Juls WFA Blog
2014 Charter Fishing Season is in the books....sigh
by Capt Juls on 10/01/14
Well, my 2014 charter season is over for the year. Boy! time sure flies when you're having fun!
My beautiful boat is going home with her new owner this coming Friday, and I am in the process of ordering the new one for next year.
I would like to thank each and every customer I took out this season for the enjoyable times and the wonderful memories created. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I look forward to fishing with you all again in the 2015 season!
I would also like to thank all my sponsors for helping me make "living the dream" possible...Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Off Shore Tackle Company, Vic's Sports Center, EZEE Steps , Jimz Rod Mounts, World Wide Marine Ins., and The Jewelry Mechanic.
I love you all!!
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Doug, Bob, and John 9/29/14
by Capt Juls on 09/30/14The morning started out like a fiasco...let me explain.
During my morning routine of putting the day's needed things in the boat, one of the first things I do is check the on board charger to make sure it's fully charged. When I open the compartment lid it should be glowing green, but this morning the compartment was dark. Oh nooooo! I checked the plug and it was plugged in the boat...that meant it was disconnected in the shed. I had cut the grass last night after a trip, and when I plugged in the leaf blower I must have knocked the extension cord loose, which is exactly what happened. Ugh!!
I was supposed to pick up my crew from their hotel at 6am, so I texted them to tell them what happened and that I would be a half hour late. I wanted to make sure the starting battery was at 100% before heading out, since we were planning on going to Canada for perch today. Luckily, it didn't take long for the starting battery to fully charge, but the trolling motor batteries were only at 50%. That meant we would be using the old fashioned anchor today instead of the Terrova's "Spot Lock" to hold us. Not a big deal.....just breathe.
I'm fishing with Doug Woehrmyer, his dad Bob, and his Uncle, John. John still needed to get a Canadian fishing license, so while I was waiting for the charger to do it's thing they said they would go over to the "Fisherman's Wharf" to get it, since the Quality Inn has crappy internet service and they couldn't do it online there, and the Wharf said they opened at 6am. Well, I left the house at 6:15 and got a call from Doug stating they were still waiting for the Wharf to open. I drove over to the Wharf to meet them, and said I would take John back to my house to use my computer/printer to get it done.
Here's the deal....John has only bought a one day Canadian lic. once before, and when you buy a one day lic you do not need an Outdoors Card. The online lic wouldn't let him finish the transaction, because it kept saying that he must supply his "number". ???? Well, it turns out that when he bought that one day license three years ago, there was a number attached to it (at the top) that becomes "your" number for life. It was asking for that number. No where on their website do they explain that you need to keep that lic for future transactions....sigh. So, back to the Wharf we go, hoping they can get his Can lic taken care of. They did. Mark was able to figure it out and was able to issue him a day's license. Thanks Mark!
Ok, deep breath...just breathe......lol
Doug kept apologizing for the delay, but I just said, "It is what it is...it's going to be a beautiful day, and it's all good now...let's go catch some perch". :)
After topping off the boat's gas tank, we launched at Mazurik's at 7:30am. We set a course for a spot over in Canada, near the dumping grounds, and set the anchor. The first 6 fish were catfish. Nooooooooo.....these are supposed to be big perch from the report I received the night before, so I said, "let's move a little and try again"....we did. The second spot would be our spot for the day, because after a few more cats the yellows showed up.
It wasn't a fast bite, but the quality was amazing. We would catch 112 perch that went 63 pounds at the cleaners. Woot! Woot!
It was a beautiful day, and the lake was dead calm. The company was exceptional, and the fishing was awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better trip. The guys had a great time and will be back in the spring for some fun walleye fishing. I can't ask for more than that. :)
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Don and Bob Rupp 9/27/14
by Capt Juls on 09/27/14I have to keep this short tonight, because I got home late this afternoon, cleaned the boat, and I still have to exercise the very patient dogs before hitting the hay.
We caught 88 perch today on the NE corner of Gull. A nice grade of fish. Average amount of whites and sheep mixed in too. No cats today. Weather was perfect, other than an ENE wind (I like south winds), but it was comfortable, sunny, and fun!
Tomorrow is another 8 hour trip with these two gentlemen, but we'll be going out of Huron in search of the elusive walleye. Fingers crossed!!!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Joe and Doug 9/25/14
by Capt Juls on 09/25/14Well, it was supposed to be a walleye trip, but when Joe and Doug read my blog from yesterday's trip, and found that I was not expecting good results for a walleye trip today, they called and asked if they could also try for some perch if the walleye weren't going to cooperate...of course I said, "Yes!".
I picked them up at their hotel at 6am, but instead of driving all the way to Huron this morning, I decided a better perch bite would be north of Kellys, so we planned on launching out of Mazurik's instead. But, it was still dark out, so we had to waste some time, time that I would have used driving to Huron...instead we hit Big Bopper's for some breakfast. Yum!
We launched as soon as it was light enough to see, and headed to an area north of Kelly's. There were a bunch of boats there today between Gull Island Shoal and Kelly Island Shoal. The bite started out slow, but once the first yellow perch was brought up, my confidence in the spot grew. It only got better and better as the day went on. By late morning we had their two limits in the boat with large perch from 8-13 inches, and then we fished for mine.
