Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with John and Bob 7/16/15
by Capt Juls on 07/16/15Picked my crew up at their hotel at 5am, got gas, ice, and stopped for breakfast at Big Bopper's before heading to Mazurik's, where we launched at 6am. By 6:30 we were up in Canada fishing on the west side of Pelee Island.
I chose a spot on the "Wagon Wheel" just below a contour point that came up to 24 foot of water and made a pass over it into deeper water. The smallmouth were stacked in the 24-25' range, while the walleye were out a little deeper in the 28-31' of water.
Deep Diving Bandits were the lure of choice today. We ran them 75, 85, 91, and 110 back behind the Off Shore boards...running 1.7-1.9mph. We started out with three boards per side, but since I was the only one setting lines today, and the fact that we kept getting tangles while bringing fish in from the outside boards, I thought it best to just run two boards per side and keep it simple....that worked out very well. No more tangles and the baits spent more time in the water. :)
We ended up with 18 nice eater sized walleye and 11 smallmouth bass in 6 hours. The largest smallie was easily a 5 pounder. They were nice fish.
John and Bob were my last customers in 2014. If you remember, for those that read my blog on a regular basis, it was that trip up to Canada for perch, where we caught a mess of jumbos that day.
John told me, "Juls, after we fished with you that day, I learned I had stage 4 colon cancer" I was dumbfounded and listened...he went on to say, "I figured I wouldn't be here this year, but you know what? After all winter doing Chemo, I am happy to say that I am cancer free!
The doctors were as shocked as I was, and no one understands how that happened, but it did. The first call I made when I got home was to you....to set up these three fishing trips". (He mentioned it several times, so I have to believe he really did make me his first call...I am freak'n honored by that!!)
He's really "good people", and I'm glad he will be around for a long time to come.
Back on topic....today's conditions were beautiful with a light SE wind, sunny skies, and 70-75 degree air temps. Oh, and NO BUGS! It was a perfect fishing day in my book...the best kind.
Bandit colors were Pink Lemonade, Black Wonderbread, I Be Frozen, Purple Mist, and Blue Chrome, and Firetiger....listed in the order that worked best. ;)
It was a fun day. My original plan was to go to Huron, but I'm glad I didn't. I got a couple of reports from friends that were over there today, and it was poor fishing near Cranberry. The water is muddied up and even the junk fish didn't want to bite. I'm glad we went to Canada today...whew!
My trip for tomorrow and Saturday have been cancelled, due to the client's boss sending him to North Carolina for meetings today and tomorrow. He can't get a flight back in time to do Saturday either. He's really disappointed, and I can't blame him.
So, my next trip isn't until Sunday. I will have the same crew for Sunday and Monday, which I like...that way by Monday, they are trained and working like a well oiled machine. ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Randy and Stacy 7/11/15
by Capt Juls on 07/12/15Picked my crew up at their hotel at 5:15 am and headed to Big Bopper's for some breakfast, before launching from Mazurik's at 6:15.
I had planned on a day up in Canada, but quickly found out that my crew did not get their Canadian licenses, so I had to figure out another plan of action. I figured my best bet was to get as close to the line as possible, since there was a pack of boats there the day before when I was coming back over from Canada the day before.
There wasn't much wind...if any...and it was warm and buggy out. We set in at the red can on the north side of North Bass and my plan was to make a long stretch over towards Middle Island, and the pack of boats....but, we all know how much I like fishing in a pack of boats....lol
We had picked up our first walleye before we even had the second Off Shore board out, and it was a nice eater walleye. But, we would struggle to get more than 4 in the boat in the next 3 hours. We lost a lot of worms to the little Houdini's yesterday.
They had asked for a combo trip, so I asked them if they were ready to go perch fishing instead....they agreed. So, we headed to the first pack of boats I thought were perch'n, because I haven't been lately, and set up on some perch like marks. One sheep and one whitey in the first 20 minutes, so I said, "Let's move".
I took them over to the Gull Island Shoal area....one of my favorite spots for perch, and set up. It was a slow pick, but when a wave of perch came through, we were catching nice ones. It was mixed bag...anywhere from 8 inches to 13 inches, but the average was probably the 9-11 inch range.
We took them over to Bay's Edge to get cleaned and they said, "Those are the best perch we've seen so far this season", so that made my customers happy, which made me happy. :)
I dropped them off at their hotel and said good bye, and headed home. It was a scorcher out there, and the bugs were smooshed all over my body...a cold shower never felt so good as it did when I got home.
My next trip will be in Canada....so, stay tuned. I have to find them again...fingers crossed.
Capt Juls
Fishing with John and Joe 7/10/15
by Capt Juls on 07/10/15While I waited on my original customer this morning to show at 5am, I received a text that said, "Check your email...I'm so sorry!!" It was my customer telling me that, due to unforeseen circumstances that arose late last night, he would not be able to go today. I was bummed, because it was going to be a great day, with a calm lake, and NO RAIN....and, he had a Canadian license! Oh well....stuff happens. I have enough to cleaning to keep me busy too.
But, just on a chance....I put a post on facebook telling of my woes and later in the morning I got a phone call from John, who was scheduled for a trip on Monday, asking if he could do a 4 hour trip today and a 4 hour trip on Monday (instead of a 6 hour). I said, "Of course!" So, we met at the Wharf, so he could get a Canadian license for himself. Joe is only 12, so he didn't need one. We just wouldn't be able to keep his limit, which was okay...we only had 3 hours to get 12 fish.
We went to the "Wagon Wheel" area and went 10 for 12 on the walleye, with a bonus catfish, and a couple of sheephead.
