Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Scott, Dominic, and Larry 3/30/18
by Capt Juls on 03/31/18Had a two boat deal with some South Dakotans with Capt Kevin. We picked them up at their place at 9:15, thinking we could launch at 10am.
The winds were still strong out of the north though, so when we got to Mazurik's it was a no go. I took my three guys to Big Bopper's to wait it out another hour, while Kevin and his crew stayed at the launch. There were several others waiting it out at the launch too.
We got back from Bopper's and ended up waiting another hour before launching the boats. I let the ETEC warm up before heading out, since the temps were still on the chilly side. There's plenty of clean water east of the Bass islands, and north of Kelly's, so that's where we looked first. We marked a few fish, but nothing like I wanted to see.
We set lines with Smithwick P-10's with 1oz snap weights run 30/30 and Bandits unassisted at 80 and 90 back. Both programs took some fish, but they were all just eaters...no pigs today.
At one point, my curiosity got the best of me, and we headed to the west of the islands, and found ourselves between the Rattles on Rattlesnake Island and North Bass. The water was a good mixing color, and there were good marks there too. We picked up two fish there to give us a total of 3 (we had lost two, so we were 3 for 5 at this point.)
Then, with time running out, we headed back to the southeast of South Bass Island and set lines again. There were some decent marks, and sometimes no marks. The funny thing is....the last four fish we caught there, there were no marks on the screen. So, I guess that's saying....if you don't see any marks, go on faith and don't get too discouraged. lol
We ended up with a total of 7 eaters, but my guys had a good time, and are looking forward to the next trip out on Sunday. It's going to be really really cold on Sunday, but the winds will be down, so that's a good thing. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Craig, Steve, and Todd 3/18/18
by Capt Juls on 03/18/18Craig, Steve, and Todd drove down from MI this morning, and met me at my house, so we could drive to the launch together. After a pit stop at the gas station to gas up the Ranger and get some ice for the cooler (my live well lever was frozen on Saturday and this morning, so I didn't want to force it. With the nice weather this afternoon, it's unstuck now, so all is well!)
We hit Mazurik's at 9am and, again, sat in the water for about 5 minutes to let the engine get up to temp, before heading west. My original plan was to launch out of Catawba, but with the SW wind this morning, and a report of icy ramps, I opted to launch out of M's.
We headed west, and ended up close to Round Reef, because that was the first area that I came to that wasn't muddy. I had thought the light winds overnight would have cleaned that whole area up more than it did, but that wasn't the case.
Anyway....when we arrived, I was on the southern end of the reef, in 19' of water. There were a lot of boats to the NE of me, so I deployed the Ulterra and set a course to the east at 1.0mph, but the surges would make it .9mph to 1.5mph.
The program was Smithwick Perfect 10's with 1oz snap weights at 30/30 (let 30' of line out, add the snap weight, and let another 30' of line out before attaching the Off Shore boards.) Bandits were running at 50, 55, 60, and 65 back unassisted (no snap weights) behind the Off Shores.
The hot colors for us today was definitely the IB Frozen Perfect 10, and a new "Custom Color of the Month" from Domka Outdoors that looks like a chrome perch. I don't know the name of this one yet, so I added a picture to the album.
Sour Grape and Darkwing Duck Bandits from Domka Outdoors were both good choices too.
We caught fish until the mud moved in on us, so we made a move to the north side of the reef, and made an easterly troll again. I wasn't marking as many fish on that side, so I turned the boat and made a heading towards D Can. Once we got closer to D Can we picked up our last three fish to finish out their limit.
It was a sunny day, but cold in the morning, with the wind, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon. My crew was a hoot to fish with, and we were tripping over each other when we had a quad on and trying to land them all at the same time. We only managed to get three of them in though, but that's okay...it was a great start to the morning! They did a fantastic job setting lines, and getting fish in the boat!
The fish were definitely biting better for us today, than they were yesterday. So, that was a relief.
The crew has reserved a date in late September to go perch'n with me, so that makes me happy. :)
I won't be fishing this week, and the regular schedule starts next Saturday, so I hope the weather forecast straightens out before next weekend. We are supposed to have some nasty winds all week again, so we'll have to see what happens.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim, Mike Sr., and Mike Jr 3/17/18
by Capt Juls on 03/17/18
Fishing with Jim, Mike Sr, and Mike Jr 3/17/18
First, let me apologize for no pictures....uffda! Still getting the winter cobwebs out of my brain. :(
My crew met me at my house at 8:30, and we drove over to Mazurik's, together, to launch by 9am. It was a frosty morning, with "dew ice" covering the Ranger and her ETECs, but there was no wind, so that was really really nice for a change.
As we readied the boat, Capt Chuck Oeder showed up in line behind us. He offered to "dump us", and park the truck. I took him up on that offer so we all loaded in the boat and launched. We sat out front until the motor temp reached 124 degrees, to help prevent any motor issues by running it at such a cold temp (It was only 25 degrees this morning).
The new 300 G2 purred as we rode across the glass-like lake, towards the north side of Kelly's. Once we traveled out of the muddy water, we found a ton of marks, and perfect mixing water, where I thought we should start.
