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Juls WFA Blog

A Big Thank You to my 2013 Customers!

by Capt Juls on 10/16/13

Well, yesterday was my last charter of the season. I would like to thank all my clients that made the 2013 charter season a fabulous one. Lots of great fun and memories were made and I couldn't have asked for better customers! For that I am grateful.
I am looking forward to the 2014 season, and hope it's just as successful.

Still Perch'n....

by Capt Juls on 10/01/13

I spent the last two days fishing with Greg and Mark who are from Elkhart, IN. They came down to go perch fishing.

Sunday was a tough bite for us. We moved around 5 or 6 times and only had one limit to show for it. I even kept them out two hours longer than their limited 4 hour trip. We started out by Kelly Island Shoal (south end of it), hit a spot south of Gull Island Shoal, ran up to the red can on the north side of North Bass Island, hit another spot I had success at this past Friday on the north side of South Bass Island, and ended the day out by Gull Island again.

The conditions were not that bad. It rained on us a little bit and the winds were 10-20 out of the SSW, but died down in the afternoon.

Yesterday was much better. They came over in the morning for homemade biscuits and gravy before we headed to the baitshop. Mark had used my computer to print out his one day Canadian Lic, so we would be able to head up to the NW corner of Pelee Island.

We set down in 32 foot of water and proceeded to catch perch right away. It was by no means and up and down bite, but it was fast enough to keep us in one spot all day. It was a beautiful day, but was breezy in the morning. But, by afternoon it was settled down and the lake was almost flat.

The lack of wind, for a change, let us see just how much algae was in the western basin near the bass islands. On our way back in the spray from my boat looked like pea soup. The satellite pictures were showing a large outbreak, but with the wind and waves the algae didn't have a chance to sit on the surface of the water like it did yesterday and it was hard to see just how much was out there. All I can say is, they need to do something or the health of this Great Lake will be destroyed.

Is this the reason that the walleye don't seem to be in this area right now, like they had been all season?

Anyway, I digress....

Mark and Greg limited out and we headed back in. After a nice dinner at the local Mexican restaurant I drove them back to my house where they had parked their truck and boat for the day.

We said our good byes and they happily headed back to Indiana.

I have another trip this morning with two older gentlemen, but we will be staying in US waters today. I'll be trying out from the airport on Kelly's, or the Kelly's Island Shoal, on the north end. :)

Capt Juls

Tuesday Sept 27th Perch'n

by Capt Juls on 09/29/13

The perch are still biting on the west side and Northwest side of the islands. However, reports of better bites are coming from the Northeast corner of Kelly Island Shoal.

Friday's trip was successful in that we had a lot of fun and caught some fish, but we didn't limit out in the time frame of the trip.

We ended up with two walleye and 52 perch. My customers, Dad-Marty along with Kyle and Kevin ("K-1" and "K-2") were happy with the catch. Well, I should say that Dad and K-1 were happy. K-2 spent the entire trip trying to make the seasickness go away, so I had him laying down on the bow. He slept there for 6 hours. :)

Marty and K-1 had the good time.

Headed out again this morning with Greg Chapman and his friends for another perch trip, but this is only a 4 hour charter, so we'll see if we can find a fast biting pod of perch. If not, the count will be lower than a limit, I'm sure.

The weather looks pretty good today with South winds. The marine forecast reads:

.TODAY...SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST AND
DIMINISHING TO 10 KNOTS OR LESS. ISOLATED SHOWERS. SCATTERED
SHOWERS LATE. WAVES 2 TO 4 FEET SUBSIDING TO 2 FEET OR LESS.

Monday was a blow day...Tuesday was a fun Perch Trip!

by Capt Juls on 09/18/13

My crew of the "3 D's", Denny, Dan, and Dave, came down from Wisconsin to spend a couple days fishing on Lake Erie. Monday I called a blow day due to strong north winds that formed waves 3-5 feet. My guys were understanding and didn't mind one bit staying on shore that day.

We were going to make Tuesday a longer day with both perch and walleye fishing, but we ended up just doing the perch'n since the walleye reports for the island area were sparse and the lake was roughed up due to an East wind making it hard to run around and search for walleye. I didn't want to waste their time or money on a game plan I didn't have for walleye.

On the bright side, we did manage to get a 4 man limit of perch in 4 1/2 hours 2 miles west of the south tip of North Bass island. We were the only boat in that spot, but there were head boats about a mile or two north of me, and a pack of boats between Rattlesnake and Green islands. Not sure how they were doing. We didn't have a lot of trash fish either...mostly perch. I like those kinds of spots...:)

When the ODNR checked our catch at the ramp later that afternoon he said that we had the biggest perch he had seen all morning. That made my crew happy happy happy.

