Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with DeAnn and Carol 5/3/17
by Capt Juls on 05/03/17Today I fished with DeAnn Herting and her friend Carol. DeAnn and her husband Bob fished with me last year on this day, but this year, they came out with their friends, Max and Carol, too.
I took the ladies, while Capt Kevin took the guys. We had a friendly little competition going between the guys and the girls, for the bragging rights that would be enjoyed on their ride home.
They had booked 4 days with Kevin, and one day with me, because I was already booked. However, today was the only day, of those four, that would allow them to get out on the water.
It was still a little windy early on this morning, so we waited to launch at 11am. They were staying in a condo close to Kevin, so they just rode with him to Mazurik's, and I met them there.
Thankfully, it was later, because it gave me a chance to get the grass cut before the next three days flood the area with another 2-4 inches of rain....ugh.
Anyway, the ladies and I started out at the stone dock on Kelly's (NW corner for those that might not know what the "stone dock" is.) The word on the radio was that it was a very tough bite and a lot of people were struggling. The water there was a little murkier than I liked, but it was still fishable. The water temp was 56.7 degrees
I told DeAnn and Carol, "Keep you expectations low, because it will be a lot more fun when we do catch a fish". They laughed, and agreed.
After one pass, a turn, and another 1/2 of a pass....we watched an Off Shore board go shooting back...."Fish On!" Woot! Woot! While Carol reeled that fish in, I looked over and the middle board on the port side was going back too. DeAnn grabbed that rod and started reeling her fish in.
Carol's fish turned out to be a big Sheepshead, and DeAnn's fish was a 5-6 pound walleye, caught on a Blue/Chrome Bandit at 100 back at 1.7-1.8mph.
We finished out that pass, and I had them reel everything in, so we could head north to Lucy's Point. The water looked cleaner to the north, and I felt our chances of catching were better in cleaner water.
The really clean water between Kelly's and Lucy's was colder than the dirtier water around it. The clean water was only 49.7 degrees, and the stained water at Lucy's was holding at 57.4 degrees.
To make a long story short, we would end up catching a total of 7 walleye in the box, 1 throw back, 1 that got off, a Sheep, and 3 white bass. All fish were caught on the Blue/Chrome Bandit at 100 back.
We started out with 6 different colors on, but by the third fish we switched out 5 baits, so I could run all Blue Chromes, and leave the 6th one to experiment with.
The ladies won the bragging rights for the day, so they were pretty happy....and, that made me happy. :)
My trips for the next two days are rescheduled to next April, and my Saturday trip is still watching the forecast for one more day, before making any decision on that trip.
So, until Mother Nature gets over this hissy fit she's throwing right now, we'll just have to be patient. We'll have to just wait for some nice warm stable weather.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 1 & 2 With My Montana Men....4/24-25/17
by Capt Juls on 04/25/17Craig Anderson and Scott Duke fished with me last year on this same week. The weather was better last year, and the fishing was much better too. With that said, here's a re-cap from yesterday and today's trips with these two fun guys.
They came out with their friends Jeff and Brian, who are fishing with Capt Dan Woodward for the week.
Day one started with strong NE winds... waves were 1-3's in the south passage in the morning, and even less up in the triangle between the Bass Islands. So, I thought it would be a good idea to take them up there while the winds were still on the lower side. (Winds were expected to increase all morning...and, they did).
Long story short...we did squat up there, and the winds were building, so I thought it would be a good idea to get back to the protected side of Catawba while the getting was good. The waves were 3-5's at 11am when we went through it, so the timing was good.
The water was muddy as we passed the west side Catawba Point, so I just kept going SW until I found some cleaner water, and we set up there. We were trolling Bandits over 17' of water at 25, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55 back at 1.6mph. The first board to go back caught a nice smallmouth. It wasn't what we were targeting, but after watching the boards do nothing all morning, it was nice to see a board finally go back. Ha!
Then, the next board to go back was a foul hooked white bass.....sigh. It was not going the way I planned. Then, I heard Rick Lacourse's voice in my head say, "They're surfing today". So, I grabbed a rod, and reeled in the board, and reset it at a mere 15' back. As soon as I sat back down, and looked over, that board was being pulled back... hard. "Fish On!"
Scott reeled in a nice 28 inch walleye. She was already spawned out...(water temps are mid 50's now). That one was caught on a Domka Outdoors custom color called Huff Daddy Chrome. With only an hour and a half left to fish, we reset all the baits higher in the water column and ended up catching 4 nice walleye in three passes. It was way too rough to turn and troll back up, so we picked up and ran back up, to reset each time.
There were a couple of boats that came in behind me, so I got on the radio, in case they were monitoring channel 79 and let them know the fish were "surfing", and gave them the distance back. A friend of mine, who happened to be one of those boats, texted me to thank me for the radio info, because he ended up taking two in the one pass he made through there too....woot! woot!. :)
Day 2:
We launchd at 6:30 this morning out of Catawba, and headed straight back to the spot where we caught them the day before, but the water was dirtier than the day before, so I was less enthusiastic about our chances again. There were less waves this morning, so we only set two lines up as high as the day before, and lowered the other 4 baits in the water column.
Our first one was another nice 28 incher, and was caught on a Green Clown Bandit at 21 back. We only made one pass there this morning, because we were talking with Gary Zart on the radio, who also happened to be catching them at 20 foot back, in a spot not too far from us. So, since the water was dirty where we were, we decided to move over by them and try out luck.