The best leads on the crawler harnesses behind #2 Tadpoles was 35, 37, 41, and 47 at 1.5 mph. The harness behind a 4oz bottom bouncer took 3 eyes too. Purple Crush by Warrior Custom, and plain gold hammered (cupped) #6 blades were the ones working for us.
The guys had a good time, and it was an enjoyable day on the water. I'm looking forward to fishing with young Joe, his Mom, and his brother on Monday. John has to stay home to go to work. I'm guessing she will have a Canadian license too, but I'll have to confirm that before heading up there. I saw a lot of boats right on the line, on the US side, on the west side of middle, so I'm guessing there are fish right there too.
I'm headed back up to the wheel with another crew tomorrow for a 6 hour trip....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Andy, Jeff, and Max 7/9/15
by Capt Juls on 07/09/15I got to start my day off by stopping by Magruder hospital for a random drug test, at 6am. I had to meet my customers at 8am, so I had to do it before meeting them. It's just one of those annoyances we must go through to keep our Capt's licenses.
Hey, guess what? It was raining again! No surprise there, eh? I'm so sick of this freaky weather I could just....just...oh, I don't know...do something un-lady like! D'Oh!
After my fun time at the hospital, I ran and got gas for the truck and boat, hit Hi Way Bait for ice, shiners, and crawlers, and then went back to the Walmart to meet up Andy, his friend, Jeff, and Jeff's son Max. We would be driving over to Huron this morning to give it a go over there.
We launched at 8:30 and headed over to Cranberry Creek.
Freaky weather again....No rain to start...calm waters. Then, once we got to our first spot it was pouring rain and gusty SE winds. About two hours later, the wind just went from SE to WNW in a split second. It was very unusual, because normally, it would subside first, while it is changing around to come from another direction like that. Huh....
While we did mark a ton of fish in the 27-31 foot of water over in front of Cranberry, we only got two to bite. So, I headed over to Sawmill and set lines to see if there were fish over there, and possibly more willing to bite. There were more fish there, but they were in the same mood....deep sigh.
So, I asked the guys if they wanted to give perch fishing a try. I had heard there was a good bite by the red buoy by the Huron River channel. They said, "Yes". We gave that a shot for about a half hour with only 2 sheephead to show for it.
So, I suggested they might want to save some money and cut the trip short at only 4 hours instead of the 8 they planned on.
They thought about it, but were still having fun out there, and decided they wanted to try back over by Cranberry again. Maybe the fish would turn on? So, back we went. Mind you....it's still raining and these guys are not wearing rain gear (Max had Frogg Toggs on at least). I had gortex on and I was WET....Andy and Jeff were soaked through and through! lol
We made one more pass over by CC, and had one sink the board. Andy handed the rod off to young Max, and I gave netting duties to Andy after I took the Off Shore board off. I thought it was going to be a big sheephead, the way it was fighting, but it turned out to be a nice fat 27 1/2 inch walleye!
Andy almost knocked it off with the net the first time he stabbed at it, but he managed to keep the netting out of the hooks and got her in the net the second time. Whew!
Max was pretty funny. After putting it in the cooler, he sat on the cooler, because it was so big he thought it was going to jump out. lol
After nothing for the next 1/2 hour, after that one and only fish in that pass, I told them, "With the north winds building, and the slow fishing, and it's still raining, I'm cutting this trip to 6 hours"....so, we pulled lines and headed in.
It was rough coming in the channel with the waves going against the current, but it was doable....just had to surf them in.
I dropped their fish off at Bay's Edge, and took them back to their truck at Walmart. We said our goodbyes, and set up a date in April to do some walleye fishing next year. I gave them some good restaurant suggestions and headed home with my soggy self. After putting the boat to bed, I took a nice long hot shower, and made something to eat. Tomorrow is another day, and I hope the fishing is much better.
I am headed to Canada with a customer who lives locally, and we're planning to hit the Wagon Wheel first, then maybe Sheridan Point, and then, maybe up and around to the east side, and back down.
The Lake Erie weather is supposed to be really nice tomorrow, so I hope they get it right this time. I could use a really nice day for a change.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Melinda, Jacob, and Kaleb 7/8/15
by Capt Juls on 07/09/15Last week, after the big blow, I had rescheduled the three trips I had before leaving for Wisconsin for the holiday weekend. It was a nice visit up there with family. It was my Mom's 80th birthday and my Sister's 58th birthday. I was also fortunate enough to visit my Dad's sister, my aunt, who was in hospice, to tell her I loved her and to say goodbye. She slipped away peacefully, and without pain on this day.
This was the first trip out since my return, and since the big blow. I really had no clue where to start, other than seeing a satellite picture and looking for decent water on the US side. My customers did not have Canadian licenses.
Ron S. set this trip up...and, while he had to stay on shore and work, he sent his wife and two boys with me. Ron and his two boys perch fished with me last summer and wanted to try walleye fishing. So, we headed up to the west side of Middle Island and set a course for Lucy's Point, and set lines.
We only pulled four fish between that entire area, even though I marked a lot of fish on the Onix that looked to be walleye...sigh.
Once we hit the green can at Lucy's we picked up and headed up to the north side of North Bass for the last hour. We pulled 3 more walleye up there in 29-30 foot of water (starting at the green can on the NE corner and heading west).
I pulled my usual crawler harnesses from the top of the water column to the bottom. All the fish were "just eaters" and not very large in size. They also caught two catfish, and I had thrown the first one back, just assuming they didn't want it, and then I was asked, "Don't you keep catfish?" I said, "Oops! I should have asked you if you wanted it. Most of my customers don't want them, so I just assumed you didn't either....my bad" I added, "If we get another one we'll throw it in the cooler". Whew! I'm glad we got another one, because Melinda likes to eat catfish. :)
We timed it right with a 6 hour trip, because the boys were getting very tired by the end of the trip, with both of them wanting to lay down on the side compartments of the Ranger. Being the big meanie that I am, I told them they had to sit up for the ride in. Both sat so hunched over, I thought they were going to fall over on to the floor.
