Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Maynard and Jody Derby 6/27/19
by Capt Juls on 06/27/19This morning, I took my coffee out on the back deck to check the weather. I was greeted by some lightning. A few seconds later deep rumbles of thunder growled across the sky out over the lake. "Ugh", I thought and grabbed my phone out of my robe's pocket to check the radar. I was hoping it wasn't going to ruin the plans for the morning.
It looked like it was going to be okay by the time we launched, so when I picked up Maynard and Jody at their hotel, I told them we were going to go to Big Bopper's for breakfast...to waste a little time before launching...I explained it was better to give this storm a little time, so we could see what path it was going to take before heading out.
After Maynard and I both agreed it looked like the storm was staying north of us, and there wasn't anything else showing on the radar, we decided to launch and head out. The lake was flat with just a little ripple on the surface. It was a beautiful morning, other than a dark gray sky with lightning flashes from time to time to the north, so I got the Ranger up on plane and headed east to the Cedar Point/Huron area. I wanted to stay as south of that storm as I possibly could.
When I turned my head and checked over my shoulder, I found the sky to the WSW was now dark too. I stopped the Ranger to look at the radar app again, and found there was a "pop-up" blob that blew up out of nowhere as it approached the lake. I said, "I think we need to go back to the dock and wait this out", and they agreed, so we went back.
We weren't back at the dock for more than three minutes when the wind kicked up and turned the lake to one full of white caps. It was gusting out of the WNW at a minimum of 20 mph...and, quite possibly more from time to time. It was not expected or forecast on any of the wind apps, so all we could do was guess that it was just the backside of the storm cloud and it would pass...and, it did.
We headed back out to the east side of Kelly's, and I set up on a contour line in 42 foot of water. As usual, the Ulterra and Baby E-TEC did their thing. The program was the same as the day before, so there's no need for me to type it all out again, and be repetitive.... Just check yesterday's blog here: www.julswalleyefishingadventures.com/Blog.html
We had our 18 walleye in short order and headed back in. We took the fish over to Bay's Edge to be cleaned, and headed back to their hotel. They would be staying in town until Sunday morning. I offered to keep their fish in my freezer, after cleaning and packaging them up, because they had no way to keep them in the hotel properly for that length of time, and I didn't want the fillets to go to waste. So, they will pick them up from my house on their way out of town, and enjoy a nice fresh fish fry when they get back to Minnesota.
Maynard and Jody enjoyed their adventure this morning, and talked about coming back, so that makes me happy! :)
I am not fishing tomorrow. I have some things that need to be taken care of, but will be back out on Saturday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jay, Megan, and Kosta 9/26/19
by Capt Juls on 06/27/19Picked my crew up from the "Our Guest Inn" at 4:45 and headed to Big Bopper's for some breakfast after stopping off at Rickard's for some ice and minnows. I like to take minnows along, so when we finish with our walleye in a quick fashion we can go look for some perch. Memories are made during these fishing trips, so why hurry it. Life goes by too fast as it is.
Anyway....
I decided to trailer the Ranger over to Huron to launch, because of the wind forecast, and that area would have the best conditions for fishing with a young couple and a 12 year old boy. I was kind of surprised to find that the parking lot had only one trailer in the parking lot when we arrived at 5:45am....I thought there would be a lot more people fishing out of there at this time.
We headed out of the river channel at 6:11am and headed NE to that hump that's less than a mile out, where the Helix showed some decent marks in the right place in the water column (mid column). I deployed the Ulterra and Baby E-Tec to do their jobs. I pointed the Ulterra towards Cranberry Creek and set a pace of 2.3-2.4 mph with the baby E.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 55 and 65 back...(blue/chrome, chrome Barbie, and Buck Fever) caught a few, but the majority of them were caught off Scorpion spoons behind dipsies, that were running on both sides of the boat. They were set on the 3 and 0 settings, to help keep the two lines separated from each other and minimize tangles. I will only run the closer settings with experienced dipsey anglers. It has been my experience, while wathcing people, that it can seem very tricky to the novice. The 3 setting was set at 49 on the port side and 65 on the starboard side. The 0 setting on the port side was set to 25... and, 35 on the other side.
The bite seemed a bit slow in that direction, compared to the marks I was seeing on the sonar, so I said, "Let's change the angle of the dangle", and started a turn, so we could troll from SE to NW. By the time we reached the Huron Dump we had our 24 walleye. Now, we could go perch'n.
Everyone knows I love a good perch session, but not having fished the Huron area since last fall, I wasn't optimistic that we would be finding any perch. Unfortunately, I was right. Megan was the only one to bring one up.
Jay Schlicher, his girlfriend, Megan, and her boy Kosta had a good time despite the less than stellar perch bite. Even when Kosta lost a Fish Ohio behind the boat, he kept a great attitude. His arm was burning, because it was coming in on the outside Off Shore board, and there was a lot of reeling to do. I was standing on the livewell in the back of the boat, waiting to net it, so I had a better view of the fish than anyone else. When he lost the fish, I turned and said, "Holy crap...That was a BIG FISH!" They asked if I had seen it, and I said, "Yes, I did. It was at least a Fish Ohio". They asked what that was, and I explained that it would be any walleye that was 28 inches or better. Kosta was a little miffed, but was still happy to have fought it. I told him, "It's good karma to let one go once in a while....keep telling yourself that", and winked at Megan. She laughed. :)
We went in with our 24 walleye and 1 perch. It always so much easier to go after perch when you have a full limit of walleye in the cooler. They were happy with their experience and their catch...and, that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have Maynard and Jody Derby of Minnesota for a walleye trip only.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Rich and Chris Jacklin 6/23-24/19
by Capt Juls on 06/25/19Yesterday, was the first day of a two day trip with Rick Jacklin and his son, Chris, from Wisconsin.
June 23rd, 2019
I picked my crew up from the Commodore Perry Inn, and headed to the gas station to fill up the Ranger...then, to Big Bopper's for some breakfast. After we ate, we headed back to Hi Way bait to pick up some minnows for perching, before hitting Mazurik's to launch. Three scoops, of a mix of Emeralds and Goldies, would be enough since the Emeralds were very large and could be cut in half.
We launched at 5:45 and headed northeast as the sun came up over the horizon. I wanted to fish the spot I ended up in the day before with Eric Vechera and his two boys... (didn't blog that one, due to chores that needed to be done)....the day before we had been in an area that was now invaded by a lot of boats, so we picked everything up and went looking.
My Helix showed some good marks, and there was no one around, so we set up in 44' of water with dipsies set on the 3 and 0 settings on each side of the boat. The 3 settings were 65 and 85 back and the 0 settings were 35 and 45 back.
We ran Bandits on one side of the boat behind Off Shore boards at the usual 42 and 51 back (blue/chrome and Buck Fever, of course), and #11 Flicker Minnow minnows at 55 and 75 back. Speed was 2.3-2.5mph.
Yesterday, the conditions were beautiful. There was a light east wind and the waves were 1 foot or less. We set out the Buck Fever Bandit at 42 back first, and while I was showing them again how to use the line counter reels and put the board on the next one, I looked up and saw that the first board was heavy with a fish and said, "We have one already...there's a fish on that one". Rich and Chris were excited to see the action happening so soon, and we put the first fish in the box.
