Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Evan and Gabe Parr 5/26/17
by Capt Juls on 05/25/17Evan had fished with me back on the 10th of this month, with his buddy, Tim. Today he brought his fiancé Gabe. I had explained that the really early bite had been pretty darn good the past two days, and asked if they could make it to Mazurik's from Toledo, OH by 5:20am, so we could be on the water by 5:30am. Evan didn't hesitate and said, "We'll be there!"
I stopped off at Big Boppers on the way, and had a nice breakfast with a couple of the other Captains who stopped in. I left there, and was at Mazurik's by 5:15, so I could ready the boat before they arrived.
This morning, there was another boat heading out at the same time. They left the harbor ahead of me, but then they slowed down, so I would pass them....they followed me out to where I have been fishing. They were kind enough to make sure there was enough space between us, when they set up behind us, so no harm no foul. I can't get mad at that, since they did make the effort to get out of bed that early and be out there. ;)
We ran Bandits at 40 to 60 back (no weight) at 1.8-2.1mph. (The usual colors I've been running the past few days too.) We caught 4 nice walleye in the first pass, and let Gabe reel them all in. Three of the four were over 8 pounds, and the largest was 9.5 pounds. That was Evan's biggest walleye to date, so he was very happy it was in the boat, and discussed mounting it. I told him it was a nice fish, and that wall fish are more about the memories than the actual size. He forgot about it though, because he bled all the fish, and cut it's throat....oops! heheh
The lake was rocking with 1-3 foot waves from the ENE, and Gabe started to feel the bad effects of that. I offered an oral spray that skydiver's use, and she sprayed a couple pumps under her tongue. Gabe said it was working pretty quickly, so Evan was relieved to hear she was feeling better. :)
We didn't get their limit today...only 8 or 9, I think. And, we only fished for 5 hours, because Evan had a fishing trip, "Up North", he had to drive to for a bachelor's party this weekend.
Tomorrow's trip might be delayed until mid to late morning if this wind forecast on iWindSurf doesn't change. I told my customer that I would check the wind forecast when I get up at 3, and text him what time I would be picking them up at the Holiday Inn Express in town. They want to go to Big Boppers for breakfast first.
So, Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 with Dee, Steve, and Brian 5/24/17
by Capt Juls on 05/24/17Left the house at 4:45 and headed straight down to Catawba to meet my Crew for a 5:30 launch. I got there with plenty of time to get the rods set up with the Bandits I wanted to run, and made sure the line attached to the snaps was still in good working condition, or if they needed to be re-tied.
Dee, Steve, and Brian showed up nice and early, and we were on our way out of the harbor at 5:23. The wind that I was expecting this morning wasn't there, so my plan to stay out front changed, and we headed back around the corner to fish the Shoals.
We went to the far side, and made a east to west pass across the north side of the hump, with Bandits set at 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and 70 back. I figured it was best to keep it to 3 lines per side, rather than 4, because I knew it would probably get pretty chaotic very shortly. It was still dark out and we could just make out the boards in the water, without any lights on them.
We had just put the last bait in the water when the inside Off Shore board on the port side when flying back. Brian yelled, "Fish!!" And, pointed to the lively board, while Dee grabbed the rod. He had just started reeling that one in when the two outside boards went back....and, then, the middle board on the starboard side when shooting back. "Fish on the other side too", I said. Then, it was just a matter of getting them in the boat one at a time. Of those 5 fish, 3 were over 8 pounds...the biggest was just under 9 pounds. Woot! Woot!
What a way to start the morning! The sun wasn't even up yet, and we had a pile of fish in the live well already. My guys were smiling, and I was happy to have a pile of rods and baits all over the boat that needed to be cleaned up and set back out asap.
To make a long story short....it was an early bite again and slowed way down when the other charter boats showed up out there. We had 12 in the box by then, so we were pretty stoked by our good fortune on the early bite, and didn't sweat it.
We trolled around the shoal until we picked up 5 more fish and decided to get out of there, because it was getting too crowded and some Captains don't follow the rules of the road, the way they should....anyway, I digress....