I texted Ron on our way in, and he met us at the dock to retrieve his tired family. They all had a good time, and the boys did a great job listening to me, and were baiting the hooks and setting the Off Shore boards all on their own after just a couple hours. I couldn't have been more proud of them even if they had been my own.
Ron said they would be back again, and that made me happy....:)
The next trip is with another repeat customer (Andy Takos and his friends), who I think I'll take to Huron to fish.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pat and Janene Parks 6/26/15
by Capt Juls on 06/26/15The weather was nice this morning as I readied the boat for the day. The forecast called for light winds early and then building as the morning went on, which would allow my crew and I to get up to the east side of Pelee on a relatively calm lake. Waves were only 1 foot or less at 6am.
I picked up Pat and Janene Parks at their hotel at 5:30am, and then headed to Hi Way Bait to get some crawlers and ice. We launched at 6am and I made my call to the Canadian authorities to let them know we were coming over to fish for the morning.
We ran the same program I ran with my last crew up on there on Wednesday, which was crawler harnesses behind #2 Tadpoles 30-45 back at 1.5mph. We picked up a walleye before we even had all the boards out, but then it went quiet. The next fish was a big fat 8 or 9 pound pregnant catfish, which we thought was a walleye, because it didn't do the typical catfish "roll" on the way up. It was just staying deep like a big walleye.
We moved around a few times, since the winds were indeed building each hour, and we had to make a run back up, to set up again, to troll with the waves. To make a long story short...we ended the day with 8 nice eater walleye and came back in with 3-5 foot following waves...(I like surfing). :)
We have a weekend from hell starting tonight with gale force winds, and a rain system that will stall out over us tomorrow...dumping 3-5 inches of water on us. If we thought the May 31st storm was bad...this one will make it pale in comparison, I think. I plan to go take some video of the rising water around shorelines and launches. Waves are expected to be 8-11 feet, so that should muddy it back up inside again....ugh.
I have already rescheduled my Saturday trip, and my Sunday trip is looking at future dates for a late summer fishing adventure. I'm not sure yet, but it looks like Monday might have to be a reschedule too...sigh.
So, my next trip will probably be on Wednesday...(I don't have a trip on Tuesday, so that's a non issue).
Stay tuned and stay dry!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Karl, Dee, and Mark 6/24/15
by Capt Juls on 06/24/15I was supposed to fish with Karl, Dee, and Mark yesterday, but since I had a last minute cancellation for today, and the wind was blowing out of the NW yesterday, my crew opted to fish today instead.
I knew it was going to be a good day when my crew pulled into Big Bopper's for breakfast right ahead of me. We were to meet there at 5am, and we were both 5 minutes early! That never happens...:)
We enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast, since there was no hurry to get out before dawn, and then headed over to Mazurik's. (I like to get a picture of the sunrise as we leave the docks).
Captain Kevin, a friend of mine, was launching alone this morning, so he could pick up his crew over on Kelly's Island. We waited for him to finish breakfast and helped launch him when he showed up... and, then, he tied off to the dock and backed us in the water, so we could just take off while he went and parked my truck.
We headed up to the east side of Canada. I was hoping the nets that were set two days ago, by the Canadian commercial fishing boats, were picked up and out of the area, and they were. Whew!
We ran crawler harnesses with #2 Tadpoles at 31, 35, 37, 40, 45, and 47 back at 1.5mph. Blades color didn't seem to matter. I had blades with undersides that were copper, gold, pink, and anitfreeze out, and they all took fish. We were running an area that went from 37' of water to 24' of water. It was calm enough to just turn around and go back over the same area a few times.
We had a four man limit in 4 hours this morning, with a bonus 6 catfish that took a ride in the cooler too. Dee loves catfish, and was very happy to keep them. :)
The guys did a great job, and by mid morning were helping to set all the lines and were even netting each other's fish! This was Mark's first time catching walleye, so it made me happy that he did it on my boat.
We dealt with a deluge of mufflehead flies that swarmed the boat, thanks to a non-existent wind early today. They made a serious mess in my Ranger, which kind of pissed me off, because I had it all sparkly clean yesterday! What can you do though? It's a bug. It doesn't care...stupid bug. (deep sigh).
I don't have a trip tomorrow, but will be back out Friday. Hopefully, my crew will have their Canadian licenses, but it's not a requirement to go fishing with me...it's totally up to them, if they want to spend the little extra and go that far. So, until I find out of they have them, I don't know where I'm headed yet...so...
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bob and Jared Luellen, and Anna 6/21/15
by Capt Juls on 06/22/15
Saturday night, I was invited out to dinner. I met Bob, Jared, and Anna at Ciao Bella for some great food. Bob is not only a friend, but also my marine insurance man. He owns World Wide Marine Insurance. If you own a boat, he's the only guy you want to talk to!
Anyway....We decided that since I had Monday off, we could go later than my normal start time of 6am. Jared and Anna liked that idea very much, since neither wanted to get up early. :)
I got up, made their brownies, and cleaned the house a little. I sent Bob a text at 7:30 asking if I had time to walk the dogs. He called back and said he had just woke up, so to go ahead and walk them. We were going to meet at "Ala Carte" for breakfast, and he would call me when they were on their way. By 9am I was telling them to hurry up...I was hungry, and wanted to get on the water! lol
We stopped at the "Fisherman's Wharf" after breakfast to pick up fishing licenses for Jared and Anna. But, that took another 45 minutes, because Tim was having problems with his laptop there. Luckily, Jared is a computer wiz and had him up and running again in no time. However, the process was very slow, so it took a lot of time.