We set up the same as the day before, but this time with one Bandit and one Flicker Minnow on the same side of the boat, because I was short one person in order to be able to run the extra two boards on the other side.
To make a long story shorter...we caught our 18 walleye within two hours and put everything away and got ready to go find some perch. We took a long ride over to D can where I was told there was a good perch bite going on for the past couple of days. However, when we got there, there was absolutely no one there. lol
I looked for some telltale signs of life below and marked a few, so we set up there, and gave it shot. We only caught 12 perch, along with as many sheepshead and white perch, so they guys enjoyed the relaxing time of listening to good music and reeling fish in.
Fast forward to today....June 24, 2019
The morning was much the same as the previous day, but we didn't have to stop for gas and minnows, because the guys just wanted to go for walleye this time. If we got done early, the plan was to head back to Wisco earlier. Well, with the wind forecast for the day, and the fact that I got the feeling Rich didn't care for big waves, I decided to try some areas closer to the mainland over to the east.
It wasn't rough inside, so we headed over to the Huron area. There was a lot of fish stacked up inside in 30' of water, but it was pretty muddy from the NE wind last night, so they were not biting like I've been used to. Finally, and dipsey rod bounces and Chris reels in a sheepshead...ugh. Then, a second fish hits...another sheepshead...sigh. I wondered and said out loud, "I wonder if all those marks are just sheep?" But, then a third one hit and it was a nice walleye, so that gave us a little more confidence.
I had been going from NW to SE and turned the boat to go the opposite direction, and the bite picked up. They weren't jumping in the boat, but it was a steady bite until we got to the last 5...then, it took some time. The wind had started to gust into the 20's and the boat was rolling while we rode in the trough, and maybe the dipsies were bouncing too much...I don't know. But, we eventually got our three person limit and headed back in.
Today's program was all over the place, and no real decisive numbers played out. We kept changing depths until something worked and then tried that again...but, we just had to keep changing things to get our fish today.
It was a good time, and the Jacklin's were a lot of fun to fish with. :)
Tomorrow's crew will be here for two days also, and I will inform them of our launch time when I get up tomorrow. The forecast keeps changing, so I'll take a look at it in the morning and let them know what's what at that time.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ryan, Diane, and Chris 6/19/19
by Capt Juls on 06/20/19Picked my crew up at their hotel at 4:45 and headed to Rickard's for some Emeralds to use for perch after we got our walleye this morning. Hit the gas station and then Mickey D's, because my crew was running behind this morning by 15 minutes, and a stop to Big B's would have made us late for a perfect sunrise on the water.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30 and a short time later we were back to the spot I was yesterday morning, and taking pictures of a beautiful sunrise.
Ryan's mom Diane has never caught a walleye before, so this trip was for her. Ryan and Chris do a lot of saltwater fishing, so running dipsies and Off Shore boards were new to all of them, and a little training was in order.
We set up the Off Shores with both Bandits and Flicker Minnows behind them....bet you can't guess which colors...hehehe. Yeah...Blue/Chrome and Buck Fever Bandits and the Huff Daddy and Purple Flash Flicker Minnows.
The Bandits were 42 and 51 back and the Flicker Minnows were 55 and 75 back.
Speed was 2.3-2.5mph today.
The dipsies were set on the zero and three settings on both sides of the boat and we narrowed it down that the best bite was at 35 on the zero setting and 65 on the three setting. Silver spoons with either blue, green, or purple on them worked best this morning.
It was not as fast as it was yesterday, even though I was marking the same amount of fish down below. I began to get a bit nervous when we were able to get all the baits in the water before one went off, but all in all...the pace was pretty good for this crew. It took us a couple hours to get our 24 walleye, as compared to 18 yesterday in just under an hour.
Diane picked up on the training much easier than the guys, but by the time it was time to pull the walleye gear...they too were just getting the hang of it. heheh
They all had fun catching nice eater walleye, and it was time to go find some perch.
The perch were a little more difficult to find, and after two stops I said, "Let's go to the South Passage where I was my last time perch'n...there's a good chance there are some down there." So, we moved and set up on the exact spot I was on last Wednesday. Chris had the first fish on and it turned out to be a nice perch...I internally breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't a sheepshead or a white perch. I kept my fingers crossed that this spot would pan out.
With the time we had left though, we only caught 12 nice chunky perch. The bite was picking up and I asked, "Your 6 hours is almost up, would you like to add another hour and stay out longer?" But, they needed to get back to Columbus and were more than happy with their catch today, so we headed in with our 12 perch and 24 walleye.
It was a beautiful day again today...even nicer than yesterday. The bugs are still on their way up, but this morning the Helix was showing the bottom was clearing of them, and moving up the water column. Soon, they will be flying and covering every light post in town. I noticed on my way into town this morning that all the streetlights have been turned off downtown. This will prevent mounds of dying Mayflies from covering the sidewalks and walls of businesses....a very smart move indeed.
Tomorrow's trip has been canceled. They were driving in from Iowa and wanted me to make that call yesterday afternoon. I told him that it changes daily, but that if I had to make a call on what the forecast was at that moment....it would be a no go. He thanked me, and said he would be fishing with me again another time.
We're supposed to get hit with another 1-2" of rain tonight through tomorrow, so I have to go outside and cut my grass, or what grass I can now, before that happens.....deep sigh.
My next trip will be Friday with Tony Lubarsky and his crew.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike and Vicky Phillips 6/18/19
by Capt Juls on 06/18/19This morning, I had the winners of a donated trip. They won it at the South Shore Marine Seminar Event, that was held this past March.
Mike and Vicky met me right on time at Mazurik's at 5:30, and we headed out.
It was a near perfect morning. There was only a whisper of wind out of the NE and the air temp was 64 degrees. The sky was clear to partly cloudy, and just starting to lighten up enough, so that I didn't need to put the navigation lights on.
I say, "It was near perfect", since the lake still had a small NE roller situation going on, and I couldn't open up the 300G2 for a fast ride.
We headed east from Mazurik's and set up when the Humminbird started to show some consistent marks in the middle of the water column. These are the fish that are most active and ready to chomp on something passing by them, so I try to find those kinds of marks before setting up on them.
The Ranger came to a glide across the water and slowed to a stop. The Ulterra was deployed through the Helix. (Once I figured out that I could easily deploy it through my Humminbird, without having to go through a bunch of menus...I've been stowing and deploying it from the H'Bird instead of the remote....that's so much faster and easier than having to look for the remote, grab the remote, and go through the menu to hit the buttons. It also impresses my customers...heheh).
Then, the baby E-TEC was lowered down and powered up.
I set the course for the Ulterra to move us to, and rpm level of the baby E to push us there, at a speed of 2.2-2.4mph. Both Mike and Vicky have run dipsies before, and Mike has run inline planer boards before...just not Off Shore boards or how I have my releases set up on them, which is the Snapper in the front and the )R-16 in the back.
The Scorpion spoons in blue/silver w/silver backs were outfishing the others by 2:1, I think...or, close to it. The dipsies were set on the 0 and 3 settings on both sides of the boat. The 3 settings were 55/65 and the 0 settings were both at 35. The 0 setting rods were outfishing the 3 settings too, but both kept up with the action.