We had such a great time today. These guys were really down to earth and just all around great guys. Even though they are grown men, I couldn't help but think that their parents must be some pretty cool people to have raised these two fine young men. They had me laughing all day long, but I will not share what was said, because we all agreed early on that "Whatever's said in the boat today...stays in the boat". I have to respect that... lol :)
Tomorrow's trip is just a short 4 hour trip starting at noon, so I'll be getting home later than normal. I'll try to get the blog done before bedtime, but I can't promise. Saturday and Sunday are two 8 hour trips and I'll need to get the boat cleaned up first.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fish'n with Arnot and Lynn Albee 9/24/14
by Capt Juls on 09/24/14I picked up Lynn and Arnie at 6am and we headed to Hi Way Bait to get some shiners for perch'n. We would be fishing for both walleye and perch today, if the walleye were cooperative. We drove over and launched out of Huron at 7am.
I thought we would start out in front of Sawmill for a pass or two looking for some walleye, since the perch bite never picks up until later in the morning. While we marked some good "walleye looking marks" on the screen, we couldn't get anything to go trolling with Deep Husky Jerks. So, we went perch'n instead.
By the chatter on the radio, it sounded like anyone fishing for walleye were having a tough time, except for one capt who was out by the Sandbar. While it wasn't a strong bite/catch for him, he was at least putting some in the boat.
As for the perch, we went to the 33/30 line and set up about 1/2 mile east of a pack of boats. We were all by ourselves and started picking up yellows right away....very few whites. More chatter on the radio, this time from the perch charters, was that their bite was slow. Since ours was almost up and down by this time and we had over 40 in the cooler already, I got on the radio and told them where I was and what was happening. About a 1/2 dozen showed up, but wouldn't you know it? As soon as they did, the bite shut down....arrgh! Made me look like I was fibbing...lol I WASN'T...:)
We had 52 when I decided it was time to go look elsewhere again, and we left. We tried 4 more spots on our way back in, and only caught whites and a couple of catfish. One cat was huge! Lynn caught two yellows...with one last keeper perch out in front of the Huron lighthouse, but that was it. In hindsight, we probably should have stayed and worked out their last 8 fish in our first spot, but that's the way it goes...sigh.
Lynn and Arnie had a good time and would like to come back in the spring for our big walleye bite. I'm looking forward to that. They are very easy going people and really fun to fish with. :)
Tomorrow is another 8 hour trip, but this time the guys want walleye. I think I'll bring some shiners just in case. lol We'll give it our best shot, but my hopes are definitely higher than my expectations.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tim, Matt, and "Cornbread" 9/19/14
by Capt Juls on 09/20/14I got home to late last night to get my blog done on the same day, so I'm writing this the morning after.
Our trip was set up to be a 10 hour perch and walleye combo trip. I picked up Matt McGlothlin, his brother Tim, and their friend, "Cornbread" at their hotel at 6am and headed to the baitshop for some shiners and crawlers. My original plan was to launch out of Huron and hit the last spot I was perch'n two days prior, and then hit some numbers for walleye that were given to me by a couple of friends that had been doing okay on walleye over that way. But, Pooh Bear walked in the baitshop, and when I told him where I was headed for perch, he told me that that spot had died yesterday, and that they were getting them right out in front by the Marblehead lighthouse. I had also seen a pack of boats there on my way back in two days ago.
Since we were so close to Mazurik's already, I decided to go ahead and change my plan and try the Marblehead spot first.
Pooh Bear was on the water at the same time, and we both stopped to give it a try there. We picked up a couple in the first 45 minutes, but it wasn't "going yet", and he got impatient first and headed east. I stuck it out a little longer knowing that the bite picks up as the morning goes on, but I too was getting impatient, so we decided to try another spot too.
We headed north to the area between Lucy's and the green can on the north side of North Bass to check that out. We were the only boat where I set the Ranger down and marked some good fish that looked "perch like". They were indeed perch, but the size was not impressive. A friend was fishing in the spot that let me down two days prior and said he was getting them pretty steady and the size was 9" or better, so we picked up and headed to the NE corner of Gull again.
It wasn't long and the first fish up was a nice 9+ inch perch. "Whew", I thought to myself. Nothing worse than going to a spot that let you down during a previous trip and have it turned on again. The second fish up was another good one, so we were going to be patient this time and stick it out. They started coming in at a steadier pace. We also caught some monster sheephead, a catfish, and of course the various white species.
The weather was gorgeous and the winds light and variable. The 10mph east wind that was predicted for most of the day didn't start blowing until around 1:30, and when it did, the bite shut off on us. So, we took that as a sign that we should go walleye hunting. I explained to the guys that it probably would be disappointing walleye fishing on the north side of kelly's as the reports were not that good over this way, and the east wind wasn't helpful. But, Matt explained that they had bought the Off Shore boards and other trolling gear, but never used it and just wanted to learn how to run it all. So, that's what we did...with the hopes that there was at least one or two stupid walleye willing to commit suicide.
After a quick lesson, and having them do the line setting themselves, I have no doubt they will be able to run a trolling set up on their own without too many issues. We talked about all the things that can happen when running boards, like wavy conditions during a turn, and how an inside board can jump the line of an outside board if you're not vigilant, and what needs to be done to correct it. Or, what to do with the inside boards if a fish hits the outside board, and the various scenarios that can happen to get that fish in...(sometimes the inside boards can stay out, and sometimes they have to come in, etc.)
