Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Ben, Chris, and Dennis 5/14/15
by Capt Juls on 05/14/15Ben and his friends met me at the house this morning at 5am and we did the morning routine of getting gas, ice, and a bite to eat before hitting Catawba for a 6:45 launch.
I didn't have much going as far as a plan, because I hadn't been on the water the previous two days, and we just had a cold front and two day blow go through. I thought I would give my last spot a try first, since it was close, and a friend had been on it the day before with good results. That spot was Starve Island area.
We set in to make an east to west pass. the guys got the lines in the water, running the same program I had running the last time I was there, (back on Monday), which was the 1oz inlines 31 & 41' back, and the number 2 Tadpoles 23-27 back with crawler harnesses....blades were copper, antifreeze, and pink underbellies, and one was a gold hammered.
The water temps had dropped two degrees since Monday, so I kept the speed slower, running at 1.0-1.2mph.
We made two passes and had three walleye, but by that time there were about 24 boats in the area, so I said to them, "Let's move further up on this next pass". As we headed east towards Kelly's, I liked the looks of the water clarity, and figured I would just keep going until the water clarity wasn't to my liking. As it turned out, I kept going until we were on the NW corner of Kelly's, and saw that the water there was still inviting. So, we set lines there and immediately began to pick up fish on the same program. Wooo Hoooo! It was game on!
We didn't get any big ones, but they were all very nice eaters in the 20-24" range. We ended the day with a 4 person limit, and were off the water by 1pm.
We did best with the 1oz inlines at 29-31' back, and after switching out two Tads for two more inlines we hit a quintuplet of fish! We only got four of them in the boat though, because while Chris was netting Dennis's fish, it did one of those flippity flop moves out of the net....D'Oh! Oh well.... :)
It was a fun day on the water and the guys all had smiles. After a nice lunch at the Moose Club we went back to my house. Ben had brought his own cleaning table with him, so he cleaned all the fish in my yard. We had a nice visit, and then they went home.
Tomorrow's 10 hour trip has been rescheduled, because they didn't want to fish in the rain, and will be fishing on May 31st instead.
Saturday's trip was also rescheduled, due to the rain forecast, because she's not a die hard angler, and preferred a nicer weekend to go. So, I'll be back out on Monday.
Then again, I might sneak out during the break in the rain tomorrow afternoon to find some perch. :)
Stay tuned....
Juls
Fishing with the Rupp Brothers 5/10 & 5/11/15
by Capt Juls on 05/11/15I fished the past two days with Don and Bob Rupp. Don flew in from California, and met his brother in Illinois, where they drove down together. I was initially concerned with the weather forecast, and had let them know before coming over here, that there might be a chance that we wouldn't get out due to storms. But, Don informed me that they were coming anyway, because he couldn't get a refund on his plane tickets. So, we planned for the worst, and hoped for the best, and as it turned out, the weather was perfect both days on the water.
Yesterday, the plan was to start out at G Can, because if there was going to be any pop up thunderstorms, we would be able to get off the water quickly. Most of the big charter boats were in there too, and it was getting too crowded for my liking. I checked the radar and found that it was going to be clear of any inclement weather for the time that we were on the water, so I asked them if they wanted to stay and fish for more small eaters, or go look for some big fish. Don replied, "Let's go for big fish", and Bob concurred. So, we pulled lines and headed up to the islands.
We set in at my one of my favorite spots up there on the west side of middle bass, and north of Put In Bay. We didn't go far before pulling another nice eater, which made me happy to see they were biting there. Then, it wasn't long before Don would catch his biggest walleye to date, which was a nice 28 1/2 inch eye. I thought the bite was going to be really good up there yesterday, but those two fish would be the last of them in that area. We trolled the area from Rattle Snake to Middle Bass, and South Bass hard, but only caught a sheephead and a couple white bass making our tally for the entire day only 4 fish....deep sigh. Grrrrr.
They enjoyed the weather and each other's company and were happy even though the fishing was tough. Both of them were very tired from their night out on the town the night before, so they were ready to go take a nap.
I dropped them off at their hotel and bid them goodnight. I would see them in the morning at 5:30.
Day Two:
I picked them up at the designated time and we hit Rickard's for some ice on the way to Catawba. We talked about how lucky they have been with the weather, and that it had rained over night, but the day looked like it was going to be a nice day again. It was.
I picked them up at the designated time and we hit Rickard's for some ice on the way to Catawba. We talked about how lucky they have been with the weather, and that it had rained over night, but the day looked like it was going to be a nice day again. It was.
We started out at G Can again, to try and get some eaters in the boat, before going looking for big fish again. We put two fish in the livewell there, and then headed to Niagra when the G Can area started getting crowded with big charter boats again.
We made one pass in the area just east of Niagra and put two more fish in the boat. I wasn't marking fish like I wanted, so we moved over to North Bass. We set lines, but I didn't like the clarity of the water up there....it was too clean. We also weren't marking any fish, so I said, "It's Monday, let's go back to Middle Bass, because we should have the place to ourselves today". But, that wasn't the case. As we got closer, we could see there were at least a dozen boats making the pass that I like to make, so I said, "We're not staying here...let's go. I have one more spot to look at".