We would spend the next 4 hours picking a fish here, picking a fish there, watching a board sink back only to come back up into marching formation again, or reeling it in and feeling the fish come off.
We had 12 hookups, brought 6 to the boat, but had to throw two of those back, because they were just hitting the 15" mark. We didn't want to take a chance of it shrinking before we got in. You just never know when the ODNR will be waiting at the launch to check your fish. The ones that did make it to the cooler were small fish...16-22 inches.
I kept hoping the sun would come out and make those deep fish more active, and bring them up higher in the water column, but it was taking its old sweet time.
We ran Perfect 10's with 1oz and 2oz snap weights, at 30/30, and Bandits with 2oz snap weights anywhere from 20/20 to 20/80. The Lemon Lime Crush/orange belly Perfect 10 was hot, as was the new IB Twisted from DJ's Custom Eye Lures.
Speed was anywhere from 1.0 to 1.7mph. We caught one when I had it up to 1.7mph, so I guess slow or fast...you can catch fish. ;)
We lost a lot of fish at 1.0mph, and the ones that were hooked were just barely hooked, so the fish were definitely not in an aggressive mood in that spot for slow baits.
After 4 hours we got word of another decent bite, in a spot that was not mine to give, so I'm biting my lip not to give out that information. I like to keep my friends so I won't divulge their info. That's up to them to give out. I hope you understand. We ran 12 miles and set down. I didn't mark one fish on the Helix, so I was disappointed in moving from those other fish. I know, I know...."You don't leave fish to find fish"....but, when my fish are not being aggressive, and you tell me you just landed a triple....I'm picking up and leaving those lazy souls down in the deeper depths.
Their main focus of this trip was to learn how to run the Off Shore inline boards.They did that, and they caught a few fish for a fish fry. All in all, it was a good day. It wasn't too cold, and it wasn't so freak'n windy for a change. The company was great, and we all appreciated being out on the water, on such a nice day. The music played, and we munched on brownies, beef jerky, and peanut butter cookies in between jumping for a rod. lol
It was a good learning trip, and they did a fantastic job of setting the lines and bringing them back in. I have no doubt in my mind, that they will be able to take what they learned today and apply it to their boat with successful results.
It was a fun trip, and I'm grateful for a good time on the water, even if the little beasties didn't want to play aggressively today. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, with full sunshine all day, and temps in the mid 50's.
I haven't decided if I'm going out of Catawba or Mazurik's tomorrow yet. I guess I'll know in the morning. :)
Water temps were 34-35 degrees in the spots I was in today.
Stay tuned....
Oh Happy Days are Here Again!! Fishing on 2/26/18
by Capt Juls on 02/26/18Woke up at 2am, which is normal for me right now, and had my morning coffee to start the day in quiet solitude. I headed out to go let the dogs out of the kennels at the Humane Society of Ottawa County, here in Port Clinton. It's a "no kill" shelter I work at during the off season.
After cleaning the kennels and feeding my canine friends, I headed to the pool where I do my water aerobics after work. The water was chilly, but I forced myself to get in and did what I had to do.
I rushed home to let my dogs out again, grab a bite to eat, and got ready to go fishing with Capt Kevin. We were taking his boat today, because he has a trip tomorrow, and wanted to do a shake down run, before he took customers out.
I'll be loading all my gear in my new Ranger tomorrow, and calibrating 10 Tekota 500's that I had re-spooled with new line the other day. I might have a trip or two this weekend, but nothing has been confirmed as of this writing. Etiher way though, I'll be out this weekend. (If the winds stay light like they are forecasting.)
Kevin and I launched at Mazurik's and headed out at around 9:30. There is very little ice floating around, and most of it is west of the islands and on the northern shore of the lake right now. We saw a big berg or two out around E can and NW.
Without mentioning exact spots, because Kevin will be using them tomorrow, I can say that we didn't go very far. ;)
There was just the two of us in the boat, so we could only run two line per side.
I chose a Smithwick Perfect 10 in a custom color called, "Crown Juls". I had Mike Chaffin, who created this color last year, and has done a bunch of Bandit's in that color for me, make a half dozen in the Perfect 10 too.
I let 20 feet of line out, and then attached a 2oz snap weight, and then let out another 20 feet (total 40') and attached my Off Shore planer board. For the other line, I put another P-10 in a stock color out...it's called "Marvin", and did the set up at 20/45 with 2oz's (total of 65'). Kevin kept the boat speed anywhere from .9 to 1.1mph.
We were fishing in 27' of water, with lots of marks. The water clarity was good. We could just see the cavitation plate, and that's what you want at this time of year...not too dirty, and not too clean.
After about 5 minutes, and while Kevin was still futzing and setting his lines, my outside board went back....FISH ON! Woot! Woot! It was the first walleye of our 2018 season. We didn't weigh it, but guessed it to be around 7-8 pounds....took a picture of her and let her go, to live another day. Really though...neither of us wanted to bother with getting fish cleaned today. lol
We would catch two more eaters in that area, and decided to move to another location to check out the water clarity and fish marks, so he would have more that one place to fish with his crew.
