Juls WFA Blog
Vacation Blog From Meta Lake Lodge in Nakina, ON Canada (Long Read!)
by Capt Juls on 08/16/16After counting down 365 days from last year's trip, the day finally arrived. We weren't leaving until the evening of August 4th, so that day was the longest day of my entire life....just waiting for the hours to pass until we would leave.
I met Steve Jackson and Frank Parzinski (and his two grandsons, Jacob and Joel) over at Frank Rozak's house. We would pack Frank R's truck and head over to pick up Bill Sharp from his house. Steve and Frank P, and the kids, would drive in one vehicle, and Bill and I would ride in Frank's truck. I liked those arrangements, because we didn't leave until 9:30pm, and as you know that's well past my bedtime. While Frank and Bill sat in front, I had the entire back of the cab to lay down and sleep on the ride up...woot! woot!
I woke up 6 hours later, feeling refreshed and even more excited to get up north. Frank and Bill switched seats, so Bill would drive now, and take us over the border in a few hours. The crossing was a breeze at 4am, since there were no lines to wait in. The agent was a bit cranky, but let us in after a few questions about what we were going to Canada for and if we had anything to declare.
I went back to sleep for a couple more hours, and woke up when it was time for breakfast. We lost Steve and Frank somewhere, when they stopped for breakfast at the place we would normally stop, but Frank and Bill couldn't remember where that was exactly, so we ate at an A&W in the next town from where the other's stopped. lol
Now, it was my turn to drive for a while. We found Steve and the gang again, when they caught up to us in the forest someplace between towns.
We arrived in Nakina around 2:30pm on Friday. We would be staying at the "584 Bed and Breakfast", owned by Larry and Raylene Schallock. We enjoyed some Molson's and Lablatt's on the deck before a yummy dinner of fried walleye and some home made salads. It sure hit the spot after living on car food for 18 hours.
We all hit the hay early, since we needed to be at the airport by 5am the next morning. I was up at 4am and showered before getting the rest of them up. They were slow moving, but we got to the airport on time, and met up with Bob and Ned Boytim, who drove up and drove through the night. They slept in their truck for 5 hours instead of staying at the B&B with us.
The float planes only allow for 8 people to fly (with gear), so the pilot said one of us would need to fly out on a smaller two seater plane, and I jumped at that chance. However, it also meant I had to wait another hour and a half before it was our turn to fly out. Other planes were coming in and going out, so we followed the third plane out.
I arrived at Meta Lake Lodge at 7:30, and went up for a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast, before going to the cabin to unpack and get what fishing gear was still needed to be readied. Steve had been putting everything in our boat, while waiting on me, so most of it was done by the time I got there.
Saturday, August 6th...Day 1
It was chilly, windy, and cloudy the first day. We had brought a bunch of floats/markers with us to mark some weed beds to help the rest of our group find them. We set 10 of 12 out. 3 in Stoney Bay, 3 on the "hump" near the south bay in Ara Lake, 3 in the South Bay, and 1 marking a huge rock up in the North Bay of Ara. (Windy conditions that week will make three of those floats just disappear, never to be found again).
We only caught 11 fish the first day and only fished the south end of Ara and Stoney Bay. We figured it was the cold front conditions making them sluggish, because we would see them follow the lures when casting, but they were not aggressive at all.
Dinner on Saturday night was a nice salad, oven roasted turkey, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Dessert was apple cake with vanilla ice cream...YUM!
Sunday, August 7th...Day 2
We started the morning by having breakfast with everyone up at the main lodge. We were doing the "American Plan", so we didn't have to do any cooking at the cabin. They made breakfast, packed us lunches, and made dinner every day, so that gave us more time to fish and just relax.
Breakfast was thick french toast with sausage...YUM!!
Steve, who inhales his food, said "Get in the boat! Let's go!" But, he was mainly joking, because he says it at every meal...and, everyone who's ever fished with him gets that chiding. It's always good for a laugh. :)
It would be the last breakfast for me the rest of the week, since Steve and I both agreed to get on the lake by 6am. It would give us an extra two hours of fishing time each day. We just had Erin pack our lunches in a way that I could put the sandwiches together in the mornings, so they didn't get soggy over night. That worked out well, but a weeks worth of sandwiches for breakfast and lunch was getting old by the end of the week. lol
Anyway, back to fishing... Since we had fished the south end of Ara yesterday, we decided to run up north today. The weather was an improvement over yesterday, and was a little warmer.
We didn't catch any monster pike yet, but we were catching a lot of 22-28 inch pike, so the future of the two lake system looks bright. We would catch a total of 32 fish...both pike and walleye, but always more pike than walleye.
We enjoyed a nice salad and then a dinner of scalloped potatoes, with the most mouth watering, and tender ham I've ever eaten...it was delicious! We finished it off with a sweet dessert of vanilla ice cream covered in raspberries.
Monday, August 8th...Day 3
Each morning I wake up first, at 4:30am. I get up and make coffee, and mine and Steve's sandwiches for the day. Then, after a hot shower, and getting ready, I would go in and wake Steve up for the second time....by then, he was ready to get up and going.
We started out on the North end of Ara, and caught 30 fish up there by 12:00. While we were trolling around up there, we noticed a mother Loon with her fuzzy little baby Loon swimming around near an island. But, about 10 minutes later, the fuzzy little baby is all by itself closer to the island and our boat, and looking scared of something. It's head was tucked all the way down and tight to its body, and momma was no where in sight now. Then, I looked over and saw two adult Loons swimming away....hmmmm. We didn't make much of it, and left to go fishing on the south end of Ara.
It took us a 1/2 hour to ride down there in our 18' wooden boat with the 15hp motor, so we arrived at approximately 12:30pm. We trolled from 12:30 to 3pm and must have hit it at the right time, because we would catch another 28 fish, for a total of 58 for the day. So far, it was our best day yet.
Dinner was a salad, meatloaf, cauliflower mashed "potatoes" and sweet corn. Dessert was ice cream with banana's foster...YUM!!
Tuesday, August 9th...Day 4
Our early start was delayed, due to a thunderstorm that popped up at 5:30am. It had some gusty winds, and lightning, so we opted to let the sun come up more before venturing out.
Frank and Bill would decide it was not a good day to fish, and would stay at the cabin all day.
Steve and I finally headed out for the day around 7am. We were headed to the south end of Ara again. It's about an hour ride from camp on a good weather day, so today it was going to take much longer. And, the ride would likely bust my ass in the front of that little wooden boat.
While we were still in the channel, between the two lakes, I said to Steve, "Maybe we should take the shoreline down, it will probably be more protected", and he replied, "Okay".
However, when we made the turn out of the channel and headed south, straight into the big waves, I kept waiting for him to turn to the left, and head towards the shoreline, but he kept going straight....ugh.
He kept it straight down the center of the lake and busted my ass the entire way down there! As we neared the south end it became calmer....thank goodness...and we could see it would be very fishable....a "bright side".
When we finally stopped, I was scowling from the butt buster ride that crushed my spine and rattled my brain inside my skull. I asked him, "I thought you were going to take the shoreline down?" He said, "Nope", and laughed. "It didn't look any better over there", he said. A wise man once told me, "Don't start no shit, and there won't be no shit", so I bit my tongue, and waited for my headache to go away, before speaking again. There was no sense in ruining a day in paradise by arguing about a boat ride. Even though, I think he did it on purpose, because when I kept looking at the shoreline going down...all I saw was calm water...hmmpf! But, on the other hand, he got SOAKED from all the crashing water over the sides, so I doubt very much he did it on purpose. It just felt like it at the time. Ha!
Anyway, after my Motrin kicked in, and my headache went away it was a fun morning. We fished the bay and caught 13 pike and walleye. With the wind still gusting, and the bite slower than normal...I asked Steve if we could troll the shoreline back up. Partly, because it would be protected, and mostly, because it would be something new to fish and explore. He was game, so we finished our trolling pass through the big weed bed in the south bay and headed north along the shoreline.