We had our 18 fish within the first hour. After we cleaned everything up...We just felt like floating around for a while to enjoy the nice lake conditions. and morning. We chatted for about 15-20 minutes, and then headed in. I was glad that I didn't stop at Big Bopper's on the way to the launch, because I was then able to hit Big B's on the way home. For years, I have seen "Chipped Beef on toast with Eggs" on their specials board, and I have never even tried it, so I tried it this morning...it's good...very good. I think next time though, I'll get the Chipped Beef over the scrambled eggs... and, get the toast on the side. I was craving some jelly this morning, and that bit of sweetness would have bode well with it.
Anyway...I digress...I have a trip tomorrow with Ryan Goodwin and his Mom, and lucky us...the weather forecast should be very similar to today's, so I am expecting another fun day. We will be looking for some perch after catching our walleye in the morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Craig and Teddy 6/12/19
by Capt Juls on 06/12/19Today was the second day of a 3-day trip. Yesterday, when I dropped them off, I asked, "Can I pick you up at 4:30 tomorrow? I know you're from different time zones, so if that's too early..." Teddy immediately said, "No, no...that's fine".
I arrived to their hotel in the usual fashion...15 minutes early. I wasn't there a minute, and Teddy came out and saw me...laughed, and said, "We thought you might be early...we'll be right out". They loaded in the truck and we headed to Big Bopper's for an early breakfast.
We hit Hi Way bait for some emeralds and ice, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch. We were in the water by 5:45 and headed to the east side of Kelly's for a look at new water. I've been fishing in the same area for two weeks now, so I wanted to try a new spot.
The Cedar Point Dump isn't on my LakeMaster Map, so I had to look at my Navionics app on my phone to get the coordinates...then, find it on my Helix.
Once we were in the area, we started to mark some fish...not a lot...but, some.
With the ESE wind this morning, the waves were just starting to build as we were headed out. Once I found the area I wanted to fish, I had to take into account the wave direction, so I could set my course to hit some humps, that usually hold fish, without getting off course. We were successful, and the fish were there. We had our three man limit in an hour and 45 minutes. Not as fast as it has been, but the bite was nicely spaced apart, which made it more fun, in my opinion.
It's the same program that I was using on the north side of Kelly's the past two weeks. Spoons behind dipsies with the 3 setting at 49 and 57 and the 1 setting at 33 and 41. The dipsey with the 1 setting that was at 33 was eventually put to 41...then, picked up its pace in catching fish. Silver spoons with blue on them worked best for us this morning. The Blueberry Muffin Yeck Spoon caught some, but not like it did the other day.
After we had our limits, we put the walleye gear away and headed over to the west side of Kelly's to start our search for some perch. We hit 3 or 4 spots, and only stayed on a spot for 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour before moving. If we were only catching sheepshead, then we moved. It was in our last spot today, about a mile to a mile and a half NW out of Mazurik's that the Helix once again showed some hopeful sign of perch on the bottom, so I deployed the Ulterra and hit the Spot-Lock. It was a good spot...we did well. The perch were much bigger today than yesterday too. Yesterday, we caught 30 perch....today we caught 50. There were probably 3-4 sheepshead caught for every one perch too. lol
We fished longer today, because the last time I saw the forecast for tomorrow (prior to having seen it when I got home this afternoon)..was for nasty weather/wind. The forecast looks fishable tomorrow, but my crew is tired and have long drives ahead of them. Craig is driving back to Sioux Falls, and Teddy is headed back to northern Wisconsin.
They booked three days, in the hopes of getting at least two in, and we did that, so they have decided to head home early. They thanked me for a great time, and said I did a great job. Teddy said, "I think I may just give up my annual trip to "Lake of the Woods" and just come fish with you every year"... That makes me happy! :)
So, that means, I have an unexpected day off tomorrow. The boat is clean and the grass is cut...I have no monkies on my back right now. Life is good. :)
I'm looking at Friday's winds and it doesn't look good for my next trip. I have a Father and Son crew, who I have fished with the past two years, and the Father is 80 years old. A chop is fine, but "rough" isn't. It will probably be a reschedule. I'm waiting until the deadline to let them know, so they can reschedule their hotel accommodations.
Saturday, is iffy too...watching that right now...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Craig and Teddy 6/11/19
by Capt Juls on 06/11/19No blog the last three days, because of reschedules...so, I got some much needed sleep and yard work done over the weekend.
This morning, I picked up Craig, who hails from Sioux Falls, SD, and his bro-in-law, Teddy, who hails from Eagle River, WI at their hotel around 4:45.
They are scheduled for a three-day trip, but it looks like Thursday is going to be a blow day again, so more than likely it will just be today and tomorrow.
We hit Hi-Way Bait on the way to Big Bopper's, because I needed some more Yeck spoons, and they are the only ones that have them right now. After breakfast, we headed to Mazurik's and launched at 6:30. I bet you can guess where I went, eh? That's right...straight north again, where I have been fishing the past two weeks.
It was the same program as the last two weeks too, and all you have to do is bring up the previous blog to find the details of the program....easy-peasy. :)
We caught our 18 walleye, but it took just a little longer this morning than it did last week. The water is a little stained, but not bad. The water temp has dropped one degree from last Friday too...it was 65 degrees today. The lake is muddy inside, near the mainland, but it's cleaning up.
After we got our walleye, we went to look for some perch. We found some in the first spot we went to....east of the monument...and picked away at 30 perch. I was happy to see there were some smaller perch being caught in the bunch, and thrown back too. It's always good to see there is a future batch to be caught....if the walleye don't eat them all first.
One of the walleye in the cooler puked up a smallish perch which was probably a 4-5" fish at one time. It was a little decomposed, so I'm just guessing here.
Tomorrow's forecast is looking good, and we will probably do an 8 hour day, because I'm pretty sure Thursday is going to blow. Since they drove so far to fish here, we'll put more time in tomorrow, in case they can't get out on Thursday.
Craig and "T-Bear" had a good time today, and are looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. Neither of them has run dipsies or Off Shore boards before, and were quick learners....they did a great job handling it all. Tomorrow will be much easier for me too, since they know how to do it all now. ;)
Gotta go cut the grass around the puddles.... again...sigh
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Nick, Ethan, and Curt 6/7/19
by Capt Juls on 06/07/19Today, was the day I was supposed to go find "less fast fish", so my crew from Sandusky could learn the dipsies and Off Boards a little more in depth. Well, that didn't quite happen.
I met my crew at Big B's, and while waiting on our breakfast to come out, I asked Nick, "So, how fast do you want them this morning?" He and his brother, Ethan, laughed, and said, "Fast would be good". I told them, "If it's like yesterday, they will come every 3 minutes, and it's going to be controlled chaos". I wasn't sure how much they would learn working that fast, but I said, "Okay, we'll launch out of Catawba, since the wind is supposed to pick up out of the east... we can run up to the middle passage and cut over to where I have been fishing. Then, when we have all our walleye, we can run back over to the west side of the islands and find some perch. That way, if it gets rough, we can run the trough back to the ramp."
They all liked that plan, so we launched the Ranger and off we went. The lake was pretty flat, and only had a baby walleye chop on the surface, so I hit the throttle and kept her at a nice cruising speed until we reached our destination on the east side of the islands.