We left there, and went back around the corner to fish the 16-17' contours west of Catawba and out in front of Port Clinton. We picked up two keepers and some throw backs on a bottom bouncer with a crawler harness and a Deep Husky Jerk. The Bandits were catching little fish...some not much bigger than the bait itself! lol
My guys wanted to go get their fish cleaned and get on the road back to Indiana, so we pulled the lines and headed in. Brian said, "This was the best trip to Erie I've ever had, and it restored my enthusiasm for fishing here. The only other charter I did here was with SeaBreeze Charters"...( But, I think it best if I don't publish what he said about their business.) ;)
They plan on coming back again next year, so that made me happy.
Tomorrow, I fish with Evan Parr and his fiancé. I fished with Evan a couple of weeks ago, and had a ton of fun, so I'm looking forward to fishing again tomorrow.
Oh, and by the way, the colors were the same as yesterday. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dee, Steve, and Brian 5/23/17
by Capt Juls on 05/23/17This morning, I left the house at 4:30, thinking I had enough time to get to Mazurik's launch by 5:30, after gassing up, getting ice, and grabbing some breakfast at Big Boppers. I was wrong. I was close...but, I was wrong.
I managed to get the gas and ice with a 1/2 hour left, but there was a snafu with my ordering at Big Boppers. I walked in, and there was only one other person there....so, I ordered pancakes and bacon, because I figured that would be really quick, and I could make it to the launch with time to spare.
However, my order didn't get started right away, because lots of people poured in after I went in the bathroom. lol
Anyway, after a quick text to let my crew know they didn't have to get there until 5:45 instead of 5:30...I got a response back stating that they were already there. Ugh! That figures...not often my crew beats me to the launch, but it would have to happen this morning. :)
I wolfed down my breakfast, and got out of there as fast as I could, and managed to get to the launch by 5:33, where they were waiting patiently.
We readied the boat and hit the water by 5:45....we were headed out with Nav lights lit. Whew!
The sun was still just a whisper on the horizon, and would be another 24 minutes until an official sunrise.
We didn't go very far and set up on the east side of a shoal, since the wind was from the southeast this morning. We trolled around the edges from 14 foot of water out to 24 foot.
Bandits were run 50-80 back at 2.1-2.3mph
Stock colors: Blue Chrome, Khaki, Taco Salad,....Domka Outdoors' Huff Daddy, and Captain Awesome, Attention Deficit, and Blue Sexy......DJ's Customs Angry Clipper, Pooh Bear Purple, and Pooh Bear Chartreuse
We were able to make two passes over the shoal, and managed to boat quite a few walleye during a "Chinese fire drill" type of action,before the other charter boats got out there. It seemed like, that after all the boats hit the shoal, the bite slowed down and then eventually became non existent.
We left the shoal and headed east towards Kelly's...keeping the baits in the water the whole time. We picked up a couple on the way, and the Helix 12 marked a ton of fish on the north side of American Eagle Shoal, but they were all very deep, and not wanting to come out to play with us.
In the end, it was a beautiful day, and we ended their 6 hour trip with 18 nice walleye. We also caught some sheepshead, and a few white bass too. The crew did an excellent job with the Off Shore Boards today, and had fun! They are looking forward to fishing again tomorrow too.
However, I explained to them, that it would not be as fun as it was today, since we have a strong east wind forecast for tomorrow. Grrrr....stupid wind!
I'm thinking I'll hide out on the protected side of the islands or down in front of PC. Not sure yet....but, we will get out. I'm sick of sitting on shore. Someone give Mother Nature a special brownie or something...she needs to calm down....seriously. (rolling my eyes). :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Stupid Weather....
by Capt Juls on 05/21/17I haven't blogged since the 16th, because there really wasn't much to report.
I was the second boat to Capt Kevin's charter of 6 men from Wisconsin. We fished less than favorable conditions on Wednesday, where we were restricted to staying tight to the south shore, due to strong SW winds. We managed 5 keepers out of about 20 hook ups. The rest were too small to put in the box.
Thursday was a day off due to weather and lake conditions.
Friday we got out, but it was a rough morning too, with gusty NE winds and waves at a steady 2-3 foot with many 4's thrown in....and, some 5's. We picked the crews up at South Bass at 6:45am.
My guys wanted to run crawlers, so I obliged. We caught one walleye in the slop chute by the ferry, and dropped two others before the rod was even out of the rod holders.