The seconds stop was by the cans...we went close to G can and turned and looked from there to F can...there wasn't much to write home about there. The marks were poor where we stopped. That's not to say that they are not in the area, we just didn't set down on them, so we got on plane and moved again.
This time, we found exceptional marks...mostly deep, in 25' of water, but with several coming up to mid depth...and, some up very high. We set lines and gave it a shot. I had one bait set up in the top 8 feet of the water column, but no takers. I reset to the 20/20 with the 2oz and it worked again. Our largest fish of the day, was a fat bellied 9.8 pound eye, and the next largest weighing in at 8.6 pounds. That first fish would have rivaled this one. The other three were just "eaters".
We only fished until 2:30 and headed back in. He had to get some stuff ready for tomorrow, and I had to get home to take the dogs for a walk, make dinner, write this blog, and get to bed. As I'm writing this, it's only 6pm here, but it's already past my bedtime. lol
That will change, as my time at the shelter for this season has come to an end. Wednesday is the last day I will be up that early and driving over to let the dogs out. (That makes me sad, as I love those dogs...hard not to get attached to them, ya know?)
The water temps were 33.5 at 9:30am, but with the clear skies and bright sunshine, by 2:30 the surface temp had risen one full degree.
Well, that's all for now....I'll be out this weekend again, I think.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Spring is Right Around the Corner! 2/6/18
by Capt Juls on 02/06/18The 2018 fishing season is approaching, and I'm getting everything ready. The new Ranger 621, powered by a shiny new 300 ETEC G2, is waiting patienly in a heated storage space at Dubbert's Marine, here in Port Clinton.
The EZEESteps arrived yesterday, and were installed, or at least most of it. I was short 2 U-Bolts, so those should be here on Wednesday, so I can finish installing them. :)
The three Humminbirds have been installed, and two of them are on a cool new Bass Boat Technologies "Double Stack" mount, that feels rock solid, so I'm really happy with that install. I wanted to do the software updates for the units, but when I turned the boat's power on, I found the batteries were dead. So, I plugged in the Minn Kota 4 bank charger overnight, and went back yesterday to do the updates. Unfortunately, I found that two of the brand new Interstate 31 series Marine AGM's were bad, so I got on the phone to the local Interstate battery dealer over in Sandusky to see if they had any to swap out. They needed to be ordered in, so I'll be picking those up on Wednesday too.
I ran the same batteries last year with no issues, so hopefully, the two that get swapped out will be problem free the rest of the sesaon too...deep sigh....stupid batteries.
I found a curious thing that I have never seen happen in the 18 Rangers I have owned over the years, and I want to mention it, in case it happens to someone else. One of the two bad batteries was the one that the keypad was hooked up to, and because it didn't have enough amps flowing, the keypad started doing this "blinking thing" with all the buttons on the keypad. Onc side would flash all the buttons on and off and then the other side woud flash on and off. So, when I replace the battery, that should fix that issue. So, if you see your keypad flashing like that....check your battery!
I'm just so happy that this year I stored it in heated storage, so I could work on it during these brutally cold days. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found these issues until a warmer day, when I could uncover the boat and hop in it. But, by then, I would be scrambling to get it all done in time to hit the water. Now, I know that by the time there's open water, this beautiful machine will be in tip top shape to do the job its intended to do for me...and, that makes me happy. :)
I still have plenty of dates open in May through September, so if you're looking to do some walleye fishing or perch fishing on Lake Erie's Western Basin this season, give me a call or email me and I'll get you in the book!
With an estimated 100 plus million walleye in the lake this year, and all those short fish we were catching last year that will be legal now, it should be a ton of fun! Don't wait too long though, because once I start blogging about the fun days on the water, it won't take long to fill up the calendar....woot! woot!
Come on Spring!!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Merry Christmas! 12/23/17
by Capt Juls on 12/23/17Merry Christmas Everyone! May 2018 Bring You Love, Happiness, Success, and Friendship!
Have a Safe and Happy New Year! I'm Looking Forward to Fishing with all of you in the Spring...:)
Fishing with Darrell and Kevin 11/17/17
by Capt Juls on 11/17/17I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was check the wind forecast on iWindSurf, to see what the forecast held for us today. Capt Kevin Swartz had invited me to go with him and his customer, Darrell, (from Indiana), to do a little walleye fishing.
Kevin picked me up at 6:45 and we jumped on RT 2 to drive to the other side of Port Clinton. The Draw Bridge downtown on 163 is closed until some time in May, so going through town, to get to the other end of town is no longer an option until mid May some time....ugh.
Anyway, the plan for the day was a 6 hour trip....and, if we caught the walleye fast, we would use up the rest of the time fishing for Perch....woot! woot! :)
So, needless to say, we stopped at Rickard's Bait to pick up some Emeralds....(which, by the way, were the perfect sized minnows.)
We met Darrell at Mazurik's at 7:15 and launched by 7:30.....headed north out of the break wall, and up to the north side of Kelly's Island.
As Kevin and Darrell discussed the virtues of using electronics to find fish...Kevin told Darrell what it was he thought he was seeing on the screen. After marking a few nice fish, he deployed the Ulterra, and set the iPilot in an easterly direction toward the shoal.