I wanted to check the water at Starve Island, and it was indeed to my liking. Not too clean, and not very dirty...just right. Now, all I had to do was watch the Onyx to mark some fish. Low and behold...we marked some fish, so we set lines using the same exact program we've been running for the past week.
It wasn't long before one of them saw the first board tick back, but we weren't sure if there was a fish on it or not, because it didn't seem to be doing anything. As it turns out, that fish was swimming with the bait, so the board didn't go back.
Once he started to reel it in though, we could tell it was a big walleye. Then, another board went back and we now had two nice big walleye in the boat. Woot! Woot!
Uh Oh...another board just went back! Three big fish now. We trolled a little further and got another one. They were having a great time! As we made a turn to go back over them, we caught the 5th big fish in that spot bringing today's tally up to 9, and they couldn't have been happier. The fish at Starve were all 26-28 inches. Much nicer than the 20-24 inch fish at G Can.
We didn't get any going against the current, so I kept them out a little longer to make one more pass with the current, to try and get them their last three fish. It didn't happen, but it was a good effort on their part.
The water temp there was 59.7 degrees and we were fishing the contours from 35-41 foot of water, with the baits in the top 20 feet of the water column.
1oz inlines were 31 & 41 back and the number 2 Tadpoles were set at 25 & 27 back. Copper and Antifreeze undersides were the blades that were working best for us.
I was so proud of them. By mid morning, they were setting lines quickly, like they have been doing it for a long time. I rewarded them with some Off Shore Tackle hats I had in my truck, and said, "Congratulations, you have now officially graduated from "Board School"...here's your hat". :)
After loading out, I dropped them off at their hotel, and said our goodbyes. They talked about booking their trip again next spring, so that made me very happy.
Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled, due to the wind forecast of 25-35 out of the southwest. Wednesday's trip has also been rescheduled, due to an unforeseen circumstance of my customer's. So, I won't be back on the water until Thursday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ben, Jason, and Nate 5/9/15
by Capt Juls on 05/09/15This is going to be short tonight. I'm whooped and can hardly keep my eyes open right now.
We got an early start and headed over to Huron to fish today. Hit the launch at 6am, and fished out in front of Sawmill first. We picked up 3 fish over there in 30' of water, running the same program that I have been running for days now.
Headed over to the Cranberry area, after receiving a phone call from my friend, Darrell Woods, who said he had been doing better over there. When we got there, there were about 20 boats in the area, so we set up and stayed out of the pack.
The first pass we picked up nothing but white perch...so annoying...sigh So, I headed to deeper water...35 foot, and we picked up a nice walleye. A little further in the troll we picked up an nice fat 30" walleye, and that made the "boyz" happy. We made a circle to go back over those fish and picked up a couple more.
To make a long story short, we ended up with 9 nice fish today.
Got home and cleaned the boat for tomorrow's trip with a couple of guys I took perch fishing last year. They wanted to try for walleye this time, so hopefully this weather won't hinder that plan. We shall see in the morning what it's going to do tomorrow....so...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Day Four of Four with Garren, Roger, and Mark 5/8/15
by Capt Juls on 05/08/15We wanted to start out a little earlier this morning, so I picked my crew up at 5am and headed to the gas station for gas, and Hi Way Bait for my crawlers and ice. We hit Micky D's, for some "to go" food like substance and headed to Catawba ramp to launch.
We hit the water at 6am and headed up to the west side of Middle Bass between Rattle Snake Island and Green Island.
We focused on the 31' contour lines in the area, and trolled at a slow speed of 1.0-1.1mph.
At 11am, with only 9 in the box, we ran down to G Can, because I had gotten a tip that there were fish there. We set up right on the can and had 5 eaters in the boat within a 10 minute span. At one point, only one rod was left out, and the rest were laying all over the boat. Total chaos....I love those moments. lol
The crawler programs was the same as yesterday...1oz inline at 31 & 41 back, and the #2 Tadpole at 21, 23, 25, & 27' back. Blade colors were the same too. I don't particularly pay attention to the top side of a blade, but rather, I pay more attention to the underside of the blade. I think that's what the fish sees more so than the top side. But, that's just my opinion, and I could be really really wrong. ;)
Anyway, my blades today were copper and antifreeze colored undersides.
We ended the trip with 14 for 18 today with three big fish....2 were just over 30 inches and one was a 29" fish. Both fish were not back to their fat weight yet after the spawn, but they are looking better lately. The rest of the fish were "just eaters".
My crew expressed how much fun they had this week, and hoped to be back again next season, so that made me happy. :)
I'm keeping this short, because this gal needs some pampering.....in other words...I need to color my gray hair, paint my toe nails that were held hostage by heavy boots and shoes all winter, and shave this weird neglected hair growth on my body.
Tomorrow's trip is with a return customer, who has become a friend of mine, so I already know how much fun this trip will be....so...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Day Three of Four with Garren, Roger, and Mark 5/7/15
by Capt Juls on 05/07/15We did go out yesterday, but it was thick fog, and only caught two in the 4 hours we did stay out. The wind was blowing out of the NE and our spot at the lighthouse was limited with a ferry blowing it's ghostly horn from the west of us, and a big tanker ship blowing it's fog horn to the east of us. We couldn't see more than 15 yards in any direction, so we just worked a very small area that I knew wasn't in any traffic lanes for vessels that could crush us. lol
So, while yesterday was cut short by two hours, today's trip and tomorrow's trip were each extended by one hour.