Before the chaos could begin, I explained that everyone needs to be aware of what's going on around them, and that the most important person in the boat at any moment is the one with a fish on, and to do whatever is needed to make sure that fish makes it in the boat. Whether that be moving out of the way, getting the net, taking a board off, getting hooks out of the net, everyone is doing everything in my boat, and we can be like a well oiled machine or a total wreck...it's up to them. :)
We set lines at 6:43 and proceeded to pull in fish before the third rod was in the water...it didn't stop! At 7:32 we had 24 walleye in the cooler, and a boat full of very satisfied anglers. ;)
It was the same program as the last week...
Big dipsies at 49 and 57 on the 3 setting and 33 and 41 on the 1 setting...with spoons. Bandits (blue/chrome and buck fever) at 42 and 51 back and the #11 Flicker Minnows (purple flash and huff daddy) were set at 55 and 65 back behind the Off Shores. Speed was again...2.3-2.4mph
Water temp today was 66.5 degrees.
Nick, Ethan, and Curt did a great job of learning the dipsey and board programs and were setting lines as fast as they could. Several times, we netted two fish at a time. But, even with all that distraction, the guys focused and we had very few missteps in our "boat waltz".
After we put the walleye gear away, we left the area and went back to where I had been the previous three days, looking for more perch, but I didn't feel good about it, since yesterday's catch there was pretty poor compared to the two days prior. So, we hit several more spots with little success other than some sheepshead, white perch, and a couple of catfish. They did end up catching 6 or 7 perch out in front of Catawba, so at least they have enough for a couple of perch sammies.
They said they had a good time and Nick is planning another trip out with me in the fall with is Dad, who couldn't make it out with us today. I'll be looking forward to that. I told him they should register for the Fall Walleye Brawl, because you just never know what Lake Erie is going to give you. She may just give you a prize walleye worth a new boat and motor, when you least expect it.
We shall see...
I have rescheduled tomorrow to next weekend, because of the forecast for gusty east winds.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mik, Tianna, and Freeman 6/6/19
by Capt Juls on 06/06/19This morning, I was meeting one of my regular customers who fishes with me 2-3 times a season. His usual crew couldn't make it this time, so he brought his granddaughter, Tianna, and his friend, Freeman along with him.
We were to meet at Big Bopper's, since they were driving in from Indiana, and not staying here in town. I had to stop at Rickard's for some ice and shiners before heading over there. I wanted to pick up some Yeck Spoons, because the one I had was getting all beat up from catching so many fish, but they didn't have any, so I made a quick stop at Hi Way Bait on the way to Big B's, and he had a box full of them ready to put on the display pegs. I rummaged through and picked out 3 Blueberry Muffin looking ones that matched my beat up one. It has purple on onc side with light yellow spots and a chartreuse underside, for those of you unfamiliar with what BM looks like. ;)
After breakfast, they met me at Mazurik's and we were on the water by 6am again. And, again, we headed north to the same spot I had been fishing for a little over a week now. We caught our walleye, in what Mike had figured out to be, "One every 3 1/4 minutes". It's what I called, controlled chaos.
We ran the dipsies at the same program as the previous several days...
1 setting at 33 and 41 and the 3 setting at 49 and 55/57. Speed was 2.3-2.4mph.
Two Bandits (blue/chrome and Buck Fever) were set at 42 and 61 back behind the Off Shore boards on the starboard side and two #11 Flicker Minnows (huff daddy and purple flash) were run on the port side at 55 and 65 back.
Everything caught fish today.
Freemand and Tianna did a great job for having never fished with dipsies or boards before, and were quick learners.
After we put away all the walleye gear, it was time to head to yesterday's perch spot. Once we arrived, I slowed to a stop and deployed the Ulterra and hit the Spot-Lock button to hold us on that spot. It wasn't as fast as the past two days, and the marks were definitely thinner, but they were still biting enough to keep my crew happy and interested. Along with the perch, we caught some big sheepshead, white perch, walleye, and a catfish.
A fun time was had by all and that's all that matters. ;)
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for some east winds, so I think it's time to hit Catawba again and see if those fish are still there and willing to bite. If not, I'll run the trough up to the west side of the islands and look for some fish up in the triangle between the islands. I'm guessing there are some perch in that area too.
The crew is new, and want to learn in depth about how to run Off Shore boards and dipsies, so I don't want to finish with the walleye as fast as we did today. That was just nuts, and they wouldn't have time to process what they are learning. ;)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with John and Seth Feldhausen 6/5/19
by Capt Juls on 06/06/19Writing this one a day late....I'm going to make this short since it was my birthday yesterday and I didn't want to do anything after I got off the water, except get in my fuzzy robe and relax!
The morning started out crazy. We launched at 6am and caught 7 walleye out in front of the shipping dock west of the lighthouse before we had to go back in, due to a thunderstorm approaching the area.
We loaded out as the rain poured down, and headed back to Big Bopper's for some coffee and hot chocolate while we waited for the second storm behind it to pass too. Once it passed, we headed out again, since the radar showed nothing coming until the afternoon.
To the north we went again...same as the day before...same program and everything. See previous day's report for that info.
Then, we hit the same perch spot where we caught some the day before, which was up near Sugar Island, between Middle Bass and North Bass islands.
The highlight of the day was when I heard John say to Seth, "Whatch's got there? Another Sheepshead?" And, when I turned around, there was Seth with a big 14 1/4 inch perch hanging in front of him. "Holy Moly!", I said. "That's a huge perch! That's what we call a "Fish Ohio"", I said. "What's that?", Seth asked. So, I explained how Ohio gives out pins for trophy fish that measure a certain size, or bigger, if you fill out a form on the ODNR website and submit it. :)
It was a fun way to spend my birthday, but I was too tired to write yesterday, so I took the afternoon off as more thunderstorms rolled through.
Capt Juls
Fishing with John and Seth Feldhausen 6/4/19
by Capt Juls on 06/04/19Woke up at 2am with one of my cats purring on my chest....needless to say, it was enough to keep me up, so I got up, made some coffee, and set off to the back deck to check the weather for the day. I was greeted with a cool, calm, morning. I thought to myself, "It's going to be a great day".
I picked my guys up from the White Caps Motel at 4:50 and we headed off to Rickard's Bait to pick up some ice and some shiners. The shiners would be needed after we caught our limit of walleye, for a round of perch'n.
After we left the bait shop, we headed to the Big B's for some breakfast, and got to know each other a little bit. John and Seth are Grandfather and Grandson...who love to fish together, and they wanted to do a trip out here. I was looking forward to this trip for a long time. I was going to take my birthday off tomorrow, but when he reserved his days months ago, and wanted two days, I could hardly say, "No.". Besides, fishing on my birthday? I like that idea...how freak'n lucky am I? :)
When we got back in the truck to head to the launch, John asked Seth, "Get me that box out of my bag". Out came a bright yellow wrapped birthday present with a card. "Your birthday is tomorrow, right?", asked John. I nodded, still trying to believe that a customer... one I had never fished with before...would bring me a birthday gift! It made my morning, and I opened the card and gift with the enthusiasm of a kid.....well, a kid on his/her birthday. lol
John had brought me a beautiful metal art piece that was created on a round saw blade...it's very cool. It had a majestic Elk, mountains, and a pine tree on it. "Thank you, it's beautiful! I know just where I'm going to put it too", I said. And, with a happy heart, we headed on over to the launch.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 6am, and headed north to where I have been fishing the past several days. With the wind switch from the NNW to the SSW this morning, I stopped short of where I had been starting and set in with a SW to NE trolling pass. I deployed the Ulterra, set it to power level 5, and fired up the baby E-TEC to get my speed to 2.1-2.3mph to start. (I would adjust from there as the fish told me what they wanted, which was again closer to 2.3mph.)