My charters that were scheduled for today through Friday were cancelled due to my customer being in the hospital with a staph infection from a previous hand surgery. However, I received a text from him this morning that his meds are working and he is on the mend. That's great news!

So, I won't be out again until this coming Sunday.

Capt Juls

Tuesday-Thursday Sept 10, 11th, 12th

by Capt Juls on 09/15/13

Perry Lake and his good friends Kim and Patsy came down from Wisconsin to fish for some perch and walleye for three days.

They rented a place that was on my way into town, so I just picked them up each morning and took them with me to the baitshop, and launch, and then to the fish cleaners in the afternoon each day.

That worked out perfectly as I was took off from work each of those nights and didn't have to hurry home to shower and get ready for work. (I'm not always that lucky and it makes for a very long day!)

Tuesday: We launched at Mazurik's and headed over to the Catawba area as that was the last report I had of a decent perch bite a couple days before from a friend.

The wind was blowing 10-15 out of the SW, so I thought it wouldn't be that rough over there. I would say it was 1-3's when I got around the corner at Mouse Island. I cruised around and didn't mark anything that would make me want to stop and drop lines down, so I turned the boat and headed back to the East.

I was on my way to the dumping grounds east of the Marblehead lighthouse when I heard "Pooh Bear" on the radio hailing "Co Pa"...two of the best captains on the lake. They were perching up by the red can north of North Bass Island. I said, "That's all I needed to hear", and turned the boat to the port and headed up there.

The conditions up there were much like they were down by Catawba...1-3's. The "spot lock" on the Terrova held us in place so I didn't have to mess with an anchor. I watched as a few boats pulled their anchors up and moved a couple times, because as soon as we arrived their bite had slowed down.....figures!

It was not a fast bite by any means, but the quality of perch was pretty decent, so we plugged away at them, but only managed a little over a one man limit between all the junk fish up there. We stopped at one of my other favorite perch spot near Gull Island Shoal and managed to catch some more decent perch there. Time was up and we headed in. We took the fish to the cleaners and I dropped them off to get ready for the second day of perch'n.

I want to add that the shiner size at all the baitshops around here right now is pretty pathetic. They are tiny little buggers that are easily stolen off the hooks, so buying enough to make it through the junk fish and swipers is a must. :)

Wednesday Sept. 11th, 2013

Not only was this a day that will live in history as a day we shall never forget, but it was Perry's Anniversary too. Did I mention that Perry came on this trip with his two friends, while his wife stayed home? She doesn't like to fish, so he came without her. In his defense though, he DID send her flowers that showed up while we were out fishing, which made her happy. :)

I had gotten on Facebook Tuesday night and through private messaging with friends for perch spot information I was able to come up with a plan of attack for Wed. morning. I would give the spot information, but since I didn't find it myself, and they wanted to keep it quiet, I feel I need to keep my mouth shut on the location. Let's just say it was out in the middle of nowhere between the islands and Vermilion.

The bite was a lot faster than the day before, but there was also a lot more junkfish to sort through. The seagulls ate very well that morning and we managed to catch their three man limit plus part of mine before heading in. It was not an "Up and Down" bite that I'm looking for. You know, where you bait up, send it down, and have a yellow perch on before you even set the bail. That kind of bite. But, we all had fun and they were very happy with their 33 pounds of fish at the cleaners that afternoon.

Thursday....the weather man was a little off...lol

The wind forecast was for 10mph out of the west, and a marine forecast of 2 foot or less, but it blew much harder than that and the waves kept increasing throughout the morning.

We started out in the same place as the day before, but there were more junkfish in the mix, so the yellow catch was slower. We caught a lot of nice sized perch, so that kept it interesting for them.
When the winds got a little stronger and I felt a need to get them to another spot that would be a little more protected, we moved in towards the NE side of Kellys where I spied a group of perch boats fishing. We set in to the south of the pack and picked up some more perch. It was time to go in now.

The winds had switched to the NW and were blowing pretty stiff. The slop chute between the main land and Kellys now had 2-4's in there. As I came around the SW corner of the island and saw what it looked like I said, "Well, I'm glad we didn't come to my other spot, because this is rough over here".

I just took my time and made it back to the launch with just a little spray from time to time from the crosswind. When we got on land Patsy gave me a hug and said, "Thank you for getting us back safely"! I just laughed and said, "You're welcome". The slop chute can be very intimidating to boaters, because the waves can come at you from every direction, like in a washing machine, and can make the ride a bit of a challenge. But, if you just take your time and pay attention, you'll make it back safely.

After dropping their fish off at the cleaners again, I took the trio back to their place and thanked them for a fun three days and bid them farewell.