The rods were all set with Smithwick Top 20's, running anywhere from 65 to 95 back, at a speed of 1.7mph. We would only manage 3 walleye on that mile long pull.
After discussing where we should go next, we headed to the Sandusky Dumping Grounds. Kevin stopped short of it, and pulled Off Shore boards into the waves, still running Top 20's. I think we caught 2 or 3 more on that pull to the SE, giving us a total of 5 or 6....I can't remember exactly.
I suggested that we pick everything up, and run inside...then, turn around to make the pull from south to north...going with the waves. Kevin agreed, so he ran us inside to about 33 foot of water...turned us around, and set the iPilot on a NW pull, which put the waves on the Ranger's starboard corner.
This time, on the run back up to the inside, I changed out the Top 20's that were on the side Darrell and I were running, all to #11 Flicker Minnows. We chose to use the chrome purple/ with the orange belly, "Fancy Chartreuse", and "IB Frozen". I wanted to see if there was a bite higher in the water column, so I set them out at 45, 55, and 65 back.
After Kevin's side was set, and our side was set, Kevin grabbed the urinal and went to the front of the boat for some privacy. I said to Darrell, "This is when I like to yell, 'Fish!!'", and laughed. Just as I said that, Darrell points to a board on our side and yells, "Fish!" I couldn't help but laugh again! :)
Shortly after boxing that one, another one hit on our side of the boat. The Flickers set at 45 and 55 had both taken a fish. Kevin kept his Top 20's out just a little longer, to make sure it wasn't a fluke, before eventually switching everything up to Flicker Minnows.
To make this long story shorter...we ended the day with a three person limit of walleye, and Darrell kept expressing how much he enjoyed the day, which made both Kevin and I happy. :)
The perch will have to wait for another day, because we ran out of time, and it was close to the time we needed to head in.
There is some very crappy weather headed this way, (some rain, and lots of wind for the next several days), so until next weekend, stay warm and dry....be safe!
Thanks for reading...
Capt Juls
Been a Busy Fall....
by Capt Juls on 11/09/17It's been a while since I blogged anything here....sorry about that. I've been busy with some projects and made a trip home to Wisconsin to visit family.
One project that I'm happy to have done...finally...is the "fishing room" here in my house. It's where I keep all my gear when my boat is sold every fall, because I don't have a garage. So, instead of having a spare bedroom, I have a "fishing room". lol
It had gotten to the point that I couldn't take two steps into the room without stepping over something, because there wasn't enough storage in there for everything. So, I took everything out....painted the walls, ceiling, and trim...to clean it all up, added shelving, and bought and built some storage compartments to go under the shelving along one long wall.
I left a gap in the lowest shelf, that is 30" off the floor, to add a work station table, so I can do my crawler harness and perch rig building there this winter. :)
It turned out much better than I expected, especially since I didn't think about how I wanted to do it in advance. I just got sick of the mess in there....emptied it, then hit Lowe's the same day, and looked around for what might work, and be easy enough for me to do myself.
This winter will be nicer with that monkey off my back now. lol
I am also back at the local animal shelter for the next few months. However, my new 2018 Ranger 621 with the 300 G2 is expected to be finished on December 12th, so I'm hoping it will be here before Christmas, and that we have a mild winter again, so I can get some trips in over January, February, and March.
My regular bookings will start the last week of March.
I only have 4 days open in April right now, so if you're thinking of booking with me in April, I have the following dates open....8th, 25th, 26th, and 27th.
The walleye fishing continues to get better and better as the season progresses. The pier fishing at night has been very successful for many anglers venturing out on the Huron pier, Lakeside Pier, and on walls over in Sandusky Bay. I haven't heard much on the Catawba pier, but that may be due to the work that's being done on the ramps over there right now. I think they will be finished with that on Dec. 4th, or so I was told.
Night fishing from boats is producing quick limits too, when the weather allows anglers to get out.
So, if you get a chance to go....good luck fishing!
Hopefully, I'll see you out there soon!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike Fraunfelter and Janet 10/8/17
by Capt Juls on 10/10/17Sunday's wind forecast was for stronger winds in the morning and diminishing by 11am, so we opted to do a start time of 11am. Capt Kevin and I met Mike and his daughter, Janet, at Mazurik's at 10:45 and launched by 11.
We were headed to Canadian water to do some perch fishing up by the dumping grounds up there.
When we got up there and set up with his Ulterra's Spot Lock, the boat didn't face into the wind, like it normally would, but rather it was side ways into the wind, due to a very strong current that wasn't there any time I had been up there in the past few weeks.
It made getting the perch rigs down in a vertical position difficult, which also made it difficult to feel a light bite when they bit. However, after adding a second 1 oz weight to the rig, to make it 2oz's....it helped a lot.
The winds were diminishing even more as the day went on, and eventually we were able to remove one of the weights. The bite wasn't as "fantastic" as it had been, but we still managed to catch their limit of 60 perch. And, while there were some big perch in the mix, the numbers of big ones wasn't what it was last week. That's not to say, that it won't be again....it's just that it wasn't what it was...that day. :)
Mike and Janet had a good time, and mentioned that they would like to go fishing with us again. So, whether that is this fall for some more perch, or walleye, or both? Or, if it's next spring, I don't know. But, I do look forward to fishing with them again...they were a lot of fun. :)
The next trip, is a three day trip, with Capt Kevin and two customers I had last year, that have become good friends. They are Pat and Tina Goebel from Wisconsin. They will be down here to fish with us Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This is going to be one wild weekend, I think. Tina is a fire cracker, and I think she was probably my twin in another life. Hehehe...