They had brought their own boat over and will be trying what they learned out of Huron this morning. I showed them the area I like to fish out in front of Sawmill and told them it would be the most protected from the wind if it started to get rough, and that it's only a short ride from the mouth of the Huron river if they needed to get in quick. I hope they are able to catch a few this morning. I know they were at the ramp at around 5am this morning, and it's not blowing yet, so hopefully there is an early morning bite going on for them. Fingers crossed!
Well, to make a long story shorter...we only caught 73 perch and zero walleye yesterday, but we had a great time! I took them and their fish to the fish cleaners and dropped the fish off, and we went to dinner. After dropping them off at their hotel, I headed home and put the boat to bed. After exercising the pups, I put myself to bed too. It was a long day on the water, but it was a fun day for me. These guys were seriously funny with their quotes of the movie "Slingblade" done in perfect impersonation, and then quotes of their own as they caught perch....probably one of those moments where "you just had to be there". :)
My trip that was scheduled for today had to reschedule for personal reasons, so I have the day off. Probably a good thing, since it's supposed to blow pretty hard later this morning. It will give me a chance to clean up the boat again, and get her ready for tomorrow's trip....if, we don't reschedule that one too due to the forecast. (He's a regular who likes nicer conditions...can't blame him)
So, stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Duke, Lenny, and Buz 9/17/14
by Capt Juls on 09/18/14Duke Benevento's wife bid on a trip that was donated to the Island Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary Charity Benefit a few months ago, and won it for her husband, Duke. Duke brought along his two friends, Lenny and Buz for a day of perch'n on Lake Erie.
The morning was beautiful, and the day's weather was expected to remain that way. The lake was calm as we left Mazurik's at 8am. I found out my guys had their Canadian licensees, so since I hadn't had the opportunity to fish up there lately, we set a course for Sheridan Point. The bite was slow, but we were picking up some perch. Not the the size that is usually expected up there though. After moving around a couple times, we decided it was best to head back to US waters to try some of my spots that have been productive the past two weeks.
We stopped at the NE corner of Gull Island shoal, but other than a perch here and there, we were only getting sheephead and whites. So, we moved to another spot in that area with the same results. Then, Lenny suggested we try a spot he was fishing the Sunday prior, which was on the east side of Kelly's...and, off we went.
There were a lot of boats over there, but we didn't see a lot of people looking busy pulling up perch, and the first spot we tried wasn't producing either, so we moved a little and tried again. Same results...sigh.
Again, we moved, but after making a phone call to my buddy Capt Keith of Pooh Bear Charters, I found out he was another 6 miles ENE of where we were and he and his crew had just finished up with 150 perch. He gave me his location and we headed out there. There were about a dozen boats fishing that spot, so we set up and gave it a shot. Same results....ugh. By now, I'm suspecting one of my three fellas was a bad luck charm and told them so. (They all blamed each other...LOL)
Larry from Hi Way Bait was out there and called me on my cell, and asked how we were doing. I said, "Not good!" He said, "We just finished up, and they were biting good towards the end, so if you want this spot, I'm pulling up anchor...come on over and take this spot". So, after figuring out which boat he was, we headed over and set up directly over his spot. Guess what....same results...just a couple perch and a lot of whites. Aaarrggh! LOL Seriously??
We only caught 37 keeper perch yesterday after all that work, but we still had a good time. Everyone stayed positive, even though the results were dismal.
The wind started to pick up and, since we had already gone "over time", and I had just gotten a deep gash on my thumb from throwing a giant white bass back in (cut by the gill plate) I decided to call it a day, and we headed back in.
They said they had a good time, even though the bite was off for us. It definitely wasn't for a lack of trying. These guys never gave up and fished hard. In hindsight we all agreed that we should have stayed put up in Canada and waited for them to turn on. Oh well....
Maybe next time....
Today is "clean the boat" day again, to get it ready for a 10 hour perch and walleye trip tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow's forecast will hold for us. It's looking pretty good.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n with Guy and CJ 9/15/14
by Capt Juls on 09/16/14This blog is a day late, since I got home so late in the afternoon yesterday, and was too whooped to even eat dinner. lol
My clients were Guy Dodd and his buddy CJ. The original plan was to meet at Mazurik's at 6:45 for an 8 hour perch and walleye combo trip, but that was interrupted when the bait shop didn't have any shiners yet.
The minnow guy was running behind. So, I called Guy and CJ, who were already at the ramp and had them meet me at Big Boppers for breakfast. After they showed up, they said they had already eaten, but said I could. I didn't want to eat, because that messes up my trained bladder...lol So, we left.
We headed back to Hi Way Bait to wait for the minnow man to show up. Eventually, Dwight (the owner) got tired of waiting for him with a store full of minnow customers, so he packed up two tubs in the trunk of his car and headed off to the minnow boat to pick up some until the minnow truck could get to his place to deliver them. Thanks for going the extra mile for your customers Dwight...:)
Anyway, we hit the launch an hour later than planned and hit the water at 8am. I decided that we would start with perch fishing, since the walleye bite was spotty around the islands, and I thought it would be better to get a cooler full of perch first and then spend any time left to try and find some walleye. It's always easier fishing for an elusive fish when you have fish in the cooler already, right?