It was time to take the boat home and clean her up again. The dogs were very happy that I was home too. However, they will not be happy this coming week, because I'm going to be even busier with charters and work.

So, I will try to blog each afternoon to keep it up to date, but I can't make any promises. I might not get to it until I have more time. :)

Capt Juls

Okay...here we go....Last week....:)

by Capt Juls on 09/15/13

It was a busy week last week. Let's start at the beginning.

First I apologize for being late with my blogging, but there were priorities that had to come first, like my regular jobs, and that thing called SLEEP! :)

Monday....

I had a charter scheduled with Mr. and Mrs Wallace of the Cleveland area. They are an older couple in their early 70's, and were to meet me at Mazurik's at 8am...or, so I thought.

Turns out, Mr Wallace thought he was to meet me at my house and showed up in my driveway just a couple minutes before I was going to head out and get some bait. It's a good thing they showed when they did, because they had no idea where the launch was, and I would have missed them. I also don't think they have a cell phone, because every time I called to touch base with him it would just go to a machine. I had to chuckle, because they reminded me very much of my parents. :)

I had them follow me on our way to the launch, but I decided to pull into a parking lot to show them the radar I was looking at. I could tell that the Mrs was not too happy about the weather and she looked very tired. It turns out they had been camping over in the Breast Bay area in MI, and she hadn't been able to sleep and was up since 2:30 that morning.

I showed them the radar and the line of thunderstorms that were headed our way, and explained that by what I was seeing at the time we would be fishing in the rain and that there were chances of lightning associated with the rain. They were given the choice of rescheduling again or getting their deposit back.

They opted for the reschedule and I will see them again next Tuesday. I'm hoping the weather will finally give them a break as this was the second time they rescheduled hoping for a nice day on the lake.

Needless to say, the radar changed as soon as they left and the "storms" that were on the edge of us were dissipating as it hit the shoreline. The winds died down and the rain turned to just a little drizzle. It would have been a fine day to go fishing.

Oh well, I can only go by what information is given at a specific time and make my decisions based on that. With an older couple, I was not going to take any chances. Especially when they didn't have the rain gear to spend the next 6 hours in without getting wet. :)

Capt Juls

Sorry I haven't blogged lately...

by Capt Juls on 09/03/13

It was a crazy weekend starting last Wednesday night. I took a friend out fishing on Tuesday August 27th, after a morning thunderstorm, and we struggled on the walleye, so we went perch'n. We caught his limit, but I didn't need any for the freezer, so we stopped after his limit was caught. So, you can see there wasn't much to report. lol

I have trips planned for Sunday thru Thursday of next week, so I'll be back to blogging next week. Today was yard work and tomorrow is housework...work...sigh.

Sorry everyone...I wish I had something to report for you.

Capt. Juls

Another Good Day at the Line

by Capt Juls on 08/21/13

A four hour perch trip was changed to a 4 hour walleye trip with the men of the Pond family, since they said they wanted fish for a fish fry that night. I knew we could get some decent walleye for that in a pretty fast fashion and the boys would have fun. Dad, Rick, and his two sons, Jordan (19) and Chase (11) were my crew for the morning.

Just like the day before, I met them at Mazurik's boat access and we headed to the Old C Can area. The fish were still there and the trusty 1198 was marking them pretty good. I just followed my trail from the day before and with quick instruction on how to put crawlers on the harnesses and set the lines/boards out, we started catching fish right away.

Their inexperience in trolling, along with their excitement of getting out on the water, meant I would be explaining again and again how to do things, (I felt like a nag), but they eventually got the hang of it and were having lots of fun learning. So, at one point I went and sat on the bow and told them, "Now that we have your fish for the fry, it's all up to you now. You know what you're doing, so have fun!"

The fish were smaller than the day before, but we did get a few that were in the 4-5 pound range.

The one thing I never explained was how to use the big walleye nets I have in my boat, because I had been netting all the fish that morning.

You see, the nets I use have a very large basket on them, and if the bottom of the basket isn't held with one hand while also holding the handle before it enters the water, it will drift back in the water making it impossible to capture the fish. The netting will float back with the current and get in front of the basket opening, blocking the fish from entering it. Or, it will catch an exposed hook on the wrong side of the net and the fish will be able to shake free.

When Jordan grabbed the net to help his Dad land a fish, I instructed him to hold the bottom of the net like I explained above. With an obstructed view I watched him unsuccessfully go after the biggest walleye of the morning. When I could finally see what was going on I realized he was never letting go of the net when it entered the water. The walleye just bounced off the taught netting when he tried to scoop it on the third attempt.