I picked up my crew at their hotel at 5:30am and we went to Ala Carte for breakfast this time. After forgetting to stop and get ice for the fish cooler...(D'Oh!) we launched at Catawba at 6:30. (the fish would just have to stay in the livewell today).
We headed to the west side of Green Island, in 31' of water, where we set up using crawler harnesses behind #2 Tadpoles and 1oz inline sinkers. The program was the same.. #2 Tads at 21, 23, 25, and 27 back...1oz inlines 31 & 41 back... speed was 1.0-1.1mph.
The morning bite was better on the copper backed #6 Colorado blades, and the late morning/early afternoon bite was better on the blades with an antifreeze back.
We caught 14 out of the 18 bites that pulled the Off Shore boards back, with 5 fish that were "Fish-O's". Woot! Woot!
There were only a few white bass, and one sheephead today, so the "junk fish" bite still isn't that bad.
The weather today was beautiful and it warmed up nicely around 10:30-11am. It was sunny, with light east winds, and NO FOG! whew!
We will be out again tomorrow, and the weather should be even a little bit nicer, with a new wind direction, so I'm hoping the bite is a little bit faster tomorrow. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day One of Four with Garren, Roger, and Mark 5/5/15
by Capt Juls on 05/05/15Today was the first of four fishing days with my crew from southern Illinois. Garren and Roger King (son and father) fished with me for two days last season, and booked four more days this year. This time, they brought their long time family friend, Mark, along with them. This would be Mark's first time using Off Shore boards, so he was looking forward to trolling and learning something new.
We started out with a nice breakfast from "Big Boppers" before heading over to Mazurik's to launch at 7am. After making sure everyone had enough rain gear on to keep dry, we loaded up and we headed out.
Our first stop was in the south passage between Mazurik's and Kelly's Island. We were trolling crawler harnesses with 1oz inlines and number 2 Tadpoles. The 1oz was run at 31 back on one side of the boat and 41' back on the other side of the boat. Those were also run on the outside boards, because they were higher in the water column, and I think it's best to run the high baits as far away from the boat as possible, whenever possible.
The #2 Tadpoles were run anywhere from 20-27' with varying depths, but the 25' back took the most hits. We caught 4 big fish there, and then headed to Kelly's when the bite slowed down in the first spot, where we caught 4 more smaller fish.
We only ended up with 8 fish in the allotted fishing time, but there were some real nice fish in the box...one at 30 inches, a 29.6", 29", 28", 27", 24", 24", and 22". My customers were very pleased with their day's catch, and that made me happy. :)
The weather wasn't too bad. We didn't get any storms, but it did rain on us for a few hours. The winds were out of the NE at 10-13 mph or less, so the waves were two foot or less today.
Hopefully, now that the moon is now a "waning moon" (backside of a full moon), and the skies are cloudy, the bite might improve as the week goes on.
We will be back out in the morning, and looking forward to less rain. Thursday and Friday look like it will be fantastic fishing weather, so we're all looking forward to that. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim, Brad, and Trent 5/4/15
by Capt Juls on 05/05/15Blog is a day late again....sorry! But, I had to clean the boat, clean my pig sty of a house, entertain the dogs, buy some garden plants and plant them, and start my seedlings in the house yesterday.
There wasn't much to talk about fishing wise other than I had a great time in the boat with these Minnesota men yesterday.
They had brought their boat down and will be fishing all week. The fishing was tough for us again, and we only caught two nice fish. I wasn't marking much in any of the spots we hit, so that kept me moving around to find other spots. When you don't have all day to find them and fish for them, it makes it a little harder....sigh.
We hit the west side of North Bass first...fish were belly to the bottom on the Onix screen. We had crawlers out from the top of the water column to about 20 feet in the water column...nada. Then, we moved to the west side of Gull Island Shoal and made a pass to the Canadian line and picked up the first fish on a Perfect 10 at 30/30, so we took off the crawlers on the other side of the boat and had 4 P-10s out, one Bandit, and one Reef Runner.
When we hit the line, we moved it back down a little further south of Gull and closer to Gull....we caught one more fish on the side of Gull, but that was it for that pass. After talking with another Captain that was fishing the same line behind me, we thought it was a good move to move over to the Mouse Island / Starve Island area and give it a try....so, we moved.
The wind was picking up and was much stronger than the winds that were forecast, so we made one pass there with one pull back, and one white bass.
I didn't like the line I was taking, and we decided to move to the lighthouse area where it was a little more protected, and finished out the last hour there.
We had three white bass there, and two pull backs that sunk the boards, but they came off before they got to the boat.
So, you can see why I wasn't in a hurry to report this one. lol
The guys were fun...especially Trent...who is a very funny guy. "Funny" in the sense that he's got the quickest one liners of anyone I have ever met. Thanks to him, it made what would have been a torturous 6 hours for me very entertaining. Thanks Trent!!
They took me to lunch, and then we said our goodbyes. I told them to keep in touch this week and if I got anything going, I would let them know. I hope the bite picks up now that this full moon phase is on the backside. I think the fish were feeding at night, because of the clear skies and bright moon, and causing the morning bite to be pretty poor, and why we were seeing the fish sucked belly to the bottom.
