a beautiful mixture of shades of pink and oranges as we headed out of the break wall and headed east.
I'm going to fast-forward this report to the Huron info only, because where I started is not for public disclosure...sorry! We caught 6 in very shallow water before the sun got too high and slowed the first spot down. We headed to Huron with 4 hours to fish.
Once in Huron, we set up over 42 feet of water. The Ulterra was deployed, set at a power level of 5, and set to a northerly direction. The baby ETEC pushed us along at 2.0mph.
We ran Bandits high on one side and low on the other side behind OffShore inline planer boards. The Bandits that ran unassisted were set between 60 and 100 back, and the ones that ran with the 2oz snap weights set at the 50 mark were let out to 90 and 70 back. One ran a 3oz weight at 90 back also.
It was a slow bite for us, but we managed 10 more fish in the cooler for a total of 16 fatties for their fish Fries. They were pleased with their catch today.
The leads that did best for us were 100, 80, and 75 (unassisted) and the 2oz at 50 and with a total of 103 out.
Speed was mostly 2.0, but we also caught going slower and as fast at 2.6mph, so speed is really all over the place.
Colors that worked for us today were:
RC Crush
Metallic Muffin
Fruit Dots
Slick Frog
The marks on the Helix are getting better over in that area, and I only see it getting better and better and the water temps go down. They came back up a bit with this warm weather we're experiencing this weekend, so hopefully, tomorrow is another good day.
My crew had fun, and will be back again to try for perch next time. I'll look forward to that, because you all know I LOVE Perch fishing! :)
Tomorrow, I'll be out, but it's not a charter. I have a husband and wife team that does promotional videos for Northern Ohio, and they want to get some footage of the opportunities Lake Erie's Charter Fishing can offer. So, I'll be helping them achieve that goal, and hopefully, getting some good advertising out of it too. A win-win. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Chris Pugh 10/31/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/31/20Happy Halloween!
This morning's weather at 5:30am was a "brrrr-chilly" 33 degrees. The wind wasn't blowing at all. I bundled up and loaded the truck with the day's needs. Then, I headed over to the heated building its sitting in.
I got to the building at 6am, so I had an hour and a half to burn before I had to meet my crew at Mazurik's. I vacuumed the carpet, wiped the windshield down, and topped off the ETEC's oil. After hooking up the boat to the truck I headed to the gas station, and filled up both the truck and the boat, bought some ice for the cooler, and headed to Mazurik's.
I hit Mazurik's a little before 7, so I had time to get everything ready before they showed up. When they showed up, Jim (Pops, or Papa as I called him) climbs in the boat, and Chris jumps in the truck. I lined it up, and told Chris what he needed to do. He jumped in the driver's seat and I jumped in the boat. The big motor warmed up while we waited for Chris to park the trailer and come back.
Once it warmed up to around 115 degrees, we headed north out of the break wall. We made it all the way to Kelly's before I remembered that I had opened the drain plug the last time out, to drain all the water out before putting her back in the building, and only turned the the dial to close it, without going under there and pushing it all the way in.
There's always about 1/8 of an inch that needs to be pushed in, or it will take on water. Anyway, I took the boat off plane and explained what happened, and that we needed to go back to the ramp, pull the boat, drain it, and then close the plug all the way again. They nodded in agreement, and we headed back to Mazurik's.
When we got back in, I was luck enough to see my friends Mark and Jake Romanack at the dock. Mark said, "Are you already back in with your limits?" I laughed, and told him what happened. I got a hug, and wished them good luck as they headed out.
After we finished putting the plug back in we headed back to the north side of Kelly's. We started in 38 feet of water and put Bandits out on both sides behind Off Shore boards. On the port side, they were set with 2oz weights at the 50 mark then, let out a total of 150, 125, and 90 back.
On the starboard side they were set high at only 65, 61, and 57 back.
Colors were mostly white bodied baits, "RC Crush"and "Golden Boy" caught the most today.
First the 2oz/150 lead caught, then the 57 unassisted took a fish, so there was no pattern to be realized yet. The third one came on the 2oz 90 back and the fourth one came on the 61 back. Still no clear pattern....we just kept the one side high and the other side low until I needed to start changing some things up. We caught a few more this way pretty quickly.
The bite was very good early on, on a west to east pass. Then, it slowed a bit for us when we turned and went back to the west. I adjusted the speed to compensate for the difference in current. They didn't seem to care for that direction, or I failed at dialing them in while going in that direction. We turned again and made a pass towards the east again. It was slow. I decided to make a move.
We moved to the east side of Kelly's and ran south. The wind had picked up, and was sustained at 13-15mph with gusts a bit higher. The waves were solid 2-3's up by the airport. We went a little further south of there and turned the boat around. The Ulterra was deployed and the autopilot set on a northerly course over 41-43 feet of water.