It took several hours to work our way up the shoreline, to the channel, but we found spots where we would catch a few, and then go a while without catching, and then, catch some more. We found 20 more fish that would fight and be released to live another day. We both agreed it was a fun day.
We were maybe two points away from the channel when the wind kicked up again, really hard, and forced us to head back to the protected water in the channel instead of fishing the rest of the shoreline.
There are a few spots in the channel we liked to hit, so we headed to the first spot. That's when I noticed the sky turning really dark behind Steve's right shoulder. It was coming from the south, where we just left, but seemed to be staying to the west, while we were headed to the east.
Scanning the sky to the east, it looked like the storm would miss us, so we hit one of our hot spots in the channel. But, I kept a close eye on the sky's horizon, because I learned my lesson two years ago, when we got caught in a similar storm that snuck up us pretty quick.
I told Steve, "I think we need to head back. The horizon is looking like it's headed this way now". So, without hesitation, he picked up and we started our ride back. As we left the channel, and started crossing Meta Lake, the sky behind Steve started throwing lightning bolts down from the darkened sky. The sky above us was getting gnarly, and I was hoping we would make it in before it let loose too. Thankfully, it did. We hit the dock when the big bangs of thunder were starting, and made it into the cabin just before the rain started...woot! woot!
After cocktails with Frank and Bill, we headed up for dinner, where we would enjoy a nice caesar salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, and cheesy bread. Dessert would be a three layer cake of chocolate and lemon with a lemon cream filling and a chocolate/lemon frosting. A strange combination, I thought, but it was surprisingly really good! Yum!!
Wednesday, August 10th...Day 5
It was a cold morning with spotty fog. The lake was calm though, so the lack of wind was a welcomed change. We left the dock at 6am... It was the kind of morning that makes you wonder if it could ever get more beautiful than that, and make you stop to inhale the cool, clean air... deeply.
We headed to the south end and fished the usual spots with pretty good success. We then moved to the main lake point at the mouth of the bay, where we had caught quite a few there the day before on our shoreline troll. There were 4 other boats there though, so we made one pass, caught a few, and then headed across the lake to Stoney Bay. We started on the north shore, out in front, where there are a lot of rocks, and picked up a few walleye and pike, before heading into the bay to hit the big weed bed.
Stoney Bay is better for walleye, I think, because we seemed to catch more walleye than pike in there. We still haven't caught a pike over 30 inches, but there's still two more days to go.
We made a move to the north end of Ara after leaving Stoney Bay, to see if there was an afternoon bite up there. When we arrived up there, and our trolling pass took us over to the the islands, we noticed the fuzzy baby Loon was still there....alone. I had to wonder if the momma had abandoned it, because it was sick, or it was just time for it to be weaned, or if she went off with a new male and left the baby behind. I had no knowledge of baby Loons, so I was just upset that it was still all alone and so young. Had momma been killed by an eagle or giant pike? Would the baby meet the same fate soon, since it was so young? I know, I know....bleeding heart...."it's nature", but I couldn't help feeling sad for the little bugger.
We left it alone, and while trolling back down to the south, we saw a big Bald Eagle flying over the island, really low. I thought for sure it was going to get the baby Loon, but it caught a wind and did the circle thing high into the sky instead. Whew! That was close. Steve agreed to let me bring some fresh minnows the next morning to feed it, in case the momma had left it alone. After three days, sitting in the same spot, I could only think about how hungry it must be. So, that was our plan.
After leaving the north end, we went into the channel to hit our usual honey holes to finish out the day. We ended today with 63 pike and walleye.
Dinner was the usual Wednesday night fish fry. Everyone is supposed to bring back some walleye to be cooked up, but Steve is a staunch catch and release angler, and I have no issue with that, so we agreed that we could just eat the beans and salads for dinner. After all, the beans are a meal in themselves, and are really really good! Frank and Bill didn't bring in any fish either, but Frank P., his grandsons, and Bob and Ned Boytim brought in enough to share with all of us, so we had fried walleye, homemade baked beans, cole slaw, and potato salad for dinner.
Dessert was...ice cream again. Yum!!
Thursday, August 11th....Day 6
Steve thought it would be nice to take one of Frank's grandsons each day, so today we took the youngest one, Joel. I told him he had to be up early, and if he didn't get to the boat by 6am, we were leaving without him. I told Steve to make sure to go knock on their cabin door at 5:45 to make sure he's up. But, of course, he's so pokey in the mornings too, that at 5:50, I went up there and knocked. A sleepy little boy looked through the door window, and I said, with a smile, "Let's go Kid!", and turned to walk away. My sternness worked, because he was at the dock and in the boat by 6am. Ha! After that, I would soften my "touch", to wake him up completely. It was chilly in the morning, and like most little boys who dress themselves, he was not going to be warm enough, so Steve gave up his Guidewear jacket to let Joel wear, so he would be warm enough on the run up the lake.
We headed to the north end, first thing, and started a trolling pass in "Walleye Alley" before making a pass around the grassy island and by the bigger rock islands up there. We were happy to see that we would not need to feed the baby Loon this morning, because as we neared the rocks, where it had been hanging out, we saw momma with it again. That made our hearts happy, and we told Joel the story of the little Loon, and it made him smile too.
We turned the boat and headed back towards "Walleye Alley", trolling our big Silver Minnows tipped with white twister tails. I figured it was a good time to use the bathroom, since it was slow, and I really had to pee.
I set the rod in the rod holder, and it wasn't a minute later the rod tip bends with a violent tug. I told young Joel to get it out of the rod holder. But, he couldn't lift it out of the cradle, so I yelled to Steve to get it, because my pants were around my ankles, while I squatted in the bottom of the boat with a cut off bleach bottle between my legs. lol
Joel did a fantastic job of reeling in a big 40" pike. Steve netted it, and got it in the boat quickly, because it was hanging halfway out of the rubber net. After a quick measurement and a few pictures, she was released to swim another day. Yay!
We left the north end and headed down to the south bay again. Joel ended up falling asleep on the ride down, and woke up as soon as we had another fish on. He was a happy boy, since he reeled in 33 of our 35 fish.
Something very special happened when he was reeling in one of the fish on my rod. A young Bald Eagle flew over from a tree on the shore, and flew very low, like it was going to try and get Joel's fish, that was thrashing on the surface. But, it was too close to the boat by the time it got there, and it circled back.
However, it didn't fly back to shore and made a B-line back to our boat, because Steve's lure was fouled with weeds and on the surface. I pointed that out to Steve, before the eagle tried to go for it, and it flew straight over the length of our boat, about 20 feet up in the air. We could see all the details on the feathers and its face. It looked us over with curiosity, and flew off again.
We were in awe, and couldn't believe that just happened! Then, it came back two more times and did the same thing....straight over the boat and only about 20 feet up in the air. We just looked at each other and laughed at our good luck with this chance meeting of one of America's most majestic birds of prey. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold. :)
It was a nice day, and he couldn't wait to tell his grandpa and his brother that he caught the biggest fish of the week so far.
When they finally showed up at the dock, we walked down, so he could tell them. But, his brother burst his bubble when he said, they caught one that was 45 inches, but it got away when grandpa brought it in the boat, and it flopped and bounced out of the boat before they could do anything with it. So, I said, "Well, too bad, so sad, that doesn't count". It has to be measured to be official. lol
That made Joel smile again, because he was in the lead for the big fish pot at the end of the week.
Grandpa was so disappointed, because it was the biggest fish he's ever caught up there in the many years he's been fishing the lakes.
Dinner was grilled steaks to order, salad, and baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. Dessert was something, but I can't remember what it was. I'm sure it was worthy of a "YUM!" though. ;)
Friday, August 12th...Day 7
We woke up to a cold front again. The wind was calm though, so that was nice.