Anyway, my next crew will be with me for the next four days. I fished with them last year, and I know it's going to be a fun week with them in the boat....so....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Day two with Rod, Rob, and Patrick 5/3/15
by Capt Juls on 05/03/15I picked up my Wisco Crew at 5:45 this morning, from their hotel, and headed to Mazurik's after picking up some ice from Hi Way Bait on the way there.
Launched while it was just turning light and headed to the west side of Middle Bass island to start the day. We were there yesterday morning and trolled with crawler harnesses, and picked away at fish until we had 11 in the livewell and the bite shut down on us. We didn't get any there this morning, and the marks that were there yesterday were fewer this morning. And, the ones that were there were belly tight to the bottom.
We discussed our options and they opted for fishing by Kelly's since we picked up a couple there on the way back in yesterday. We landed 6 fish there, and when too many boats were around us, and the bite slowed down again, we decided to move to another location where we caught our biggest fish yesterday. I'm not divulging that location yet, as I am headed there in the morning, and prefer to have it less crowded. lol
The program was the same as yesterday. Crawler harnesses with a 1oz inline on the outside boards at 35 & 41 back, and the number 2 Tadpoles on the middle and inside Off Shore boards 25 & 27 back. Speed was 1.0- 1.3. We were targeting 31-32 foot of water.
My crew and I said our goodbyes at the launch when we got back, and they were excited about coming back again, and that made me happy. :)
Oh, I almost forgot! While on the water today, we witnessed a beautiful wooden boat, like a Lyman or something, crash into the side of an anchored perch fishing boat. Heard the perchers yelling and screaming at the guy, and then BAM! Unbelievable! I mean, what the heck? lol Some people....sigh.
Anyway, tomorrow's trip is planned for 6am, as there are thunderstorms forecast for the early afternoon. I'm hoping we can get their fish early and get our butts off the water before the nasty stuff comes in....so....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
p.s. Most recent pictures are on the last pages of the photo album on my site. I wish I could put the most recent at the beginning, but the site I use, that hosts my site, doesn't give me that option. grrrr....
Playing Catch up!
by Capt Juls on 05/02/15Sorry for my lack of blogging, but I was beat and in bed by 6:30 the past few nights.
Today I switched over to crawler harnesses and had much better success than I had lately on the crank baits.
My crew, from Wisconsin, learned how to run Off Shore boards in quick fashion and were setting lines by 7:15 this morning.
We were running spinners with blades that were copper, gold, anti freeze, and pink backs. While all took fish at some point or another throughout the day, the copper and the antifreeze worked best.
1oz inlines 35 and 41 back and the number two Tadpoles were run 25 and 27 back. The Tadpoles definitely out fished the inlines for us today.
Speed was kept at 1.0 to 1.2 mph.
We were targeting a depth of 31-32 feet of water. We tried three different areas and that depth seemed to be the magic number when the Onix would start marking fish for us. So, I'm sure if you find that depth with some marks on your screen, you will be able to catch some too.
Sorry this is so short, but I have to get to bed. I have the same crew in the morning, and originally they wanted a short 4 hour trip after today's 8 hour trip, but they asked me at the end of today's trip if they could extend tomorrow's trip an extra two hours longer. That made me happy, because I knew then that they really had a good time. :)
So, we will start a 1/2 hour earlier tomorrow...I want to beat the AIM Tournament competitors on the water in the morning. lol
Now, it's way past my bed time already, so there you have it...in a nut shell.
See you on the water tomorrow!
Good luck and be safe!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill Kellerman and Tom...:)
by Capt Juls on 04/30/15Woke up to the sound of heavy rain....ugh. I knew it was going to rain all day...double ugh.
I put a smile on my face, and picked my crew up at the Quality Inn at 6:30. We hit the water out of Catawba a little before 7am and headed towards D can.
The plan was to run crawler harnesses on one side of the boat and my Perfect 10's on the other side. After the P-10's that were run 20/20 and 30/30 picked up a couple of fish, and the crawlers did nothing, I decided to pull the crawlers and run more P-10's.
To make a long story short, because I am wiped out from the weather today, we fished north of D Can, North of Niagra, North of North Bass, and west of Sugar, before ending one last pass near Mouse with only 7 fish to show for our hard work. My crew worked their butts off today, and we had great conversation, and some laughs. We were all pretty cold by the end of the trip, and our hands had a hard time pinching the releases on the snap weights and Off Shore boards....well, at least I did! lol
Because it was always raining, I didn't pull the phone out to take any pictures, so the guys sent me some before they cleaned their fish behind the hotel after I dropped them off. :)
Tomorrow's trip is with a crew that I have fished with several times before, and the weather looks to be improving for the weekend, so I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm whipped tonight though, so I'm headed to bed early....the dogs seemed depressed, because it's raining and I won't take them for a walk tonight. Poor dogs...:( I think they'll live though...:)
I did talk to a friend tonight, that did get the crawler harnesses to go for them, and they did very well, so I may give them another go tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Ryan Quinn 4/28/15
by Capt Juls on 04/28/15I had high hopes for today's fishing trip with the Quinn men. They came to town on Saturday night and fished Sunday and Monday in an area I marked on a map for them Sunday morning over coffee and JT's Cafe doughnuts. I told them the program I had been running previously, and they went out and managed a limit each day.
They had a lot of fun, and said it was the best walleye fishing they've experienced...ever. Ryan caught one over 30 that he's having mounted, unless he gets another one that's bigger by the end of the week.