Capt Kevin is patiently waiting on his 2018 Ranger to be delivered to Vic's Sports Center....and we're hoping it shows up today or tomorrow, so we can get it rigged and broke in before Tina and Pat show up. We shall see....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Doyle and Ben 10/8/17
by Capt Juls on 10/10/17Well, today is the day, and it's quite fitting that the weather is cloudy, rainy, and dreary...it matches my mood. Today is a very exciting day for my customer, Doyle, who is fishing with me today to refresh his memory of how to run everything in my Ranger. He's the new owner of my beautiful boat! So, while it's like a Christmas day to him, it's a sad day for me.
This was Ranger number 17 for me, and it was probably my favorite one to date, due to the colors on it. She is beautiful and classy. :)
But, the new one is on order, and she will be beautiful too....I just have to get through the winter before I get to be in my own boat again. lol
Anyway, Doyle, Ben, and myself launched out of Mazurik's and headed east to fish over in Huron again. We ran the same program that Kevin and I ran the Thursday before with Mike and Huey. Long story short....we limited out with our 18 walleye and headed in. (Not much else to add since it was the same program). :)
The next blog is with customers Mike Fraunfelter and his daughter, Janet, who did a perch trip with myself and Capt Kevin.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike and Huey 10/5/17
by Capt Juls on 10/10/17Okay....I know, these last three blogs are late....but, I have a good excuse! My season has officially ended out of my 2017 Ranger 621, and I was busy getting that boat ready for its new owner, and getting the 2018 Ranger 621 ordered.
However, while doing all that, I am still taking customers fishing.... I am working with Capt Kevin Swartz, who keeps his Ranger all season, and he and I are splitting the trips I book with my customers....as long as my customers are 2 persons or less. If there are three people, then I am just recommending they contact Kevin directly, so he can accommodate all three people. :)
Mike Shepperson had fished with me early in the season...back in May, I believe, and he was back with his friend, Huey, to fish for walleye again. I met Kevin Thursday morning at his house, and we drove over to Lemmy's Restaurant in Huron to meet up with Mike and Huey for some breakfast, before launching on the Huron River.
We launched at 7:30 and headed north out of the river as the sun was coming up on the horizon. We set up when Kevin marked some fish on his electronics and started a troll at 2.4-2.6mph into the waves. There was a slight chop on the water from a light west wind.
We set up with a Bandit running on Off Shore boards on the outside at 20/80 with 2oz's...then, a #1 Dipsy on a 3 setting with a large spoon in the middle, and then ran a 30 Tru-Trip Jet with a large spoon on the inside corners. Everything caught fish, so I think whatever you want to run, you'll catch some walleye right now. And, I think it will only get better and better as the water cools off.
We ended up catching our 4 man limit by the time our 6 hours were up, and headed in. Mike and Huey had a great time, and so did Kevin and I. It's quite nice to have a second Captain on board, because it just makes it so much easier when someone fishes exactly like you do! :)
The next "catch up" blog is about the new owner of my 2017 Ranger....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tim and Ed 9/23-24/17
by Capt Juls on 09/24/17What a beautiful weekend it has been. I had a long time customer of mine, Tim McGlothlin, and his friend Ed this time. Tim normally fishes with his brother, Matt, but Matt couldn't make it, due to being the head soccer coach for his daughter's soccer team, who had games this weekend.
I picked them up each morning at the Sleep Inn and we hit Big Bopper's for breakfast before going on over to Mazurik's to launch at 6:30. I couldn't believe that when I walked into Big B's on Saturday morning at 5:45 that there were no seats, or clean tables available for us, so I helped out and cleared a table for us to sit at. Then, when we got to the launch at 6:30, there were already several boats launching already.
I'm used to having the launch to myself in the mornings, so those that were launching, and leaving their headlights on while backing up, and sitting in the ramp, were really pissing me off...lol Ugh!! Turn your lights off PLEASE! Thank you...:)
Anyway, we were headed north over the boarder each day. No need to call in...just need to make sure you have an Ontario license on you in case you get checked. I couldn't believe that no one is fishing up there! The perch fishing is very good up there right now, and the size is really really good. Both days, we managed 90 beautiful perch that weighed in at 38 and 37 pounds. The spot I have been fishing is not a secret spot...it's a well known perch spot that is usually being fished this time of year, so that's why I'm stunned that no one is fishing up there right now. The "Pelee Dumping Grounds" is the area, if anyone is interested in getting on some dandy perch like we did.
Tim and Ed had a great time, and the weather couldn't have been any better....wait..it could have been just a touch windier, because it was a little too calm on Saturday, which caused the little midges to invade our space. Tickley little buggers, they are!!