We would be taking Joel's older brother, Jacob, today. Steve went to wake him up, and we hit the water at 6:15am. Again, like young boys do, he was not dressed properly, so again, Steve gave him his jacket to wear. I'm sure it had to be a cold ride for Steve, because he without his jacket, he wasn't going to be warm enough either.
We made the same rounds as the day before, but didn't get any big fish, but we did catch a few more than the day before. Jacob had reeled in 13 fish before taking a 3 hour nap, where in which Steve and I would land another 27 fish, trolling the weed bed in the south bay.
We finished off the day by casting our honey holes in the channel, but the holes were not was productive as the previous days, and we would end our day with a total of 47 fish.
The highlight of the day was looking over and seeing something odd in the water...and, it was moving. I asked, "Did Ned throw a black marker or something?" But, then we saw the ears...it was a swimming bear! We got close enough to get video, but not close enough to freak it out, because it had to be tired from its long swim across the bay. We videoed it for about a 1/4 mile and watched it run out of the water and disappear into the woods. That was SO COOL!! Glad we had the chance to see it. :)
We had cocktails and packed up our belongings for the early flight out in the morning, before heading up for dinner.
We had a nice dinner of baked chicken, rice pilaf, and garlic green beans. Dessert was a choice of either apple or blueberry crisp with ice cream...Yum! :)
After dinner, we finished packing and organizing our gear, so it could be set out in the morning to be picked up by the staff and loaded on the dock, so when the plane came in, we would be the first flight out.
I woke up early, and cleaned the cabin, and set all the gear out on the porch while them rest of the slept in. I would have time to sleep in the truck on our way to Geraldton, for breakfast.
We stopped at a little restaurant for breakfast, and then set forth on our long journey home. A long story short...we made it back to Frank's house about 1am Sunday morning.
It was a fun trip, and I feel very fortunate to have been invited to spend the time with all of them. The fishing was just a bonus. They are a great bunch of guys, and I can't thank them enough for the opportunity. I hope to do it again in the future.
Capt Juls
You can view the trip pictures here:
http://www.julswalleyefishingadventures.com/Photos-Pg-19.html
Fishin with Ben and Mike 8/1/16
by Capt Juls on 08/01/16It's been a while since I blogged, so I thought since I had some free time after today's trip, that I would share today's trip with you.
I didn't have to meet my crew at Catawba State Park until 6:45, so I made some brownies at 4am....by the way, the house wafting of chocolate is a pleasant way to wake up! :)
I loaded the boat with the perch cooler and other things, and left the house at 5:20. I made a few phone calls looking for shiners, but all I was told that anyone had was Goldies, so I pulled into Hi Way bait for minnows and ice.
I grabbed a breakfast sandwich from Big Bopper's and headed down to the ramp a little early....a 1/2 hour to be exact. So, after readying the boat for launching, I sat in the quiet Monday morning park and enjoyed that sandwich.
My crew of Ben Welch, and his friend Mike, showed up right on time at 6:45, so we were on the water, and headed out by 7am. Our plan was to start with the perch and then go look for some walleye, if there was time left over after perch'n.
I headed right to the spot where I was the day before, and set up. We were approximately 2 miles NW of the ramp, so it was a very short run. We weren't there long, before I caught the first green and gold goodie from the depths, that told us they were down there.
Ben started pulling perch too, but Mike was struggling on the other side of the boat to hook the little buggers. They were biting, but he was feeding them more than he was catching them. We teased him, and he was a good sport about it. He eventually got better at it, and helped fill the cooler too. :)
We caught our 90 perch in three hours, so it was time to go look for some walleye.
The info I had gotten from another captain in the morning, wasn't panning out for them too well today, from what I could hear on the radio. So, we decided to head over to the area on the west side of gull, and pull something behind the Off Shore boards. I gave them he choice of fishing with either crawler harnesses or Bandit crank baits....they chose the crawler harnesses. So out came the worms for their icy bath.
We ran #6 Colorado blade harnesses, with 1oz inline weights, at 1.3-1.5mph. We ended up with a lot of munched up, or stolen crawlers, and three little eater walleye in the cooler to show for our efforts.
The Humminbird did show a ton of nice marks on the bottom....SW of Gull, in 41-42' of water, so I'm going to head back there in the morning with Ben and Mike, to see if those are perch or just a bunch of little walleye. I'm really hoping those are perch!!
So...stay tuned....
Capt Juls
The Perch bite is starting...
by Capt Juls on 07/23/16I realize that I haven't blogged for two weeks now, but with this super hot weather we've been having, when I do get out....I have been pretty wore out by the time I get off the water, boat taken care of, and all the errands done before bed. I look at the computer, and just say, "No, not tonight". I apologize for that, but when the mind says, "Yes", but the body says, "No"...you can guess which one wins. ;)
Anyway, the perch are starting to bite in the western basin. We have been getting decent hauls of "eater sized" perch that are in that 7-9 inch range, and it should just keep getting better and better from here on out...woot! woot!
Lots of little walleye are being caught while perch fishing too, so the future of this amazing fishery is looking very bright.
The temperature is usually just a tad cooler out there on the water, than it is on shore, so beat the heat by getting out on the lake to catch some perch for your Friday fish fries! It's a win-win for everyone. :)
I have another perch trip in the morning, so maybe I'll see you out there!
Oh, and just a FYI: I still have openings for walleye, perch, and smallmouth trips towards the end of this week, the last two weeks of August, and some open days in each week in September. October is a possibility, but we'll see what the weather does this year...it wasn't so kind last season, so Oct is a "wait and see" deal.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Robert Langager and his two boys 7/10/16
by Capt Juls on 07/14/16Thursday July 8th was rescheduled to Monday the 11th...
Friday July 9th was a cancel...
Sunday, July 10th, I picked up Robert Langager, and his two boys, Willem and Russell, at their hotel at 5am. We headed to Big Bopper's for a quick breakfast, and then hit up Hi Way Bait for some ice and minnows. We were equipped to fish for walleye and perch that day.
The plan was to head up to Canadian water for the day, but there was a NNW wind blowing. It was scheduled to lay down in the morning, so I wanted the boys to get used to the boat, and the waves, before heading that far out, so they could get used to the big water. They had never been on Lake Erie before, and I didn't want them to be scared. We started out on the SE corner of Kelly's to make a trolling pass across my previous trail, where we caught fish a few days before.
Once I figured they were going to do well, I told Robert, "Let's pull the lines and head up north". The lake had laid down a little bit, so we headed up the east side of Kelly's, and up over the line to the east of Middle Island. Our call into Canadian Customs went without a hitch, since everyone had their birth certificates/numbers, and we were good to go.
We started out by Chickenolee, and tried for some perch, but there were no takers there, so we headed up to Mill Point, and looked for some near the humps. Nothing going there either, so I moved up to see if there were any up on Grub Reef. There was another boat set up there to perch, so I was hoping my guess to go there was a good one......it wasn't. I watched them for awhile, and they had nothing going. And, all I was feeling were nibbles from Gobies.
All that time, I was listening to the "gang" on the radio, and they were catching walleye back to the south of us, so I told Robert that we should put the perch stuff away and go back to walleye fishing. He agreed.
We started out with the bandits, because I figured if they were biting, the cranks would be easier with the crew I had, and one of the captains on the radio was also running bandits. However, he wasn't doing as well as the captains running meat.
It was a slow start, but we hooked up with a nice 4 pounder on a Bandit 55 back, but it was lost on the way in, when it came up to the top and thrashed around, and spit the bait. Russell (10 years old) was devastated, and pouted for a little bit. lol
After moving further south, to where the big boats were fishing, I decided it was time to put the Bandits away, and put the crawler harnesses on. It turned out to the the right decision, because as I was putting the third crawler on its hooks, I looked up to see the second board, that was still moving out, get hit...twice.
I jumped to lock in the reel, so it would hook that fish, and the board almost sunk with the weight of that fish. It didn't act like a sheepshead, so I was hopeful that it was a big walleye.