Then, we moved up to Middle Bass and made a pass along the west side of the island. We caught a few big sheepshead, but no walleye.
We moved up to the north side of North Bass, because the leader of my crew said he had "heard" of a big fish being caught up there, so I obliged.
The ride up to that side was rough with the NE wind. We set up, and started a pull from the buoys on the north side, and headed SW along the break.
More than once, it was mentioned how rough it was, so I figured they were uncomfortable, and said, "Pick them up, and we'll move back over to the protected side of the island".
We set up on the the south side of West Reef and headed south. The waves were much smaller, and we changed over from crawlers to Bandits. We hooked up with 4 big smallmouth on top of the reef, and two eyes after we were off the reef.
We ended the day, and I took them back to the island, to drop them off.
On my way back in to Catawba, I spotted an orange board floating in the waves, and made several attempts to retrieve it in the rough water. Finally, I managed to net it, and headed in. There was a name and phone number on the board, and I recognized the area code as a Wisconsin phone number.
I called the number when I got in, and left a message for the owner. It turns out they were staying out on South Bass too, and would be leaving the next morning on the first Ferry out. I told him that I would meet him after he was off the ferry and return his board to him.
He was thankful for the kind gesture, and that made me happy.
Saturday, we cancelled our trip, due to a strong east wind, with waves forecast at 3-6 foot, (but, a report told me they were closer to 4-8 feet).
Fast forward to this morning (Sunday 5/21)....my crew cancelled, due to wanting to stay fishing on a lake to the south of Lake Erie, where they were whacking the walleye pretty fast, and then limiting on crappies. They also didn't want to fish in the 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms forecast for the day, so I couldn't blame them, and told them to have fun.
I'm taking the day off, and getting the house clean. Maybe I'll go see a movie. I don't know yet.
Tomorrow's weather doesn't look very good either, so I'm waiting to see what the forecast does, and whether my regular customer wants to go try it.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Skip 5/16/17
by Capt Juls on 05/16/17The crew showed up last night, while I was cleaning the Ranger, because they wanted to know in advance where I lived.
I had asked them to meet me early in the morning....meaning it would be dark out when they were looking for my house. I told them that I would leave the porch light on, and light up the trailer lights, so they could find the house easily.
I said to meet at my house at 5am, and Joe said, "That's fine. We might even be a little bit early" (I secretly smiled inside). So, I was mildly surprised when they actually did show up a little early.....a half hour early, in fact.
We headed over to Turtle Creek to launch, but we were earlier than I wanted to be there. So, I readied the boat and told them that we were going to wait for it to get a little bit lighter out. We launched at 5:20, rode out the channel, and were setting lines by 5:40am.
There was a light SE wind, and the waves were 1 foot or less. The sky was cloudy with just some streaks of a sunrise that was visible, coming up in the east, and a thunderstorm way over to the west, that was headed north, and away from us. The water temperature was up to 57.4 degrees, and the air temp was around 60 degrees.
We ran the same program as the previous two days....All Bandits....Taco Salad at 40 back, Blue Chrome at 45 back, and Crown Juls at 50 back. All baits took fish....and, again, it was a faster bite before the sun came up, and slowed down as soon as it was light out. However, the bite was a little better each day after the sunrise, so I think that the "Full Moon Effect" is diminishing, and we'll get back to that regular daytime bite again. :)
Two days ago, it took 1 hour to catch our limit of 18 fish....yesterday, it took 2 hours....and, today it took 3 hours and 15 minutes. So, I think I'll get that extra sleep in the morning and start launching at my normal time of 6am again....woot! woot!
Tomorrow's charter is an add on to one of Capt Kevin's trips....it's a 4 day "company deal" where he's taking three of the 6 people, and I'm taking 3 of them, over the next 4 days. They are staying out on South Bass Island for the rest of the week, and we'll be picking them up on the island, on the days that it's possible.
I think tomorrow they may have to take the ferry across and let us pick them up, so we can launch from the mainland. The winds are forecast for 15-25 (gusts to 30) out of the south west. That will be too rough to pick them up out there.
So, stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Jeremy Chapman 5/15/17
by Capt Juls on 05/15/17Steve and Jeremy usually drive up from Columbus, but when I told them how early they needed to meet me at my house, they opted to drive up the night before and stay in Port Clinton for the night.