We were trolling over 23' of water and the marks on the Helix were incredible. During our first pass, from and east to west troll, we had a double on, but only one would turn out to be a walleye (27"), and the other was a foul hooked white bass (I've concluded, with so many foul hooked whites that they are a "stupid fish"). :)
That one came on another Green Clown Bandit at 20 back. Then, nothing for the next hour.
So, I decided to go check out the E and D can areas. I marked a few fish, but nothing like we would normally see this time of year. The lack of bait balls on the screen and tons of marks we usually would have has me scratching my head at this point. But, I digress.
Anyway, we made a short pass from D towards Niagara, but it was brutally slow. So we headed to the area between Crib Reef and Toussaint Reef and pointed the bow towards K can.....nothing. I know, I know....had I gone all the way to K can we would have caught small fish there. But, we're after big fish.
So, with an hour and a half left...we headed back to our first spot and ended up catching a healthy 29 inch walleye on a "Taco Salad" Bandit at 25 back.
That would be it for the day, and we headed in.
Sorry to make this a quick ending, but I just looked at the clock and I'm going to be late for a delicious dinner they are making me tonight. Chicken Cordon Blue with a Pistachio / Green Olive pesto Pasta, and roasted asparagus ....MmmmmmMmmmmmGood! Thanks Chef Craig!
Tomorrow will be day three of five, and I think we'll launch out of Mazurik's and hit some new water and scenery. I'll talk to Capt Dan tonight at dinner. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito and Friend...4/23/17
by Capt Juls on 04/23/17I hit Big Bopper's at 5:30 this morning, and then hit Hiway Bait for some crawlers, in case I needed to try them today. Water temps are getting up to the mid 50's now, so crawlers might be the ticket soon.
I drove down to Catawba at 6am, and was a 1/2 hour early to meet my crew. It gave me the time to get the rods all set up, and go over the boat, before they showed up.
They showed up right on time, and we launched at 6:30am....right before the sun came up. It was beautiful morning....finally!
Mother Nature threw us a reprieve today, and the wave forecast for 1-3's was only 6" or less all day long. Whew!
I wanted to check out Scott Point Shoal first thing, since it was right around the corner. We marked a ton of fish, but only made one pass there. I had a feeling they were mostly sheepshead, when we had a board go racing back, only to find a "Fish-O" Sheep on the end of the line. However, we did catch one small eater walleye there too.
I just didn't have a lot of confidence in that area yet, so we moved west to around the east end of F-can. There were marks there too, but nothing biting. Then, we moved up to the area between Middle Bass, South Bass, and Rattlesnake. There were not a lot of marks on the pass we made, but we did manage two walleye in that area up there.
We decided to take a ride out to the reef complex and join the armada of boats trolling and jigging out there.
We made a few passes over an area I fished last week, and put 3 more nice fish in. No Fish-O's, but fine specimens none the less. :)
With two hours left, of an 8 hour trip, I asked them if they would mind if we hit another spot on the way back. They didn't mind at all, so se headed south of the reefs, and trolled west to east over 16' of water. A double hit, and we got both of those in the boat too. That gave Vito and his friend, Saunders their limit.
We headed down towards G can, so I could check the water clarity and see if we could get a few more to bite. It was cloudier there....I don't want to say, "muddy", because it wasn't really a brown color....more of the light green..but, cloudy. I could just make out the cavitation plate there.
We pulled the Off Shore boards for about a 1/2 hour, and it was time to go in. While we were pulling lines, Saunders said, "I just got one!" It was a nice plump little keeper, that would give us a final total for the day of 9.
Bandits were working best for us at 45 and 50 back at 1.6 to 1.8 mph.
Best colors for us were, Domka Outdoor's "Huff Daddy Chrome" and "Fancy Perch". The stock colors were the Blue/Chrome, Natural Perch, and Green Clown...my favorite, Khaki, let me down today. It got zero. :(
When I got home, I had to take the dogs for a walk, because they gave me the big brown "sad eyes"..... make brownies, clean the kitchen and living room, and make a big batch of Venison Sausage gravy...for biscuits and gravy in the morning with my customers..Capt Dan and the crew are coming over at 5:30am. I'll make the buttermilk biscuits in the morning. I'm tired...
Capt. Dan Woodward is working with us this week, since there are 4 of them, and I only take up to three people. Two will fish with Dan all week, and I will fish with the other two.
I had Craig and Scott last year at this time, and had a great time in the boat with them. So, I'm looking forward to a fun week, this week.
I hope Mother Nature will be kind to us.... Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Best Laid Plans of Mice and Fishermen.... 3/17/17
by Capt Juls on 04/18/17Yesterday, (3/17), started off right....until...
I picked up Grant, his Dad Jamie, and Phillip at their hotel at 6:30, so we could launch by 7am at Catawba. There was a group of 6 men, and as you all know, I only take 3, so they had a second boat with them.
They needed to stop and gas it up first, so we stopped off at the Speedway, so they could do so. No problem....we still made it down to Catawba with time to spare.
As I unhooked the boat, put my antenna up, unstrapped the port side, put the kicker up, unstrapped the starboard side, I reached up to trim up the G2, and......nothing. Uh oh....what the heck? Tried the trim at the throttle and nothing...but, it was cycling the motor and little computer thingy on the dash, so I knew it was getting power. "This is not good", I thought.
I called "Dubbert's Marine Service" in town, but it was only 7am, and I know they don't open until 8am, but Dawn was in early and answered the phone. I told her what was going on, and she offered to have the guys come down to Catawba to help when they got in. But, instead of waiting, I drove the boat over to them, so when they got in, it would go faster.
I was just hoping that it was something easy.....and, it was. All it was was a ground wire in the trim relay that needed to be tightened down...whew!