It was Willie's turn to reel in the fish, (Willie is 8 years old), so while Dad helped him hold the rod, Willie reeled it in nice and steady...with a few grunts about how hard it was...lol
As the fish came to the surface, I turned, and mouthed the words to Robert, "Holy @#%$Balls"....I know, I know, but I didn't actually say it out loud, so it's not really unprofessional....right? heheh But, it's been a few weeks since I've seen a 30 1/2 inch walleye on the line!
Anyway, we netted that fish, and I turned to Willie and gave him a high five, telling him, "Great job little man"! His smile was huge at that point, but Russell just started whining, because he was jealous that his little brother got it, and not him. So, Robert, being the great Dad that he is, was able to calm him down pretty quickly, and at that moment, another board went shooting back.
Now, it was Russell's turn again....it was a massive sheepshead, but to kids, they don't discriminate...it was as big as the Willie's walleye, and he was now a happy little fisherman again.
We landed 9 walleye, and just about as many sheepshead, so the day was salvaged after a slow start. The boys did great for a long 8 hour trip on a very hot day, and I was impressed with how well they did.
The crawler harness program was 1oz inlines 31, 41, and 51 back at 1.3mph.
I heard that the Canadian Commercial netters have set up nets in that area now, so it looks like this weekend's trip will be to the north of the Pelee, or off Sheridan Point, if they are still there. (Gawd, I hate the nets).
Robert texted me the other day, and said, "Thank you for the great memories yesterday, the boys will remember that forever". He also said that Willie told him "I want to be a Captain/Guide when I grow up"....and, that makes me happy. :)
It's always nice to know I made a good impression on a young soul.
Anyway....I'm off a few days this week, and will be back at it Saturday and Sunday. I don't know yet if my crew will get their Canadian licenses yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because I want to go back up there. It's going to be a nice weekend for it.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill Wright 7/7/16
by Capt Juls on 07/08/16Bill, who is from MN, had just come from visiting family out in NY, and reserved the date, so he could stop and fish Lake Erie on his way home. Luckily, the weather was cooperative, and he got his trip in.
Having had the bad luck up in Canada the day before, I opted to go with some information from a fella named Frank on walleye.com, who shared his latest catch information with the forum.
So, after picking Bill up at his hotel, stopping for ice at HI Way Bait, and getting breakfast at Big Bopper's, we launched out of Mazurik's at 6am. While at breakfast, I learned that one of the other Captain's having breakfast there didn't have a trip that morning, so we invited him to fish with us, so we could run two more lines. The day before, I had told Trapper and a few other Captains at Bopper's about Frank's info, and they fished it the day I was up in Canada. Those that went there caught fish, so that's where we were headed after breakfast.
We hit the SE corner of Kelly's, and targeted the 25-28 foot of water, pulling Bandits 55-75 back without weight....speed was 1.9-2.0mph. We did best going from a west to east pull. We managed to catch Bill's limit of nice eater sized walleye, with the largest going 26 1/2 inches, and a barn yard full of giant sheep. At one point we had all six boards loaded up, and only one of them was a walleye...the rest were board sinking Sheep. But, it was entertainment, and a lot more fun that just washing the boards, like we did the day before up in Canada. lol
Then, since Bill wanted to try perch'n yesterday too, we went looking for some. Typically, the area where we were walleye fishing is usually good for perch too, so we set up there first. I caught a goby, and the boys weren't getting bit, so we moved up to the line on the north side of Gull Island Shoal. The first bite was a nice 10 inch perch, so I thought "Woot! Woot! We found some!" But, it was slow, and Bill and I only caught two more in about 15 minutes, and Trapper didn't catch any, so my patience wore thin. I know, I know....you have to give it more time, but knowing that Trapper doesn't even like to perch fish, I got impatient, and decided to move again. I know better than to not give a spot at least 20 minutes before moving, when there are marks down there, but it was hot and buggy, and we could always go back to walleye fishing.
We hit three more spots after the Gull spot, and didn't catch anymore, so we opted to do more walleye fishing back down in the original spot with the last hour and a half to go.
We caught one more walleye for the cooler, and more giant sheepshead, and a nice catfish, that Bill took for the dinner table.
It was a nice day, and Bill had fun, caught some fish to take home, and said he wants to come back next year. However, he said next time he would fly in and rent a car rather than make the long drive from MN. :)
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for 10-20's from the WNW, so we'll see if that trip is a go. I have to talk to the customer about the conditions that's going to cause.
So...Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bob, Mike, and Grant 7/6/16
by Capt Juls on 07/08/16Just catching up....it's been a busy week!
Took Bob Braid, his brother, Mike, and his nephew, Grant, up to Canada on Wednesday. I had high hopes, since the weather and lake conditions were optimal for a good bite, but I was sadly mistaken, when in the first 1/2 hour our crawler harnesses were not enticing the marks below the boat. 4 days earlier, with similar conditions, we could not keep the boards in the water within minutes of setting the meat out there. Hmmmm....that was a head scratcher.
We switched up to Bandits, and moved to another area up there. Within a short time, we caught a nice 25 incher, so I thought it would improve, but again, I was wrong. We caught another 17 1/2 inch fish, and lost some big fish half way to the boat....but, who knows if they were big fish, or just 16 inchers coming in sideways...and, some shorts, but that was it for keepers. We didn't even get any junk fish.
I changed things up from time to time, to see if I could improve the catch, but nothing I tried seemed to work. It was frustrating to say the least. I hate just watching boards do nothing. Where are the sheepshead when you need them for entertainment? lol
They told me that they still had a good time, and that it was relaxing to be out there, so they want to come back another time to try again.
That made me happy, because I always feel really bad when the results are less than stellar. :(
So, there wasn't much to post on that one....sigh
Capt Juls
Day 2 of 2 with Greg and Duane 7/3/16
by Capt Juls on 07/03/16I met Greg and Duane at Big Bopper's this morning, since they had to check out of their hotel, so they could follow me to Mazurik's afterwards. We launched at 5:45 and headed to Canada...finally!!
It was a perfect morning, with cooler temps, and a very light SW wind. The sunrise was picture perfect....so, yeah, I took a picture. :)
We made good time, floating across the water at 50mph in the Ranger, and were set up and fishing by 6:05.
I had originally planned on fishing with crawler harnesses first, but that changed at breakfast, when one of the other Captains told me he had been up to the same spot the day before and did well on the Bandits. So, we started with Bandits, because you all know how much I like to run them!
We pulled 3 fish in a half a pass, on the Khaki color 55 back. They weren't jumping in the boat, so we made a slight move to the NW and changed up to crawler harnesses. We ran 4 boards and two bottom bouncers to start, but eventually took one bottom bouncer out of the set up, due to the chaos that was happening with a steady bite.
Single blade harnesses behind 1oz inline weights at 1.2mph was the ticket. You could actually even go slower, since a fish hit on the slow side of a turn.
The fishing was fantastic today, but the little bugs were horrendous! I'm pretty sure I swallowed more than a dozen of those little buggers. My guys called, "Uncle!" So, we cut the trip short with 9 good eaters in the box. The largest fish today was just under 27", so they were happy with the catch and couldn't wait to get that Evinrude revved up and moving fast...to blow the bugs out of the boat, and our faces. lol
They followed me to Bay's Edge, where I dropped their fish off, so they could pick up their fish from the day before too. They said they had a great time, and want to come back again next summer...and, that made me happy. :)
I spent 2 hours detailing the inside of the boat this afternoon, and will do the outside tomorrow or Tuesday, since I have both days off.
I'll be back at it Wednesday, and I do believe we will be heading back up to Canadian water....woot! woot!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Day 1 of 2 with Greg and Duane 7/2/16
by Capt Juls on 07/02/16Well, there was a change in plans, since I thought we were heading to Canada this morning. Due to a miscommunication, they had only bought a one day license that they planned on using tomorrow. So, we headed back to Huron to run the same program, in the same areas, that I had run with Ben, Doyle, and Dennis yesterday.