They fish the co angler side of the Pro/Am walleye tournaments...and, they fish Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Winnebago, and many other large bodies of water in Wisconsin and across the country. They are not novice anglers by any means.
Today, I felt like one though... Ugh! It was tough today!
We launched at 8:30 at Mazurik's and headed to where they had been fishing the past couple of days and made a couple passes, before we picked up a small "eater" on a crawler harness behind a bottom bouncer. We trolled on a little further and didn't mark much on the H'Bird, so I decided to make a move up to Lucy's Point, to use the wave direction to our advantage for that area.
We did mark some fish up there, but as we trolled SE from Lucy's the marks got less and less. We picked up and moved again.
This time we moved to the west side of Middle Bass to try one of my favorite spring spots inside the "triangle" between Rattle, Middle, and South Bass. Again, good marks, but no biters....sigh.
Then, we moved out northwest of Green Island. Again, good marks, but no takers. I had gotten a call from one of the Captains that he was out between Rattle and Niagra someplace and said he was getting good marks, and caught one on the Lemon Lime Crush P-10 30/30 with the 1oz. He sent a picture, so I know he wasn't lying. They had a fish that actually bit! lol
So, after trolling a little further, we picked up again and moved out towards Niagra. I didn't have them set lines this time, and we just looked around for some good marks before we wasted what time we had left. We decided it wasn't worth it, and thought we would go back to Kelly's to finish out their time on the NW corner. On the way there, we decided to try a spot near the Sandusky Bay channel, and we set up a trolling pass. We marked good fish, and we did manage to catch a 28 inch walleye. What a skinny fish for that length though. It was either a starving female or a very large male.
So, we ended the trip with only two fish to show for it. But, it wasn't a total flop. We had a great time in the boat, with a lot of laughs, and the weather was really really nice for a change.
We tried Perfect 10's, Husky's, Reef Runners, and crawler harnesses. I didn't have anything left to throw at them today...sigh.
Water temps are rising again and the highest I found was 48 degrees just west of Green. It was 46.5 by Kelly's this morning.
My brownies got great reviews....and, that made me happy. :)
I'll be back on the water tomorrow, in someone else's boat...so, it's not a real trip...I'll be back to guiding on Thursday, so...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Back on the water tomorrow...
by Capt Juls on 04/27/15My customers are down from Wisconsin and have fished the last two days in an area I marked on a map for them. We will fish tomorrow from 9am to 3pm, and I will blog about our day tomorrow afternoon.
I took advantage of some rescheduled trips and got my garden mulching all done, so that monkey is off my back for the season.
I'm looking forward to getting back in the boat again.Woot! Woot!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Tomorrow's Trip (4/26/15) is a No Go
by Capt Juls on 04/25/15I won't be on the water tomorrow. My crew decided to reschedule for better conditions in June also.
My Tuesday and Wednesday crew also decided to reschedule, so it looks like I'm going to get a lot of gardening done this week. lol
I still have Monday scheduled, since they were driving down today, and planning on fishing on their own tomorrow...then, fishing with me on Monday, and on their own again through Thursday. I wish they had better weather conditions, but at least it will be getting better each day for them.
So, anyway....that's where I stand this week. Fishing Monday unless I hear otherwise, or the weather takes a turn for the worse. And, then starting back up on Thursday. The weather forecast for next weekend is looking pretty good. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Phil, Joe, and Jason 4/24/15
by Capt Juls on 04/25/15First, let me apologize for the lateness of this blog entry. I got distracted with a lot of little odds and ends work that needed to get done, and by the time I looked at the clock, it was bedtime.
Anyway, the bite was slow for us yesterday. We started out from Mazurik's and headed to the NW corner of Kelly's. We set up on the line I had fish on before this blow and picked up three fish, by the time we finished that pass.
Everyone on the radio was mentioning how slow it was for them, and struggling to figure out how to make them bite.
I figured it would be an afternoon bite, once the water came up a degree or two with the high sunshine yesterday. And, from what I heard, that happened for those in the right areas.
I figured it would be an afternoon bite, once the water came up a degree or two with the high sunshine yesterday. And, from what I heard, that happened for those in the right areas.
The water temps last Saturday were in the high 40's....and yesterday, it was back down to 45.8 where we were, so it dropped a few degrees with this cold front that is passing through this week.
We were running the Perfect 10's again, and even with all the custom colors out, that Lemon Lime Crush took 3 of the 4 fish yesterday.One fish was a smaller walleye that chomped on a crawler harness that was behind a bottom bouncer.
Reef Runners run 65-85 back, and Bandits run at 100 back were reported on the radio too...so, if you don't have the P-10's the RR's, DHJ's, and Bandits were working.
Speed was faster than I would have expected during a cold front. I figured we would need to slow it down a bit, but they wanted it just as fast, if not faster, than last week. Go figure!
We probably should have just stayed by Kelly's, in the pack, and picked at them a little more, but my crew was more than willing to go exploring with me to see if we could find other fish.
We went around the top, and down the east side of Kelly's, by the airport, to see if they were on the reef yet, but with time dwindling, I didn't see enough there to waste any time trolling there.
We went to another spot near the lighthouse and picked up a walleye willing to bite. Then, we looked at the area out in front of Lakeside and while there were good marks there, they just wouldn't bite for us.