I'm going fun fishing in the morning for some walleye with Capt Nate, who runs the Chelsea IV. He's been wanting to fish out of my Ranger 621 for a while now, and our schedules have finally lined up for us to do just that. From what I hear, we won't be out very long, because we only need 12 walleye, and they have been coming pretty fast for those that have been fishing for them this past week/weekend.
My next trip is a walleye trip on Tuesday, so this is just a practice run before that, since I have been fishing perch exclusively for the past month or more, so I can get all the gear ready for their trip.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Bob 9/22/17
by Capt Juls on 09/22/17Last Monday I fished with Joe Jay and his customer, Ron. Today, he brought another customer of his business...Bob. Bob does electrical "stuff". :)
We met at Big Boppers at 5:45 for some grub, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch by 6:30. I was surprised to see two other boats there so early (6:15), since I hadn't seen any all week. One was already on its way out of the harbor and the other was launching the same time I was.
It was still dark out as we made our way across the relatively calm lake at a nice cruising speed of 35mph. The wind, or what little there was of it, was out of the east at 5mph, or less. It still created those damned rollers that you can't open up the throttle for without banging the bottom of the boat, or the customers. So, I stayed at a nice cruising speed all the way up to the east side of Pelee. It took us close to 45 minutes, but we were rewarded with the most amazing sunrise once we stopped and "Spot Locked" over some piggy perch with the Minn-Kota.
They weren't coming as fast as yesterday's catch, but they were still there, and were biting. The number of big ones was also down a little, but we still caught some slobs! Our 90 perch went 38 pounds at the cleaners...which isn't too bad of a morning's work. My customers were very happy, and the weather couldn't have been more pleasant, so that made me very happy too!
Tomorrow's perch trip, is one with a regular of mine....Tim McGlothlin. Tim and his brother Matt fish with me often, and you've read many of their blogs over the years, because they have been fishing with me for 6 years now. Unfortunately, Matt can't make it this time, so it's just Tim and their friend, Ed.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bob Benton and Larry 9/20-21/17
by Capt Juls on 09/21/17Today was the second day of a two day perch trip with Bob and his friend, Larry. Both days we met at Big Bopper's for breakfast before launching over at Mazruik's.
Each day, we were in the water early and headed out before the sun came up, because I just like it when I have the lake to myself. It's very peaceful and there's no boat traffic to deal with.
Yesterday, we started out at a spot I was hitting since Sunday, but it only produced a 1 man ticket before it petered out, and we decided to move.
We headed north to the line, and checked water in that 39-40 foot range. When we marked good fish on the Helix, we stopped to fish them. It was tougher for us yesterday, and we only picked up 77 perch of our 3 man ticket.
Today, we crossed the line and headed north. We picked a spot that had some good marks, and set up with the Ulterra's Spot Lock over them. We started picking away at the perch right away, and it stayed steady until we got up to around 105 and then it slowed way down. The last 15 were really tough to catch, and the bite was super light, but we did manage to get our 120 for the trip. They were the biggest perch I have seen all season, and the best catch I've had in the boat so far.
My customers couldn't have been happier, and that made me happy. :)
Tomorrow, I am fishing with Joe and Roy again....I had them this past Monday...and, we'll be headed back up to the north side of the line to find more piggy perch for them. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Colin, Mark, and Dave 9/19/17
by Capt Juls on 09/19/17I feel bad even beginning to write this, knowing that I am not going to give out the location, or even the general area of where I am perch fishing right now. Forgive me, but I just want to finish off my season with a bang, and some kick ass perch fishing for my customers, without a ton of boats moving in, to move the fish off.
There are a bunch of folks who are there with me now, and hopefully, they are keeping quiet too, but we'll see...I guess by the weekend, since it's going to be hot out, this area will be crowded too, and I'll have to move again.....deep sigh.
I really do like having a spot all to myself from time to time. :)
Anyway, we managed a 4 person limit in a little over 2 hours this morning, that went 41 pounds at the cleaners. My guys had a fantastic time, and didn't even mind getting rained on from time to time out there. Thankfully, the heavy stuff waited to come down after we were off the water. Unfortunately, for my nice clean boat....it wasn't home under the carport before it came down....ugh.
The highlight of the morning was this double winged dragon fly who hitched a ride. First, it was on the carpet...just hanging out with Colin, who was up on the bow of the boat. Then, it was hanging out on his shoe for awhile, before Colin moved it off his shoe, so it wouldn't get stepped on. Then, we thought it flew off, but I found it hanging out on the steering wheel of the Ranger. And, then, after we were done and ready to head back, I moved it to underneath the dash, by my feet, where it could hang out on my raincoat that was stuff under there. That way, it had a wind block. Once we were back at the ramp, we unloaded the boat in the parking lot, and moved the little bugger to a more natural setting where it could rest and revive itself.....or, get eaten by a bird...whichever comes first, I guess. :)
My crew for tomorrow consists of my customer from this past Sunday, and his friend, and since he's already seen my boat clean, I'm not even going to bother with it today, since it's all wet, and I can't vacuum it anyway. (Inside, I'm saying "Woot! Woot! Ha!)