Okay, so now we're an hour and a half late from starting. But, it was a beautiful morning, so that made things easier.
We were headed to the north side of Big Pickerel, and showed up there around 9am. Kevin had 6 in the box by the time we even showed up up there. We caught a nice 7 1/2 pound walleye within the first 15 minutes of setting up, and thought it was going to be a great "catching day". Well, it was for others, but not for us apparently. We would go for a couple more hours with nothing, even though we were running the same program as my friends who were in the same area....(palm to forehead) I wasn't marking anything on the Helix either, so I was having a hard time staying there, even though others were catching. (In hindsight, I should have just stayed there all day) But, nooooo....I got impatient again. lol
I made a move down to Niagra to check the water clarity and fish marks. The marks were better on the SE side of the reef, but the water was much more stained than on the north side of it. I could just make out the cavitation plate.
We did have better marks on the SE side though, so I thought setting up on the SE side and working my way north would be a good plan. We went from the SE corner of Niagara Reef to the north, but the marks were showing up less and less, so not such a good plan....deep sigh. "Just shoot me...shoot me now", I thought to myself. lol
We decided to go back to the first spot and try again. We picked up two more fish, but they were far and few between. I don't know what was wrong with me yesterday, but whatever I was doing, it never felt "right"....my confidence was slim to none yesterday, I think.
Thank God, these guys were "happy people", because they sure made my miserable day an easier one. And, they really liked my brownies, so that made me happy. :)
We were doing an 8 hour day, so with three hours left, we headed over to North Bass area, and made a pass. Again, I wasn't marking anything up on West Reef, so we made one short pass and headed down to D, E, and F cans to check things out in case we needed a closer area for todays east wind conditions. Again, in hindsight, I probably should have joined the group of boats fishing between Rattle Snake, Sugar, and North Bass, but again, my mind wasn't right yesterday, and I didn't go in there.
We set up between F and E cans and headed to F can. Fish marks were plentiful on the Helix, in the right zone, so I felt confident that we would pick up a few more fish. I was wrong.....ugh....nothing in the last two hours. Was it the east wind that started up? Or, was I just cursed yesterday? Who knows...(shaking my head).
I hate those kinds of days, but I now they happen. I've had days where I was the one catching and my friends were struggling, so I know sometimes it's just the way it goes. I've always said, "I would rather be lucky than good". But, yesterday, luck sure wasn't on my side, and I wasn't very good either! ;)
Today, (Tuesday), I would have taken the other three guys that were in the other boat, and my guys would take the other boat. However, with stronger east winds forecast, they decided to head home this morning instead. I can't blame them.
They did say, however, that they learned a ton about how to run Off Shore boards, and would like to come back at a later date this summer, when the weather was more stable, so I guess they still enjoyed the whacky trip. lol
My regular customers for tomorrow, (Wednesday), are waiting for a weather report tonight, before I go to bed, to decide if we will go or not. They are forecasting rain and thunderstorms for the AM tomorrow, with gusty south winds. So, we'll see....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
South Dakota Crew Going Home....
by Capt Juls on 04/15/17I haven't been out since Thursday, and won't be again until Monday.
Friday, Capt Kevin and Capt Chuck, and I discussed the wind, and whether we were going to run our charters....we decided the conditions were less than favorable and told our customers the news. They had no problem with our decision, so we all stayed on shore.
Sure, others went out, but our customers had three days of fishing under their belt, and decided they would go to Cleveland for the day. They asked if we would be fishing today (Saturday) since the forecast was less than stellar (last time we looked yesterday morning), because they were interested in going to see the Tigers play the Indians while they were in town, and it didn't start until just before 8pm, and they would be getting back very late. We told them to go have fun!
Sunday's weather is crap, so my regulars coming from Wisco, for a two day trip on Sunday and Monday have rescheduled to late June, because they didn't want to just fish one day. Good call on their part, I think.
Then, I called my Tuesday customer to see if he wanted to move his trip to Monday, because the weather looks fantastic for Monday, and not so much for Tuesday, but he decided to take both days. :)
Tuesday's forecast is all over the place, so it may or may not be a go on Tuesday, but there's a chance it will.
I won't be back out until Monday, so I have no reports for the rest of this weekend.
So, until Monday....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 3 with the Bill, "Eryn", and Louie 4/13/17
by Capt Juls on 04/13/17This morning, Bill, "Eryn", and Louie met me at Catawba at 6:30am, and we launched by 6:45.
We didn't go far, due to the east wind, and opted to try the can area today. We ventured to the NE side of F and G cans, and set a course towards the SE of G.
We ran 4 Deep Husky Jerk(12"s) and 4 Badits. The DHJs were run on the two outside Off Shore boards on each side, and the Bandits ran off the two inside boards on each side. DHJ's were 20 and 30 back on the port side and 35 and 45 on the starboard. The Bandits on the port side were 25 and 35 back, while the starboard side went 45 and 55....speed was anywhere from 1-3 to 1.7 mph.
After the first pass, I asked Bill if he wanted to go back in, because he was green, green, green in the gills, and not doing well (too much fun the night before...lol something about a bottle of "Fire Ball"...wink wink). :)
While running back up to make another pass from F can back down to G, I looked over at Bill, who was sitting beside me in the passenger seat, and asked him, "Would you like me to take you in? You can take a day off." He didn't hesitate and said, "Yes!" So, we made a short detour to the launch, and dropped him off. I think he made a very wise decision....very wise. Been there and done that...and, it sucks!
After "Eryn", Louie, and I dropped Bill off, we headed off to go fishing again.