The fish won that fight and swam off. As I explained how the net works, his little brother was giving him the “what for” and we all laughed. I told him that fish would probably be a 10 pounder by the time I blogged about it. Ha! He was a good sport though, and took the ribbing in stride. :)

It was a great morning on the water with three great guys. I look forward to fishing with them again soon. I was told Grandpa would like to do some perch'n, so that will be coming up in the next few weeks, I think.

Capt Juls

Perfect Day on the Water…8/19/13

by Capt Juls on 08/19/13

It was a pretty typical morning. The alarm was set for 5am, but my dog, Dexter woke me at 4:30, because he smelled some earthly creature outside the bedroom windows.

With coffee brewing, I set about with my pre-charter activities. I check the internet for reports, look at the posts made by my Facebook “friends” through the night, and check the wind, weather, and marine forecasts for the day. Then, I drink my coffee, and watch a bit of news. I shower, get dressed, and play with the dogs until the sky lightens enough to take the cover off the boat. Then I load it with everything needed for a day of fishing. Food...check. Homemade brownies...check. License...check. Minn-Kota remote...check. Phone charger...check. Towels...check. Cooler...check....etc., etc., etc.

After getting gouged at the gas pump, filling my truck and boat, I headed to Hi-Way Bait and Tackle to pick up some crawlers and shiners. It was planned as a walleye fishing trip, but, feeling positive, I thought if we got our limit of ‘eyes early enough we might be able to get a bit-o-perch’n in too.

Today’s crew consisted of a previous customer, Billy Kodosky, and his customers, Ray and Evan. We launched at 8am from Mazurik’s Boat Access in Marblehead, and headed to the Canadian line. We wouldn't be crossing over, because they weren't carrying Canadian licenses.

We didn't need them after all. The walleye were stacked up East of Middle Island on the line. All we had to do was figure out what they wanted.

Larry Lambert and Keith “Pooh Bear” Unkefer both had given me the same area to try, so if those two walleye catching phenoms say to go there……you’d be a fool not to go!

As usual their advice was spot on. We ran Larry’s custom made double willow leaf harnesses behind #3 Tadpoles and 3oz inline weights 67-85 back, with a speed of 1.7mph. We had fish on turns, but the first time they were on the fast side and the second time they hit on the slow side, so I averaged it out and stayed at 1.7mph. J

18 fish went 66 pounds at the cleaners this afternoon. The fish size ranged from 15 inches to 29 inches.

My crew learned quickly and by mid-morning they were setting lines out all on their own. (Yes, of course, I was watching and nagging them the entire time...Ha!) They took turns reeling in fish, helped each other take off the Off Shore inline planer boards, and net the fish.

There wasn't a lot of junk fish, but there were some. There was one tiny little fish that thought it was a big fish. “I’m a BIG fish”, I could almost hear it saying. That little 2 ½ inch white perch had gone after a double willow leaf harness with a very long crawler on it. That bait must have had a profile of almost 18 inches long. What would possess that little fish to try and eat something that much bigger than it is? That little...er, "big fish" got a good round of laughs and we took pictures of Ray holding his “catch of the day” trophy.

While Evan might have reeled in the largest walleye today, it was Billy that caught the biggest fish. A very large and overly fed catfish came up from 37 feet to pay us a short visit. That kitty cat was every bit of 18 pounds, if not more, in my opinion.

Just a little after Noon we had a three man limit in the boat. The 120 quart cooler was filled to the top with walleye (over a nice layer of ice, of course). I suggested we go perch fishing, because it’s usually fun. They agreed, and with time expiring, we stopped in a couple of places to check for a perch bite. We caught a few sheephead , white perch, and a couple more little catfish, but no perch. With their time running out, we headed in to get their fish to the cleaners.

The lake was beautiful, for a change. The temptation to run wide open throttle was there, and the Ranger’s capabilities were there, but the cheapskate in me just couldn't bring myself to burn that kind of gas. I opted for a cruising speed and turned the radio up for “effect”. After a fun day of fishing it was definitely the right thing to do. Everyone was relaxed and in a good mood by the time we hit the dock at 2pm.

It was a great day on the water with three great guys. I've had a lot of fun trips this season, but this one definitely is near the top of the list.

Time to hit the hay here; I have another trip to do in the morning... I’m pretty sure I know where I’m going. ;)

Captain Juls

Blowing today...

by Capt Juls on 08/13/13

Today's charter was rescheduled for Sunday. She's huffing and puffing out there today. :)

Perch'n with the Fassler Boys Aug 12, 2013

by Capt Juls on 08/12/13

Matt Fassler and his family are from the Cincinnati area and were on vacation; staying in the Maumee area for the week.