My crew said they had a great time, and were just happy to not be working, and out on the water. They enjoyed the brownies and I sent the remainder home with them. They are well seasoned anglers with an Erie boat of their own, and their main purpose for the trip was to learn how to run the Off Shore boards. They run big boards on their boat, and wanted the flexibility of running the inline planers. So, they achieved that goal, and the four fish were just a bonus.
I have no doubt they can take what they learned on my boat and duplicate it on their boat in the future.
I have no doubt they can take what they learned on my boat and duplicate it on their boat in the future.
Phil said he would like to go fishing again sometime and would schedule another trip with me, so that made me happy. :)
Today's trip was rescheduled due to the forecast yesterday. My customer would prefer nicer conditions and a better bite, so he rescheduled it for another day in June. (Another reason this is late...I slept in this morning).
Tomorrow's trip is probably a "go", since the forecast looks to have improved since yesterday. My customer wants me to call him by 3pm today, before they take off to come here this afternoon....so....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
The Wisconsin Crew Review From 4/16 & 17 ...:)
by Capt Juls on 04/21/15
I consider myself a “walleye junkie”. Being from Wisconsin and fishing Green bay or Winnebago on a weekly basis. Myself, my brother and a buddy of mine decided this year to book an early spring trip to Lake Erie for trophy fish. Because we had never been there before we felt it best to hire a guide for a day or two to understand the lake and what was going on and then fish ourselves for a few days after.I booked a trip with Juls and we got WAY more than expected. It’s hard to know where to start. She let me keep my ranger at her house instead of it sitting at the hotel. She made homemade brownies. She took us to the best local bait shops, showed us the best places to eat in town and went to lunch with us after fishing. (even the day after we weren’t fishing with her). She took us to the best fish cleaning place in town. She checked in with us the day after our paid trips and we were on our own. She wanted to make sure we were on fish and told us where to go and what to use.I have fished many guided trips before all over the US and Canada but I have got to tell you, Juls totally goes above and beyond anything I have seen before to make sure you have a good time.Oh by the way I haven’t even mentioned the fishing-WORLD CLASS!!!!!! We limited out every day within an hour or two. With our best day being 16 fish- 8 of them going over 30 inches.What more can you say, other than we are making this an annual trip for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks Juls!!Chris Utter- April 2015Delafield, WI
The Wind is Blowing....sigh
by Capt Juls on 04/21/15Well, it's still blowing. Monday's trip was rescheduled for a May date, and my crew that was supposed to fish today, tomorrow, and Thursday are here from MN.
I told them not to come, because of the forecast, but they came anyway, hoping the forecast would change for the better. Unfortunately, it's not, and it doesn't look like they will get to experience our Lake Erie spring bite this year. I feel bad for them, but I have no control over the weather.
It looks like Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be a go though, so that's good for me, but bad for my MN crew. I am booked every day through the second week of June right now, so I can't get them in this weekend.
The marine forecast for tonight through the weekend is:
.TONIGHT...WEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST 10 TO 20 KNOTS. A CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FEET SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FEET. .WEDNESDAY...SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING WEST AND INCREASING TO 30 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. WAVES 2 TO 4 FEET BUILDING TO 5 TO 8 FEET. .WEDNESDAY NIGHT...WEST WINDS TO 30 KNOTS DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 20 KNOTS. WAVES 5 TO 8 FEET SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET. .THURSDAY...WEST WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS. WAVES 2 TO 4 FEET BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FEET. .THURSDAY NIGHT...WEST WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS DIMINISHING TO 5 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES 3 TO 5 FEET SUBSIDING TO 1 TO 3 FEET. .FRIDAY...NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH 10 KNOTS OR LESS. WAVES 1 TO 3 FEET SUBSIDING TO 1 FOOT OR LESS. .SATURDAY...NORTHEAST WINDS 10 KNOTS OR LESS BECOMING NORTH. WAVES 2 FEET OR LESS. .SUNDAY...NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 15 KNOTS. WAVES 2 FEET OR LESS.
Fishing with Ken Braho and Family 4/18/15
by Capt Juls on 04/19/15Part two of a one day/two trip adventure....
Ken, Amy, and Tyler had jumped in my boat for the second round of fishing yesterday. They have never trolled with inline planer boards before, so it was a quick lesson setting the baits out with the snap weights and Off Shore boards. Ken's son Tyler caught on very quickly, and was left to set lines on his side of the boat while I showed Ken and Amy how to do it on their side of the boat. As usual, women only have to be told once how to do something, and Amy had it down pat. Ken, on the other hand, who I would find to be very entertaining throughout the day, needed a more watchful eye. lol (I say that in jest....he did just fine, but was fun to pick on, because he was picking on me!)
I don't need to tell you the program, because after a successful first trip in the morning, we didn't change anything.
We headed right back to the NW corner of Kelly's and set up. We picked up a fish shortly after setting lines and they had their first walleye in the boat. We trolled around for awhile, and picked up three more in that area, before I decided it was too crowded in the area now, and I wanted to go find another spot without any boat traffic.
We picked up lines and headed to the south passage between Kelly's and the mainland. After finding some dirtier water, the marks on the Onix lit up. The kind of marks that are big and fat with red and yellow in them. HOGS!