We would end the 6 hour trip with 5 fish in the live well, (the largest only going 25 inches), one white bass, and one throw back. Two boards had pulled back, but the fish came unbuttoned before we even got the board close enough to take off.
Colors that worked for us today in the Bandits were the stock color: Khaki (of course), blue chrome, and Natural Perch. The Domka Outdoors color called, "Huff Daddy Chrome" also caught fish. The huskies caught one, but I don't know the name of the color. It's a custom color and looks like a dark hot pink with black tiger stripes down it's back.
We were off the water by 1pm, which gave me time to get my chores done, so that felt good to get a little caught up. My friend, Scott, came down to go fishing with co workers, and to pick up his Ranger that he lent me for the month of March, while mine was being built. (Thanks again Scotty!). So, he and his two dogs are staying with us.
We are watching the winds for tomorrow, and I'll ask what Capt Kevin, and Capt Chuck, want to do about tomorrow's trip. They are forecast to go more NE tomorrow, so it will be little rougher than it was today. Today's waves were 1-3's building to 2-4's. I suspect tomorrow's waves will be closer to 3-5s if the forecast doesn't change.
So...Stay Tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 with Bill, Eryn, and Louie 4/12/17
by Capt Juls on 04/12/17Okay...let me correct the spelling of Eryn to Aaron, but explain that it wasn't my fault it was misspelled! That's the spelling he gave me in the boat yesterday morning, so now, that's how I'm going to spell it the rest of the week....just because! Ha!
This morning, my crew, and Capt Kevin's and Capt Chuck's crews, met us at Catawba State Park at 6:30am, so we could be on the water by 6:45 (before the NWT competitors).
The winds were stronger than forecast for this morning, so that was a l little disappointing. I was looking forward to a glass like lake, so I could open up that 300 G2, but it was a bit bumpy with the winds at 10-13 out of the NW...it wasn't too bad though, and we made a long run out to the reef complex, where it turns out everyone else decided to go to too!
It was kind of cool seeing all the NWT boats coming from a long distance away... with their boats spraying water high and wide, as their boats crushed the waves.
The bite wasn't on fire, but it was enough to keep my guys interested and excited every time the board went back. We managed 6 nice walleye, and two white bass, with our best five going 32 1/2 pounds...(Note: you can take the woman out of tournaments, but you can't take the touranment out of the girl...heheheh). I'm going to look later and see where we would have ended up with that weight. I'm guessing middle of the pack someplace....where I usually ended up. ;)
5 of the eyes were females, that were all post spawn....the other was a chunky little 18" male.
Bandits 30-50 back at 1.5 worked for us. Best colors were stock colors: Khaki, & Natural Perch, and Custom Color: "Domka Outdoor's" Huff Daddy Chrome. Khaki took the most fish, which is no longer a surprise to me. If you asked me to choose only one color to run...that would be it!
After we caught 5 fish up by the reefs, we moved down to check the G can area to check for clean water, and toss some lines in. The water was cleaner to the west shore, but on top of the cans it was muddy. We pulled a 29" fish there, shortly after putting the lines in, but that was it for the last hour of our trip.
There is a clean strip just off the point of Catawba that I might try in the morning, since we're launching right there, it only makes sense to give it a try. Some of my biggest fish in the past, this time of year, have come off that point. But, this spring has been anything but "normal".
Who knows...:)
Time to go eat some Mexican food....I'm starving, and don't feel like cooking!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Finally Back on the Water....4/12/17
by Capt Juls on 04/11/17I hadn't been out on the water since Saturday...."Why?", doesn't matter...it's a long story. lol
Anyway, today was the first day of a 5 day trip with a group of 9 from South Dakota.
In my boat, I'm fishing with Bill, Mica, and Eryn. Capt Kevin Swartz has three more, and Capt Chuck Oeder has the last three. We're all working together to put them on some fish.
The bite has been less than stellar this season so far. Due to the March winds, early on, the lake got really torn up, and turned to chocolate milk. Then, it started to clean up west of the islands, and we started catching some fish in the usual haunts. But, it was short lived, when another Nor'Easter came roaring in last Friday to churn it up again....deep sigh.
We left Mazurik's this morning at 7am, and headed up the east side of Kelly's Island to find clean water with some marks in it. I ended up making the first past on the SE corner of Kelly Island's Shoal...headed NW to go up the west side of it.
We marked fish there, but didn't get any to go, and there weren't as many marks as I would have liked to have seen. So, a call to Kevin confirmed that there were fish north of Kelly's in deeper water.
It was cloudy in the morning, but the waves were 6" at best. The sun was trying to come out at 9:30, and we were hoping the sun would help with the bite. But, a phone call to Kevin, from a friend, told him to go west of the islands, and that the water was cleaning up here and there. So, after he discussed it with me and Chuck, we decided to pull lines and head west about 15 miles as the crow flies. The ride was great and I'm happy to say the new Ranger 621 with the 300 ETEC G2 are performing nicely. :)
We fished the reef area and targeted 11-17 foot of water with Bandits trolled 20-40 back at 1.4-1.5 mph. However, I'm hearing of fish being caught at speeds upwards of 1.7-1.8mph, so I might just give that a try tomorrow too.
We didn't catch any big fish today, but we managed 6 fish out of the 11 pull backs on the Off Shore boards...and, 3 bonus piggy Sheep.
Oh, and we also lost two bandits to a big toothy critter with a very big mouth and big teeth! We never saw it, but it severed the line like "Butta". lol
Tomorrow's weather looks pretty good. Winds are forecast below 10mph out of the WSW all day, so moving around the lake will be easy. A good thing for the NWT competitors, who are starting the tournament tomorrow and want to go to far away locations.