Speed was 1.7-1.9mph
The Bandits were set out again, but this time, the higher baits were put down to 120, 115, and 100 back (unassisted) and the deeper side was set the same as before. The Bandit at 120 back caught one, but that was it. I swapped out the port side's Bandit's for Walleye Nation Creation "Reapers". I chose the white bodied colors I had in the box and set them out at 75, 60, and 45 back, which puts them between 15-20 feet. They would catch two, and a Bandit would catch two more too.
We ended the trip with 11 walleye in the cooler and 4 lost on their way in. My crew was happy, and said they had fun, so that makes me happy!
Tomorrow's crew has been rescheduled, due to more wind coming overnight and blowing hard all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night, the temps will fall into the low 30's, and might spit some snow.
Monday's trip was moved to Tuesday for now, but we'll see what the wind decides to do. I'm afraid that the rest of the week might be blown out too, so I'm watching it before contacting my Wednesday through Sunday customers.
Stay tuned....
Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight...:)
Capt Juls
Fishing with Heather and Garrett 10/27/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/27/20Woke up and checked the wind forecast...it didn't change, so it was going to be a fishing day. The forecast was only calling for north winds less than 5mph from 7am until mid-afternoon, when it would switch and start coming out of the west.
I was looking forward to getting back on the water again. I fished with Heather and Garrett back in September. Garrett is the 8-year-old that gets to go fishing with his mom all the time. :)
We left Mazurik's at 7:45 and headed north. I was over in Huron on Saturday, but was only out a couple of hours and had only caught three, so I didn't report that one...but, since I hadn't been out since then, it was like starting over again.
I decided to hit Kelly Island Shoal first. We went out to the furthest buoy and turned the boat around to head SSW along the western edge of the shoal in 18-20' of water. The Ulterra was deployed and a course set on autopilot. The baby ETEC pushed us along at a speed of 1.8mph.
Water temp was 53.9 degrees
Bandits were run on the starboard side (shallower side of the break) at 40, 50, and 60 back behind Off Shore boards, and the Bandits on the port side (deeper side of the break) were set at 100, 83, and 67 back.
We caught an eater and put that one in the box, and then another board went back that looked like a big fish. However, that one came off on its way in.
We trolled to the middle green buoy and then I decided to head up to West Reef to see what was there. Again, we set up in 18 feet of water and then ran Bandits on the Port side and Flicker Minnow #11's on the starboard side. 3 Bandits caught walleye at 55 and 60 back and one Flicker Minnow caught one at 65 back.
We had made two passes on West Reef and decided it wasn't holding enough fish to bother making another pass through there, so we headed down to Starve Island and made a pass going from West to East in 40 to 44 feet of water. We caught one going that way, but caught 3 more going from East to West over the same track.
For the next pass, we picked up and went back to the other end to make the East to West pass again, but they didn't want anything to do with us this time even though everything but the wind had remained the same. And, it was just a light wind, so I don't really think that was it. I don't know.
We didn't catch any more and we were out of time anyway. Garrett did a great job and was keeping us entertained with his games. One is where a person thinks of a "noun" in a movie and then gives clues to the players, as they try and guess what it is he's thinking about. I'll have to remember that one, it was kind of fun. :)
We didn't have any brawl fish, but Garrett was entered too, and took a chunky 3-4 pounder over to get weighed in for the Fall Walleye Brawl, and have his picture taken. The others were taken to Port Clinton Fish Co. to be cleaned before they headed over there on their way home.
I have the next two days off now.... Heather was supposed to be on Thursday, but it looks like it's going to be windy, so she was able to switch to today instead. It all worked out and that makes me happy!
My next trip is scheduled for Saturday and right now the forecast looks pretty good for that day, so I'm thinking we'll be launching out of Huron, or maybe Dempsey's... I don't know yet.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Doug and Ethan 10/17/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/17/20Ethan and his father Doug drove in from Dover, OH last night and stayed here in town. I picked them up, because we were going to launch over in Huron, and it was just easier than trying to tell them where to meet me. We all wore our masks during the drive, since we were in an enclosed truck cab, and maintained our social distance.
We stopped to fill up the truck and boat with gas, grabbed some ice, and headed on over to Huron at 6:15.
We pulled into the Huron ramp to find that some of the NWT Pros were already launching in the dark, probably to get those coveted spots at the courtesy dock, so we got ready and launched too. Seeing how it was going to get very busy there, we launched in the dark and took our time going out. We wouldn't even be able to see the Off Shore boards out there for another 1/2 hour anyway.
I idled out to the lighthouse and took a hard left, to head over to the Sawmill Creek humps at a whopping speed of 8mph. lol
By the time we got there, it would be light enough to see the boards, so we set up.