Well, we headed to the NE corner of Gull and set up. The first two fish caught were nice yellows, so we thought we found a good spot. It wasn't a fast bite by any means, and the boats around us were struggling, but we were still doing a little better than them, so we decided to be patient. It was still early, and it's been my experience that the bite picks up later in the morning, so we stayed put. As I suspected it would, the bite started to pick up around 10:30.
There was also a system that was showing up on the weather radar that seemed to be moving in fast around 12pm (I think?). And, since the winds were stronger than they were predicting, I figured this system was moving so fast due to more wind associated with it, and I didn't want to be caught in something out there that would throw the lake into a frenzy. So, to play to the side of safety, I suggested we move to another spot closer to home in case it did get too rough.
Well, to make a long story short....we made a long run around Kelly's and found that the system was only rain, and no additional wind...sigh. Oh well, they agreed it was better to be safe than sorry, and instead of fishing inside, I took them all the way back around the island to the north side. We headed to my numbers from a few weeks ago, and set up near some other boats that were fishing the same area. We caught two perch there, and a ton of whites and sheep, so I said, "Let's go back to the first spot"....and, we did. In hindsight we should have never left there and wasted an hour running around, because that ate up the walleye time.
However, I did catch one walleye while perch fishing, so technically they took home both species yesterday. lol
We ended up with only 71 perch, but figuring it was probably a 20:1 ratio of junk fish to a keeper perch (8-11's) we kept busy baiting hooks and jerking fish.
I decided to make up the lost time making that useless run and kept them out an extra hour....on the way in, we stopped by North Bay and made one last ditch effort and made a trolling pass with some DHJ's and a couple crawler harnesses, because Pooh Bear said he had just pulled three walleye in that area. We didn't get a pull back, so I told them it was time to go in. After 9 hours...I had to pee. lol I had too many clothes, and rain gear on, to do the deed out in the boat and our time was up anyway. They were cool with that.
These two gentlemen were really fun to fish with (CJ has a contagious giggle and seemed to be giggling all day long. I don't think I have laughed and smiled for as many hours as I did yesterday) and I'm pretty sure they had a good time too. They want to come back in the spring to fish with me again for the big walleye bite we have, so I'm looking forward to that. :)
I'm off today....boat cleaning day...and dog entertainment day, but will be back on the water for another perch trip tomorrow (Wednesday) with a group of fellas that bid on a trip donated by Jim Gammons for a charity event thrown by the Pet Harbor Safe Sanctuary in PC. Weather is looking perfect and it should be another good time on the lake.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch Trip 9/12/14 Has been cancelled due to unfavorable conditions.
by Capt Juls on 09/12/14Sorry...no report today! Next trip is Monday the 15th. An 8 hour trip for both walleye and perch.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Walleye before the Storm with Garren and Roger King 9/10/14
by Capt Juls on 09/10/14I picked up Garren and his Father Roger this morning at the Super 8 here in Port Clinton at 5:45, and we drove over to Huron to launch. It was still dark out when we got to the ramp, but it wouldn't be long until it was light enough to head out the channel.
After installing the navigation lights, we launched and off we went to chase some early morning walleye in front of the "Sawmill".
I was hoping there would be some eyes in close today, because the wind forecast was calling for strong off shore winds that were to increase as the morning progressed, before the rain would show up.
As it turned out, the morning was really nice. The winds stayed down until about 10:30 then they started to pick up. But, it was still not bad inside where we were. We only fished from 6:30 to 11:30, because the radar was showing the storms moving in pretty fast, and it was showing lightning strikes. The decision was made to cut it short from an 8 hour trip to just a 5 hour trip.
As for the walleye fishing...We went 5 for 6. We would have had a "Fish Ohio", but their Capt.(me) accidentally got the hooks caught in the net and set the fish free!! I was livid, but they were very sweet about it and told me not to think twice about it. I felt so bad...it would have been the biggest walleye either of them have ever caught before. Well, in fact, all the fish they caught today were bigger than any walleye they've caught before...lol
But, I really wanted them to have a picture with this one...sigh.
Garren kept saying things like, "We're just dumb hillbillies who like to fish, so we're having a great time" Dumb Hillbillies my arse! Garren is a very bright young man who served our country and did a job that involved working with lethal agents like Anthrax and the likes. No, "Hillbilly", doesn't suit him at all. He made me laugh all morning. And, his Dad was sweeter than ice cream with maple syrup and whipped cream! I loved these guys! It was just a really fun morning spending time with them in the boat.
We trolled with Deep Husky Jerks(12's) at 1.5mph in 26-28 foot of water, north of the hump that's there in front of Sawmill. We also had one bottom bouncer out with a crawler harness (#6 Colorado/copper color belly).
Neither of them had ever trolled with off shore inline planer boards before, so after a quick lesson, Garren was setting lines on one side of the boat, while I set the other side. Pops was in charge of the bottom bouncer, which was continually losing crawlers to those pesky little white perch. It did manage to catch one nice piggy walleye though, and made Pops very happy.
They are both very excited about coming back next year to try for some of the big walleye we are so blessed to have on this end of the lake during the spring season. I'll be looking forward to it too. :)
They were supposed to fish with me tomorrow too, but I sent them home due to the forecast of big winds out of the WNW...ugh.