We'll be launching out of Catawba in the morning, to cut our run to the west side of the islands in half. :)
See you out there!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Nice Weather for the Weekend...4/7/17
by Capt Juls on 04/07/17My last trip this past week was on Tuesday, due to the weather, and the South Dakota crew cutting their 6 day trip down to only 3...they went home early.
The winds this week will muddy the West side of the islands again, which is disappointing, because after a month of mud on that side, we had just gotten back on that side to fish this past Monday and Tuesday.
So, there has been nothing to report.
I have had a lot of PM's and texts asking me if they should bother coming this weekend, and I do not like to make those calls for someone else. I ask that they look at the weather links on my site and make those calls for themselves. I don't want to be responsible for telling someone to stay home, only to find out the fish will be biting someplace....or, to tell them to come and the weather changes and they don't get out.
While I try to be helpful in any way that I can....I'll make those calls for my customers, but I don't want to make those calls for anyone else.
So, please...take a look at the same forecasts that I have to check and make that call for your own travel plans. If you want to go fishing on a nice day, but it's tough fishing....go fishing. If you only want to catch a lot of fish...this isn't the weekend for that. It's going to be tough after this blow, and all this rain.
I'll be back out tomorrow with some more South Dakota guys, along with Capt Kevin, who is taking part of the same group. They lost today, but will get the next two days in.
It looks like Monday and Tuesday are a blow again, but at least it southerly winds instead of north, so that's a positive.
The NWT tournament starts on Wednesday, so it looks like they are only getting the weekend in for pre fishing....ugh. Good luck to all of the competitors! See you out there. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Derek, Terry, and "The Deuce" 4/2/17
by Capt Juls on 04/03/17Derek, Terry, and "The Deuce" are part of 21 friends that drove out from SD for a 6 day trip. We started on April 1st, but the fishing was slow, so nothing to report for day one. lol
Today was a different story though. The water west of the islands cleaned up enough for us to finally hit the cans, and it didn't disappoint. The water temps were hitting 40 degrees yesterday, and shorter leads on the Bandits were the ticket for us. Khaki at 25 back took 5 of our 9 fish at speeds varying between 1.5-1.8 mph. Other leads that worked were 35, 45, and 55. We dropped 4 fish that just didn't hook up well also.
The weather was beautiful too. Light winds, partly sunny skies, and warmer temps made it an enjoyable day. We fished for 10 hours, and plan to only fish for 6 hours tomorrow, due to rain coming in.
I have a feeling that Tuesday's blow from the NW is going to muddy up the can area again, but we'll see.
While most of the females we caught were not spawned out yet, one was, and others were catching some that were already spawned out too. Hopefully, the winds will behave and let the mud settle to give those hatchlings later this month a chance to find some food. Fingers crossed!
That's all for now...busy, busy, busy!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
http://julswalleyefishingadvent.homestead.com/Pics-Pg-22.html?_=1491205337578
Day 2 of 5 with the SD Crew...:)
by Capt Juls on 03/28/17Met my crew, and Capt Kevin's crew, at Big Bopper's for breakfast at 7am this morning.
Yesterday, I had Gary, Lane, and Greg....and, Kevin had Sam, Tyler, and Tim. Today we flip flopped our crews...so, today I had Sam, Tyler, and Tim with me, and Kevin took the other three with him.
After breakfast, we headed over to Mazurik's to launch at 8am. We headed back to the area north of Kelly's, because we didn't hear of any better water clarity than what we had there.
The skies were gray, the winds were out of the north, and the waves were 1-3 feet all day. The fishing was tough again for us, but we managed to put 4 in the box, throw one back that was too small, and lost a bigger fish behind the boat. (Kevin's crew had it even tougher, when they only managed one in the box today).
I had a very small spot out in the middle of no where....giving it no rhyme or reason why that one very small area was producing bites for us. Any time we crossed that spot, we would pick up a fish. The last time we passed over it, we had a double go off, but one of those fish is the one we lost behind the boat. :(
Bandits were the ticket again, and 90 and 100 were the magic numbers. Purple Hot Tiger, Black Gold, and Crown Juls were the three colors that caught fish for us. Speed, was slower today. After talking with Kevin this morning at breakfast, I found out that he was keeping his speed yesterday at .08-1.1 (even though, when I asked what speed he was running he said, "1.1"). That little tidbit might have been the difference between him catching 11 fish yesterday, and my boat only catching 5 fish.....but, who knows? It could have been that dang banana that was quietly smuggled on board... Hehehe! ;)
Anyway, I digress.... It was a fun day getting to know the other 1/2 of the South Dakota crew, and I enjoyed their company very much. They are very good fishermen, and a pleasure to fish with.
Tomorrow, we will be heading back up there again, because the guys we know that were headed to the west side of the islands, to check out the water clarity said it still stinks over there. Too much mud still. :(
So, until tomorrow....Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Greg, Lane, and Gary 3/27/17
by Capt Juls on 03/27/17Left the house at 6:25am, to go top off the Ranger's gas tank, before stopping in the "Big Boy" parking lot to pick up my crew. I was early, and I was pleasantly surprised to see them open the garage door of their condo rental, 3 minutes later.
I would be splitting a 6 man crew from Mitchell and Brookings, SD with Capt Kevin for the week.