They showed up at my house right on time, at 5am. We loaded into the truck and headed west again.
It was the same routine as the day before, and it didn't disappoint. But, it did take a little longer to put 3 limits in the boat. Today, it took 2 hours...:)
Again, Bandits 40,45, and 51 back at 2.2-2.5mph...blue chrome, crown juls, pooh bear purple, and taco salad were the hot colors.
Tomorrow, I have Joe Jay and his friend, Skip, who stopped by earlier to make sure they knew where I lived. The plan is the same as today and yesterday, and hopefully, the fish will still be cooperative.
The fish bit very well before the sun hit the water, and then slowed down as the sun got higher in the sky. We'll see what kind of mood the fish are in tomorrow.
That full moon is getting smaller now, so hopefully, the regular feeding schedule will be back in full swing next week. Finger crossed...:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Randy and Kenny 5/14/17
by Capt Juls on 05/15/17Randy and Kenny were standing outside their hotel when I drove up at 4:30am to pick them up. We headed to Catawba to launch, but when we got there, I could hear the waves from the lake, in the dark. So, I took a walk down to the pier to get a better look at how rough it was. It was rolling in at 2 foot or less, but I figured it would be a better idea to drive over to Turtle Creek to launch instead of riding all the way across in the dark on a kind of rough lake.
So, we packed into the truck once again and headed west. We launchd at Turtle Creek at 5:25, and were setting lines at 5:45am. The boards were still a little hard to see that early, but we could just make them out enough to see if they had a fish on or not.
The catching started right away, and we could never get all 6 lines out, because the fish just kept coming. We caught our limits in just an hour. Everything was on Bandits 40 & 45 back at 2.3-2.4mph. Blue Chrome, Crown Juls, Pooh Bear Purple, and Taco Salad were the colors that were hot. We targeted 13-14' of water and made only 1 and a half passes.
It was a quick morning, and the brothers were happy to be able to get back to Indianapolis for Mother's Day, so I was able to get a lot done around the house and yard. :)
I'll be with Jeremy and Steve Chapman tomorrow, and plan the same game plan.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Randy and Kenny 5/13/17
by Capt Juls on 05/13/17I left my house at 4:45 this morning. Stopped in at Rickard's Bait and Tackle for a bag of ice, and then picked my crew up a little after 5am at the Country Inn and Suites. We hit Micky D's to grab some breakfast "to go", and headed to Catawba to launch by 5:30am.
We headed out on a calm lake....(finally, those north and east winds had stopped blowing, and gave us a reprieve for a change)...set up a short distance from the launch in 19 feet of water, and pointed the bow of the boat west. We had good marks, but they weren't jumping in the boat like they did last Wednesday.
We only managed three walleye today....all on Bandits 55 back at 1.7mph.
I'll be fishing with Randy and Kenny again in the morning, and plan on an even earlier start (5am). We hope to be on a better bite tomorrow....we shall see.
Stay tuned...
Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there! My Mom is pretty awesome....and, I'm very fortunate that I got to be her's. :)
Capt Juls
It's an afternoon bite right now....
by Capt Juls on 05/12/17I had a trip today, but to make a long story short....we zeroed today. :(
We started out at Niagara Reef....along with just about every other boat that was on the water this morning, because the water was cleaner from the reef and north of the reef.
We trolled Bandits 40, 45, 50,55, 75, and 100 back, but didn't connect with anything toothy.
Then, we headed NE towards West Reef, and ran over some dirty water that was holding a lot of fish, and was a few degrees warmer, so we turned around and set up to make a pass over them. They, however, didn't want to come out to play either.
So, we went on to West Reef to see if we could play with some smallmouth up in the shallows, while running some Top 20's on one side, at 25, 30, and 35 back and Bandits on the other side at 30, 40, and 50 back. But, we only had one big pull back and lost it before we could get the board off. It was a big fish though...whatever it was.
I'm thinking that the afternoon bite will probably be better this afternoon, due to the bright moon we had last night, and because of the reports of a good bite yesterday afternoon.
Tomorrow, I hope to be launching a little earlier in the am, and hitting the reef complex earlier too.
Good luck to those that get out tomorrow....the mud is cleaning up nicely all over the western basin and the bite should get better and better each day.