His son Gabe wanted to go fishing, so Matt checked around. He was given my name, so he contacted me last week.

We made plans for a 4 hour trip, and had arranged to meet on the west end of the lake, at Szuech's bait shop. I had reports of a decent walleye and perch bite over there recently, and it would be a halfway point for both of us to meet up.

Scott Bogen, a good friend and long time fishing partner, was back in town from his recent move to the western Wisconsin/MN border. He and I took a fishing trip over to the west yesterday and checked it out. To make a long story short, we failed miserably.

I decided to call Matt and let him know what we found, and that I would be more confident in the perch bite I had going over by the islands. I also said that he should meet me at my house, and we would ride together to the launch. He agreed and showed up right on time.

The wind gods were good to us. We had a 5-10mph wind out of the southwest when we launched at Mazurik's. I set a course for the tip of catawba, about a mile west of Mouse Island, and went for a short boat ride.

The bite for the yellows started off slow, but we were into biting white perch...which meant there would be yellows mixed in the bunch....and, the seagulls would be eating well....wink wink.

An hour into the trip, the yellows started coming at a much faster pace, and the fun was increasing.

At first, Gabe had a little trouble "feeling" bottom with the weight, because the bottom was mucky, and he couldn't tell when the weight was all the way down. Explaining about slack line didn't seem to help. He still struggled.

He moved over by his father on the other side of the boat and tried again.

After much frustration, he didn't give up. He kept trying.

Matt explained about how the rod tip should look when the weight is on the bottom, compared to when it was off the bottom, and it finally clicked. He "got it". Suddenly he was catching fish as fast as we were.

At one point I noticed a weather front moving in and kept an eye on it in case we needed to break out the rain gear. Thankfully, most of the nasty weather stayed just to the north of us. I kept an eye on it out of the corner of my eye to watch for any lightning though. I won't fish with lightning around...ever.

The wind direction went from SSW to directly West in an instant, and was picking up.

Matt was a little concerned and asked about the wind. I had a feeling that the wind would die down again after the front passed through, and reassured them that they were in no danger. Luckily it only lasted about a 20 minutes, so it didn't get the lake too riled up.

I have to tell you though, that the perch bite lit up when that west wind hit hard. Woot! Woot!

We ended up with 90 decent size perch (out of about 200) in 3 1/2 hours. Luckily I make a habit of double checking my count, because I know I don't always hit the counter if I get distracted.

Sure enough, I was a few over. I tossed them to the seagulls and headed in.

It's a good thing we counted, because for the first time this summer the DNR was at the ramp when we arrived and he wanted to check our cooler. The officer smiled and said, "Thank you", and we went about my business of loading the boat out.

We took the fish over to Bombas Fish Cleaning, since it's close to the ramp, but it was going to take approximately an hour to finish them.

I suggested we go over to Big Boppers restaurant and get some lunch while we wait for the perch. They agreed.

After nice chit chat and a good meal we headed back to the cleaners, picked up the fish, and headed back to the house.

Arriving home, I said my goodbyes, and they headed back to the resort with smiles on their faces.

I like smiles. :)

Tomorrow's trip with one of my regular is iffy...I'm still looking at conditions. But, if the forecast holds, that NW wind at near 20 is not my cup of tea on Lake Erie, and I know my customer wouldn't like it either, so it might be a no go. I'll keep you posted.

Capt Juls

4 hour Perch Trip yesterday

by Capt Juls on 08/10/13

Long story short...

I was going to launch at Mazurik's, and go searching for some perch, but at the last minute I got a report of a decent perch bite over by the green can just out of Catawba State Park launch.

So, since both myself and my customers were 20 minutes early to Mazurik's, I had them follow me over to the ramp at Catawba. It took us a whole whopping two minutes to find a spot and set up to start catching.

The bite was slow to steady to start with, then picked up a bit, and then died off at the 3 hour mark. Then, it was slow for a half hour and picked up again for the last half hour of our 4 hour trip.

We ended up with a three man limit of 90 perch that went 24 pounds (so, not real big fish, but great eating fish none the less).

Today's charter was cancelled due to a death in the customer's family. I will be out fishing with a friend tomorrow, so I'll post a report then. I'm hoping to get over to Canada tomorrow, but I may go West since I have two charters early in the week and they do not have Canadian licenses. I have heard good reports of both walleye and perch over there, so I want to check it out. I'll keep you posted...:)

Capt Juls

Strangest thing happened 8/8/13

by Capt Juls on 08/10/13

This was a first for me...

I got up at 5am and after coffee, a bite to eat, and a shower, I readied the boat for an 8am launch at Mazurik's.