We put the Bandits out behind the boards at 40-60 back. Nothing was happening, so we kept one side high and readjusted the other side to run low with 2oz snap weights after we got to deeper water. We were targeting 24-30' deep on the weighted side and 11, 13, and 15 feet on the shallow side. (See the Precision Trolling Data for the 50/2oz target depth leads.)
With the gusty SW wind this morning, we started inside and worked our way out to deeper water. As we got to the deeper water, we pulled the rest of the high baits and reset them with 3oz snap weights, so the 2oz's were on one side and the 3oz's were on the other side.
We also ran two size 1 dipsies with the ring on the zero setting at 50-60 back off each corner.
The first bite of the day was a big fish, and it hit on the dipsey with the "Yaleye" "Mooneye Minnow". The same one that caught that 30" walleye a couple weeks ago. Ethan was excited, and reeled it in. However, this time, the big fish was an 8 pound Catfish! Thankfully, they like to eat catfish, so on the ice it went, to do its part in feeding the family. :)
The water temp today was still in that 58 degree range, so it really didn't change much over night last night, even though it was in the low 40's overnight.
I tried different speeds....from 1.5-2.7mph, but mostly ran 1.8-2.0. The surging at times had us running fast and slow all at the same time, but turning the boat to have the waves on the corner helped to keep the speed a little more stable.
The lake at times was 2-4's (inside 5 nautical miles), and sometimes 1' or less. The wind was up and down all morning, so maintaining speed was a constant adjustment.
We changed things up all morning, and could only go 5 for 7 on the Walleye today. It was tough for us, but they said they had fun and learned a lot, and would like to come back and try for some perch sometime....and, you KNOW that makes me happy. :)
I'm off tomorrow, due to another Blow forecast. My two day trip for Sunday and Monday will now become a combo perch and walleye trip on Monday, and possibly Tuesday. But, I think Tuesday is going to be blow day too....sigh. Just took a look at Wednesday's forecast and right now, that's a no go too. It's going change though...I just hope it's for the better. We shall see....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito Centofanti 10/16/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/16/20This morning I was fishing with Vito, from my home state of Wisconsin, finally. I have had to reschedule him 4 times this season due to the Covid restrictions that started back in March, wind, and one screw up on my end where I had double booked, and the other person was on the calendar....not Vito. He understood and was super flexible...rebooking to today. The wind was worrisome this morning, because when I got to Mazurik's a little early to do some clean up and re-rigging, the wind was a little gusty out of the NNW. I couldn't see them yet, but I could hear the waves crashing on the rocks out in front of the launch.
Vito showed up with his wife Michelle, who wasn't inclined to put herself through that kind of experience today, so, smiling, she sent us on our way without her. She was going to keep busy by checking out some sights here in town.
As the sun lit up the eastern sky, the winds miraculously died to around 5mph. The waves subsided substantially, which was a relief, so we could take an easy ride out. We started at the lighthouse, just to check and see if there were fish in there yet. There weren't.
We picked up and headed up to the islands. I took him where I took Jeremy and Steve the other day, to see if those fish were still in there. They were.
We ran Bandits at 55-58 back and DHJ14's at 47 back behind Off Shore boards. Three per side since there were only two of us. Because of current and a break line I was following, my plan was to see if it caused one side of the boat to catch better than the other, and if it did, I would put more boards to that side of the boat, and less on the other side.
I knew I could do that with Vito, since he's fished with me a few times before, and knows the program really well.
He bought my 2018 Ranger 621...(the blue one if you remember that one), and brings it down when he comes for an extended weekend. He fishes with me, and then fishes a couple days out of his own boat. Unfortunately, that poor boat took a major hit in the rear in by an inattentive, uninsured, driver a few weeks ago. Ugh!!! I'd be sick.
He's looking at a lot of glass repair, new trailer, EZEESteps, and a kicker motor. His truck's rear end looks like a big can opener was taken to it too, because the EZEEStep was forced through the body panel from the impact of the hit.
Anyway...back to fishing...
We made a directional change that turned on the bite for us. The wind went from NNW to the SW about 2 hours into our trip, and when we trolled from west to east with the SW wind on my starboard stern's corner, the Walleye started to bite. We made three passes that were about a 1/2 mile long and picked up our 12 Walleye, one Smallmouth, and one Sheephead. The bites were about even per side, so we didn't need to add or subtract boards, and kept it even.
We launched at 7:30 and we were done by 10:15. Vito decided we should head in, so he could spend time with Michelle and show her some of the visitor's attractions around here. They are staying one more night and heading back to Wisconsin. They feel like family to me, and it's always fun to fish with him. :)
My original trip for tomorrow was rescheduled to 2021, per the customer's request, but then an hour later I received a message asking if I had tomorrow open.