Today was the first day of their 5 day trip, and I had Greg, Lane, and Gary for the day. Kevin had Sam, Tyler, and Tim. (Tomorrow, we'll switch, so we both of us get to fish with both crews. They are pretty awesome people, and a pure pleasure to fish with. :)
Kevin and his crew, did twice as well as we did. They put 11 nice "good eaters" (3-8 pounds) in the boat...and, we only put 5 in our boat. While we were changing things up to try and increase our catch rate, Gary said, "There's a fish", as he watched the Off Shore board slide back out of the marching line. He reeled in a beautiful 11.2 pound walleye, and that made him happy. :)
The skies were grey this morning, with a fog haze on the horizon for most of the day. It cleared up from time to time, closer to noon. The Sun popped out here and there, and the winds died down to almost nothing at times. It was a glorious day to be on the lake, weather-wise
The water up between the islands is the cleanest I've heard about, or seen. We were fishing on the NNW side of Kelly's all day, where the water clarity is near perfect, and the water temp is up a few degrees from last week. It was hard to see all those marks that were so tight to the bottom all day. They sure had something bothering them today.
Every now and then, the marks would be around that 15-20 depth, and we would catch them. But, they were few are far between. Most of them were on the bottom and inactive....at least that's what we experienced.
We ran Badits, P-10's, and a Flicker Minnow....just to see if they wanted something besides the Bandit. But, everything we caught was on a Bandit either 90 or 100 back. Our best color was the Huff Daddy Chrome, Pink Lemonade Chrome, and Purple Hot Tiger(?) Speed was 1.1-1.3mph today.
It was a fun day, and my crew couldn't have had a more positive attitude. They were happy with the experience, and that made me happy. :)
Tomorrow, I get to fish with Sam, Tyler, and Tim, and Kevin will fish with Gary, Lane, and Greg....so....
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Photos from today's trip can be viewed here:
http://julswalleyefishingadvent.homestead.com/Pics-Pg-22.html?_=1490654119360
Weekend Trips Cancelled...
by Capt Juls on 03/25/17Friday we had 78 degree weather, with sunshine. Today, (Saturday), it's blowing out of the NE again. It wasn't as windy this morning, as it is this afternoon, but my customers, who are regulars, decided to cancel last night after looking at the wind forecast.
My trip tomorrow has been cancelled too, due to weather.
I'll be starting a 5 day trip with some South Dakota men on Monday. The weather is looking better on Monday and Tuesday.
The new Ranger 621 should be in my driveway about mid week...(fingers crossed!)
It's going to be a very busy week next week!
So Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Foggy Trip Today....
by Capt Juls on 03/21/17
Fished with Brad Sterling and his friends Mike and Josh...(sorry, didn't get a picture of Josh! My Bad!!!
It was a tough day for us. Headed out at 7:30 in thick fog, and set up NW of Kelly's Island, and dropped two big fish within the first hour. So, I thought it was going to be a decent day. We picked up one fish there...just an eater.
It was a west wind today, but the lake was 1 foot or less most of the day.
The fog was supposed to lift by 10am, but it didn't lift until 1pm. It wasn't easy moving around, due to the slow speed one needs to go in thick fog. (Even though we could hear other boats moving dangerously fast in that fog!)
We moved down to the north side of Kelly's, closer to North Bay, and had a ton of marks in the right part of the water column, but the water was a little dingier than I would have liked, but not so dirty that it made me want to leave those marks. But, eventually, we did.
Doing something I rarely do, I moved on info that was coming over the radio....But, since it wasn't my spot, I'm not cool with reporting the spot here on my site, so I won't.
But, it was good info, and we picked up 3 more fish there. (Thank you to a guy named, "Frank"...lol)
We would only end up with 4 eyes for this trip, even though we worked hard for them. 
:(
Oh well....that's the way it goes sometimes.
Bandits 65-100 back....darker bodied baits did best today.
Speed were anywhere from 1.1-1.5mph.
Tomorrow's trip is cancelled due to weather coming in tonight.
Back out Thursday...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Just a quick blog today....
by Capt Juls on 03/19/17
Had a fun day with David, Travis, and Robin. It was a slow start this morning, and we only had three in the box by noon.
At 1:45 I got impatient, even though we had good marks, and I made a slight move out to Gull Island Shoal, but that was a mistake, because there were no marks there on the west side of it. So, at about 2:15 we moved back to the SW, and back to the marks, and the fish had turned on. Had we had more time, we would have limited out, easily, but we ran out of time, and ended their trip going 8 for 9.
They said they had a great time, and that made me happy! 
:)
Travis, the one in the orange coat, fishes up on Lake Ara (Canada), where I always go in August, so we had something in common.
He caught the 10 pounder, and said, "It's the biggest walleye I've ever caught", and was very excited about that. :)
Bandits 75-90 back, and the Lemon Lime Crush w/orange throat P-10 30/30 with 2oz did the catching. Chrome Bandits were the ticket for us...blue/chrome, Purple/Chrome, Green Clown.
Back at it again tomorrow...with Bob Edwards and his friend.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Decent Winds starting next Friday!
by Capt Juls on 03/12/17Still muddy, with streaks of clean water here and there. Monday night, and Tuesday's NNE winds will not help matters, but there's hope....light winds are forecast for the rest of next weekend. Fingers crossed!
Here's a satellite picture from today....
https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.php?region=e&page=1&template=sub&image=a1.17071.1755.LakeErie.143.250m.jpg
Going to be Crappy for A While....:(
by Capt Juls on 03/10/17
https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/mo...e.143.250m.jpg
This satellite pic was from two days ago. Huron was still clean yesterday. Some fish were caught, but it was not an easy bite.
Strong NW winds today... and it's rolling 5-7's out there right now on the west end.
Even Huron will muddy up after today's blow.
Sunday and Monday are calling for lighter north winds, but it's supposed to be very cold and then snow on Monday.
It's going to blow strong out of the NE on Tuesday again. No one will go out.