I'll be meeting my crew at Big Bopper's in the morning for some grub, before heading out for some more perching fun.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Ron 9/18/17
by Capt Juls on 09/18/17I met my crew at Big Bopper's for breakfast, after stopping at Hi Way Bait for some minnows. I was able to replenish my frozen emerald shiner stock the past few days, because HI Way has had nice sized emeralds available. So, now, if the area runs out of them again, and only Goldies are available, I'll have my frozen to use too. Woot! Woot!
We launched out of Mazurik's and headed out for a morning of Perch fishing. The weather forecast was predicting 60% chance of rain, but we lucked out and finished up with our 90 perch by 9:45, and got in before it rained on us. The perch went 34 pounds at the cleaners, so Joe and Ron were very happy with the size and quality of the fish, and that makes me happy!
I will be fishing with Joe and another one of his friends on Friday of this week too. Joe has fished with me several times now, for both walleye and perch, and he must be lucky, because we always do well when he fishes with me. lol
Tomorrow, I have a new customer, and two of his friends, and we will be perch fishing again. I hope those little buggers stay right where they are for at least another 7 days, because I have seven more straight days of perch'n to get through, so I need them to stay there!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 Fishing with Dave, Sharon, and Scott 9/15/17
by Capt Juls on 09/15/17I picked my crew up at their hotel at 7am, and we headed to Mazurik's to launch. We were on the water by 7:20 and headed north from the break wall. Because of the later starts today, and yesterday, I didn't get my usual sunrise photos, but no worries...I'll be back to posting those again tomorrow. There's just something about starting the day with the sun greeting you on the horizon, when you're on the water. Kind of like cleansing the soul for a new beginning each day. :)
Okay, enough poetic gibberish....lol
We started out on the NW side of Kelly's island, and had just set up when Capt Kevin texted me to tell me he's got this great bite going at one of my other spots, so I asked, "How many do you have?" He said, "Four". lol I laughed, and said, "Let me know how fast you hit 15". About 10 minutes later he texted to say he had 10 already, so my crew was excited about that and wanted to go try by Kevin.
I had good marks where I set up, but they weren't interested in biting yet, so we moved to the west side of the Bass Islands next to Kevin. I didn't want to go back up to the line, because it was just getting too crowded up there...yuck.
It was like it was the day I was there, and called Kevin in....it was pretty much a spot on a spot bite. His boat was catching with a steady bite, but we weren't. So, when he and his customer were done with their 60, I moved into that spot and we started catching. Or, I should say, Sharon started catching! She was on fire! Then, Scott and Dave were catching, and all was well. :)
We would catch 66 perch there, and then it slowed down. We had an hour left to fish, so I asked them if they wanted to move back to that first spot, where we had marked fish, but never had time to get them going. They were all on board, so we hustled back there, and set up. It wasn't long before we started catching and we would end up catching 14 nice perch in 45 minutes. That little tidbit of information came from Scott, who was paying attention to numbers and time....Thanks Scott! :)
We didn't get our 120, but we did get 80 nice fat perch for them to add to their 60 from the day before. A nice haul to take back to Wisconsin for their family fish fries. Well done Meinerz family! It was a pleasure to fish with you the past two days! :)
Tomorrow, I have a mix of clients...three people who don't know each other, but two have fished with me before. You are all familiar with "Grasshopper", Ben Rewa, and maybe even previous customer, Rusty Gass....But, Dave Brenek is a new customer, who was willing to share a trip with these two, who also preferred to share a trip in order to split the cost. Luckily, it all worked out.
They are all meeting me at my house, so I figured I'll whip up some Chorizo and scrambled eggs with fried potato burritos for breakfast, before we hit the bait shop and launch.
I'll be hitting the spot we were at last today, first tomorrow, but I won't be leaving it as quickly. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 Fishing with Dave, Sharon, and Scott 9/15/17
by Capt Juls on 09/15/17I picked my crew up at their hotel at 7am, and we headed to Mazurik's to launch. We were on the water by 7:20 and headed north from the break wall. Because of the later starts today, and yesterday, I didn't get my usual sunrise photos, but no worries...I'll be back to posting those again tomorrow. There's just something about starting the day with the sun greeting you on the horizon, when you're on the water. Kind of like cleansing the soul for a new beginning each day. :)
Okay, enough poetic gibberish....lol
We started out on the NW side of Kelly's island, and had just set up when Capt Kevin texted me to tell me he's got this great bite going at one of my other spots, so I asked, "How many do you have?" He said, "Four". lol I laughed, and said, "Let me know how fast you hit 15". About 10 minutes later he texted to say he had 10 already, so my crew was excited about that and wanted to go try by Kevin.
I had good marks where I set up, but they weren't interested in biting yet, so we moved to the west side of the Bass Islands next to Kevin. I didn't want to go back up to the line, because it was just getting too crowded up there...yuck.