We ended up with 8 nice walleye, a couple of cats, and a handful of big barn yard animals. When we loaded out, the DNR was there doing a cooler check for size limits, and asking questions about the fishing. We had only one small one that I knew to keep only if it was 15 1/4 or larger. The reason I don't keep fish that hit the 15" line, is that when they hit the ice in the cooler, they shrink. It was a good call, because that 15 1/4" walleye was 15 inches when he measured it...or, in his words, "On the money".
He mentioned that our 8 fish were the nicest he had seen all day, and then he held up our 15 incher and said, "Everyone else is bringing this size in". That made Greg and Duane very happy, and I can't lie, it made me smile too! :)
Greg and Duane had never trolled with Off Shore boards before, or any trolling for that matter, so it was all new to them. They did a great job learning to set lines, and before they knew it, I wasn't correcting them as much as I was in the beginning.
It was a beautiful day, with calm winds, and partly sunny skies....with the exception of a lot of little tickley bugs!
We are headed to Canada in the morning, but this time we'll start with crawlers. That should throw them a little curve.
It's supposed to be another beautiful day, so I hope everyone gets out on the lake and enjoys the weekend. :)
Stay tuned...
Juls
Fishing with Ben, Doyle, and Dennis 7/1/16
by Capt Juls on 07/01/16I didn't blog the last 4 trips, since one was a smallmouth trip, and three were walleye trips that were restricted to just the US side of the line. Those trips all caught upwards of 40-50 small walleye with only one day keeping 3 walleye, one day keeping 8 walleye, and one day keeping 4 walleye. Needless to say, the little ones are very aggressive, and getting to the baits before the bigger ones do. Every time you reeled in a line, there was something hanging on it.
That's not to say I didn't have a good time with those customers, it just means I didn't get any good pics to blog with, and there really wasn't a report to give. I also had lots of things going on around the homestead that needed attention, and there are just not enough hours in a day.
Right now, we complain about all the bazillion little fish out there, but it won't be much longer and it's going to be awesome fishing around here!
Today's trip was with one of my favorite regular customers, Ben Rewa, and his friends, Doyle and Dennis. I picked them up from the Penninsula Motel at 4:30, and we hit Big Bopper's for breakfast.
While there, I had shown them the wind forecast for the day, which was going to keep us from making the run all the way up to Canadian waters. The forecast was calling for building winds from the SW...that would switch to the WNW, with gusts as high as 28mph.
With some helpful information from another Captain at the restaurant, we decided to make the trek over to Huron to launch. We headed over to the area between Cranberry and the Castle, and set up in 24-25 foot of water on an NE troll (wind behind us). I took off the crawler harnesses that I was planning to use up by Pelee, and put the trusty old Bandits on again. We set them from 35 to 75 without weight and 30/30 with a 2oz snap weight at 1.9-2.0mph. 8 nice walleye were caught in that area before and during a heavy rain fall.
When the winds kicked up, we decided to make a run to the west of the Huron River, and chose the same depth to run with the Bandits. We would catch 5 more walleye with one of them being thrown back for a total of 12 walleye for their 6 hour trip.
We had a triple on at one point, but it turned out to be a triple Sheepshead bite. A couple of them were pretty darn big too!
Well, it's going to be a nice weekend, and the plan is to head up to Canada for the next two days, as long as the wind forecast allows it. And, so far, the wind forecast is looking terrific for that adventure.
Since the Bandits are on the rods, I'll start with those, but we'll change them up to spinners if we think we need to. Crawlers always take a ride in the Ranger...just in case I need them.
I'm hoping we can get a quick 12 walleye limit, and then go fishing for some perch. I'm in the mood to go perch'n. :)
Be careful this Independence Day weekend...stay safe...and, good luck fishing!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Charlie, Chris, and Matt 6/25/13
by Capt Juls on 06/25/16
Started this morning by missing the last step on my front porch, after turning the porch light off, before heading to the truck. I twisted my foot, and felt a few "pops", where one shouldn't feel pops....and, fell very ungracefully to the driveway....ugh. I laid there saying, "@$#% ME!", and cursed my inability to count to three. The worst part is, I felt for that last step with my foot, but didn't feel it and stepped off. So, it came as quite a surprise when I stumbled.
Anyway....
This day was a Christmas present from Charlie's wife (He's on the right)..Charlie, Matt, and Chris were a ton of fun to fish with today.
They learned to set the Off Shore boards quickly, so I could get off my injured foot.
All three took turns reeling in fish, taking the boards off, and netting fish! They were awesome, for not having a lot of experience. Funny as hell too!
We ended up 13 for 17 on some very good eaters....using Bandits again up in Canada. We used the exact same program as the trip back on the 23rd of this week.
They will be coming back next year too...woot! Woot!
Sorry this is so short, but I need to go ice my foot.
Tomorrow is my first smallmouth bass trip of the season, and I'm looking forward to it, even though I won't get to fish. I'll just drive the boat and let them catch all the fish. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Marc Cassel 6/23/16
by Capt Juls on 06/24/16Again...sorry for the lack of blogging...things get in the way sometimes. :)
Yesterday, we ran to Canada again. Marc, who has been fishing with me for three years now, came down by himself, because his fishing partner had to back out at the last minute, due to medical issues. I invited Marc to stay here at my house, so between fishing and trying to keep him entertained, I had no time to blog.
Stopped at Big Bopper's for breakfast and found Mark Bellissimo (aka: Trapper) there having breakfast alone. He has been mating for Capt Bob Hayner on the "Eagle Eye" lately, and said Bob had cancelled his trip the night before, because iWindSurf had shown strong NE winds forecasted. But, by morning, the forecast had backed off drastically, and was going to be a flat calm lake. So, Trapper was free for the day. I invited him to fish with us, so we could run a couple more lines, and knowing Trapper runs Off Shore boards on his own boat, it would be like having a first mate for the day....He said, "Yes"....woot! woot! :)
We headed up to the west side of Pelee...stopping to call in our entry at the line. The customs agent asked for the usual...boat registration number, my work permit number, and the names, birth dates, and either passport number, birth certificate number, or enhanced driver's lic number of all my passengers.
Trapper has been over the line enough that they already had his info...but, Marc didn't have one of the three documents they want, and when I told them he only had a Wisconsin driver's license, she said, "Well, I can make a note of it on here, but it's good for only one day". I said, "Any chance of making that two days? He's fishing with me for two days". She said, "I can make it good until the 26th, but if you get checked, and they decide they want to take you in until they can verify his citizenship, they can." I said, "Thanks", and left it at that.
So, if you're planning a trip to Canadian water, it's best to have one of those three documents to make it easy.
We headed up the west side of Pelee and fished 28-32' of water...just turning and turning on a pod of fish we found that were willing to bite after a full moon and a Mayfly hatch. We started the morning with harnesses, but after one pass, made the decision to put the Bandits back on.
On a tip from Capt Kevin Swartz, who was up there the day before, pulling Bandits, he said had luck running them 75 back, and 30/30 with a 1oz snap weight, so we set up running 75' back, 30/30 with a 1oz, 30/30 with a 2oz, 30/30 with a 3oz and 40/40 with 2oz snap weight. Every presentation caught fish at one point or another. The colors that caught fish yesterday were: Khaki, Blue/Chrome, Perch, Sucker Punch, Eridescent, Taco Salad, and Black Headed Wonder Bread. So, you can see the colors are all over the place. Khaki and Sucker Punch did the best though.
Marc and Mark had a good time and landed 10 nice eaters between them. They averaged 3 pounds, which are perfect eaters in my book.
Marc decided to reschedule for two more perch trips this September instead of going out today with NE winds and a big MayFly hatch, so I'm cleaning the boat today.