It's going to be muddy for awhile....I wouldn't bother coming out this weekend.
I cancelled my Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday trips. They were coming from SD, which is a long drive to be sitting on shore or fishing in chocolate milk.
TONIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SNOW SHOWERS. FREEZING SPRAY AFTER MIDNIGHT. WAVES 5 TO 7 FEET
SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET.
SATURDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS. WAVES 2 TO 4 FEET
SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FEET.
SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH.
WAVES 1 TO 3 FEET.
SUNDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES 2 FEET OR LESS.
SUNDAY NIGHT
NORTH WINDS 10 KNOTS OR LESS BECOMING EAST. WAVES
1 FOOT OR LESS.
MONDAY
EAST WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING NORTHEAST 15 TO
25 KNOTS. A CHANCE OF SNOW...THEN SNOW LIKELY. WAVES 1 TO 3 FEET
BUILDING TO 5 TO 7 FEET.
TUESDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH. A
CHANCE OF SNOW...THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. WAVES 5 TO 7 FEET
SUBSIDING TO 4 TO 6 FEET.
An Early Start to the Season
by Capt Juls on 02/23/17Feb 23rd, 2017
Thanks to the generosity of my friend, Scott Bogen, for lending me his Ranger 621 until my new 621 shows up at the end of March, I was able to get out fishing a few times since last weekend.
Scott and I fished this past Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, we went out of Catawba to see if the girls were moving into the area yet. While we marked some good fish, we were unable to get any to bite for us in the first 6 hours of hunting. We were all over the west side that morning, and didn't find any willing to bite until we moved into shallower water...around 20-21 feet.
We pulled Smithwick Perfect 10's, Bandits, and Deep Husky Jerks. We only caught 3 fish that afternoon on Bandits, up high in the water column....25 back on gold chrome colors. The stock colors of Black/Gold and Copper Clown produced for us. We probably would have caught a limit had we not found them in the last two hours of an 8 hour day. But, then again...who knows? These fish have been turned on one day and turned off the next day, so it's a crap shoot right now.
On Monday, we only had a few hours to fish, since Scott had to get back to Wisconsin, so we decided to go east. We hit Mazurik's launch at 6:30, and were headed to Cedar Point just as the sky was beginning to get light. It was a beautiful morning with a very light NE wind, and a cool 40 degrees. The sunrise that morning was beautiful.
We made about 4-5 passes directly out in front of Cedar Point in 33 feet of water. Our passes were from North to South and about a mile long. We managed 5 nice fish with the largest going 12 pounds and 30 1/2 inches long.
Scott figured out a pattern that they wanted, when nothing else seemed to be working for us, even though we tried several. He put a Lemon Lime Crush (orange throat) Perfect 10 on and used a 2oz snap weight at 45/15. For those that don't know what that means, it means that he let out 45 feet of line, put the snap weight on, and then let out another 15 feet, and then put the Off Shore planer board on.
We were running at .09-1.0mph. We tried several colors and that was the only one that would catch a fish that morning.
We fished for 3 1/2 hours before the NE wind kicked up, and it got colder out. The fish seemed to shut off on us, so we decided it was a good time to go, so he could get on the road back to Wisco.
It was fun to fish with him again. He used to live here, and he and I would fish together a lot. :)
Yesterday, I had a last minute 4 hour trip scheduled with Loren Ruzic, from Wisco, that was working out in NY, but traveling to MI for another job, and he wanted to stop along the way to fish here. It was on his bucket list, so even though I rarely do an afternoon trip (because, ya'll know how early I go to bed...lol) I agreed to it.
As it turned out....My buddy, Capt Kevin Swartz, had a no show yesterday morning, so I asked him if he wanted to do the charter with us, so we could have a couple extra lines in the water....he agreed.
So, he and I went out yesterday morning to try and find some fish for the afternoon trip. We only managed one fish in a few hours, so I called Loren to tell him to "save his money and time", because the bite was super slow. Kevin and I had talked to several other Capt's who were struggling too, and only had one or two fish in the box despite their efforts. Loren said, "Okay", and we hung up.
About 5 minutes later, I get a call from Loren, and he says, "Can we still go? I don't care if we catch any fish, I just want to go fishing. It wouldn't be the first time I spent money on fishing, where we didn't catch anything". I laughed and said, "Of course! It's your money. If you want to go, we'll take you out". So, we picked him up at the Catawba ramp at 1pm and headed out to the firing range area. We took him to the last area we marked some good fish at, while we were out searching around.
Now, either this guys was good luck, or the fish just decided to finally eat! At 1:30pm we started catching on Black and Gold, IB Stolen, and Huff Daddy (chrome) Bandits...the black and gold is a stock color, and the last two are custom colors from Domka Outdoors. We ran them 50-65 back and kept the speed at 1.0-1.2mph.
We only fished for 4 hours and caught 9 (10 if you count the one Kevin and I caught early in the morning)...with the largest going 9 pounds. The largest females were released, thanks to Loren's good sportsman's attitude. :)
A friend in a boat near us, caught an 11 1/2 and a 12 in the area too, so it's a good sign the big girls are finally moving in. I think we still have a couple weeks to go before the fish are west of the islands in big numbers though.
Water temp on Sunday was 33.6 degrees, and yesterday it was up to 37 in some places.
Well, that's it for now. I don't have another scheduled charter until mid March, unless we get some nice weather again, and someone calls for one.
I have the following dates open in March, but then that's it until June. Every day in April and May are booked already.