It was pretty much the same program with dipsies and Off Shore boards, but besides just using spoons on the dipsies, I swapped out two spoons for the Ripplin Redfins. The "Huff Daddy" and "Firetiger" paint schemes were the ticket and caught several good eaters. The spoons were pretty much 50/50 against the RR's in the catch rate. The "Buck Fever" Bandit caught 2 eyes...one at 42 back and one at 51 back. The "Blue/Chrome" Bandit caught one walleye today at 61 back.
*Sorry...I never took notice of the water temperature, but I think it was around 64?
The first pass produced some fish, but a lot of fish were lost, due to the guys learning how to use dipsies and boards. Neither of which they have ever used before. On the second pass, I changed the direction of the trolling pass to a SE to NW this time. The fish seemed to be more active with that direction and the guys were getting the hang of it, so we were done with 18 before we finished that entire pass.
We put all the walleye stuff away and went to look for perch....after three spots, we found some bigger ones. But, they were also hanging out with big white perch and big sheepshead. It didn't matter though, because they were just happy to be fishing and catching. The species didn't really matter all that much, but it was always good when the target species was put in the cooler. John also caught a nice smallmouth out in a spot that I would never have guessed a smallmouth to be, so that was a nice surprise today too.
The 6 hours was almost up, and the sky was looking like there was heavy rain coming, so we packed it up with 24 perch and 18 walleye in the box. There were probably just as many sheepshead and white perch as there were perch too, so they had a good time today....mission accomplished. And, that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow's weather is a little snotty, but we'll figure out what to do in the morning. I'm never set on anything until I hit the launch and look at the lake. The conditions will determine where we fish tomorrow....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeff, Trevor, and Steve 6/2/19
by Capt Juls on 06/02/19Today I had a crew from the Columbus, OH area. One which I've had to reschedule two times already, due to weather. Jeff really wanted to get a trip in, so the plan last night was to do a later start, because the forecast was showing strong north winds until around 9am. But, when I got up this morning, it had changed, and the window for light winds was my normal starting time of 5:30 to 9am. They couldn't get here that early, because of the 2+ hour drive from Columbus.
Anyway, we met up at Big Bopper's at 7:50 and ate a quick breakfast and headed over to Mazurik's to launch. The lake wasn't white capping yet, but the wind app was showing 20mph out of the west at the Put-In-Bay location. The forecast was showing the winds were going to switch and come out of the north at 16 with gusts to 21. I was not looking forward to that, because I know how rough it was going to get.
We launched and headed out at 8:45. My plan was to get up to where I was yesterday before the winds switched, so that we could troll with the waves and have a following sea on the way back in. We made it about 1/2 way up when the wind switched on a dime, and a burst of colder air hit us in the face. My eyes started watering, and my hat blew off...lol Luckily, I hold it on my head by my ponytail, so I didn't lose it. :)
I was not comfortable with how fast it changed and the white caps that were building on the lake, so we turned the boat and made a trolling pass towards the southwest corner of Kelly's from the Ballast Island area. After one fish, I decided to head down to the lee side of Kelly's Island and set up there, since I knew there were a lot of fish in the south passage.
We caught 5 more fish there, before I looked at the wind app again and found it changed....again. This time, it was for the better and the wind was going to lay down, and already was. The white caps were gone, so I asked if the guys would indulge me and make that rough ride back up to the north again. I told them, "I don't like playing bumpber boats down here, and I know what kind of bite it is up there, if we can get there." They all agreed that if I felt it was doable, then we should go. So, we went. We secured everything down and made our way up the east side of the Bass Islands again.
It wasn't too bad, and we made slow steady progress and eventually got to our destination. It wasn't long after setting up (same program as the previous two trips) that we started catching, and again it took less time to catch the rest of our 4 person limit than it took to get up there. The action was fast and the guys had a lot of fun. Especially, Trevor.
Jeff, Trevor's Dad, told me that he was home from West Point, and had never caught a walleye, so it was the reason why it was so important for this day to happen. Trevor caught many walleye, and learned how to set Off Shore boards and dipsey divers, and did a great job with both. He's a very intelligent young man, and a quick learner, and made my job a whole lot easier today. :)
By the time we were headed in the winds had laid way back and the lake was down to 2' or less, instead of the 2-4's on the way up....and, that made me happy! Ha!
Tomorrow's crew is a husband and wife team, and once again the winds are forecast for gusty in the morning, and laying down in the afternoon, so as of right now....we will be looking at a 10:30 launch, unless it changes again by morning. I have already given them the heads up that I will be looking at the forecast in the early AM and if it changes overnight, that they should be ready for a much earlier start.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeff, Greg, and Ryan Whitherd 6/1/19
by Capt Juls on 06/01/19As I write this, a storm is brewing outside my window....again. The sky is darkening, and cracks of thunder can be heard rolling underneath the thick gray clouds to the west in a constant rumble. A lightning bolt flashes and I wonder who is still out on the lake at this moment. The treetops are bending....giving me that telltale sign that the lake can become dangerous in very short order. I hope everyone makes it off the lake safely this afternoon.
My morning started very early again, and I did my usual routine of coffee, deck time with the 5 animals that live here, and a shower before heading over to Big Bopper's for some breakfast. I was meeting my crew at Mazurik's, because they were in town camping overnight at East Harbor, and would make themselves breakfast in the camper.
After some chit chat with the other Capt's that frequent the Big B, I headed over to the launch to ready things before they showed up. They were right on time, and we were in the water by 5:30.
With today's gusty SW wind forecast, I decided to stick closer to the mainland and chase the golden critters that are hanging out in the South Passage right now.
We set up a mile off of Lakeside Pier and set a course to the SE corner of Kelly's Island.
The water temp was 62/63 degrees.
We set up with the same program I ran yesterday with my last crew, which was (2) Off Shore boards on each side of the boat running Bandits on one side at 61/65 back, and #11 Flicker Minnows on the other side at 55/75 back.
The Bandit colors were blue/chrome and Khaki to start, but eventually, old Mr. Buck Fever went back out to do his dirty deeds of hooking some fish.
The Flicker colors were the Purple Flash and Slick Sunset.
The dipsies were set at the same as yesterday to start too....3 setting at 49 and the 1 setting at 33. But, evenutally, we changed up one side and ran them at 3/55 and 1/41. The bite was best for us when the speed was at 2.3 mph.
Once we got near the SE corner of Kelly's, I looked at the wind forecast again and it was showing higher gusts coming, so I thought it would be a better idea to go back down inside and run the line closer to shore, like I did last this past Tuesday.