I stopped and picked up minnows for a 4 hour perch trip with a couple and their two young daughters.

They were from Wisconsin and staying in Lakeside for a couple weeks.

I showed up early and waited....

And, waited......

And waited.......they were a no show. I've never had that happen before. Everyone has always been at least 15 minutes early from their expected arrival time.

I texted him and asked if he had forgotten, but there was no reply.

I texted him and told him if they wanted to reschedule to Monday that that would be fine, but he would have to call me or confirm it asap, but there was no reply.

In the meantime, someone else called and put a deposit down on Monday for a trip with his young son. So, since they never replied, I had to let Monday go to the new customer.

And, this is why I take a deposit up front. No exceptions.

When talking to this guy, there was no indication that he wouldn't have shown up.

I am wondering now if something terrible happened.

I hope not.

Anyway, it gave me time to go home and pull a toxic bush out of my dog yard that Dexter was starting to chew on. It was a lovely Rhododendron, but he's more important than the bush. My neighbor, Jerry, now has it in his yard. I hope it survives. It's a pretty bush. :)

Capt Juls

Unexpected Perch Trip Yesterday

by Capt Juls on 08/06/13

I didn't have any charters lined up for yesterday (Monday), so after spending the morning cleaning the house, I packed the dogs up in the car to go to the store to find something for dinner.

While in the store, an employee walked up to me and said, "Juls, there's a couple in here looking for a charter captain to take them fishing. Do you want to talk to them?" I followed him down the isle, and as we rounded the second corner, there they were. He introduced me and said, "You'll have fun with this Captain", and we talked a bit. They were in town for the week, and wanted to go one day this week, but I said I was booked Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The wind/rain forecast was unfavorable for today (Tues) and Wednesday, so I said, "Are you free in an hour?" They looked surprised, but said, they were.

I drove home to put the dogs in the house and change vehicles. The boat was already hooked up to the boat, so it was just a matter of taking the cover off, and putting the big cooler in the back of the boat.

After stopping to get ice and shiners, I met them at Mazurik's launch. They were there waiting on me.

The first question I asked was, "Do you have your fishing licenses?" And, the answer was, "No. I didn't know we had to have one. Do we really need them?" I said, "Well, it's WAY cheaper than the fine you would pay if you got checked and didn't have one".

I had them drive back to Hi-Way Bait to get their licenses, and I launched the boat, with the help of a friendly guy from Oak Harbor, and waited on them. They were back in 20 minutes and we headed out at 4pm.

They didn't care what we caught as long as we caught fish. They wanted to just catch and release fish, so that took a lot of pressure off. There are plenty of junk fish around to satisfy that request. lol

We started off the airport on the east side of Kelly's but even the junk fish bite was slow, so I moved up to the green can on the NE end of Kelly Island Shoal. There were a few other boats up there with a lot of seagulls around, so I figured they had a bite going.

I hit the spot lock on the Terrova and started fishing. The catching began shortly after. The action was fast, but unfortunately it was more junk fish than yellows. They didn't care though. The highlight was when she caught a good 7 pound sheephead on that little 4' ultra light rod. That made her day, she said. I can't help but love people that just appreciate a good fight on the end of the line. She was so excited she could barely reel it in. She did great, and with a little coaching, landed it. She laughed and laughed and laughed. It was contagious. :)

The afternoon was absolutely beautiful on the lake. There were no flies or bugs bothering us and the light wind was cool...not hot. The waves were almost non-existent too, which made for a fun boat ride in the 621. Weeeeeee!

The 4 hours were up much too fast, but everyone was ready to go in by that time, because they had other fun plans for the rest of the evening. We only caught 25 yellow perch, and only kept 22 of them (3 were too small). I drove to two places to have them cleaned, but everyone was closed by 8pm...sigh. I got home and called my neighbor, Jerry, since he has a tumbler/scaler in his garage, and he was more than happy to clean them. :)

I'll be out in search of some yellows again Thursday thru Saturday. I hope the ratio is better next time. I'll keep you posted.

Capt Juls

Beautiful Day on the Lake Today...

by Capt Juls on 07/30/13

Yesterday, while I was painting my bedroom a new color, I received a phone call from a fellow charter Captain and friend, Larry Lambert, who asked if I had a charter the next day. I told him, no, that I had three days off and was painting my bedroom. He says, "Well if you want to fish, I have two people looking to go out tomorrow". I said, "The painting can wait!" Ha!

I called Larry Crum at the number Larry gave me, and talked with him. He and his son wanted to go for some walleye. I asked them if they would be interested in getting a Canadian lic since the fishing has been so good up there the past few weeks, and he said they would.