We set lines again, and trolled a west to east heading. We only got one going that direction, but when we turned and headed northeast, we got two quick fish. Finishing out the turn to head back into the current from and east to west heading, we proceeded to pick up two more fish, and now had two out of their three man limit. We finished out that east/west pass and made a turn to the south again, to head east. We trolled along, and again, it was slow going that direction.
A group of perch fishermen were heading right towards us, and finally figured out that we were trolling and got out of the way. As they passed us, we could hear them talking, and one fella figured we didn't know what we were doing and kept saying, "Those fish are right below them", and laughing. So, I opened the livewell and lifted up two big eyes and showed them what we had....that pretty much shut him up after that. And, the lady that was with them, laughed at him. lol
I kicked the speed up to 1.8 heading east with the current, because I figured the baits weren't getting the action they needed to attract the fish. As soon as I did, we hadn't gone 50 feet before the next fish was on....in sight of "Mr Big Mouth Perch Fisherman" too. hehehe
Ken caught a 32 inch walleye that he plans on having Jim McEwen mount for him. If you read my blog from two years ago, Jim is the one who gave me an eye from a trip we did, and his work is just amazing. I'm sure Ken will love the fish mount Jim does for him too. :)
We finished out their three man limit and headed in. Jim and Renee were waiting for their friends, and we loaded out. Ken informed me that he didn't have a cooler in his car (WHAT??), so after giving him some lighthearted ribbing, I drove the fish over to Bay's Edge to drop them off for them.
We said our goodbyes and I waited for my crew from yesterday to arrive there. I had told them of the bite in the south passage, because they still needed a handful of fish to finish out their limit, and they did so in quick time, and wanted to buy me lunch again for helping them. I never turn down an invite to a good restaurant! We hit Ciao Bella this time and had a nice meal.
After lunch, I said my goodbyes to them and Chris said he would email me this week to book next year's trip already, and that made me happy. :)
This has been a great week of fishing, fun, and great customers who I consider friends now. It doesn't get much better than that.
Today is a blow day for me, so I'm off to Cabelas in a little bit....
Tomorrow's trip is going to be a later start in the morning, to let the winds die down. My customers are repeats who have fished with me about a dozen times now, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope this cold front doesn't affect the bite. We shall see....
Stay tune....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Renee McEwen 4/18/15
by Capt Juls on 04/19/15Sorry this is a day late, but yesterday was a very long day, and I had to get my grass cut before the rain comes today, so there wasn't any time left in the day to write the blog.
But, now that I have a hot cup of coffee, and had a good night's sleep, I can tell you all about it. :)
Let me preface this by saying it's a two part blog. I ran two trips yesterday, because the forecast for today (Sunday) was supposed to be crappy. So, since my Saturday and Sunday trips were both scheduled 4 hour trips, and both are friends with each other, they opted to do both their trips yesterday, so I get a day off today, and get to hit Cabelas with a friend. I need some new hooks for my Perfect 10's. Those big walleye are wreaking havoc on them. I don't think I can bend them back into shape much longer. lol
The morning started by me driving over to the hotel where my crew from the previous two days were staying. Even though they were not fishing with me today, they had asked if I could swing by, so they could follow me to Mazurik's.
As usual I was early. But, this time I was early, because I wanted to stop and show them Hi Way Bait's store. They picked up a few more cranks there and we were on our way to the launch. I showed them where we were fishing yesterday on his Humminbird, and told him that's where I was going to start. With our "good lucks" said, they launched.
My crew of Renee and Jim McEwen pulled up and jumped out of a very cool looking new Jeep, and were ready to fish...we hit the water at 6:30am.
The morning was gorgeous! No wind, no fog, warm temps, and it was going to be sunny...woot! woot! Absolutely my favorite kind of day...:)
We started on the NW corner of Kelly's, and were the first boat in line for the trolling pass. My crew from yesterday set up behind me by about a 1/2 mile. The water had cleaned up from the day before, and we weren't marking anything on the Onix, but somebody forgot to tell the fish that that means they're not supposed to be biting!
In our first pass, we caught a single, and three doubles! We had 7 walleye by the time I turned the boat around to make another pass over them. After another double we hit a triple and we were done. We had our limit of 12 fish in the first hour and a half.
Hey! Guess what program I was using....lol You guessed it...same thing I've been pulling for two weeks now. Smithwick Perfect 10's run 30/30 with the 1oz snap weights. Same colors too....Lemon Lime Crush, Halloween, Barbie, and a new one that I don't know the name of...I picked it up in the morning at Hi Way Bait. It was one of Dwight's custom colors, and I didn't ask the color. It was pink and chartreuse.
The speed was 1.5 going from west to east and 1.3 going from east to west.
Renee called their freind, Ken, and his family, that would be going out next. They were still driving in from PA, and would be at the dock around 9:15 or 9:30, so we had an hour to get in and get the fish transferred from the boat to their coolers. So, we took a nice leisurely ride back to the launch, and took care of the fish, and by that time Ken and his family were just pulling in.