We finally hit the water at 11:30 and headed up to Canadian water. Starting out on the west side of Mill Point, we set up in 21 foot of water and were headed towards the 25-27 foot of water on the south side of the point. We were trolling crawler harnesses behind the #2 Tadpoles at 23,35, and 40 back, but we were hitting bottom on the way out, so we switched them out for the 1 oz inlines at 29-41 back.
I wasn't marking a lot inside there, but as we started to get to the side of the point we picked up two nice walleye and a big fat catfish.
I had a friend fishing up there, but I wasn't sure where he was. I thought he was over on "The Wheel", and the last text I had from him was that he had just set up and had 3 fish already. Well, my phone doesn't work up there on Mill Point, so we made the decision to go over to the west side of Pelee Island and see if there were better marks and faster fishing over there.
Once we got over there, my phone worked and a whole bunch of texts came through at the same time. It was then, I found out that my friend was over on the east side of Pelee, and fishing just east of where we started! Arrrrgh....lol
We had set up a trolling pass on the west side, but we were surrounded by Mayfly husks, and they were gunking up our lines. We caught a couple sheephead and one walleye, and then made the decision to move back over to the east side.
Bob is buying my boat in the fall, and this gave him a chance to drive his new Ranger, and get a feel for the 300 ETEC on back. The Onix was a little confusing for him, but that was because his sunglasses were so dark (rx kind that turn dark on their own), and he had trouble seeing the screen. A problem that would be solved with his other sunglasses, he said.
We made it back to the other side, and set up on my friend's numbers that were texted to me. Then, the wind kicked up... White caps were forming, and I thought it was a wind that would be sustained and make the waves build, so I said, "We should go back down to the line, where I have been fishing this past week. There's fish there, and if this lake builds, it won't be as far to go to get home". Bob agreed, so we picked up and moved to the east side of Middle and NNE of Kelly Island Shoal...right on the line.
It wasn't long after we started that the bottom bouncer got hit. That one was a sheephead. I looked up to see one of the starboard side boards go back. Anna reeled in a walleye. I looked up again and the port side board was going back. Jared grabbed that one and reeled in another nice walleye. The other starboard side board was hanging back, so Anna was busy reeling in another walleye when the other port side board was hanging back, and I told Jared to get that other fish. We got all four walleye in, and got the lines out again as fast as we could. We only caught one more walleye and a couple sheephead in the time they had left. They wanted to stop fishing at 4pm, because they needed to get back to Michigan, and we still had to get their fish cleaned before they headed home.
It was a beautiful day on the water, and a lot of fun! It's always nice spending time with friends...:)
I'm off on Monday and fishing with Capt Kevin Swartz just for fun. I haven't reeled in a walleye since April, so it's my turn. lol
Looks like tomorrow will be a blow day, but we'll make that call in the morning, so....
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Fishing with David, Cindy, and Dash 6/17/15
by Capt Juls on 06/17/15Launched out of Mazurik's with two of my favorite Facebook friends, David and Cindy Michael, and their son, Dash. Winds were out of the east at about 15 at 6am and would be laying down as the morning progressed. Waves were 1-3 feet.
Poor Dash and Cindy...they were feeling ill by the time we got out to the north side of Gull Island Shoal, but hung in there while David and I set up to make our first pass along the line on the west side of Middle. We made one pass up there and caught three small walleye (no junk).
I decided to move down to Kelly's north side to help their seasickness, figuring if they were closer to land that they might overcome it, but it didn't work. We were marking a lot of fish, and another batch of mayflies coming up out of the mud. We caught 4 more walleye and one catfish in that NE to SW troll in 37-31 foot of water pass. Our speed was 1.4mph again. Same numbers on the Tadpoles worked again. 27, 35, 40, and 43 back.
We cut their trip down to 4 hours instead of the scheduled 6 hours, because it was obvious both Cindy and Dash were not having fun. David wanted to fish though, but being the good husband and father, agreed to go in. :)
So, that's it in a nutshell for today...it was fun (for those of us who were not seasick), and it was great to finally meet them in person.
Tomorrow's adventure is a 6 hour trip with three fellas from Illinois. The weather should be pretty decent, and I haven't quite decided where I want to start yet....so....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Tougher Fishing today...lots of Junk fish and Remnants of a Huge Hatch...
by Capt Juls on 06/16/15We went to the same area, and it showed lots of marks, but it was tougher for us today. Only got 10 walleye. One walleye for every 10 junk fish it seemed.
So, my boat is messy and I must clean it. No need for a blog today. :)
Back out again tomorrow....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mark and Jim 6/15/15
by Capt Juls on 06/15/15Let me first start out by saying, "Thank you Mother Nature" for the nice weather today. After seeing all of thunderstorms last night on on my radar app, I was doubtful we would be fishing this morning. One of my crew was a little miffed that I told them to come down from Wisconsin when he called the day before. But, at that time, it looked okay, so I told them what I would do with the info I had in front of me.
I told him to plan on my picking them up at their hotel at 5:15, unless we saw something in the morning that would keep us off the water.
Well, as it turned out, it was a gorgeous morning. Gray skies, with the sun peeking through from time to time, a light SW wind, and warm 80 degree temperatures. Perfect. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here.