Ethan and his Dad had booked a charter on the Niagra River, but the Capt canceled it for whatever reason, so he was looking to get out on Erie, and wondered if I had the day open. Well, I do actually, so I told him it might be a little rough, but it's fishable. They booked it. How fortuitous for all of us. :)
We'll be launching out of Huron at sunrise...well before the top ten NWT Pros take off at 8am.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito Centofanti 10/16/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/16/20This morning I was fishing with Vito, from my home state of Wisconsin, finally. I have had to reschedule him 4 times this season due to the Covid restrictions that started back in March, wind, and one screw up on my end where I had double booked, and the other person was on the calendar....not Vito. He understood and was super flexible...rebooking to today. The wind was worrisome this morning, because when I got to Mazurik's a little early to do some clean up and re-rigging, the wind was a little gusty out of the NNW. I couldn't see them yet, but I could hear the waves crashing on the rocks out in front of the launch.
Vito showed up with his wife Michelle, who wasn't inclined to put herself through that kind of experience today, so, smiling, she sent us on our way without her. She was going to keep busy by checking out some sights here in town.
As the sun lit up the eastern sky, the winds miraculously died to around 5mph. The waves subsided substantially, which was a relief, so we could take an easy ride out. We started at the lighthouse, just to check and see if there were fish in there yet. There weren't.
We picked up and headed up to the islands. I took him where I took Jeremy and Steve the other day, to see if those fish were still in there. They were.
We ran Bandits at 55-58 back and DHJ14's at 47 back behind Off Shore boards. Three per side since there were only two of us. Because of current and a break line I was following, my plan was to see if it caused one side of the boat to catch better than the other, and if it did, I would put more boards to that side of the boat, and less on the other side.
I knew I could do that with Vito, since he's fished with me a few times before, and knows the program really well.
He bought my 2018 Ranger 621...(the blue one if you remember that one), and brings it down when he comes for an extended weekend. He fishes with me, and then fishes a couple days out of his own boat. Unfortunately, that poor boat took a major hit in the rear in by an inattentive, uninsured, driver a few weeks ago. Ugh!!! I'd be sick.
He's looking at a lot of glass repair, new trailer, EZEESteps, and a kicker motor. His truck's rear end looks like a big can opener was taken to it too, because the EZEEStep was forced through the body panel from the impact of the hit.
Anyway...back to fishing...
We made a directional change that turned on the bite for us. The wind went from NNW to the SW about 2 hours into our trip, and when we trolled from west to east with the SW wind on my starboard stern's corner, the Walleye started to bite. We made three passes that were about a 1/2 mile long and picked up our 12 Walleye, one Smallmouth, and one Sheephead. The bites were about even per side, so we didn't need to add or subtract boards, and kept it even.
We launched at 7:30 and we were done by 10:15. Vito decided we should head in, so he could spend time with Michelle and show her some of the visitor's attractions around here. They are staying one more night and heading back to Wisconsin. They feel like family to me, and it's always fun to fish with him. :)
My original trip for tomorrow was rescheduled to 2021, per the customer's request, but then an hour later I received a message asking if I had tomorrow open.
Ethan and his Dad had booked a charter on the Niagra River, but the Capt canceled it for whatever reason, so he was looking to get out on Erie, and wondered if I had the day open. Well, I do actually, so I told him it might be a little rough, but it's fishable. They booked it. How fortuitous for all of us. :)
We'll be launching out of Huron at sunrise...well before the top ten NWT Pros take off at 8am.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeremy and Steve Chapman 10/14/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/14/20
First, thanks to all of you who were emailing me and checking on me to make sure I was okay, since I hadn't been reporting anything and that worried you. I'm perfectly fine....the wind has just been making me reschedule some trips, so I hadn't been out. I did get out and do some fun fishing on a couple of scheduled days off, but didn't report those (because some days are just for me...ya know what I mean?) Anyway...thanks for the concern, and I'm sorry I had nothing to report. ;)
I'm not going to say where we fished, because it's not a big area. The important info here is that finding cleaner water will help the fish see your baits, so when it's muddy, usually going north will help you achieve that. Just keep going until it cleans up.
Or, better yet, if there is a satellite picture with a clear view of the lake, check that out first and eliminate a lot of traveling around to find that clean water. The satellite picture will get you dialed in much quicker and save you a lot of gas.
Jenn and I found some cooperative fish yesterday, and I was feeling confident that those fish would be there this morning. I was right. They were. We got set up with the Ulterra and the baby ETEC working in unison to keep the boat on a course along the edge of a reef in 18-19 feet of water at a speed of 1.7-2.0mph.
There were three Off Shore boards per side with Bandits and DHJ 14's. Yesterday, the hot color on the DHJ-14 was the orange one that looks like a Firetiger without the green. It took most of the fish, so I stopped at Fisherman's Central on my way home and bought 3 more of that color, because I only had one. The other colors we ran were white bodied baits and orange/gold/black combos.