March 1st through the 15th is available right now. :)
So, until next time....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
It's Almost Time....:)
by Capt Juls on 02/10/17It's almost time to say good bye to my furry friends at the local animal shelter, where I work in my off season to keep busy and help find homes for them. It's time to start getting everything ready for the upcoming fishing season.
As many of you already know, I sell my boat in the fall, and get a new Ranger Boat every spring. The new one is not expected to show up until the end of March this year, but don't worry....my good friend, Scott Bogen, has offered me the use of his 2016 621 for the charters I have booked in March. I can't thank him enough for his generosity in helping me out this spring. He's a life saver! Thanks Scott!
I can't wait to get the new one. I'm very excited for this one. It's the "Bomb"!! The colors this year are going to be beautiful. (I stole the colors from a friend's boat...but, he said it was, "Okay"). :)
If you can imagine it in your mind, try to picture it....
The hull is Carbon Mist, the #1 & #3 stripes are Eclipse Black, the #2 stripe and the waterline stripe are Gunmetal Mist, the inside is Gunmetal, and the pin stripes are bright yellow.
The 300 ETEC G2 will be dark charcoal on the main part, with silver panels and a yellow accent stripe to match the boat.
The 621 will sport the newest version of the Minn-Kota 112 Ulterra, along with a Humminbird 12 SI Mega Imaging GN2, and a 10 DI Mega Imaging GN2. The boat is loaded with many of the options Ranger offers too.
RSNets is building me a yellow net to match my boat this year too. That will be nice....you know how us girls like to accessorize.....woot! woot!
I can't thank all my sponsors enough for the help they have given me over these past 17 years. I absolutely could not do any of this without them. They have been more than just "sponsors" to me, they have been my "family" too. They have offered me guidance when it was needed, and have given me the encouragement to pursue my dreams...making me the luckiest woman on the planet!
I was given the opportunity to fish for a living, and it's been a true blessing in my life. I have met some of the nicest people in the world. I have made new friends over the past 5 years, guiding, that I would have never met otherwise, and I couldn't be more grateful for them. :)
This season's schedule is filling up nicely. I have a couple openings for March left, zero for April and May, but still have open dates for June through September. I will be gone again from August 2nd through the 13th though, for an annual fly in trip to Meta Lake Lodge up on the Northwest side of Lake Superior. It's something I look forward to every year, and count the days down from the moment I get back to Port Clinton. lol What can I say? I love it up there.
I predict the fishing this season will be outstanding, thanks to the 2014 hatch. All those fish are getting bigger, so it should be a lot of fun. The future looks good.
Let's just pray for stable weather this April, so we can get another good hatch for 2017, eh? But, then I wonder....would there be enough forage for all of them, if that happens? Hmmmm.....
My last time on the water was back in January. We had a nice warm 60 degree day, and everyone and his brother was out that day. The Huron Launch, which has a huge parking lot, was over flowing so much, that they were parking on the grass. Mazurik's, where we launched was pretty full too.
Anyway....
I was invited to fish with Doyle and Ben, and Doyl's son that day, in Doyl's boat. Ben's son, and his two friends, were in a 16 1/2 foot something or other, fishing along side us. While many people caught limits that day, we struggled a bit, and caught a few. We stayed out of the pack out in front of Cedar Point, where I found out later they were doing pretty well on Bandits, P-10s, Top 20's, and DHJ12's. Capt Kevin was just to the west of us, but he had customers that day, so I didn't want to crowd him either, so we just trolled along as long as the marks on the sonar stuck around.
The reason for this blog is that I learned something that day, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. From the beginning of my teachings on fishing Lake Erie, I was always taught that trolling slow... like .9 to 1.2mph was the preferred speed when the water temps were in the low 30's. But, what I found out that day is, that that isn't really the case at all....let me explain.
I had only fished a 1/2 day with them, and after they dropped me off, they went back out. They fished a little longer, but then decided to go back in before Ben's son wanted to go in. So, Ben's son stayed out with his two friends until the sun started going down. Unfortunately, their bow mount ran out of juice. He decided instead of just packing it in, they were going to try to use the big motor to troll back to the launch from the Marblehead light house. However, they couldn't get the speed below 1.6mph and 1.8mph. Then, the darnedest thing happened....
they started catching fish like crazy. And, not just any fish....these fish were tanks! They caught 7 piggy walleye on that last trolling pass going those "summertime" speeds.
So, what does that tell you? It tells me that we don't necessarily have to keep our speeds to a excruciatingly slow crawl to catch big fish in the spring. And, guess who's going to be experimenting with faster speeds this spring? Yep, that's right...me! Was it a lucky fluke on his part that day? I don't know. But, the results speak for themselves, so I'd be foolish not to experiment a little more....right?
I'm looking forward to getting on the water again, and getting back to work. It's been a long winter, even though it was a mild one, and I am looking forward to a fun and exciting season this year.
Thank you to, Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Minn-Kota, Humminbird, Off Shore Tackle, Vic's Sports Center, EZEE Steps, Costa Sunglasses, RSNets USA, Bandit, Smithwick, Bomber, Domka Outdoors, World Wide Marine Insurance, and The Jewelry Mechanic
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
by Capt Juls on 12/23/16
With this warm front going through here this weekend, I can't help but look forward to spring! I know winter is not over yet....but, each day brings us closer...and, I can't wait!! :)
With that said... I just wanted to let everyone that is thinking of fishing with me, know that I am completely booked from the last week of March through the end of May now....(only 3 days left open in May yet....the 15th, 21st, and 31st).
I have plenty of openings for the rest of the season though, so don't wait too long to reserve a spot. I look forward to fishing with you!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Wishing you all a very Happy and "Fishy" New Year! :)