Tomorrow's trip is another trip to Canada with three guys, and the weather looks perfect. I don't know if I'll be east or west of Pelee tomorrow, but we'll be up there somewhere. Good luck!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Richard, Brian, and Scott 6/18/16
by Capt Juls on 06/18/16I met my crew at Mazurik's at 6:45, and we launched at 7am. We pointed the Ranger north, and headed to the west side of Pelee Island. After calling in our entry into Canada, we set up between a 24 and 25 foot contour line on "The Wheel", and set a course north west towards Hen Island.
After a quick tutorial on how to use the Off Shore boards, my guys were setting the Bandits back 55, 60, and 65 foot back. I started with the speed that worked for me the past few weeks, which is 1.9-2.1mph. Even though it was going to be a bluebird sky, with lots of sun, I decided to run a mix of chrome and painted baits.
To start, we used Blue/Chrome, Khaki, Taco Salad, Green Clown, Black Headed Wonder Bread, and Sucker Punch. Eventually, I replaced the Sucker Punch and Green Clown, with another Taco Salad and Huff Daddy.
By far, the hot color today was Taco Salad, at 55 back. If you don't know what color Taco Salad is, it's the chartreuse body with the blue back with a scale pattern on the blue part.
We managed to put 19 walleye in the cooler, and watched as 3 more of them came unbuttoned at the back of the boat, to live on another day. We only had two throw backs, along with 3 or 4 sheep, and two smallmouth bass, so not much "junk" to deal with.
The guys had a great time, and said, "This is by far the best charter, and fishing, we've ever had on Lake Erie, so we'll be calling you again for another trip soon." Richard said he would like to try the perch fishing sometime in August or September too, so that made me very happy. They were a lot of fun to fish with and were very laid back....definitely made it a very fun day for me too!
Tomorrow's trip is a one person trip, and we won't be headed to Canada...per his request, so we will be out east of Kelly's someplace. I just have to find some fish first. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Carol Schneider 6/16/16
by Capt Juls on 06/16/16Let me back up just one day, because Andy Takos and I did fish yesterday, for 3 hours, before what we thought was a pretty good thunderstorm was heading for us. At least it was.... until it hit the lake, and weakened, leaving all the lightning behind. But, we would be off the water by the time I would see that happening.
Anyway, I asked him if he would like to reschedule for a better day, since I thought we were going to have to cut it so short.....So, no blog from yesterday.....sorry!
On to today....
Passing by the lakefront, on my way to pick up Steve and Carol Schneider from their hotel, I saw a lot of lightning happening way to the north. A quick look at the RadarScope app confirmed it was on the Canada side.
We hit the gas station on the way out to Big Bopper's, to top off the Ranger.
Once at Bopper's, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, since we had to wait for the storm to pass, because our plan for the day was to cross over and fish the west side of Pelee Island. Leaving there, we headed to Mazurik's to wait it out a little bit longer.
The radar showed it moving east, and the sky was clearing, so we were able to launch at 6:30. The lake was pretty calm, except for a few NE rollers from the winds the night before. The fishing reports from that side were pretty darn good from the two days prior, so we were hoping that the lightning didn't effect them too badly, and they would want to bite.
We started out with the Bandits at 55, 60, and 65 back at a speed of 1.9-2.0mph, because I was told it was a good crank bait bite. It was sunny after the storm passed, so we started out with the chrome colored baits. But, as the day progressed the cloud coverage increased. As the sky darkened, we changed out some colors to more brighter painted baits, like the "Black Headed Wonder bread" (which caught our biggest walleye of 28 1/2 inches), that one that "Dream Catcher Bait" painted called, "Sucker Punch", and "Cotton Candy", or "Pink Lemonade" as most would recognize it as. :)
We ended our 6 hour trip with 9 nice walleye, and were told, when we took our fish in to the "Port Clinton Fish Co." that we had the best basket of fish so far for the day, and that made my customers very happy. I can't lie, it made me feel good too...woot! woot! But, that's only one fish cleaner, so I'm sure there were better baskets brought in today.
Steve and Carol did a great job working the Off Shore boards today, and said they learned a lot, so that made me happy. :)
Tomorrow's trip is being rescheduled, due to my long time customer having been in a very serious accident two days ago, thanks to someone texting while driving. He ended up in the hospital, and his van was totaled when it was hit from behind and then wrapped around a telephone pole. He was pretty banged up, but thankfully, no broken bones or internal injuries.
To his credit, he had lost over 100 pounds this past year, and had been walking up to 4 miles a day several times a week, so he was much healthier than last year, and this accident could have been so much worse, had he been in the shape he was in then...I don't even like to think about it.
So, my next trip out will be Saturday morning with the Norris men of Canton, OH. The wind forecast right now looks very favorable for another run up to Canada, but I'll have to wait and see if my crew shows up with their licenses in hand. I discussed it with them, and told them its up to them. We can always find some walleye on this side, but it's just so much better up there....and, usually less crowded too.
So Stay Tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Matt, Renee, and Papa Fred 6/12/16
by Capt Juls on 06/13/16The morning was blowing hard out of the north, but would lay down at noon, so I told my crew, "Since I have the day off on Monday for a doctor's appointment, we can do an afternoon trip, and head out at noon".
They met me at Mazurik's ramp at 11:30, and we waited to launch until closer to noon, as we watched the lake lay down a little more. It went from white capping waves to no white caps, but was still bumpy as we made our run up to the area above C can, near the Canadian line.
Matt said they really wanted to learn how to run the Off Shore boards, because they had just bought inline boards for their boat, but really didn't know how they work. So, my goal was to teach him and his Dad Fred all the ins and outs of running inline planers, so they could take that info and run them confidently on their boat.
We started out with the crawler harnesses, and picked up two fish in the first pass. The wind went from north to southwest, as if someone just hit a light switch, so I don't know if that affected the bite, but we didn't get another in the second pass.
After about 15 minutes of no action, I told them to check the crawlers on the starboard side of the boat. Sure enough, all of them had been attacked, but only ripped the crawlers in half. Were they walleye doing that, or whites? I don't know, but I decided to switch the baits out, back to my Bandits, so I could run faster and cover more ground.
We picked up a nice 4 pound walleye on a blue/chrome Bandit at 65 back...speed was 2.0mph. I asked Matt, "Would you like a picture?" He replied, "Yes". So I handed off the fish to him. As I reached for my camera, it wiggled and he dropped it on the floor. He picked it up, but didn't have his finger in the gill to get a good grip on it, and it wiggled again, and he dropped it on the lid of the Ranger's live well. He couldn't reach down fast enough, and it "swam" off the top of the lid and into the splash well...then, out the back of the boat.
I couldn't help, but laugh, because the whole scene was pretty comical. I felt bad that he lost the fish, but it was pretty darn funny. Oh well....that was a lucky fish, who fought hard to live another day, and succeeded. :)
We left that area and moved over to the north side of North Bass, and picked up one more walleye, and a few sheepshead. Then, with an hour and a half to go, we moved down to the west side of Gull Island Shoal, to see if those fish were still in the area, where I left them last. All we caught were a handful of shorts...and, then, ran out of time.
So, it was a successful day in that they learned how to run the inline planer boards well enough that they could do it with more confidence in their own boat. The catching was not as successful, but we all had fun, and that's all that matters.
My Tuesday trip has rescheduled for August and September, for reasons known to them. So, I'm off Monday and Tuesday, and will be back out on Wednesday with a previous customer, Andy Takos, and his friend.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike, Brent, and Ben 6/10/16
by Capt Juls on 06/10/16I didn't have to pick my crew up this morning...they were staying right down the street from Mazurik's, at "Little Ted's Cottages". So, I stopped in to grab a breakfast sandwich "to go" from Big Bopper's, before heading to the ramp.
Today, I would be fishing with Mike Appell, his friend Brent, and Brent's son, Ben.
I pulled in the lot at 5:05am, and was stunned when they pulled in at 5:10am. I had told them 5:30, so you can imagine my surprise to have someone show up...not only on time...but, very early, in fact. I thought to myself, "This is going to be a good day". :)
We launched and headed out. The sun was just lighting the morning sky with different shades of red, but hadn't broke the horizon yet. We ran out to the area west of Gull Island Shoal, where I gave them a quick lesson on running Off Shore inline boards. They had never used them before, but wanted to learn.