Fast forward...After forgetting my crawlers at home, I stopped at the bait shop to pick up some more and to get some ice for the built in cooler in the Ranger. I left the bait shop and drove over to Mazurik's to wait on Larry Sr and Larry Jr.

While I was getting the boat ready, I realized I had left the bait shop without grabbing the ice out of the bin....sigh, I can see how this day is going to go already. lol

I secure the boat to the trailer again and head back to the bait shop. I run in and tell them I forgot the ice, and, of course they laughed at me. :)

I grab the ice and head back to the ramp to ready the boat again. I jump up in the boat and set my course for the numbers Larry Lambert gave me, as it's been a couple weeks since I was out. My last two charters were cancelled due to wind. My clients showed up and the first thing I asked them was, "Did you get your Canadian licenses?" The answer was, "No". Uffda..."Okay", I said. "Well, there's fish on the US side too, we'll just have to find them.

About 30 seconds later my phone rings, and it's Joe Whitten. He says, "I saw on Facebook that you were headed to Canada this morning. I just wanted to give you a heads up on a hot bite we had there yesterday." He went on to tell me how fantastic it was and the program they used to catch their fish. I told him, "I wish I was going up there, but it looks like I'm headed to the weather buoy. My guys didn't buy their Canadian licenses. He wished me good luck and I got back to greeting my customers.

We launched and got under way. It was a 19 mile run to the weather buoy. But, on a day like today, it was a pleasurable drive out. Waves were 1' or less and the sunrise was spectacular. Now, that's the way to start a day!

We set in a little SW of the weather buoy and pulled double willow leaf crawler harnesses behind #3 Tadpoles 55-75 back at 1.5-1.7 mph. We managed to put 5 nice eaters in the boat before the bite just seemed to shut off again. The Humminbird was showing those fish very deep and some were belly to the bottom for 6 hours! Very few fish were moving up in the water column today. Maybe it was a good afternoon bite, but we struggled for the most part.

My clients were very happy though, and were just glad to be out on the water. This is the best they had done in their last three or four trips out with other charters, so I didn't feel so bad only getting them 5 fish. They did get to play with some white bass and some big sheephead, so it wasn't too boring of a troll.

The weather was cool in the morning, but by noon it was almost 80 degrees. It was one of those days where there are clouds all around the perimeter of the lake, but never one that would come and block the sun from time to time. What's up with that? lol

The wind had died down to nothing and those little bothersome gnats showed up. Crawling all over us and going up my nose. That freakn' tickles!

Anyhoo....that's all there is to tell about today. It was a great time with two great guys and they are looking forward to going out again sometime soon. I hope it's a perch trip...have I told you I LOVE perch fishing? ;)

Capt Juls

Cancelled Trip This Morning...sigh

by Capt Juls on 07/28/13

Had the boat ready to go and stopped by my customer's hotel this morning. We had planned to fish between Kelly's and the mainland for perch, but after a quick ride around the point it was an easy call. The winds are supposed to pick up even more this afternoon, so I made the call to cancel. They were okay with that call, and plan to come back and try again another time. They had fun on the islands all day yesterday, so it wasn't a wasted trip. :)

Waiting to see what the winds do for the morning. Another trip may or may not be cancelled.

Capt Juls

Sorry, Nothing to Report this Week...

by Capt Juls on 07/23/13

No charters over the weekend, and yesterday's charter was rescheduled to next Monday, due to the client's request.

I have charters this coming weekend, and Monday, so I'll have something to report then.

Capt Juls

Fly In Perch Trip...:)

by Capt Juls on 07/19/13

No, it's not a Canadian wilderness adventure, but I did have clients fly in on their own plane to go perch fishing with me yesterday.

Brad Jackson, and his two sons, Sam and Alex, flew in from Indiana yesterday morning. It was an hour flight, so when he texted me to tell me they were taking off, I went to Hi Way Bait to get my ice and minnies for the trip and headed to the Port Clinton airport to await their arrival.

When they arrived they loaded up in my truck and we headed to Mazurik's ready to go....or, so I thought. As I was getting the boat ready for launch I asked, "does everyone have their fishing license?" And, the answer was, "No, I didn't know we needed one here. In Florida where we fish we don't need one." (I guess when you fish in the ocean you don't need a fishing license?)

So, I secured the boat back down and we drove back to Hi Way Bait to get their licenses.

After making them all legal like, we arrived back at Mazurik's at 9:30. We arrived at my perch spot at 9:45 (I love this lake when it's not rough...lol) And, we proceeded to start catching perch.

The bite wasn't as strong as it had been for the last couple of weeks/ (I will have to start looking for another good perch bite someplace else). I like a quicker bite than we had. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better. Had I not had to work last night, we could have spent more time looking for a better bite, and made it longer than a 4 hour trip. But, Brad understood that a last minute booking on a night I work would limit us.