Bandits were running 57 to 75 back and the DHJ's were 47 back.
That DHJ I bought more of for today's trip didn't produce like it did yesterday though, but it did take a nice Smallie for Jeremy, who absolutely loves to bass fish, so he was super happy to see that bonus fish today.
Water temp was 60 degrees up there, but only 58 degrees by Catawba (both days).
Jeremy needed to get back to Columbus early this afternoon, so we only caught their 12 and 1 of mine before we needed to head back in at 10:30. The bite was very good early this morning and slowed way down by 10am.
I'm off tomorrow....it's going to blow again....sigh.
I'll be back out on Friday with Vito Centofonti whose coming down from Wisconsin with his wife Michelle. Michelle may or may not fish with us since it might be a little bumpy out there with a 10-15mph wind out of the west. We shall see...:)
Probably launching out of Mazurik's on Friday...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeremy and Steve Chapman 10/14/2020
by Capt Juls on 10/14/20
First, thanks to all of you who were emailing me and checking on me to make sure I was okay, since I hadn't been reporting anything and that worried you. I'm perfectly fine....the wind has just been making me reschedule some trips, so I hadn't been out. I did get out and do some fun fishing on a couple of scheduled days off, but didn't report those (because some days are just for me...ya know what I mean?) Anyway...thanks for the concern, and I'm sorry I had nothing to report. ;)
I'm not going to say where we fished, because it's not a big area. The important info here is that finding cleaner water will help the fish see your baits, so when it's muddy, usually going north will help you achieve that. Just keep going until it cleans up.
Or, better yet, if there is a satellite picture with a clear view of the lake, check that out first and eliminate a lot of traveling around to find that clean water. The satellite picture will get you dialed in much quicker and save you a lot of gas.
Jenn and I found some cooperative fish yesterday, and I was feeling confident that those fish would be there this morning. I was right. They were. We got set up with the Ulterra and the baby ETEC working in unison to keep the boat on a course along the edge of a reef in 18-19 feet of water at a speed of 1.7-2.0mph.
There were three Off Shore boards per side with Bandits and DHJ 14's. Yesterday, the hot color on the DHJ-14 was the orange one that looks like a Firetiger without the green. It took most of the fish, so I stopped at Fisherman's Central on my way home and bought 3 more of that color, because I only had one. The other colors we ran were white bodied baits and orange/gold/black combos.
Bandits were running 57 to 75 back and the DHJ's were 47 back.
That DHJ I bought more of for today's trip didn't produce like it did yesterday though, but it did take a nice Smallie for Jeremy, who absolutely loves to bass fish, so he was super happy to see that bonus fish today.
Water temp was 60 degrees up there, but only 58 degrees by Catawba (both days).
Jeremy needed to get back to Columbus early this afternoon, so we only caught their 12 and 1 of mine before we needed to head back in at 10:30. The bite was very good early this morning and slowed way down by 10am.
I'm off tomorrow....it's going to blow again....sigh.
I'll be back out on Friday with Vito Centofonti whose coming down from Wisconsin with his wife Michelle. Michelle may or may not fish with us since it might be a little bumpy out there with a 10-15mph wind out of the west. We shall see...:)
Probably launching out of Mazurik's on Friday...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Greg and Ray 9/29/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/29/20Woke up at 3:30 and checked the wind forecast for today. It had gone down enough to make the call to go this morning, so I sent Greg a text to have them meet me at Mazurik's for a 7am launch.
They showed up right on time and we launched. The wind was only around 10 out of the SW when we headed to the north side of Kelly's island, so it was an easy ride out. It picked up to around 15mph when we were setting lines.
We were targeting deep fish over 44-47 feet of water and set up with Bandits run with the 3oz snap weights 20/90, 20/70, and 20/50 back behind Off Shore boards at a speed of 2.2mph. However, the wind had picked up, so the swells had us going from 1.8-2.5mph.
We ran one dipsey off each corner on the zero setting at 52 and 58 back with a Yaleye Mooneye Minnow (don't know the name of the color, but it's a purple/maroon back and sides, white/clear belly, and a chart chin) and an IB Frozen Ripplin Redfin.
Everything took fish today. Bandit colors were Taco Salad, (2) Humble Bee w/ black stripes, Red Headed Wonder Bread, Fruit Dots, and Wild Thing. Humble Bee w/stripes caught 8 of our 18 today.
The lake was 2 to 3's north of the island this morning, but wasn't uncomfortable at all. Then, when it was time to come back in at 1pm, the lake had laid down again, so it was fortuitous that it was laid down when we went out and went back in again. I couldn't have planned it any better even if I had Mother Nature's cell phone number and politely asked her to do that. ;)
Greg and Ray were happy to get their limit today after only getting 7 yesterday over by Huron, so that made me happy too.