After picking up my crew, we stopped to do the usual morning routine of getting gas, bait, and ice, and then stopped to fuel up my guys at Big Bopper's with some hot breakfast first before heading over to Mazurik's to launch. We hit the water at 6am and headed up to the Canadian line, east of Middle Island and NNE of Kelly Island Shoal. It was a very nice easy ride up there, which I was grateful for. :)
Punching the buttons on the remote for the Ulterra, we were on cruise control at 1.4mph, and setting lines in no time. We ran the #2 Tadpoles on 4 rods and had the bottom bouncer off one corner again. While we are allowed 6 lines in the water, I find that it is way more productive, and easier, to only have 5 in the water with novice trollers on board. No offense to my novices, but it's more important for them to learn how to do it, while not making it too difficult for them, so that they never want to do it again. lol
The Tadpoles were set originally at 25, 27, 35, and 43 back. But, eventually, the two outside boards would be at 35 and the inside boards were at 43. Those numbers took the majority of the fish. "Purple Crusher" from "Warrior" custom colors, did the most damage...again. (I don't think I'll ever stop running that color! lol)
Mark and Jim did a fine job of setting the lines and reeling in fish at a fast pace. We had our 18 fish by 9:30 this morning and took a nice easy ride back in. They were happy that we were able to get out and that the weather was so nice.
I'm hoping tomorrow morning will be nice too. They are calling for up to 3" of rain from early this evening, and finally subsiding by 5am tomorrow morning. Then, it looks like it will be a nice day.
We will be headed to the same are tomorrow, so....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Rich, Andy, and Jeff 6/14/15
by Capt Juls on 06/14/15I thought we would be dodging thunderstorms all day, but we made out pretty well, I think.
I picked my guys up at their hotel at 5:15, and after stopping to gas up the Ranger, and getting ice for the coolers, we stopped to get some breakfast. There was a storm coming across the radar that showed lightning, so I wanted to wait a bit before heading out.
Jeff bought us all breakfast at Big Bopper's. I had their cinnamon french toast for the first time, and it was heavenly. Yum! Anyway....I digress, when food takes over my brain...sorry!
We launched at Mazurik's at 6:30 and again headed over to Gull Island to troll spinners. We started with the same program as yesterday, and it wasn't long before we started pulling fish again. We made a few passes there, then over on Kelly's Shoal, and then back to Gull.
At 12:30 we had 9 fish (1/2 their limit). I wondered what might be over on the SE corner of Kelly's, because I hadn't been over there yet. This time of year is typically good, so they indulged me, and let me take them over there.
When we arrived, the Onix was marking a lot of fish that looked like walleye. There were a lot of "perchy" marks on the screen too. (I marked those for future references...wink wink!)
We made one pass and caught 4 eyes and a couple of big sheephead.
The program was a little deeper today. #2 Tadpoles 35-60 back and the bottom bouncer took a few nice fish too.
We finished a 1/2 hour early today, because my kicker motor wouldn't go into gear for some reason unbeknownst to me, and my Ulterra beeped at me, so I'm guessing it was telling me it was getting low on battery power, so I didn't want to have it in the deployed position when they finally gave out. If that happens, then you have to stow it manually, and it's more involved that just pulling it up out of the water.
There were also some small thunderstorms passing through, and the winds were picking up, so we just called it a day.
They said they had a great time, and learned a lot. It was the first time walleye fishing for Andy and Richard, and they did most of the work. Jeff, who is a seasoned walleye angler, from MI, brought them down here to fish today. He netted fish for them, and basically kept us entertained for the day.
They have already reserved a date in April, and will be back for some early spring walleye fishing.....and, that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow and Tuesday's trip are return customers who had booked a three day trip in April, but only got one day in due to weather, so they rescheduled the other two days for this week. More scattered thunderstorms are predicted, but I'm hoping they are afternoon happenings. We'll see....I'm thinking either we'll hit the SE corner of Kelly's again, or we might drive on over to Huron to see what's happening over there. I haven't heard anything from over there in quite a while. So....
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Dan 6/12/15
by Capt Juls on 06/14/15I didn't have time to get my blog done for Jim Marshall and Dan Pluckett the other day, so here it is. Short and sweet, because I just spilled a banana smoothie on my external keyboard, and I don't know how long I have before one of my vowels stops working. lD'Oh!
We launched out of Mazurik's just a little before 6am and headed up to the Gull Island Shoal area to pull crawler harnesses. It was calm when we first got out there and we pulled three walleye in the first half hour. I thought it was going to be an easy day by the looks of it. But, then the wind picked up and they seemed to shut off on us. We made some minor adjustments in our lure depths and started picking at them again. It was not fast by any means, and we didn't get their full two man limit by the time their trip was to end, but some of the fish they did catch were very nice fish.
Crawler harnesses with #5 & #6 colorado blades with copper undersides was best. Anitfreeze and pink worked too. The bottom bouncer didn't catch squat yesterday, like it had the day before....hmmmm. Still scratching my head on that one. I ran all #2 Tadpoles to make it slightly easier for them to read the boards at the following depths...21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 41, 43, 45, & 55. (Not all at the same time, of course. We only ran two boards per side with one bottom bouncer off one corner).
When the wind kicked up we made a run in towards Kelly's and set up on the west side of North Bay and made a pass through there. We picked up one or two walleye along with some whites and some sheep. So, there are still some eyes in that area too. Still good marks, that don't all look like white bass. :)
I had the 13th off....so, I cut the grass, and forgot about having to do their blog. But, I didn't want to just blow it off, so here it is. Short and sweet.
They were fun to fish with, and Jim got a gold star for learning so quickly and elevated himself to "first mate" for the day. ;)
I'd say, "Stay tuned"....but, today's trip results are coming right up...lol
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Gahan's 6/11/15
by Capt Juls on 06/11/15
Today I fished with the father and son team from Pewaukee, WI. I picked them up at their hotel this morning at 5:15...oh, wait, that's what time I was supposed to pick them up. Unfortunately for them, their desk clerk neglected to actually set their wake up call, so when I texted them at 5:14 to say "wake up", I didn't know my "joke" would be actually be waking them up!