FYI: Reports of big perch 1 mile out of the Vermilion River, in 36-40' of water, are coming in...with perch going 2 to a pound. Wowza, those are big perch!

We only had 4 hours to fish, because I had to work last night, so we finished the day 15 perch short of a 90 perch limit.

It was really hot yesterday, and the wind had died down to nothing by 1PM, so the two boys jumped in the lake to cool off before we headed back to the ramp.

After dropping the fish off at Bomba's to be cleaned, we went over to Big Boppers for a bite to eat, while we waited for the fish to get finished. I then drove them back to the cleaners to get their fish and loaded their cooler with ice for their trip back to Indiana. When I dropped them back off at the airport we said our good byes and I wished them a safe flight home.

I had just enough time to get home and cover the boat back up, jump in the shower, and let the dogs out. The dogs were a little confused when I said, "I have to go to work now; you have to stay here", since I was only home a short time. I hate when they look at me with sad faces....sigh But, if they want to keep eating, I must work. :)

Anyhoooo...it was a super fun day with the Jackson family and I look forward to fishing with them again, soon.

Capt Juls

Perch Jerk'n with Jeff Buckley and his Guest ChucK..:)

by Capt Juls on 07/15/13

After getting home from work at about 11:45 PM, I was happy to know that I didn't have to be up at 4:30 AM for this trip. Luckily, this client is a CIC member (where I work), so he knew how late I had to work and agreed to a later start time for the Sunday trip.

We headed to the spot where I stopped on the way back from Canada the day before, and there was only one other boat out there when I arrived to that spot. Woot! Woot!

I lowered the Terrova into the water and set the "spot lock" on the spot, and it not only held us on the spot, but it impressed my passengers with it's super cool technology. I absolutely love the fact that this 50 year old body does not have to lift a heavy anchor anymore! Talk about a back saver...:)

We had plenty of shiners and proceeded to catch our 90 perch in 3 1/2 hours. They wanted a 4 hour trip, so it worked out perfectly. I like when that happens.

I could perch fish every day. I love it that much.

I'll be out again on Thursday with Brad Jackson and his two sons (Indiana peeps) for a 4 hour perch trip. I'm looking forward to it.

Capt. Juls

I'm behind....again! Charter Report for Saturday July 13th, 2013

by Capt Juls on 07/15/13

I apologize for my late blogging. Between charters, working my regular job, doing the household chores, and yard work... not to mention entertaining the dogs from time to time, I have very little time to spare, so my blogging gets put on the back burner until I can get to it. Priorities....sigh.

Anyhooo... Saturday was a bit windy with a breezy NE wind about 10-18 out of the NE. Waves were 2-4 feet on average, and the sun was shining.

This day, I was going to be fishing with Doug Burkhead, his son Chris, and his friend Shawn Kintigh. All three belong to the Illiana Walleye Club that I had donated a 1/2 day trip to last year. Doug won the drawing and then bought another 1/2 day charter to make it a full trip.

We met at Mazurik's at 7am and launched. They had picked up their one day Canadian licenses, so our plan was to head up to the East side of Pelee where the walleye were still biting the previous two days. However, it took us an hour to get up to Middle island, and we still had another 5-7 miles to go to get to my destination.

I stopped the boat and told my crew what was happening...gave them the time it already took, how long it would still take to get there, and took a look at the sonar. We were marking fish that looked like Perch on the bottom. And, since they wanted to do both Walleye and perch we decided to stop there and try to catch some yellow ones.

We listened to the marine radio while we were perch jerk'n, and "Pooh Bear" and other Captains I know that went up to the area I wanted to go were struggling. The walleye bite was slow, so we were happy in our decision to stop and fish for perch.

We spent most of the trip at that first spot sorting through a lot of white perch and white bass, with the occasional sheephead to get our perch. The grade was nice up there too.

We left that spot with about an hour and a 1/2 left to go, because I wanted to check my US perch spot for a trip I had scheduled the next day, because they wouldn't have Canadian licenses. It turned out to be a good decision, because the perch were still there, and there were fewer junk fish. We had run out of minnows by this time, so we put pieces of crawlers on the hooks and they liked them. :)

We finished out their limit and headed in. It was a fun ride in "surfing the waves", and I thoroughly enjoyed the time in the boat with these three guys. I hope to fish with one or all of them again sometime.

I met them at the fish cleaners and dropped off their fish. I then headed home to get ready for work....ugh. The dogs were not happy about that last part, but if they want to keep eating, then I must keep working...sigh.

Capt Juls

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