I'm off for the next three days, and will be back out on Saturday with Jeff Hawk. His luck has been bad when it comes to weather, and has had to reschedule three times now. It's going to be cold this weekend, but then warming back up to mid 70's early next week. I like seeing the water temps dropping, so those big schools of walleye will head back this way from the east. Hopefully, this cold snap gets them moving and puts the feedbag on them. We shall see....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Greg and Ray 9/28/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/28/20I decided to drive over to Huron to launch this morning. I had Greg and Ray, who hail from Indiana, meet me at the Walmart parking lot. They showed up at 5:45. We hit the Speedway for gas and ice and then headed to Huron.
We launched at 6:30... in the dark. By the time we idled to the mouth of the river, the sky was just beginning to lighten. The first stop would be near Ruggle's Reef. No marks there in 34 feet of water, so we kept going. I turned the boat WNW to look in deeper water.
We set up northeast of Cedar Point in 40 feet of water with Bandits behind Off Shore boards (3 on each side) and, 3 dipsies. The port side Bandits were run deep with 3 oz weights at 20/90...20/70...and 20/50 (or, a total of 110, 90, and 70 back respectively). The starboard side was set unassisted at 120, 80, and 65 back.
The dipsies were set on the 0 setting and out 56 and 58 back with Yaleye Mooneye Minnows.
The Bandit 120 back, unassisted, took the first fish. Then, I saw the mistake I made. I had put a shallow Bandit (Fruitdots), that I use on the dipsies out there, so it was only running 10 feet down! I swapped it out for the deep diver in the same color and set it out at 35 back.
But, then the deepest one caught a fish (the 3oz 20/90 back), so whaddaya do? lol
Then, the dipsey at 58 back took a nice one.
So, the high side was set deeper, because it hadn't done anything since the incidental catch of the one high fish.
We made a couple passes through that area, caught a few more fish, and then moved NE a few miles to set up there. The Ulterra kept us on an east track at 2.2-2.4mph. We caught 2 more out there and ended the trip with a total of 7 walleye.
Greg and Ray did a great job setting the lines, and kept me entertained with friendly chit-chat and ribbing. :)
I'm fishing with them again tomorrow, if the weather permits. I'll make that call in the morning after I see the wind forecast.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with John, Nelius, and "Papa" 9/26/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/26/20My trip yesterday was canceled by my customers, due to an unexpected death of a close friend of theirs, so Jenn and I took the opportunity to go fun fishing and get some fish for the eagles. It was also a chance for me to prefish for walleye for my customers today, since I had been perch fishing the previous 4 days.
After what Jenn and I did yesterday (12 walleye anchored by a 30" fish in three hours), and the time it took to do it, I was excited about what laid in store for us this morning.
My customers met me at Mazurik's at 6:30 and we launched shortly after. It was still dark out, but the horizon was just beginning to lighten. We headed east from the landing and set up in 40 foot of water out between Cedar Point and Huron. The Ulterra steered a course to the NNE...with the waves on the starboard stern corner. The baby ETEC barely had to use any power to keep us at 2.2-2.3mph.
My go to set up with the Bandits was what Jenn and I did yesterday. Yesterday, we had caught 9 of the 12 fish on a Purple Mist Bandit set at 20/70 with a 3oz snap weight. So, two of that set up were deployed...along with a 20/50 w/3oz and the usual 50/75 and 50/50 w/2oz's. All caught fish. Purple Mist, Chrome Barbie, and Slick Frog were the colors that worked for us today.
The dipsies did very little, unfortunately. The 1 setting at 55 back with a Purple Mist shallow bandit caught the biggest fish today, which was only 4-5 pounds. But, that was only one of two fish caught on dipsies for us today.
The water temp was 66.7 degrees, which was the same as yesterday. Because the conditions were almost identical as yesterday, I had much higher hopes for a great bite today. But, unfortunately, it didn't happen that way for us today. I know some people caught well today, but from what I could hear on the radio, it sounded like more folks were in the same boat as we were today, and struggling a bit.
We ended with 11 of the 14 fish that got hooked, so they have a nice fish fry for the family anyway. They had fun, and made some memories for the day. Nelius, who is John's 12 year old son did a great job, and had fun reeling in his fish. John said he would like to come back next spring for a perch trip or maybe even a walleye/perch combo trip. And, that makes me happy...:)
Tomorrow's forecasting winds that are supposed to gust to 30-37mph out of the SW tomorrow, so tomorrow is a "no-go" for this Capt and her crew.