They came out a short time later, and we left, headed to the gas station and bait shop, before launching. "Did I lock the car?" John asked his son, Matt. "I don't know", said a sleepy young 17 year old from the back seat. I asked, "Do you want to go back?" He hesitated, and I offered, "We're not that far yet. I'll turn around". So, we headed back to the hotel, because I know that creepy feeling, and he didn't need to have that nagging at him all morning.
To his relief, it was locked, so we headed out again. We got to the next corner when I mentioned, "I'm so glad you guys have your Canadian licenses, because I haven't been over there yet, and I've been wanting to cross the line". John looked at me and smiled shyly, then said, "It's in the car". So, another trip back to the hotel and we were off again....45 minutes behind schedule, but it's only a start time...not an exact time. Sometimes, stuff just happens.
Anyway, we got the gas for the boat, and crawlers and ice in the coolers. We hit Mazurik's and launched by 6:15. By the looks of the boats headed out before us, and their bouncy ride, it was looking a little rough out...but, it was definitely fishable.
We headed up to the Canadian side and called in to report with the C-Authorities. I drove around for about 20 minutes looking for fish on the Onix around "Mosquito Bay", and near the "Wheel", but marked very little to interest us enough to set up there.
We decided to head down to the bottom of "Mosquito Bay" where there were a lot of drift cast charters fishing, but we didn't set up to troll there either.
Next we hit the SE corner of Middle Island and marked some fish, so we set lines. Unfortunately, by then, we had lost young Matt who needed to lay down to battle the urge to Puke. I told him to go ahead and throw up, because it would make him feel much better, but being a male, he toughed it out for an hour or two before succumbing to the ill effects. He admitted he felt better afterwards though. I laughed and said, "You should always listen to your Captain".
Meanwhile, John had reeled in some walleye, catfish, and sheephead. I think we had two white perch today and one white bass, so as far as "junk fish" goes, it was a really good day.
We followed the top of Gull Island Shoal down and around the west side of it. I hugged the 28-31' contours until we got near the bottom of it, and had to turn off of it to stay off the shallow top of it. We only picked up three small eaters in that pass and just kept moving off the shoal towards the NW corner area of Kelly's. There's a whole lot of productive water in between Gull and Kelly's, so one long pass is what we did today.
We were probably 1/2 to 3/4's of a mile off the shoal when a big fish hit and a board wobbled back out of its marching line. John grabbed it and landed a beautiful 32 inch fish. It's the biggest of this season for me so far, so I was really happy for him. That one came on a "Purple Crusher" painted #6 Colorado blade behind a #2 Tadpole set 43' back.
We kept the speed at 1.5 again today too.
The other fish 5 came on:
1oz inlines 41, 51, and 59 back and #2 Tadpoles 35, and 45 back.
We didn't limit out, but we had a good time. Both ended up losing their tummies to Lake Erie, but both had smiles on when we hit shore. John worked hard, and did an excellent job. He learned how to set and retrieve the Off Shore boards almost immediately, so it made my job much easier too. :)
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Jim's Taxidermy in Port Clinton first, to drop off John's 32" 10.6 pound walleye, so he could get it mounted. John just built a "man cave" back home, and said it would look nice in there.
I have a trip tomorrow, and the winds should be out of the SSW tomorrow, so I'll attack that shoal again from another angle.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Chapman's 6/9/15
by Capt Juls on 06/10/15It was a fiasco of a morning yesterday, and our 9am start ended up starting at 12:30pm instead....I screwed up...again (deep sigh). Let me explain.
My normal routine when I get home from a fishing trip is, to back the boat in under the carport, get out of the truck and immediately plug in the boat's charger. Well, last Sunday, I got out of the truck and went to inspect a stream of water bubbling up from the end of my driveway. There was a water main break...again. This is the third one in about 5 years. So, with my arms full of smelly fish/boat towels, and the dogs barking inside the house, because they were glad I was home, I went directly in the house first, and forgot to plug my charger in. And, I never thought of it again until I went to check it yesterday morning before my trip, and realized my mistake. Arrrrrggghhh!
I had an hour and a half before I had to meet them at Mazurik's, so I plugged it in and waited to see what level the batteries were at. I guess I was hoping it would show a better charge than it did, because Sunday's trip was only a short 4 hour excursion. Nope! They stayed at 25% for a long time...ugh. So, I called my crew, who were driving up from Columbus, and told them what happened. I asked them to meet me at my house, and we would go have breakfast, go pick up Jeremy's fish he had at "Mike's Taxidermy", and then go get their licenses. I had hoped the batteries would be charged enough by then to have the Ulterra to use for the day.
I still had a lot of time before they showed up, so I left with the dogs to take them for a morning walk, and to pick up some ice for the fish cooler. When I got back my driveway was full of men, equipment, and trucks ready to fix that water main break. They had my boat blocked in! I told them I needed to get it out from under the carport before they started work. They moved all their stuff and I pulled it out and re-positioned it, so I could get it plugged in again. They were very accommodating. This was a big job, because they had the road crew out there doing the stop and go traffic around my driveway.
Fast forward....Steve and Jeremy showed up and picked me up from my neighbor's driveway. We went and did everything I stated above, and came back to my house. While we were at breakfast, a friend who was out in the morning called me to say, "You should reschedule it's solid 4's out here with some 5's". I said, "I can't! I have already rescheduled these two twice now, due to weather, and it's supposed to lay down this afternoon". He said, "Well, it just took us 45 minutes to go from the SW corner of Kellys to Mazurik's". I thanked him for his report and told my guys what he said. I told them that we should hold off on our start time until Noon, because iwindsurf was showing it laying down around that time. And, because it was a WSW wind, it would lay down much faster than if it were out of the opposite direction. They agreed, because they were determined to go fishing.