My next trip is just a quick 4 hour walleye trip on Friday. We will be heading back to Huron to try out luck again.
Stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Went Left When we should have gone Right! Perch'n 9/7/14
by Capt Juls on 09/08/14(Sorry, I was too tired last night to blog, so I'm doing it this morning!)
Greg Companion, Ben Rewa, and Ben's Dad Denny met at my house at 6am. There was zero wind at my house, so I thought it was a nice morning. The marine forecast said "2 foot or less" for the day, but the wind website that I check said it would be blowing out of the NNE at 15 by 8am. That would be going against the current in the south passage and make it pretty rough...ugh.
After picking up minnows and hitting Mazurik's before sun up, I said we are going to wait till it's light out before we launch. The tree tops were blowing pretty good by then, and because of the wind direction, I was in no hurry to get on the water yet. These guys have fished with me before, and all own their own boats, so after discussing it, and checking the wind site (that said it would subside a little after 9am), we decided it was best to wait it out a little bit, and went and had breakfast first, to waste some time.
After breakfast, we went back to Mazurik's (8:30ish), but the lake was white-capping now, so I had the bright idea to head over to Catawba to launch, since it would be out of the wind, and I was told there was a good bite at the green can outside the launch over there. The guys were good with that decision. When we arrived, I was happy to see that there were about 25 boats out by the green can. I thought, "well, there must be a bite there if there are that many boats there this morning". But, wouldn't you know it? There wasn't....sigh
We launched and headed there....used the H'Bird to look for perch in the area, and didn't mark much. We didn't stay there and headed towards deeper water to see what was out there. We stopped and fished a little bit, and picked up sheep and white perch, along with a few small keeper perch.
It wasn't long before all the boats that were anchored by the green can picked up and moved to another location.
The lake was starting to lay down a little bit, so we headed north. I was heading to the NE side of North Bass when Ben wanted to stop on the south side of Green Island where a pack of boats were fishing. He asked, "are they just trying to stay out of the wind?" And, I said, "I think so". I asked, "Do you want to check it out?" And, he said, "Yes". So, we turned and headed towards the pack. We quietly motored around a couple boats on the outside of the pack and one of the boats gave us the signal that the fish were biting, and we should fish there.
Hitting the Spot lock, we started fishing. We gave it a 1/2 hour, but didn't have any better success than we did at our first spot, and I was ancy to get up to the NE side of North Bass where I knew there were some better sized perch. At least that was the case the other day. lol
After picking up and heading to the new area, we set up in 30' of water close to a spot I fished last week. We picked up some nicer perch than the first two areas, and at times I thought they were turning on, but it was just a tease....they would bite good and then it would be a white perch fest for the next 5-10 minutes...or, longer.
We managed to catch perch, white perch, huge white bass, sheephead and a catfish in that spot. While it kept us busy, it wasn't filling the cooler, so I said, "We should move again", and they agreed. We moved north to a little deeper water and set up over some marks that looked perch like. Unfortunately, it was the same thing....junk fish with a couple perch thrown in for good measure....sigh.
After another move, more junk and some perch, oh....and, another catfish...we moved to one last spot before heading in, as they were out of time.
We ended the day with only 50 perch to show for it, but the day on the water with these guys was fun! They have positive attitudes and great senses of humor, so even when the fishing sucked, they made it a good time. Although, Greg did whine a little bit when all the sandwiches were gone...hehehe...:)
So, a long story short....we should have just launched over at Mazurik's and rode out the rough waters until it subsided, because it turned out to be a beautiful day on the lake early in the afternoon, and my friends that went right instead of left all did pretty well south of Kelly's and out in front of Cedar Point. My numbers from a couple weeks ago are still going good too, according to a report from someone that fished them yesterday. I was SO close, but didn't go there, because a friend that was there two days ago said that that bite had died....ugh.
Oh well....sometimes you go left instead of right.....that's fishing. At least I know where to not to fish the rest of the week.
I'll see my funny guys back here in the spring, so it's all good. :)
The next trip is a two day walleye trip, so I'm looking forward to that. I love perch'n, but I need a change of pace, and trolling new waters will be just the ticket.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Walleye Trip Turned to Perch Trip 9/5/14
by Capt Juls on 09/05/14Larry Conn and his friend Greg met me at Mazurik's this morning at 6:45, and we headed out at 7am. (The days are certainly getting shorter! Its not light out until almost 7am now...ugh). Anyway, we were going to try for walleye today, but I hadn't had any decent walleye reports to go off of and have been mostly perch fishing for the past month.We gave it a quick shot anyway and headed to the north side of Kelly's.
We trolled between the green cans at Kelly Island Shoal in 33-38 foot of water. We marked some fish that looked like they could be walleye, but there were no takers.
The ride out there this morning was pretty easy, (the winds hadn't kicked up yet), but by the time we had ended that first pass, the winds were a steady 15mph and the waves were a lot more than the "2 foot or less" that the marine forecast was calling for. I would say they were strong 2-3's with some 4's thrown in for good measure.
After deciding that the walleye bite was non-existent...I told them we were going to run back in to smaller water to do some perch fishing. At least they could get some fish in the cooler to take home.
At the ramp this morning, Bob Bell pulled up and introduced himself, he is a Facebook friend of mine, and he told me that there was a perch bite happening right outside of Mazurik's again. So, I told my guys when we decided to go perch'n that that's where we were headed, because it would be more protected and there were perch there.