We set up just east of the Ferry dock on Marblehead and headed to the lighthouse.
There were tons of marks there, but they are not all walleye. We caught some Sheepshead and some white bass there too. At this time we had 9 walleye in the cooler.
After checking the wind forecast one last time, I said to Jeff, "They changed the wind forecast again, want to go for a ride with me?" I wanted to go to the north side of Kelly's to check it out and find some better fish. They were agreeable, so we brought everything in and put it away to make the slow ride up. I went around the east side of the island, because we would be on the lee side and could go a little faster than if I went around the west side. Sure, it may add miles, but sometimes the shortest distance between two points isn't always the smartest choice. ;)
We eventually made it back to where I fished yesterday, and I was glad that my trolling newbies had the morning to learn how to use the boards and dipsies, because it was non stop walleye action! It took longer to get to the spot than it did to put another 15 fish in the box.
The wind forecast was actually correct this time, and the winds that were forecast to diminish were indeed diminishing. That area of the lake went from solid 2-4's to 1-3's on the way back in, so it was a nice ride back. We just took our time and savored the sunshine Mother Nature was bestowing upon us, and enjoyed the ride and scenic views of the islands around us.
They all said they had a great time...and that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow will be a 9am launch out of Mazurik's as a NW wind will blow in the morning and settle down enough by then (fingers crossed) that we can get out.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike, Paul, and Fred 5/31/19
by Capt Juls on 05/31/19My alarm woke me out of a deep sleep at 2:45, and I wanted to smash it, but instead, I slid out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. It was hot and delicious, so I took it out on the back deck to check the weather this morning.
Much to my sleepy delight, it was warm and calm, which meant it was going to be a great day on the water! I smiled, took a deep breath, and happily sipped on my coffee while Dexter walked the fenceline looking for varmints to chase away.
Today, I would be fishing with Mike, Paul, and Fred. I arrived at the White Caps Motel at 4:20, and to my surprise, they were right on time for the 4:30 pick up. They followed me in their vehicles, so as not to take up parking at the motel for when the new guests arrived, which I thought was pretty thoughtful of them, and we headed to Big Bopper's for some breakfast.
After breakfast, we headed over to Mazurik's to launch. We were in the water and headed north by 5:40am. After the Helix marked some fish on the sonar, we stopped to set up. I deployed the Ulterra and put the baby ETEC down, and fired it up. The Ulterra's power level was set to 5 and the baby ETEC's throttle was adjusted until the speed was a steady 2.3-2.4mph.
The dipsies were set out the same distance as yesterday, to start....49 on the 3 setting and 33 on the 1 setting. Eventually, we would keep one side at those numbers and the other side was slid down to 57 and 41.
An hour into the morning, and when I felt confident that my crew could handle it, we set two Off Shore boards out on each side to give us 8 lines in the water. Bandits ran on the starboard side at 61 and 65 back (blue/chrome and Buck Fever) and number 11 Flicker Minnows ran on the port side at 55 and 75 back (Purple Flash and Slick Sunset). They all caught fish this morning. At one point, I changed out the Buck Fever to the Antifreeze, simply to see if it would catch a fish. That color is hot on some days and not on others....but, in the little amount of time out there...it did catch a fish. :)
At one point, it seemed like the bite died, but that's only because we had fish hanging on every dipsey, and didn't realize it. Once they give that one good headshake, and you miss it by being preoccupied with something else...it's like they give up and just get pulled along...so the rod tip doesn't move. Lesson learned...when it's a good bite...check the dipsies more often! Once we cleared them...it was game on again. Ha!
We had several instances where we were pulling in more than one fish at a time, and thankfully these guys know how to dance, because it can sometimes feel like a waltz when 4 adult bodies are moving around to position themselves with rods and nets, and one false move could have rendered my bare feet a painful outcome. lol
We released some good eaters back to the lake to get bigger for the next time someone catches them, and filled the cooler with a few better ones. Paul was happy to have landed a nice 27 1/2 incher off a blue/chrome Bandit, and put that one in the cooler too. The overall grade was very nice, and the guys went back to Michigan with smiles on their faces. They definitely had a good time....and, that makes me happy.
Tomorrow, I have a group of 3 that I will meet over at Mazurik's, because they will be camping at East Harbor tonight. The forecast looks pretty good wind-wise, but there may be a scattered thunderstorm to look out for sometime tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Doug and Nathan Jackson 5/29/19
by Capt Juls on 05/29/19Today was the first of a two-day trip for the father and son team of Doug and Nathan Jackson. The weather forecast was iffy with the chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, with an east wind to start and then switching from the North.
I picked them up at their hotel at 4:45 this AM and headed to Big Bopper's for breakfast before heading over to Catawba to launch by 6:00. The pier at Catawba is completely underwater at this time. The pierheads were not underwater when we left this morning, but when the wind shifted and came out of the north around 10am, they flooded and there was about "top of the ankle" deep water for about 15 feet.
We hit the Clinton Reef area early and put 6 eaters in the boat in short order. This was the first time for either of them using the Off Shore planer boards, so it was an instructional trip too. They were eager to learn, so after a quick tutorial on the first rod, they got busy setting the next 5 lines out.
We ran Bandits at 40/50/60 back at 1.7-1.9mph. Blue/Chrome was the hottest with Buck Fever a close second. Sunspot, Antifreeze, and Chrome Barbie were the other colors out. Antifreeze and Sunspot took fish, but the Chrome Barbie, which is usually a fish producer was taken off for its inability to catch one, and replaced with another blue/chrome.
After turning around and going into the waves and not catching, I took that opportunity to suggest moving to another area, since the radar was showing no storms moving in on us anytime soon. They were game, so we pulled everything in and headed north towards G can. There were some boats in the area, but I didn't see what I wanted to see on the Helix, so we kept moving north up the can line to E Can. Yesterday, there were plenty of fish marks to make me set down there, but not today. Maybe they were still there, and moved a little, but I didn't want to waste any time and headed back down to the south.
We set up near Catawba...short of the starting point I had on Clinton Reef and set a course to intercept that previous line. The Helix was showing massive amounts of Mayflies coming up from the depths to spend their one glorious 24 hours of life on the topside. I kept my fingers crossed that they would still bite in those conditions.
They did....:)
Boom! Game on! The outside board on the port side started to slide back, but instead of me saying something, I wanted Doug to see it... and, tell me there was a fish on. Earlier in the morning, he kept asking, "How will I know when a fish is on?" So, when he turned around with that questioning look on his face after he noticed it, I smiled and shook my head...letting him know, "Yes, that's a fish". After that, he had no problem knowing when to grab the rod. :)
Nathan was a natural, even though he's never trolled before, and doesn't fish all that often. He picked it up quick, and in no time at all, he was setting those boards out like he's done it for a long time.
We picked up the rest of our 18 fish there in front of Catawba and headed in at 10:30. Both men were very pleased with the day's events and their cooler full of fish....and, that makes me happy!
I think tomorrow is going to be an easy day in the boat...as long as the storms stay off the lake. I think there's more scattered showers and thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow...more than today...so, we'll see. I don't think it will take very long to get our limit in the boat, and so as long as there's no lightning, we'll fish.
The water temp is up to 61.7 near Catawba.