They said their hello's, and told them how much fun they had this morning, and wished them luck. My new crew jumped in the boat, and we made our introductions........to be cont'd
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day Two with the Chris Utter Gang 4/17/15
by Capt Juls on 04/17/15It was a very foggy start to the morning. I met my crew (same as yesterday) at Catawba at 6:30 and we headed out at a super fast pace of 6 mph. You could only see about 15 yards around the boat in any direction. The lake was calm though, so it was a smooth ride. :)
We started out where we left off yesterday off the point of Catawba, west of Mouse Island, and didn't mark the fish like we did the day before. But, we weren't about to pull lines to run anywhere until the sun burned the fog off, later in the morning. We picked up 4 fish by 10:30 and I decided it was time to move.
I know the fish were moving east, so that's what we did. I'm not going to give my location yet, because it's a spot that I need tomorrow. When we arrived there, there were a lot of bugs...the kind you get up your nose and in your mouth by just breathing and talking. There were two boats way up in the distance, so we set lines and started making a "traditional pass" for that area. I just followed my waypoints from last spring.
Same program....dare I repeat myself? lol Smithwick Perfect 10's behind a 1oz snap weight run 30/30. (let 30' of line out..put the snap on...let another 30 feet of line out and attache the planer board). Colors were Lemon Lime Crush (good name, because it "crushed" them!), Barbie, and Halloween. We had two sets of triples to end the day. We had a big mess in the boat, but when a mess is made that way....who cares? Right?
I did have one crawler harness out and it did catch my first harness fish of the season. I mentioned it on the radio and got asked if I wanted to celebrate that fact tonight with him (don't know who it was?)...I won't say what else he suggested, because he was being a bad boy. lol
Anyway, we got our 16 fish with 8 fish just over the 30 inch mark, several 28's, and 29's, and the rest were just "good eaters". It was a GREAT day in the boat with Chris, Mike, and Rob today. Just a total blast! I love Wisconsin people...something about them I can just relate to...wink wink! For those that don't know...I'm originally from Wisco... :)
The weather for tomorrow looks much the same as today, so I'll be heading back to that spot in the morning. I was scheduled for a four hour trip for tomorrow and Sunday, but it looks like Sunday is going to be a blow day, so they opted to go tomorrow afternoon, after my morning trip. Everyone is happy that way.
On the way to Bay's Edge to drop off their fish this afternoon, my back caliper on the truck seized up....sigh. I just did both of the front ones last week! So, thankfully, my friend, Gary Rahm, who is a whiz mechanic, ordered the parts and had it done before 5pm this evening. I can't thank him enough!! It's good to have friends like him. I would be so screwed right now if he hadn't helped me.
Chris and the boys took me to my favorite restaurant for lunch (The Orchard) and loved the place. They expressed their gratitude for such a fun trip and said they were going to come back again next season. That made me happy. :)
Fingers are crossed that the fish will still be where I left them, and we can catch them again tomorrow.
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Fishing with Chris, Mike, and Rob 4/16/15
by Capt Juls on 04/16/15My crew didn't get to town until 2:30am this morning, and only got a few hours of sleep before meeting me at my house, so they could leave their Ranger in my driveway instead of the hotel. They had scheduled a two day trip with me, so they won't be using it until the weekend. I thought it a better idea to leave it here.
Anyway, what a super fun morning! We launched out of Catawba at 7am and headed up around the corner to the area by Mouse, where I have been fishing this past week. The water had really cleaned up over night, and a lot of the water I fished yesterday just looked too clean for my liking. So, we fished along the "mud line" and caught one eye right away, and had two pull backs before the Ferry crossing back from South Bass forced us to make a decision to pick up and move out of its way.
Waves this morning were 1-3 with an E-NE wind that was gradually laying down to make its switch to the SSW. By 8:30 we were fishing in 2 foot or less conditions, and the air temps were beginning to warm up.
When we moved, we only moved to the west side of the Ferry crossing, so we wouldn't be in its way again. We set lines, but I didn't mark what I wanted to see, so after about 20 minutes with no takers, we decided to pick up and move again. I wanted to see if the fish were over between Green and the Ferry dock on South Bass yet, and headed that way. While we were looking at the Onix for some sign of life, I got a call from Captain Kevin, and he told me to move back in line where we started, but to move more west....so, we did.
I think the fish that I was on yesterday have moved east, and the fish we were on today are moving out from the cans, to the east, so this is like another batch of fresh fish moving through. Hopefully, they will still be there tomorrow, because we had a blast today! After only one fish in the first hour, after we set up on this line, we had another 10 fish in about 20 minutes. We had multiple fish on several times. Woot! Woot!
We ended the day with 16 fish, but they threw the 16th fish back, because I had miscounted how many were in the livewell, and thought we already had our limit....Duh! Tomorrow, I'm pulling out the perch counter thingy to keep track. lol
The 15 fish went exactly 100 pounds at Bay's Edge fish cleaning.
Again, the program was exactly the same set up as yesterday...Smithwick Perfect 10's set 30/30 with 1oz snap weights
Colors were the Lemon Lime Crush, Blue/Chrome, Barbie, and Halloween.
The crew was happy, happy, happy, and took me to lunch at Casa Las Palmas to celebrate their good catch. Thanks guys! :)
After hitting Fisherman's Wharf on the way home, for some custom painted blades to take back to Wisconsin, I dropped the boys off to get their truck, and they headed back to the hotel.
I'm pretty sure they are either sleeping right now, or at a sports bar drinking beer...my bet is on sleeping though. lol
We will be back at it again tomorrow...same bat time...same bat channel...so....
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