There was a pack of boats off of the Lakeside pier, and I was to the west of them by myself. We didn't have a great bite going by any means, but it was enough to keep us interested. Greg managed to catch a nice fat 13 incher out of there too, which surprised the heck out of me. I'm used to seeing those piggies to the north, but not inside. woot! woot! :)
We only ended up with 25 perch for the morning. It might have been more if Larry had helped and hadn't quit fishing to lay down on the front deck for a nap..lol
That was two less hooks in the water!!
And, no, he wasn't seasick.....just tired from a late night the night before.
He and Greg grew up together, but live in different parts of the country now, so they were up late catching up with each other's lives.
They still had fun and would like to come back to Lake Erie in the spring for our fabulous walleye fishing that time of year. :)
The next trip is another perch trip with one of my regular customers, Greg Companion, and his buddy, Ben Rewa, and Ben's Dad. It's always a fun time with them.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Another Perch Trip with the Chapman's 9 1 14
by Capt Juls on 09/01/14Fished today with a couple of my regular clients, Steve and Jeremy, but this time Jeremy brought his awesome wife Erika with him. They had talked about her a lot all the other times we were fishing, so it's as if I knew her already, and every good thing they said about her was true. She's definitely a lot of fun!
Anyhoo...we perched today. Headed up to the NE side of North Bass, where it was a bit bumpy today. We managed to get their limit and most of mine before the wind started blowing hard again out of the SSW. I decided it was time to pack it up and head back before it got too rough out there.
Perch size was smaller than Steve's last outing last Monday, but they were still pretty good. We sorted through a lot of little perch to get a good one (8-11's), but there were fewer junk fish to deal with, so that was a good thing.
Sorry to make this so short, but I'm tired and out of sorts right now, and need some rest. I just can't think straight anymore tonight....sigh
The next trip scheduled is Friday, so I have three days to re-group and find some walleye! Then, it's back to perch'n on Sunday up in Canada. woot woot!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch'n with the McKenna Group 8/31/14
by Capt Juls on 08/31/14Paul McKenna set up a 4 hour trip for his friends today. It was originally supposed to be a 4 hour walleye trip, but I convinced them that they would have more fun fishing for perch, since the walleye bite is a little slower right now and we wouldn't have the time to get where we need to go to get eyes.
I fished with Dave, Jameson, and DJ today. We launched from Mazurik's at 10am and headed to the Marblehead lighthouse area, because I had gotten a text from a friend that said they were biting pretty good over there. I was told there were perch that were going 2 to a pound. But, that wasn't the case this morning for us. I gave it a 1/2 hour and we only had 3 little perch in the cooler, so we picked up and headed to Catawba where I was also told that there was a good bite going on over there. Once we wasted the time to get there we found it was too rough, so we headed back and I turned and decided to go to my numbers from last week that I posted.
We started picking up fish right away...mostly junk fish to start, but then the yellows started biting. Had we gone there right away this morning (would have been too rough out there at that time though) we might have limited out. Unfortunately, due to the time constraints, we only had a little over one ticket to bring in.
Poor DJ started feeling poorly as soon as we got way out there, so he spent most of the time laying on the bow trying to feel better. :(
As the afternoon progressed the winds laid down and the lake conditions greatly improved. The ride back in wasn't bad at all.
Tomorrow is another perch trip, so I won't be wasting any time. I'll be heading north! ha!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Perch'n with the Griffings 8/28/14
by Capt Juls on 08/28/14What started as a reservation for a walleye trip today ended up being a perch trip, because we thought it would be better with an 8 year old on board, who might get bored easily while trolling for walleye. It was the right decision, since Rudy had a lot of fun today. :)
Dean, Rudy's older brother, who's on his way to college this week, bantered back and forth over a few bets the guys all had between them. You know, the usual....first fish (Rudy)...most fish (Dean)...and biggest fish (Dad). I wasn't in the bet, thankfully, or I would have taken all their money...lol Anyway, it was funny, because Rudy kept changing the rules, so that he was always ahead, and we had to remind him that he can't change the rules....especially, since he wasn't baiting his own hooks or touching any fish! Ha! Funny stuff was said today...sigh
We fished the numbers I gave you all a couple days ago, but it was a slow start. The sheephead and white bass were awake early this morning, but the perch didn't start biting at a decent pace until after 10am.
We ended up with 60 perch (only half of what we could have taken), because we ran out of time. But, they were happy with those results, and took 18 pounds to the cleaners...enough for several family fish fries.
Chris and Dean, and Chris's second oldest son, will be back in the spring to take a walleye trip with me. I'm looking forward to that, because these guys were a lot of fun to fish with.
Tomorrow's trip is just a 4 hour walleye trip with a nice fella who has a set up like mine, but would like to learn the art of trolling a little better, so if we catch fish it's just a bonus. I haven't been walleye fishing since the end of July, due to my Canada vacation and nothing but perch trips since I got back, so I'm hoping I can find some for him tomorrow. If anyone has any Intel they would like to share...I'm all ears! Thanks in advance!
Anyhooo....stay tuned!