To view the satellite picture from today, just click on the weather tab above, and click on the "Satellite Pic" button.
Happy Mother's Day to all those Moms out there too! Have a wonderful weekend!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Evan and Tim 5/10/17
by Capt Juls on 05/10/17I met Evan and Tim at Catawba this morning, for a 6:30am launch. We headed toward the reef complex after getting word of decent water clarity and a good bite over there.
We set up our Off Shore spread with Bandits 40,45,50, and 55 back and set a speed of 1.8-2.0mph going with the waves, using the "Baby ETEC" to push the boat, and the Ulterra on the bow to steer it.
The wind was out of the east today, and really wasn't blowing much at all in the early am, but as the day went on the wind speed picked up a little. The waves were mostly 2 foot or less, but there were a few 3's thrown in for good measure.
It wasn't long before the first board went back, indicating a fish on. I was hoping it wasn't a sheepshead, or white bass, but it was...it was a whitey. While that fish was still in the net, the second board went back, and Tim reeled in the first walleye.
Evan and Tim fish together a lot out of Evan's boat, back in MI. They wanted some pointers on running inline boards, and after spending the morning with them, and all the fish they reeled in.... I have no doubt that they learned enough, and now have the confidence to run more than two per side on their own boat.
They caught their 12 walleye by 9:30am, and the rest of the morning we spent working on my limit, so they could keep fishing, and learning some tricks.
They did a great job, and it was a lot of fun fishing with these two young men. Evan has May 25th reserved too, and hopefully his fiancé can make it this time. She was supposed to come today, but couldn't make it, so Tim gladly filled in. :)
Tomorrow is supposed to blow out of the ENE pretty good, early, and then calm down for a few hours. We will be launching out of Catawba at 9am, to catch those lesser winds, and breaks in the rain.
I doubt I can get back out to where I was today, so I'm going to be going up the west side of the islands in search of some clean water. I'll see what the weather man has to say about tomorrow, a little later. My plans may change completely...you never know. lol
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Monday Fishing Report....5/8/17
by Capt Juls on 05/09/17Met my guys at Mazurik's and launched at 6:15am. The conditions, was a clear sky with a 5-15mph NW wind. Waves were 1-3 feet.
After the big rain and winds we just had from Thursday through Sunday...the lake was really muddy on the south shore, so we just headed north to start out and look for cleaner water.
The last place I left fish, was up by Lucy's Point, so I headed that way first. The water began to clear up on the north side of the Monument on South Bass Island.
We set up north of Lucy's and headed in a SE direction (with the waves). We had good marks, but couldn't get anything to bite. We ran chrome Bandits all over the water column, but the word on the radio was that no one was catching.
My suspicion was that the full moon had these fish inactive, due to full bellies. With clear skies the night before, and that giant moon, the fish would have been feeding at night. The reports I received later in the afternoon told me that my suspicion was probably correct, because the bite turned on later in the afternoon.
I was supposed to fish with Gary and Mark again today, but since they brought their own Ranger here from Nebraska, I had the feeling they were just nervous about being on the big lake for the first time, and suggested they take their own boat out today instead, because the conditions were going to be nice today.
After I dropped them off at the ramp yesterday, they went and had some lunch and went back out, and did what we were doing in the morning. They ended up catching 6 walleye, a couple sheepshead, and some whitebass. :)
So, I'm off today, and will get my grass cut (if the ground is still not too wet) before it rains again on Thursday.
I'll be back out again on Wednesday, but asked my customer if we could do a later start, so we could get the late morning...early afternoon...bite.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Mother Nature.....sigh
by Capt Juls on 05/07/17Well, the strong winds are finally subsiding...It's been a long 3 days. The rivers are flooded, and dumping mud into the lake. I suspect after all this rain, that the farm lands will have a lot of phosphorus run off and cause a bad algae bloom this summer. Fingers crossed that I'm wrong. I hate fishing in pea soup.
There is clean water to the north, and to the east, so my only advice after this flooding blow, is to find the clean water with some marks in it, and start fishing.
I haven't been out since last Wednesday, and my weekend was rescheduled, so I'll be back on the water tomorrow (Monday 5/8). So, until then....I don't know anything. Sorry!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
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