As they quickly learned how to set lines, I looked up to see the fireball peaking over the horizon, and grabbed my camera to capture the morning in all it's glory. You see, I'm never up late enough to see a sunset, so I appreciate the sunrises when I can see them.
Anyway, our program was the same as yesterday's. We ran the root beer colored spinners with the #5 gold blades again. 1oz anywhere from 21-41 back at 1.1-1.2mph.
We had 8 fish by 8:30. Then, the fishing slowed down, and we only had two more by 9:30. More boats were showing up by then, but it still wasn't too crowded yet. We caught catfish, sheepshead, white perch, and a yellow perch too. The cats took a ride, since they were willing to clean them and eat them too. That 9 inch perch that hit a 4oz bottom bouncer went for a ride too. lol
After making one last pass on that spot, I asked them "Do you want to try another spot I had in mind? It could be hit or miss...I don't know...but, I would like to try it" Mike replied, "Well, it's getting to be hit or miss here too, so it's up to you, you're the Captain". I took that as a "Yes", so after picking up lines, and moving stuff back around in the boat to secure it, we moved Northwest.
We headed up to the north side of North Bass and set lines starting at the Green Can on the Northeast corner. The Helix showed good marks in 28-30 foot of water, so we zigged and zagged between the two depths. We caught 2 more keepers up there to make it a total of 12 keepers today. The largest was 27 1/2 inches.
The crew did a great job, and hardly had any tangles, which was very...very good!
Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled for better conditions, and for later in the summer. His wife would like to do some perch'n, which is always welcomed by me, because I LOVE Perch fishing! Woot! Woot! :)
So, I have tomorrow off. Sunday's wind forecast of 15-20 out of the north needs to change, or that will be rescheduled too. I'll be texting him a "go" or "no go" Sunday morning, since they only live an hour away.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with John, Jim, and John Ison 5/9/16
by Capt Juls on 06/09/16Picked up my crew from their hotel at 6:30, and headed to Big Bopper's for breakfast, before launching at Mazurik's at 7:30.
We headed up between the islands, because the satellite picture from the day before showed that there was still clean water there. The water west of the islands (at least as far as you could see from shore) was very muddy from the three day NW blow we had.
We started out trolling Bandits on a west to east troll up on the line by Middle Island. As we trolled east, we picked up a couple walleye on the Blue/Chrome color at 65 back....speed was 2.0-2.2mph. We kept trolling east past middle island, and found ourselves all alone with no one close to us, and hit a nice little pod of fish. At this time, I decided to take the Bandits off and put the crawler harnesses on.
The Helix was all cluttered up with what I would guess was a Mayfly hatch going on. There had been a bunch in the parking lot at their hotel, which is right on the lake, and it looks like there are more coming up from the depths,.
I figured my root beer colored beads with a gold hammered colorado blade would mimic the bug nicely. I chose the #5 Colorado blade over the larger # 6, because the water temps had cooled 4 degrees since last Saturday.
I normally, like to slow down and downsize, after a cold front passes through. We were running the harnesses with 1oz inline weights at 41 back, and behind #1 Tadpoles at 25 and 27' back....at 1.0-1.2mph
It didn't take long before we were picking away at them, but it was still a slow bite. My friend, Capt Kevin Swartz, was working an area about a mile west of me, and doing much better, so we picked up and moved over there. We finished out the 6 hours, and my crew asked to add another hour, so we could pick up a few more fish.
In total, we went 12 for 16, not including the 4 throw backs, 2 catfish, 3 sheepshead, 2 white perch, and the 1 white bass. Woot! Woot!
My guys had a good time, learned how to run Off Shore planer boards, and were setting lines like seasoned trollers by the end of their trip. The weather today was perfect, and they were able to relax and have a good time.
They stated that they had never had such a nice charter in all their years coming to fish the lake, so that made me very happy. :)
I'll be out tomorrow with another crew, running the crawler harnesses again. I suspect we'll have the same bite we had today. Thankfully, the winds will be down again tomorrow with a forecast of 5mph out of the South.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Still Sitting on Shore.....
by Capt Juls on 06/08/16I haven't been out since 6/4, so I haven't had any reports to give.
Sunday, June 5th, was my birthday, and that day was cancelled, due to strong SW winds and the fact that my customer's wife was not a "boat person", so the conditions would have not been favorable for a fun trip.
My customers that had the 6th, 7th, and 8th (today) scheduled, are rescheduling to September, due to the strong NW winds we had/have forecast, so I have been off getting things done around the house.
It looks like the winds die down again for tomorrow, so today is boat cleaning day, and getting set to get back at it tomorrow.
I had a reschedule for Sunday/Monday, June 19th and 20th, because his wife reminded him that that weekend was "Father's Day", so those dates are available if anyone is looking to get out on a fishing adventure. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ken and Casey Simonich 6/2/16
by Capt Juls on 06/02/16Well, like I thought, it was a very busy holiday weekend. I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend too!
Unfortunately, there were 3 trips that didn't get blogged about, but their pictures are up in the photo gallery (pg18). So, at least that's something...I know, I know...I'm slacking....deep sigh.
Anyway, let's start with the first trip of June/2016....We have Ken Simonich, Jr. and his son, Casey. I picked them up at their hotel at 5am, and we stopped off at Big Bopper's for a quick breakfast, before heading to Mazurik's to put in.
The sun was just coming up, when we set our first lines out over to the east of Mouse Island, and headed our troll up the west side of Scott Point Shoal.
We ran Bandits high in the morning, from 25-55 back...speed was 1.9-2.0mph. I haven't had to change bait colors for quite some time now, because each day is still a sunny day, and the fish seem to really like the chrome baits on sunny days. IB Frozen, Green Clown, Blue/Chrome, Black Gold Chrome, Fire Tiger, Khaki, and a new color from Dream Catcher Bait and Tackle called "Sucker Punch". Each of these colors caught fish today, with the IB Frozen, Green Clown, and Blue Chrome being the hottest of them all.
While we were starting our troll Ken asked, "So, what does it look like when a fish is on? Should we be watching the boards or the rods?" I said, "You watch the boards. If it's a big fish, there will be no doubt in your mind that a fish is on. That Off Shore board is going to go flying back, and out of line from the rest of them". I added, "It's the small fish that are a little more tricky to see, especially, since I have my Tattle Flags set a little tighter right now."
We didn't go more than 10 minutes after that little conversation, and a board pulled hard out of line. Ken said, "I see what you mean! That's definitely a fish on!" He let Casey reel in the first fish of the day...and, what a nice fish it was. Casey's first Lake Erie walleye turned out to be a 28 inch "Fish Ohio" walleye! That was a nice way to start the morning. :)
We made a couple of passes through that area, and only picked up one more big fish, and two shorts, before deciding to move to another area of the lake between the SE corner of Kelly's and the Marblehead lighthouse. There are a lot of fish on the move right now, and part of their migration takes them right through that area.
The Helix was showing a lot of good marks on the screen, so we fired up the baby ETEC to scoot us along, an dropped the Ulterra to steer us with.
Seriously, it's like having another captain in the boat driving us around, while I tend to the little details of fishing with customers new to planer board trolling. I couldn't imagine someone taking those tools away from me now, and saying, "Go do your job"....I would pout for days if that happened...lol Anyway, I digress....
We ran the Bandits anywhere from 45-65 back, and started picking up fish here and there. 50 and 55 back was the most popular with the biting fish.
Around 9:00 the bite slowed down. I told the guys, "I think, since the sun is much higher in the sky now, we should try dropping one side down a little deeper. And, if those start to go, then we'll drop the other side too. But, I would like to keep all our bases covered at this point." So, we did just that. We dropped the port side down to 55 back, 65 back, 75 back.
Then, I couldn't stand the non action and brought the inside board from the starboard side up and put it out 30/30 with a 2 oz snap weight.