Capt Juls
Perch'n with the Chapman's 8/25/14
by Capt Juls on 08/25/14Today I fished with Steve Chapman, who is one of my regular customers, and his wife Cathy. Normally, he fishes with his son, Jeremy, so this was the first time I got to meet Cathy. What a great gal she is too. We had a lot of laughs at Steve's expense today. Sorry Steve! :)
We launched out of Mazurik's at 8:15(ish) and headed out to the NE corner of Gull Island Shoal. Two days ago, my other customers and I got into a good mess of bigger perch out there, so we thought we would start there first.
Well, although there were a few large perch caught there, it wasn't fast by any means, and we went through a lot of giant sheephead to get a handful of perch. I didn't want to waste that many minnows on Sheep.
I decided it was time to move a little to try and locate a bigger school of perch rather than sheep. Our second spot wasn't much better, so we moved to the west side of the shoal this time. The first spot on the west side was the same results...lots of sheep, so we picked up and started to head to Lucy's. About 1/2 way to the can at Lucy's I saw that the water was getting dirtier as we went west, so I set the Ranger down off plane to figure out where I wanted to go next.
I looked at my waypoints from last season, and chose one. I set the "go to" on the Humminbird and got back on plane. For some lucky reason, I happened to look down at the sonar at the right time and saw some good marks, so I slowed down and checked it out. The marks were unreal, and just what I had been looking for! Setting the "Spot Lock" on the Terrova (anchor), we got busy and again caught sheephead....sigh....#%@$%!!!
But, just when I was about to say, "Let's move again", Steve caught a nice fatty perch, so I kept my mouth shut and gave it some time. It's a good thing we did, because it just got better and better the longer we stayed (which is usually how it works, when you have enough patience).
Since I will not be perch fishing for a while, and those fish will probably not be there when I can get back over to them, I'm going to share my numbers with you all, because there were bunches of them, and I want everyone to have as much fun as we did today...:)
N41.40.557 W082.43.572
After 6 hours we ended with their two person limit of 60 perch that weighed in at 24 pounds. (.4# per fish average).
Cathy caught a huge legitimate 14 inch perch today. I measured it on "The Judge" ruler, so it's as accurate as can be.
She was just getting over some seasickness and Steve convinced her to start fishing again...her second fish was this monster! When she pulled it in she asked, "Is this a perch?" And, I said, "That's not a perch, that's a freak'n Peacock Bass!" lol I explained to her what she had just caught, and how it's not that common to get them that big. She had caught a "Fish-Ohio" perch. Nice!
Anyhooo....it was a great day on the water. It was a gorgeous day out there and the heat and humidity was not a factor out there. It was just beautiful...I didn't want to come in, but it was time.
I don't have anything scheduled until Thursday, unless I get a trip before then, and that one is a walleye trip, so I won't be out perch'n again for a while.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch'n with the Wailands 8/23/14
by Capt Juls on 08/23/14Joe and Lisa Wailand might be familiar names to those who follow my blog. They fished with me back in May for walleye. They are a really fun, and down to earth couple who anyone would be lucky to share a boat with on any day.
After getting some really nice sized shiners from Hi Way Bait this morning, we launched at Mazurik's a little before 7am. I decided we would be headed to the NE corner of Gull Island Shoal to try for some bigger perch than what I have been getting west of the islands this past week, and it didn't disappoint.
We started in one spot, but it was mostly sheep, so I moved about a 1/4 mile west towards the tip of the shoal. I marked some good fish, and set the "Spot Lock" on the Terrova (anchor).
It took a little while before they showed up in good numbers, and it was never an "up and down" situation, but they were steady enough, and the size was big enough to keep us up there. Every time I thought about moving, someone would catch a nice perch, so we just stayed.
It took 5 1/2 hours but we managed to get 90 perch that would weigh in at 32 pounds for an average of .35 pounds per fish. I was happy, and the crew was happy. The weather was perfect, and we had a lot of fun (Joe is a really funny guy, as in "Ha ha!" funny). It doesn't get any better than that....does it?
Since they met me at my house this morning, and we drove together, I dropped the fish off at Bay's Edge to be cleaned, and we went to Casa Las Palmas for lunch while we waited for the perch. After lunch, we picked up the fish and headed back to my house where we said our good byes. They said they planned on coming back in the spring for more walleye action...:)
Tomorrow's trip was rescheduled unexpectedly by the customer, so it looks like I have another day off. The next trip is Monday...for walleye.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Perch'n 8/21/14
by Capt Juls on 08/21/14My crew met me at my house at 8am this morning. We drove out to Hi Way Bait for shiners and ice, and hit Mazurik's at 8:30. We launched at 8:45 and headed up to the spot near "Taco Bell", where I had fished with another crew on Tuesday. The bite was a bit slower than it was Tuesday and the grade of perch was just a tad smaller.
We had 80 in the "Catch Counter", when I said, "We need to go...the sky is not looking good. We can fish an area near Mazurik's for the last ten, so if we need to get off the water quick, we can". They agreed and we went for a boat ride.
The lake was pretty flat when we left, so we were able to go faster than the norm around here, and it cooled everyone off. It was getting pretty hot out there. The humidity was bad too. Still I'm sure it was a lot cooler out there than it was for the folks who had to spend the day on land.