I checked the batteries again, and found they were fully charged! Woot! Woot! Hooray!
We hit Mazurik's at Noon and were headed up to the west side of Gull to fish. We started up closer to the line, and headed southeast along the edge of the shoal, and picked up 4 small walleye right away. Whew! There would be no "skunk" in the boat today!
We hit Mazurik's at Noon and were headed up to the west side of Gull to fish. We started up closer to the line, and headed southeast along the edge of the shoal, and picked up 4 small walleye right away. Whew! There would be no "skunk" in the boat today!
We made that pass and then turned around to go back up that line again. We didn't pick up any walleye going that direction, but we did get some sheep, cats, and whites. At that point, I decided to pick up and go over to Lucy's Point to see if there were fish over there.
The lake had laid down nicely by now and it was a very enjoyable afternoon on the lake. We set down just south of Lucy's and I went to deploy the Ulterra...."No Motor Found"...huh? What? But, I had a full charge! Or, so I thought. I told them I had to do it "Old School" and run the kicker from the back. So, since Steve was pretty much restricted to his seat, due to a hip surgery that put 6 very large screws in his bones, it was going to be up to Jeremy to man the boards. I didn't have my "Captain" to steer the boat anymore and had to do it manually....ugh...who ever said, "I miss the good old days" doesn't remember how restricting sitting on a tiller can be! Ha!
Well, we did manage to pick up 8 more walleye in a pass from Lucy's back over to the southern end of Gull Island Shoal, so we did manage to fish the old school way. Jeremy did a heck of a job following my instructions when it came to reeling in fish and setting lines on his own. I would just get off the motor long enough to net the fish for him.
Our program was crawler harnesses, of course. But, unlike the program last month, the distance back was a little further out. We ran the 1oz inlines back 41-59 and the #2 Tadpoles 43-50 back (and, any number in between). We had a 4oz bottom bouncer out too, and that caught 3 nice walleye for us. Our speed was 1.5mph.
It was a long day, but it was a fun day. Steve and Jeremy are two of my regulars and do 4-5 trips per season, so we are all very comfortable with each other in the boat. It's more like fishing with my best buds than with customers....meaning I get to swear like a sailor if I feel like it, and so do they. ;)
Oh! Before I forget....when I went to unplug the Ulterra for the day, I noticed that the plug had partially come out, and THAT is why it read "Motor Not Found"! It wasn't because the batteries were dead. OMG! I did it "old school" when I didn't have to, because I didn't check the obvious first. Lesson learned.
I have today off, but I'm back to a full schedule starting tomorrow and barring any bad weather, so....
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
After a Whole Week Off....
by Capt Juls on 06/07/15It's been an entire week since I wrote my blog last, and I have been getting emails and PM's asking me if I'm okay, because I haven't written anything for a while...(thanks for checking in on me, by the way!)
Everything is okay. The three day that I had scheduled last week was cancelled, because the two fellas from Colorado got unlucky and showed up the day the weather went wild here, and the lake rose about 5-6 feet on this end. Then, the NE winds would have kept me off the lake until Wednesday at the earliest, so they went home instead. Then, I was scheduled to have Friday the 5th off anyway, because it was my birthday. Then, a show I was going to do yesterday was rescheduled to July, because of the NE winds again.
I had a quick 4 hour trip this morning, but even though we were marking more fish on the North side of Kelly's than I have ever marked there before, we didn't get anything to bite except one sheephead. Although, we kept losing our nightcrawlers.
The guys I had were a lot of fun even though we didn't catch any walleye, and want to come back in the fall to try for a wall hanger.
Most of the reports on the radio while we were out there were telling of a tough bite too. I got one report from a facebook friend that managed 30 on shrimp colored stinger spoons with 20 Jets 140 back. But, that was the best I had heard.
Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled to more enjoyable weather, since they are residents here, and they don't have to travel in. I will be back out again on Tuesday with two of my regular customers. I think we will be going out of Huron, but that may change if I hear of something better.
So...stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Wicked NE Blow and Torrential Rain....ugh!
by Capt Juls on 06/01/15Yesterday, we had a big NE blow with sustained winds over 30mph and several inches of rain in the immediate area. This will cause flooding of the streams and rivers emptying into Lake Erie, so expect a lot of muddy water and floating debris for the rest of the week.
My three day charter that was supposed to start today has been postponed to tomorrow through Thursday instead. I'm hoping that the wind that the TV weatherman says we will have tomorrow trumps what iwindsurf says is forecast. If the TV weatherman is correct, then we will go. If the windsurf site is correct, then we will not go. I'll just have to see what it's doing in the morning, I guess.
So...stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Joey Buttram 5/30/15
by Capt Juls on 05/30/15
A couple days ago, I wasn't sure if today's trip was going to happen, because the forecast was calling for storms. When I got up at 3am this morning, the forecast was looking good for getting our day in. The storms weren't going to happen until later this evening. Whew!
As I right this, the skies are darkening, and the temperatures are falling. I can finally turn the air conditioners off and open the windows again. It's always nice to get fresh air in the house, isn't it?
At 5am I headed over to the Quality Inn to pick up my crew. As usual, I was a little early, but had texted them when I was on my way to let them know I was going to be a little early. They came down and we loaded up. I had to hit Hi Way Bait first for some ice, and some big fat crawlers, before heading over to Huron to launch.