I have repeat customers, Greg and Ray, for three days. So, hopefully, the weather behaves and we can at least get Monday and Tuesday in for them. I'm hoping the cold front coming in doesn't affect them too much, and they keep biting. We shall see.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n Day 4 with Bob and Bruce Brenton 9/24/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/24/20I headed to A and J Bait at 5:20am this morning... and, I was second in line... (They open at 6am). Then, drove home and got in the truck, and towed the boat over to Catawba to launch.
We started, a few miles out from the Portage River this morning, but didn't get into anything, so we headed north to the reef complex. That area has been doing well the past couple of weeks, so I was hoping they were still biting up that way. We marked a bunch of something that looked like perch, but they didn't bite. Ugh....
We moved around near Big Pickerel Reef about 5 times and then left with only one in the cooler. Then, we headed to Niagara to check that area out and caught one more. (This was not how I wanted their 4 day trip to end...with no fish in the cooler. Aarrrggghhh!)
It was now 10 am and we have only two perch in the cooler. We were getting ready to move down to D Can when I got a text from Greg Yarbrough, who asked how we were doing. I told him, and he told me to come by them, which is basically close to where we started this morning.
On the way down from Niagara I had to pass through the firing range. I didn't know it was supposed to be closed off for Camp Perry's big gun practice, because I never heard the coastguard come across channel 16 to alert us.
So, I got an ass-chewing by the guy that gets to run around in a big boat and kick people out of there. He was feeling much too self-important, I think. lol Anyway....my own fault...He was trying to catch me with his big white boat, but it was a flat lake today, and there was no way he was catching me in a Ranger. Ha!
So, I stopped and turned back around to talk to him, when I should have just kept going.
He did say, in-between his insults, that it will probably be closed now for a couple of months. What? What's going on? Are we going to war or something? Why all the artillery practice... for two months? Sheesh! That takes out a lot of good perch'n water. Grrrrr
So, at the end of the day this was how our day went....at 10am we had two fish and by noon we had our 90. :)
It was a good day, and the weather was perfect. The Brenton brothers had a great time and have already rebooked for the same 4 days next year. And, as you guessed it...that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I'm fishing with a couple of my regular customers, Steve and Jeremy Chapman. We will be perch'n again...so, that means I'll be up early and waiting in a line for shiners at the bait shop again.
I do know that the "Fisherman's Wharf" over on Madison Street in Port Clinton will be getting Emeralds in tomorrow morning (Friday), but they didn't know what time they were being delivered, so they will have them tomorrow, sometime, and for the weekend, if you need some.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch'n Day Three with Bob and Bruce Brenton 9/23/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/23/20I'm going to keep this short, because I had a ton of things to do after fishing and I still have a lot more to do, but I wanted to update this blog with today's report.
We launched out of Catawba at 6:30 and stopped off at where we had fished the past two days, but we didn't stay long as we didn't get a bite in the first 10 minutes, and we should have, if they were there this morning.
We headed to the NW a few miles and set up on some marks, but we only picked away at 19 in an hour and a 1/2, so I wanted to check someplace else.
We headed NE about 9 miles and set up again on some good marks. This time we had an up and down bite for the first 12 perch and then....it slowed way down and we picked away at another 23 fish to put in the cooler. The size was just a tad smaller than the previous two days, but still decent size.
We moved again, this time to the east a 1/2 mile or so....and set up again. Only two perch there and we only had one hour to go, so I asked if they wanted to try another spot on the way back to Catawba and they said, "Yes". So, we moved to the area between Rattlesnake and Green Islands and set up one last time. They picked up their last 5 fish there for a two man limit.
They had a good time even though it was slower. These two brothers clearly enjoy each others company and are a lot of fun to fish with! I'm looking forward to their last day with me tomorrow morning. We will be trying another area tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n Day Two with Bob and Bruce 9/22/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/22/20Hit A&J Bait again this morning, but this time he was open and ready to serve minnows at 6am. :)
The ratio of Emeralds to Goldies there is still 3:1 and a good size on both species.
Since the bait shop was open on time, we were able to get on the water 20 minutes earlier than yesterday and it paid off. The bite, while the sky was getting lighter, was much better than when the sun got higher.
Yesterday, the better hours were between 8 and 10am, but it was better from 6:45 to 8:30 this morning. I also noticed that yesterday and early this morning, that while there was a surface current from the SSW to the NNE, there was an undercurrent running from the NE to the SW. Later on, it calmed down in that spot. I think that the current was helping us by keeping fish there. Once the current stopped, or moved away from us, the fish moved too.
We went through about 5 Gobies to one perch, but the perch were nice ones, so we stuck it out and finished with 89 of our 90 today. We would have had them all, but a few shook loose from the hook before they made it over the gunnel.
I think the Emeralds made a difference too. The catch rate slowed down after we ran out of them and had to use only Goldies. But, I think it was a combination of circumstances that led to a slow bite and not just because we only had Goldies. We still caught with them, and they were nice fish, but the Emeralds definitely did a quicker job of it, as the perch would usually slam them pretty hard compared to the Goldies.