Fingers crossed that Old Mother Nature wakes up in a good mood tomorrow...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Lickfelt Family 5/28/19
by Capt Juls on 05/28/19I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Weekend and took a moment to remember our service men and woman who have sacrificed some or all for the freedom to live our lives with the freedom to choose our own paths. Thank you, to all of you who have, and have had, the courage to protect us from those who would harm us.
I had Sunday unexpectedly off, due to my customer canceling with a case of food poisoning, so there was no report...and, yesterday's crew didn't want to take any pictures, so I didn't write anything for yesterday either...just a blurb on my Facebook page.
However, today was a good day....so here goes...
My crew was meeting me at Mazurik's at 5:30/5:45, because they didn't want breakfast, and were driving in this morning. I stopped off at Speedway to get some ice for the coolers and then headed over to Big Bopper's for a pancake and some bacon before going over to meet them.
I got there first, so I took that opportunity to ready the boat and get the rods out of the rod locker. They showed up right on time and we were headed out of the ramp at 5:45. Brian, who is in his 40's, set the trip up so he could fish with his Dad Allen and his son, Jake. I asked, "How did you find me? Was it through Facebook or something?" Brian said, "No. I don't do Facebook. My dad has been a fan of your blog now for many years and told me about you, so we thought it would be fun to get out with you and learn something". I giggled and said, "Thank you! I'm glad you read it...it makes it worth the while to do it, knowing someone is actually reading them."
We headed west from Mazurik's to Scott Point Shoal. My plan was to run Bandits behind Off Shore Boards there. We set up with them running 35-55 back at 1.8mph, but we didn't even get a bump or anything in about a 1/2 mile. The wind was gusting out of the SW pretty good too, so I said, "Let's pull them in and head east over to the lighthouse. We'll set up a dipsey/spoon program and see what happens."
We stopped short of the shipping dock there, west of the lighthouse, and put the dipsies in the water. The 3 settings were at 49 and 57 and the 1 settings were at 33 and 37 (which puts them both at 15 and 17 foot respectively.)
I was going to have to go faster, so I used the baby E-TEC kicker motor, in conjunction with the Ulterra on the bow, to keep my speed higher, but my power level on the Ulterra's battery usage lower. I put the power level at 5 and adjusted the throttle on the E-TEC until I could keep it regularly at 2.4-2.5mph.
We hadn't gone very far when the first two fish came in the boat. Michigan Stinger and Scorpion spoons were what we were running. I had a Ripplin Redfin out for a bit, but the spoons were more tantalizing, or so it seemed, so I took it off and put a spoon back on. We would run up to in front of Mazurik's and turn around and set up again 3 or 4 times before we were done with their 6 hours.
We went 21 for 30(ish) walleye and three Sheepshead. Two fought their way off the hooks and the others were too short to go in the box legally, so off they went to grow bigger for another day.
We caught some of the 2018 hatch and some of the 2019 hatch too. I'm guessing the 2018 hatchlings are the 5-9 inchers and the 2019 early hatchlings are the 3 inchers right now...but, it's only a guess on my part.
We had a fun morning, and Jake did a fine job of reeling in fish, taking the hooks out of them, and putting them in the cooler all by himself. It made me nervous when he was in the net with a fish and hooks, but his Dad said to let him do it, so I just prayed he wouldn't get a hook in his hands and kept my mouth shut. lol All was well...no injuries happened...whew!
Brian said he learned a lot, and so did Allen. I have every confidence they can take what they learned today and practice the same in their boat with the same success for the supper table....and, that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow's crew will be with me for the next two days. I hope we can dodge the scattered thunderstorms that are forecast, but if we can't, it won't be a long run back to Catawba to wait it out. I'll be running the Bandit program over there again, since we will have an east wind with the chance of storms moving in from the west for the next two days. On the bright side, the winds won't be that strong, so all is well. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tim McGlothlin 5/24/19
by Capt Juls on 05/24/19Left the house this morning at 4:30 as quietly as I could, as my house guest was still sleeping. I headed to the gas station in town to gas up the boat before going to pick Tim up at the place he's renting for the weekend.
Tim wanted this weekend, to learn the ins and outs of running and operating this Ranger fishing machine, before he takes ownership of her in the fall. I thought it was a good idea too. :)
He jumped in the truck, and we headed to Rickard's Bait to pick up some ice and some shiners, because we both hoping to run into some perch to fish today. We then headed to Big Bopper's for some grub before launching.
It was 6AM when we left the ramp at Mazurik's and headed west to set up on one of the closer shoals with Bandits behind Off Shore boards at a speed of 1.8mph. The Bandits were out 40/45/50/55 back in blue/chrome, Buck Fever, Khaki, and a chrome purple one, with a chartreuse head, that I have no clue what its name is.
We didn't stay there very long since the Helix wasn't marking much of anything to my liking, so we headed east from there. We set up at the shipping dock and trolled to the lighthouse in 28-30 foot of water with the same set up, and marked ungodly amounts of fish there, but nothing bit for us for one reason or another...that we never figured out, so we left and headed north.
The goal up north was to find some perch, so we headed to the last place I saw a huge school of them (last week....yeah, I know...but, I was hoping there was a chance they would still be around up there. If they were, we never found them). We did look in several different areas close by, but nothing on the sonar was tempting enough to waste our time on them, so we decided to go back to walleye fishing.
We both had our Canadian licenses, so over the line we went and set up on the west side of Pelee with the same Bandit program as before, but this time it was game on!
We had just gotten all the boards out when the first one went back...then, a second one went back and we had a double on.
Tim asked, "What do you want me to do here? "Just worry about the first fish, and we'll take them in order", I said.
Then, as Tim was reeling in the second fish, and I was trying to get the hooks out of the net, I saw the third board go back. "There's another one", I said, and Tim starting laughing, and said, "Well, would you look at that!" I think we would have had 4 on if the first fish hadn't caught the line of the inside board on its way in, and taking it out of the action. There were small pods of walleye roaming up there, so it took a little time to find them, lose them, and find them again. But, once we did find them it was always a quick bite...and, then....nothing for another 15-20 minutes.
It would take two hours to fill our two-person limit up there. But, the best part was, there were no other boats for miles. They all stopped at the line on the US side and packed around each other so bad that it looked like a boat city on the water....ugh.
The radio was alive with the chatter of Capt's politely asking other boats to pay attention to where they were going, and reminding them of the "Rules of the Road"....rules, that every boater should KNOW before operating a boat on a body of water. I was actually surprised at how civil everyone was being today. :)
Anyway, Tim did a great job trying to learn everything there is to learn, but being thrown into the fire with only 4 hours of sleep made it tougher. So, he's getting a good night's rest, and we will be back at it tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Eric, Joe, and Bill 5/22/19
by Capt Juls on 05/22/19Short and sweet tonight....had a late start this morning and launched out of Catawba at 10am....hit Clinton Reef with Bandits 35-50 back at 1.8 mph.
Fished in on and off showers, but the fish were biting. We limited out and had a great time!
Sorry it's so short, but I still have a house guest and it's rude to ignore your guests. ;)
Tomorrow will be a later launch too, due to a thunderstorm that will go through in the morning and should be outta here by 8-8:30AM.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike, Huey, and Josh 5/21/19
by Capt Juls on 05/21/19I have a house guest this week, so I'm totally out of my routine. He's sleeping on my pullout couch, so I don't have access to my computer, kitchen, and lights on this end of the house in the mornings, because I do not want to wake him.