We got to Huron just before 6am and were headed out of the channel. We headed west out of the channel and set lines in 25' of water. As Joey was setting the second board out the first one went back with a hard pull. He handed the rod to his Dad, and we had a nice 6 pound fish in the box. I thought it was going to be one of those gang buster mornings again, but it would be a while before we would hook up with another walleye. We went through several sheephead and whites, before getting another walleye. There were 6 in the box when I decided to move further west on the good word that there were more fish that way right now. We just had to find some good marks and start fishing.
Hey, guess what program we were using... Yes! You guessed it! Same thing as usual.
We only ran two rods per side, even though we could run three, because sometimes it's just more productive to run fewer lines when there are folks on board who have never used inline planer boards before. The good news is, they learned quickly and now that they know how they work, and have some confidence in running them, they will be buying some Off Shore boards to use back home on their own waters. ;)
Crawlers behind 1oz inline or Guppy weights, 31 and 41 back, with hammered copper or antifreeze, on the undersides of the #6 Colorado blades was the ticket for us today. We also took two nice fish on a 4oz bottom bouncer off the back corner. I only ran one, so we could change it from side to side as fish hit boards on either side of the boat.
It was a fun morning. The winds weren't bad and there was just a nice chop on the lake. We headed in after they got their 12th fish, because the radar was showing a pop up storm to the SW, and it looked like it was moving towards us, so they had no issues with coming in a little bit early. (We only had 20 more minutes to fish anyway).
I dropped them and their fish off and wished them safe travels. They said they would like to rebook either for a trip this fall or in the spring, because Joey is looking for one of Lake Erie's wall hangers to get mounted. That made me happy. :)
I have a day off tomorrow due to weather. I saw that one coming and had rescheduled them to this past Thursday, after cancelling an appointment, so I could get them in. Otherwise, they would have had to wait until July, and I had already rescheduled them once due to weather.
The next trip is a three day adventure, but they scheduled an extra day in case there was a weather day, and it looks like Monday might be that "weather day". So, instead of a Monday thru Wednesday trip...it looks like it will be a Tuesday through Thursday trip.
I have Friday scheduled off, because it's my Birthday, and a day off was a present to myself and to my dogs. :)
So....Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike, Logan, and Joe 5/29/15
by Capt Juls on 05/29/15After yesterday's successful walleye fishing near the Marblehead lighthouse, I thought it would be best to try there again this morning. We had a 6 hour window to get their 18 fish, but only managed to get 9 today. I did notice that last night there was a big Midge Fly hatch. Their carcasses were all over the surface of the lake where we were fishing. It might have helped cause the slower bite today, but I can't say for sure.
We started out with crawler harnesses, but switched over to Stinger Spoons behind #2 Tadpoles when a friend of mine told me he had switched over and they were working.
The bite had slowed a bit, so I was anxious to keep the excitement going.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of tightening up the planer board springs, and the flag tension was too tight, so the flags didn't go down when a small fish hit it. Those small white bass were hanging on for about a mile, I'm guessing! We found them when we were picking up lines to head in. I don't know how long they were just swimming with us, and being unproductive baits. Ugh....oh well...it happens.
My crew today was a lot of fun. I like it when they make me laugh, and I laughed a lot. :)
Okay, the crawler program was.... the usual...and, the spoons were 27 to 40 back on the Tadpoles. Speed with the spoons was 1.8-1.9mph. I used the kicker for propulsion and steered with my Ulterra. That way I could save juice on my trolling motor batteries, and it wouldn't have to work so hard.
I think I will start with the spoons in the morning and change them back to crawlers if need be. I'm not sure yet. So....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe, Rick, and John 5/28/15
by Capt Juls on 05/29/15I picked my crew up from the Quality Inn at 5am and headed for breakfast at Big Boppers, before heading to Mazurik's to launch by 6am. It was a 10 hour perch and walleye day combo trip, so I thought I would head down to the lighthouse to do some perch'n first. But, that lasted about 20 minutes, with all the white perch, white bass, and sheephead hitting the minnows. I said, "Let's go walleye fishing first", and we pulled the perch rods in and started setting out the crawler harnesses.
This crew needed some instruction, because they were not real familiar with the Off Shore inline planer boards and how to run them. So, after the initial intro on how to put the crawlers on the harnesses correctly, and how to use the line counter reels, and attach the planer boards, I let them do it with me looking over their shoulders giving instruction as needed.
They were a fun crew...thank goodness, because 10 hours in the boat can be a very long day even when you like someone, and twice as long if you don't!
Anyway....It's all good. After catching their three man limit in short order, right there at the Marblehead lighthouse area...(done by 9:15) we went looking for perch elsewhere. We still had my limit of walleye to chase later, if we couldn't find any perch, and they wanted to walleye fish again.
We ran up to Lucy's Point first, to a spot I had perch on last week, but they were not there. Just junk fish. Then, we went into the area between Middle Bass and North Bass, but they were not there. Then, we stopped by Sugar Island, where I marked some small "bottom fish" on the Onix, but they were not yellow perch....sigh. One last spot....over by the red can by Gibraltar Island, where there was another little boat perch'n, but we must not have been close enough to that hole, because we got zero yellows...(deeper sigh).
"Okay, let's go to Kelly's and get those last 6 walleye", I said. Everyone was in agreement, and we headed to the west side of North Bay, and set in for a westerly troll along the island, in 31' of water.
Again, it's the same program I have been running for a month. It is still working, so why change it if it's still catching fish, right? :)
I'm still running at 1.3mph too.
Trying to shove a 10 hour day in a short blog is not really fair, because so many fun things happened. Let's just keep it at "It was a fun day! And, I look forward to fishing with these guys again next season". I have so much to do yet, and so little time to do it.
Friday's trip is with a Father and Son, and their friend for a 6 hour walleye trip. I'll be hitting the lighthouse area again in the morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