Anyway....
With the Ulterra's Spot-Lock feature, we were able to set up and sit in the exact same spot we were in yesterday, but I don't think we will be there tomorrow. We might start there, but I have a feeling those fish have moved out with the current and we'll have to go looking for them again. I don't want to leave it, as it's a great little rock pile. I put a waypoint there though, so I'll be able to find it again in the future, if I need it. :)
Bob and Bruce are great fun to fish with, and they are happy with their two days of perch fishing so far. We still have two more days to go... I just hope the next two days are as productive. At least they know how to perch fish, and are very good at it, so that makes me happy! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Bob and Bruce Brenton 9/21/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/21/20Headed over to AnJ's Bait this morning to pick up some minnows at 5:45, because they open at 6am and I wanted to be in line before it got too long. He arrived at the store to open it a few minutes before 6, but then spent the next 17 minutes counting out his drawer and bringing buckets of minnows over from the next building. So, if you go there first thing in the morning, expect to be waiting....sigh.
They did however have a decent Emerald/Goldie mix at a 3:1 ratio, so it was worth the wait. :)
We launched out of Catawba at 7am and went a whole whopping 3/4 mile out and set up. There was only one other boat out there at that time, but there would soon be close to 50 boats over there by 9am.
Bruce used a spreader and Bob and I used my homemade crappie rigs (two hook rigs) with Emeralds. I told them to save the Goldies until we ran out of Emeralds first. We fished them on the bottom, and my bottom hook caught all but two or three of the fish I caught, while Bob's higher hook caught most of his. The spreader (without any bling) was working just as well for Bruce too.
We caught our 90 in 4 hours with hours 2 and 3 being the most productive. We also caught some Gobies, Sheep, and baby White Bass too. Only one White Perch was caught, which surprised me.
It was a fun morning, and I have them again for the next three days, so we'll be perch'n all week. Woot! Woot!
The weather for the rest of the week looks fantastic, and they are a lot of fun to fish with, so I'm looking forward to it! We'll start out where we left off tomorrow, and if that dies...we'll go looking for other spots.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Heather and her son, Garrett the "G-Man" 9/16/2020
by Capt Juls on 09/16/20Left the house at 5:45 and took the long way through town to go get gas and ice, before heading to Mazurik's to meet Heather and her son, Garrett at 6:45. Capt Kevin was ahead of me, so I asked him if he could launch me, since I wasn't sure if Heather would be comfortable backing the boat in and parking the trailer. He obliged and I waited at the courtesy dock for my crew who had just shown up.
We left the dock and headed out at 7am. I went back to the SE corner of Kelly's, where I was yesterday, and set up with the same program for the most part.
Bandits were set deep on one side and higher on the other side. 50/75 and 20/120 with 2oz on the port side and 20/45 and 30/30 with 2oz on the starboard side.
Dipsies were the usual 1 and 3 settings with the 1 setting at 54 and the 3 setting at 75 and 100 with Scorpion spoons.
Speed was 2.2-2.5mph
One of the Bandits lost its snap weight, so it was out there at 60 back, unassisted, and caught a nice one, so I tried it without a weight again, and it didn't do anything. The other Bandits that took fish were the 20/120 and the 50/75 sets.
The spoons had the most action, and if all the smaller fish we had to toss back would have been keepers we would have been done much earlier. But, the ratio was about 4:1, so it wasn't a spectacular catching day, but it was steady enough to keep everyone from getting too bored. lol
Heather, who is a nurse, has three older children who are in, or just starting, college and Garrett, the "G-Man" is 7 years old, so she's a stay at home Mom right now and loves to take him fishing anytime she can. Her husband doesn't really like to fish, so she takes the boat out by herself, and is teaching herself how to troll on Lake Erie. She hired me to help her learn how to use the Off Shore boards and dipsies. "G" loves to fish too, he said. He's a smart boy, and didn't whine once when the catching wasn't all that great, and kept himself busy by using my boat towels to build a fort, or keep track of how many fish were in the cooler. :)
Heather did a great job with everything, and I have no doubt she will be able to take the knowledge she gained today and run boards on her boat with much more confidence. At one point, "G-Man" said, "You should do this every day and teach people how to do this, this is fun!" Mom and I just looked at each other and laughed. I smiled quietly inside, because when a 7 year old boy notices your efforts you kind of feel validated. Ha!
I'm off tomorrow, and it looks like Friday is going to be another blow day, and my Saturday customer agrees with me...and, would like better conditions than a NE wind to take his daughter out on the lake, and Sunday is a scheduled day off (but it looks like a blow day right now anyway). I will be back out Monday for a 4 day perch trip with two of my annual customers looking for the elusive green and gold.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