As we cleared the islands and headed south towards Mazurik's, the gray skies were opening up and dumping rain. I didn't see any lightning anywhere, so I wasn't worried about getting a little wet...which never happened. Had we left just 5 minutes later, we would have had to drive through the rain, but the timing was perfect. In fact, when we got in the south passage, the wind kicked up too, and was putting white caps on the lake (off shore SW wind). Had we stayed way out there, it would have taken longer to get in due to rougher wave conditions. Whew! I like it when I 'm right. :)
Anyhoo....we set up on some numbers I fished back on the 17th, and they caught 6 of the 10 they needed. Then, we ran out of time, and we headed back in.
They had a good time and went home with some nice perch for many dinners. We kept fish from 7-11 inches, but most of the ones we kept were 8-9's. We had a lot of throw backs, but there really was very little junk to deal with today. The green algae moved in around 1pm and the bite seemed to slow at around 1:30 (when I decided it was a good time to leave.)
The radio chit-chat revealed that there was a similar bite on the SW side of Green today and also at G can. I didn't hear how anyone did at the Catawba Green Can...sorry.
Tomorrow's charter has been rescheduled by the customer, due to the weather forecast calling for "likely" storms between 10 & 2.
The next charter will be another perch trip on Saturday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Super Fun Perch Trip This Morning...8/19/14
by Capt Juls on 08/19/14I have fished with the Boreako family once before. I took them walleye fishing out of Huron back in July. This time though, Big John wasn't able to go (work), so he sent Cathy, Joe, and his oldest son Matt with me to go perch'n this morning.
This was Matt's first time in the Ranger, and he liked it. Today was one of those days where the lake conditions allowed us to go faster than usual, so it was a fun ride.
We met at Catawba ramp this morning at 6:45 and hit the water. We went up to "Taco Bell" and started fishing at around 7:15 in 33 foot of water. The shiners from Hi Way Bait this morning were a good mix of larger and smaller ones, so the large ones we split in half. We were using two hook crappie rigs instead of spreaders.
My crew had a lot of fun catching perch this morning, and the banter between Mother and Sons was pretty humorous.
We caught 120 perch in the 8-12 inch range with probably twice that many in throw backs and white perch. There was probably close to 30 seagulls taking advantage of the poor fate of the white perch, and were fed well. As always they were entertaining in their silly antics towards each other when a fish was thrown their way.
We finished up with our limit in 3 1/2 hours and headed back in. The timing was perfect since they had only set up a 4 hour trip this morning. :)
The weather was perfect with a 5-8 mph SE wind, partly cloudy skies, and temps in the 70's. It really doesn't get any better than that!
Thunderstorms should be here this afternoon around 3pm, so I'm glad it was a short trip and the boat is clean and back under her carport for the night.
I'm off tomorrow, but will be fishing Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Looks like Thursday is a 6 hour Perch trip and the rest of them are walleye trips. I'm thinking of hitting Huron again this weekend, since I haven't been there since before my vacation a couple weeks ago. If Huron is a bust, it's not that far to the weather buoy from there if the conditions allow the ride out there in a timely fashion.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Short Perch Trip Today...
by Capt Juls on 08/17/14
My crew of John Schmittroth and his gal, Betty, had scheduled a later start time this morning when he booked the trip, which was a good thing since we had rain showers this morning.
I was up at my usual time of 3:30, because sleeping in just doesn't seem to work for me. at 5am I loaded the dogs in the car and drove through a downpour over to Hi Way Bait to get some shiners, because I wasn't sure if they would run out later this morning and I wanted to make sure that I had some for today's trip.
I picked my customers up at their hotel at 9am and they followed me out to Mazurik's, where we launched at 9:30. They wanted a 4 hour trip. So, to give them more fishing time, I decided with an east wind that it would be best to fish the south passage. We set up just a mile or so NE of the launch and started fishing.
Betty has never perch fished before, and needed help learning how to use a spinning reel, feeling the bottom, setting the hook, etc. She had a bite as soon as it hit bottom, but she didn't feel it. The entire tip of the rod was vibrating with the tell tale sign, so I knew this would be challenging for her.
I cut her shiners in half and showed her how to bait the hooks, which she did on her own after that. When I thought she was getting the hang of it, then I started fishing too.
John caught the first perch and threw it down the "Catch Counter" chute to start it off...and, we started adding them at a slow pick in between the white perch bites. We had many seagulls entertaining us while waiting for me to bonk a white perch on the head and feed them. I even had the seagulls taking the white perch out of my hand. (I'm waiting on the pictures John took of that and will post in my photo album as soon as I have them). John was teasing a seagull with a perch he caught that was still on his line outside the boat and the seagull snatched it! Ha! That was funny!
Betty put her rod down, because she was getting nauseous from not looking up enough, and told us to keep fishing. As the day went on she started feeling a little better, but John decided to cut the trip short to only two hours, so she could go back in. They had a fun weekend, and were ready to go back home to Michigan anyway, so we packed it up with 22 perch in the cooler and headed in.
I drove over to Bay's Edge to drop off their fish for them, so they could hit RT2 easily after they picked up their fish.
Despite the shortened trip, it was a very fun morning.
Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled to next Monday. It's one of my favorite regulars and I know he likes better conditions, so hopefully, next Monday will be a better wind direction, and no rain for his trip. :)
Tuesday is another 4 hour perch trip, but I think we'll be launching out of Catawba and heading north to the west of the islands this time.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