It was like it was the day I was there, and called Kevin in....it was pretty much a spot on a spot bite. His boat was catching with a steady bite, but we weren't. So, when he and his customer were done with their 60, I moved into that spot and we started catching. Or, I should say, Sharon started catching! She was on fire! Then, Scott and Dave were catching, and all was well. :)
We would catch 66 perch there, and then it slowed down. We had an hour left to fish, so I asked them if they wanted to move back to that first spot, where we had marked fish, but never had time to get them going. They were all on board, so we hustled back there, and set up. It wasn't long before we started catching and we would end up catching 14 nice perch in 45 minutes. That little tidbit of information came from Scott, who was paying attention to numbers and time....Thanks Scott! :)
We didn't get our 120, but we did get 80 nice fat perch for them to add to their 60 from the day before. A nice haul to take back to Wisconsin for their family fish fries. Well done Meinerz family! It was a pleasure to fish with you the past two days! :)
Tomorrow, I have a mix of clients...three people who don't know each other, but two have fished with me before. You are all familiar with "Grasshopper", Ben Rewa, and maybe even previous customer, Rusty Gass....But, Dave Brenek is a new customer, who was willing to share a trip with these two, who also preferred to share a trip in order to split the cost. Luckily, it all worked out.
They are all meeting me at my house, so I figured I'll whip up some Chorizo and scrambled eggs with fried potato burritos for breakfast, before we hit the bait shop and launch.
I'll be hitting the spot we were at last today, first tomorrow, but I won't be leaving it as quickly. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 1 of 2 with Dave, Sharon, and Scott Meinerz 9/14/17
by Capt Juls on 09/14/17Dave, Sharon, and their son Scott were scheduled to fish with Capt Gary on the Sara J today and tomorrow, but Capt Gary told them that the perch were not biting over by Lorain, but that the walleye were. Dave, and the family, wanted to fish for perch, so Capt Gary told him that he would refund their deposit, so they could come back to the west to fish for perch.
Dave had called me Monday afternoon, after reading my blog, stating I had several days off....to ask if I still had today and tomorrow free...I did. So, he booked the days, and today we set out after some perch. We hit three spots, but did best again up on the line straight north of Mazurik's.
It was a slow start...slow middle...and slow ending! The bite was light, and tough, but we managed to put 60 in the box before heading in. The quality was once again very very nice, and they were very happy with their catch today, so that's all that matters. :)
We'll be doing the same tomorrow, but the weatherman said it will be foggy in the AM..."thick fog" he said, so I expect there will be a lot of boats not going out tomorrow. We will though. I have a feeling the fish will be biting in those conditions. Then again, maybe it will be foggy on land, but not on the lake...one can only hope...sigh.
But, if you DO go, and it is foggy on the lake....PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY.... and, keep an eye out for other boaters on the water. Do not drive fast in foggy conditions...and, have your navigation lights on.
It should go without saying, but I have seen with my own eyes...boat operators driving recklessly in those conditions.
The fish will be there, even if it takes you a little longer to get there! Everyone wants to get off the water safe and sound, so if you don't want to think of your own safety...think of other's safety. THANKS!!
Good luck and be safe...:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 with Ken and Doug 9/11/17
by Capt Juls on 09/11/17Today was the second day of a two day trip with Ken Groeschel and his friend, Doug...with one slight unfortunate change in plans...Doug was "calling in sick".
When I was pulling out of the driveway this morning, I got a text from Ken telling me, "Doug is sick, and can't go, so pick me up at the hotel at 5:45". I replied, "I'm on my way...stopping for gas first, and I'll be there at 5:45". Poor Doug...it must have been something he ate yesterday, but I promise...it wasn't my brownies! D'Oh!
I picked Ken up at the hotel, and we drove over to Big Bopper's for breakfast. They hadn't closed that section of 163 east yet...the one that had the signs up stating that they would be closing the road there on Sept 11 for 7 days. That's going to be a pain in the butt, but since I don't have anything scheduled for the next 6 days, I guess it won't affect me too much.
My friend "Trapper" was there at Big B's too, and when I asked him if he would want to go perch fishing with us today, he said, "Yes".
I hit Hi Way Bait after breakfast, because they changed their opening hour to 6am now, instead of 5:30. I think Rickard's is still open at 5:30 though...but, don't quote me on that. It doesn't get light now until around 6:45, so the later openings won't hurt anything.
After getting minnows and ice, we drove over to Catawba to launch, because I figured since I was going to go fish the northern part of the islands, I would be able to open the Ranger up on the lee wind side of the land bits. I was right...woot! woot! ;)
We set up on the north side of North Bass, where I found some perchy marks with the Humminbird. It was a pretty steady bite, but still not an "up and down" bite from 7am to 9:45, and then it slowed WAY down. We were 17 short of a three man limit by then though, so we just kept moving around and picking up a few here and a few there, until the we only needed 9 more. The last spot produced well though, and it wasn't long before we had those last nine in the cooler.
Normally, I would have stayed on that first spot, knowing they would turn on again....because, I was still marking them there...but, Ken kept saying, "Let's move over there a little bit", or "Let's move 100 feet"...lol So, I obliged. :)
Never the less, it was a fun fun morning and we managed 29 pounds at the cleaners. Doug met us at Port Clinton Fish Co., and was looking in much better form, than I had expected him too....so that was good! They said they had a good time and would be back again next season, so that made me happy. :)
I'm off until Monday the 18th, unless someone contacts me for a charter this week.
So, until then....I'll be cleaning my house, cleaning my yard, and getting ready, because.....(said in the voice of Eddard Stark) "Winter is Coming".
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