We would end up catching quite a few on the 30/30 set up and the 65 back. Long story shortened....we caught a total of 11 keepers with 4 big fish. We had one piggy walleye come off not far from the boat, and had a handful of short fish to throw back. All in all it was a fun morning, and Ken and Casey really enjoyed the experience.
They want to come back again next spring...and, that makes me happy.
Tomorrow's weather is going to be excellent again, so get out an enjoy it!
Good luck fishing, and I'll see you out there. Don't look for the red Ranger and Red G2 though...I'll be in a Pro Line tomorrow. We'll be on channel 79...;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeremy and Erika Chapman 5/26/16
by Capt Juls on 05/26/16Jeremy is a regular customer, who usually fishes with his Dad, but today he brought his wife along instead, so she could catch her first walleye...ever.
I met them at Mazurik's ramp at 5:15, and we were setting up on Scott Point Shoal by 5:30 am. (I just want to send a big shout out to Capt Kevin Swarts, who kindly launched us this morning, to minimize our time at the ramp. Thanks Kevin!)
We set up with yesterday's program of Bandits run 45-65 back behind Off Shore planer boards....speed was determined to be the same as yesterday too, at 1.9-2.0mph. Colors were Khaki, Blue/Chrome, Green Clown, and Fire Tiger. All colors took fish this morning. Walleye size ranged from 18" to 28 1/2 inches, with one or two throw backs, for being under 15 inches.
We had 11 walleye in that roomy Ranger live well by 9am, but the bite seemed to die off, so we changed spots, and continued a troll past our last turn around and kept on trolling over to Starve Island area. The Humminbird marked a ton of fish over there, with some really big marks, but all we could bring up were really big sheepshead.
After one piggy sheep sunk a board so bad, that I thought it was a snag...we reeled everything up to go chase down that board, only to find that there was a massive barn yard critter attached to it. Ugh..on the bright side...at least I got all the gear back. :)
We decided to move on over to the NW corner of Kelly's to try for some new fish there, and found a bunch of good looking walleye like marks on the sonar, so we set up a little deeper this time. We were trolling in 29-30' of water, so we set the Bandits out at 65, 75, and 30/30 with a 2oz snap weight. The 30/30 set up took a couple of fish, as did one at 65 and one at 75. Erika was reeling in a huge fish at one point, but it broke off and took my Blue/Chrome Bandit with it back to the blue/green depths.....deep sigh...sniff-sniff (sad face). She asked, "Was it something I did?" Jeremy and I said in unison, "No! It happens"....we laughed.
We ended the day with 15 nice eaters and one "Fish Ohio". Erika was thrilled with the experience, so Jeremy is looking forward to getting her out on their new boat....the one you might remember from a previous blog (or, maybe it was a Facebook posting) about his new to him 2003 Pro Line that I helped him set up for trolling a few weeks back.
They had a great time, as did I, and Jeremy and his Dad will be back to fish next Friday, and might bring Erika back with them, so that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow's trip is with with another regular customer, who normally fishes with his Brother (Tim and Matt McGlothlin), but his brother can't make this weekend, due to work circumstances that couldn't be put on the back burner. So, Matt will be fishing with me and another customer tomorrow. The weather looks like it's going to be nice all weekend, so hopefully, the bite will just keep getting better and better. All those traditional areas should start lighting up, if they haven't already.
It's going to be a busy weekend, so if you don't hear from me, that's why!
Have a great Holiday, and please practice safe boating and patience. It's going to be a crowded lake this weekend. Follow the "rules of the road", and there shouldn't be any issues. Help each other out...there's enough fish and plenty of room for all of us out there. Good luck! Be safe!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Becker Men 5/23-5/25/16
by Capt Juls on 05/25/16I spent the last three mornings fishing with the father and son crew of Tim and Nick Becker from Wisconsin. I was fortunate, in that, they were eager to get up early and get a good head start. On Monday morning, they met me at my house at 5am, and we headed west.
On Sunday night, I talked to another Captain friend of mine, and he was kind enough to give me the heads up on a quick bite west of A Can. So, we went there on Monday morning, and launched at Fenwick at 5:30am. We caught their limit of good eaters using Bandits, fished anywhere from 45-65 back at 1.8-1.9mph. Chrome colors were the best....Blue/Chrome, Green Clown, and IB Frozen were the hottest for us.
I figured it would be a good idea to get them a box of fish before asking them if they would mind if we drove to Huron the next morning to try for some big fish.
I had explained that I had not fished over there yet this season, but was hearing reports of big fish, and lots of them there, so I wanted to get over there and try it. But, I also said it could be a flop, but that we should try it. They were game for it, so we made plans to go there Tuesday morning.
I picked them up at their hotel at 5am, and we drove over to Huron. We were on the water at 5:30 again. Our first stop was over by Sawmill, where they had fished with me last year at this time, so they wanted to check it out, and see if there were fish in that area again....so, we headed west out of the channel.
It was a beautiful morning with light SSW winds, and 56 degrees...(10 degrees warmer than day one), and there were good marks on the Helix screen. My hopes were high that the bite would be good too. Well, we made one pass at Sawmill and only boated on walleye with a Bandit run 65 back.
At about that time, we were hearing Gary Zart (Blue Dolphin Charters) and Gary Carpenter (Sara J Charters) talking on the radio, and it sounded like they were both just setting up over near Vermilion. Blue D. said, "It's loaded here", so we made the decision to leave our marks and go look at their marks. lol
We set up on a 34' contour line and headed east with our trolling pass. Bandits were run at 55/65/and 71...then, we heard Sara J say they caught one on a Bandit 60 back with 2oz. Blue D was running crawlers, so I was pretty much ignoring his info, other than to know what depth his catches were coming from.
We reset our two inside lines, setting them with 2oz snap weights at 30/30, which is similar to Gary's 60 back with a 2oz inline. They immediately started catching fish, so we changed up two more of our 6 lines with the same set up.
Again, chrome Bandits were the hot colors...with the Green Clown out fishing the others by a few fish. The bite seemed to die off around 9am, and we struggled to catch for the last two and a half hours.
We only ended up with 8 walleye over there, but three of them went 27 inches, and the rest were anywhere from 18 to 24 inches, so the guys were happy with the move to Huron for the second day of their trip.
Today...day 3:
I was meeting Tim and Nick at Mazurik's at 5:45, so I had a chance to stop at Big Bopper's for breakfast. I had a hankering for their Steak and Eggs, and it didn't disappoint! I was so hungry! Yummy!!
Anyway....we launched at 6am. My first plan was to head to Lucy's Point, because I had heard there were fish up there now, and there was a wind forecast for some gusty SW winds, so I figured the island would help shelter us a little bit.
But, when we headed out, the lake was calm, and there were no boats out on Scott Point Shoal yet, so I told them, "I just want to make one pass over here, before we head all the way up there. If the fish are here, there's no need to go all the way up there". Thankfully, we started catching immediately, and it was a pretty steady pick right up until around 9am again. Then, it was long periods of time between bites.
Again, Bandits run anywhere from 45-70 back, with the chrome colors working well, and the Khaki stock color catching the most fish. Speed was 1.9-2.0 on an west to east pass and 1.6-1.7 on the east to west pass.
We ended up with 17 fish...it would have been 18, but Nick and I watched his big fish of the day spit the bait about 20 feet behind the boat. No biggie....sometimes the fish needs to get lucky too.
They had to head back to Wisconsin this afternoon, and were happy with their results over the three days, so that made me happy. :)
I'll be fishing with one of my regulars tomorrow, who is bringing his wife along to catch her first walleye. They live in Columbus, so I asked him if they could come up to town tonight, so we could meet at the launch at 5:15. I would like to launch again by 5:30, so we can get some of that early morning bite action going again. I want her to have a great experience.
The weather will be decent...warm, light SSW winds, and no rain until the evening, so my fingers are crossed we can get another good bite in the morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