Scotty is from Ohio, but a promotion and transfer took him to Red Wing, MN. He resides on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi there. He and I used to fish a lot together...my ex had taken him under his wing years ago, like he did me, and helped him understand this lake a little better too. Anyway, he's here fishing for the week, but he's not on my schedule, and is on vacation, so I want him to get some much needed rest if he needs it.
So, now, I sit on the back deck with my phone and a cup of coffee, before I get dressed and head out. I left the house at 4:30, and he was still sleeping, so I figured he needs it.
After hitting the gas station to fill up the Ranger and get some ice, I headed to Big Bopper's to meet up with Mike, Huey, and Josh for some breakfast. As usual, Cindy Michaels, one of Bopper's best servers, was working bright and early, and greeted me with that big smile she shares with everyone that comes in, and instantly brightened my morning.
Mike and the gang showed up at 5am. We left there a little after 5:30 and headed to Mazurik's to launch. We headed out of the ramp area a little before 7am and went north to the line. I knew those fish were still there, and the lake conditions were not bad this morning, so it was an easy ride up there. There was a light NE wind, sending in a few rollers, but they weren't bad at all.
The water temperature was 55.2 up there this morning.
I wanted to try some different dipsey rods this morning, since I had heard so many reports that the spoon program on Tru-Trip Jets was working well now. I figured that the dipsies might do well too.
A Facebook friend had dropped off two Shakespeare Alpha 7'6" rods to try out, and I switched out the other two rods to my 7' Med Ugly Sticks that I use for my board rods. Both worked better than I expected, so I suspect I'll just keep using these. The tips are very easy to read when a fish is on now....woot! woot!
We ran a Ripplin Redfin on the 3 setting/47 back on the port side, and a Yeck Spoon on the 1 setting/28 back/port side. On the Starboard side, we ran a Rippling Redfin on the 1 setting/30 back, and a Scorpion Spoon on the 3 setting/50 back.
Speed was 2.1-2.3mph.
We caught 7 walleye on an East to West troll, that was maybe a 1/2 mile long...and, then, we turned to go back the other way.....we didn't catch any going West to East. We made another turn to go back East to West and picked up 2 more walleye. The Humminbird showed that the fish were pushing further down in the water column, so I thought maybe it was time to go find some other more active fish. At least we had an early flurry to get the juices flowing. :)
We left the line NE of Lucy's and headed east towards Kelly's. My plan was to go down the east side of Kelly's until we marked some fish, and set up again. The Helix wasn't marking much until we got down towards the Cedar Point Dumping Grounds, but they weren't the marks I was searching for, so we moved west a bit and got on the west side of the ferry line and set up again.
This time we ran two Off Shore boards off each side with Blue/Chrome (2), Huff Daddy, and Chrome Barbie Bandits from 45-65 back and the 4 dipsies set up like the previous spot.
The Bandit took the first and second fish, so I swapped out the 4 dipsies for 4 more Off Shore boards and Bandits. We would fill out their 3 man limit in the time allotted us, and that made them happy.
We never stayed on any one line, due to the boat traffic in the area, so it's easy to say that there are fish all over the place between the mainland and the islands right now. The South Passage is definitely a busy highway with bustling walleye.
Mike, Huey, and Josh had a good time, and will be back in June for another round of fun and adventure, and that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for gusty east winds in the morning, so as of right now, I am planning a late morning launch unless that forecast changes by morning, and we can plan on an earlier launch.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dan and Carol Emmer 5/16-17/19
by Capt Juls on 05/17/19This morning was a startling start to the day when my 16 year old Lab pawed at my bedside, so I would get up and feed her. It wasn't long until I realized that I had obviously overslept and she was hungry! But, that also meant I was running late. Looking at the time, I panicked, because it was 4:36, and that's the time I usually leave the house...not get up.
I texted Dan, to let them know that I was running late and to meet me at Big Bopper's at 6am instead of 5am, like we had the day before, and scrambled to get out the door.
I couldn't be too upset though, because it meant I slept well for 8 hours last night....and, I needed it!
I was running on empty yesterday...with only 4 hours of sleep, due to too many people waking me up at late hours with texts and phone calls. Note to self: "Buy an alarm clock, so you don't have to use the one on your phone".
Anyway, we ate, I left to hit the bait shop, and met them down at Catawba State Park at 6:30. We were launched and headed out at 6:40. The conditions were a bit unexpected, but pleasantly accepted by all. We were expecting some winds, but the lake only had a 6" chop...if that. I decided to take advantage of the calmness and head to the North side of North Bass and make that pass along the line, headed east again.
I had picked up crawlers to use this morning, so we swapped out all the Bandits for my best producing color combo's and sacrificed some earthly creatures to the depths of Lake Erie in hopes of finding some walleye gold. I had been hearing of good reports of crawler harnesses and bottom bouncers working, but I really hated to have to pull them out. I hate running that slow, and my patience runs thin when my crawlers are not getting bit. As was the case this morning...lol
After about 45 minutes to maybe an hour, without a bite, I gave it up and we put the Bandits back on. We set them out at 50/60/70 on one side and 55/65/71 on the other. Blue Chrome, Nailed it, Barbie, Buck Fever were the colors running, and we picked up three walleye pretty quick at 1.7-1.8mph.
The water temp was 58.7 degrees where we were.
Ahead of us was another parking lot of boats trolling every which way, so instead of having to deal with that all day, we picked it up and headed back down to the cans. This time we set the Bandits out at 35/45/55 on one side and 50/60/70 on the other. We had two blue/chrome baits out...one on each side of the boat...and both of those went off pretty close together. I changed out 3 of the 4 other colors to blue/chromes, so we were running 5 blue/chromes and one odd color to experiment with.
After catching their limit today, we decided to have some more experimental fun and set out 4 dipsies with big spoons on them. We ran the 3 setting at 46 and 50 and the 1 settings at 31 and 36 at 2.2-2.3mph.
With only 1 hour to go, we ran the spoons for approximately 40 minutes, and then swapped them out to the Ripplin Redfins (shallow lipped crank bait)... IB Frozen, Chart/Purple Head, Fire Tiger, and Huff Daddy were used. We caught a fish on the Huff Daddy and the IB Frozen colors.
I found those fish hanging on the baits when we brought the lines in to leave, so I am not happy with the tips of the dipsies I am using, because they are not sensitive enough for us to see the hit, or the bounce of a fish on them. I think I'll try my Ugly Sticks or try to find something better. The rods I'm using just won't do.
Dan and Carol were a lot of fun to fish with, and being from Wisconsin, it was like fishing with old friends, and that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow, I am fishing with Matt Huelsman and his three boys, who are 10, 11, and 13, I think. I'm not quite sure what time we are launching though. I would like to launch early, but there may be some stormy weather in the AM, so I'll check the radar in the morning, and make a decision then. No need to soak the boys on a Saturday when we can just wait for it to pass. ;)
SATURDAY East winds 10 to 15 knots. A chance of showers early. Waves 1 to 3 feet.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
