Juls WFA Blog
Monday June 24th Fishing Report
by Capt Juls on 06/24/13Headed out early this morning to meet up with Jim McEwen and his wife Renee at Mazurik's boat access. They had fished with me back in April and Jim, being a taxidermist on the side, said he had done one of the fish they caught, and wanted me to have it. It is beautiful! It is now permanently in its new home right here next to my desk where I can look up and remember the fun day we had that day. Thanks Jim and Renee!
My two salesmen from Cleveland showed up right on time, and we headed out at 8am. I was informed that their boss took them to Put-In-Bay the night before and Billy wasn't feeling too well. John felt fine, he said.
Being that neither of them really fished before, or trolled for that matter, we stopped over on the SE corner of Kelly's Island for a quick seminar on using Off Shore Tackle in line Planer boards, line counter reels, and how to put a crawler on a harness correctly. We set 6 lines out and trolled for maybe a 1/2 hour when I said, "Let's get up to Canada now". When we pulled all the lines in all the crawlers had been stolen.....#%$^@ dang little white perch! :)
We called the Canadian Customs when we crossed and took care of business...got my number for the day, and proceeded to head to Mill Point. The nice thing about fishing on a weekday is there is no one out there with you, or to get in your way. We had the point all to ourselves for the next 4 hours.
Billy caught the first fish that was on and got it in the boat. Then, he announced that he wasn't feeling very good, so I gave him some of my seasickness spray that sky divers use, but it wasn't soon enough. He was pretty gray already. He didn't want to go in though. I said he should go lie down on the bow and that should help make him feel better. I said, "We'll wake you up in about an hour" (which is how long that pass usually takes).
John and I were having a ball catching their two man limit. John was a quick learner and eager to do things the way I liked them done, so I didn't have to watch him too closely. However, he had trouble getting the crawlers on the hooks "just so", so I did that job for him. Hey, you have to do what you have to do, right? lol
They were both really cool guys and real gentlemen. Their boss would have been very proud of them today. I know Billy will take some ribbing, but he had a good sense of humor about it all.
I know you're getting tired of hearing the same old same old, but when a program is working there is no reason to change it. Same thing today, and again tomorrow....
Double willow leaf harnesses made by Larry Lambert of Marblehead (sold at Hi-Way Bait and Tackle on 163 in Marblehead). 1.6-1.7mph with #2 Tadpoles and 2oz inline weights 25-33 on the shallow side of the boat and 30-45 on the deep side. We were fishing the 29-30 foot contour and the outside boards were over 32-34 foot of water.
Tomorrow I will take another one of Jerry's salesmen with one of his clients up there too, but I may move off the point a little more. It will depend on the weather conditions in the morning.
Today was beautiful. The winds were out of the SW at 5-10mph with sunny skies. There was just enough wind to keep the biting black flies off of us for most of the day. They found my boat at about 11:45, but we were already packing it in. They had their limit and I wanted to get Billy back on shore. I know that feeling and it's the worst thing in the world to try and survive. He said, "Well, I'm not going to argue"...when I suggested we head back. lol
Hitting the hay early tonight. 4:30 comes pretty fast once I close my eyes. :)
Thanks for checking out my blog. I'll be posting again tomorrow night.
Good luck fishing everyone!
Capt Juls
Sunday June 23rd Fishing Report
by Capt Juls on 06/24/13(Due to heat exhaustion, I am writing this the day after the fishing trip)
Tracy and Robin Patterson gave me a call on Friday night to set up a fishing trip for yesterday (Sunday). I was looking forward to this trip, since I have been friends with Tracy for right around 14 years and his new bride for 1 year. They fished with me last year on a foggy, east wind, dreary day where we only caught a couple fish.
Yesterday, however, was a different story. The weather was very warm, No, actually hot, with very little wind to speak of, and the sun was shining.
We started out on the SE corner of Kelly's in about 30-32 foot of water and proceeded to start catching fish right away. Some were walleye and some were junk fish, but there was action. We designated Robin as the person to do most of the reeling, while Tracy and I did all the work, so she could have some fun. She's doesn't have much experience when it comes to fishing, so we wanted her to get some time in behind the reel...:)
We made one pass there and caught two and lost 4. We decided not to make another pass through there as the weekend perch flotilla was out in force over there and would make navigating a trolling pass a pain in the butt.
We moved up to the "old C Can" area about 6 miles east of Middle Island up on the Canadian line and set up another pass. Two fish caught out there, but I wasn't seeing the marks on the Humminbird like I wanted, so when I asked if they wanted to go back down to the first area or find another area, I got the usual answer of, "You're the Captain, it's your boat, whatever you want to do". Okay, fine. Let's go.
I took them over to the area on the west side of North Bass Island and north of West Reef, and proceeded to set up a trolling pass. We were seeing nice marks on the 1198 this time and they turned out to be some nice eater sized walleye in the 16-24 inch class. Yummy! :)
We finished out their limit and started to get into mine when we ran out of time. I really need to put a doggy door in once my dog yard fence is up, so they can get out to go potty on their own. We would have stayed out a little longer to fill my ticket if it weren't for the dogs needing out and the black flies that were starting to devour our legs. They loved Tracy's legs and actually drew blood on him several times! Ouch!
Same program as the past few weeks....double willow leaf harnesses pulled at 1.6-1.7, but this time the hot color was the black and gold combo. The pinks did well also, but they really liked the natural colors yesterday a little more.
Headed back out again today and tomorrow. I think we're heading to Canada with this bunch though...they're looking for a little bigger fish to brag about. :)
Capt Juls
June 18th Charter with Denny and Angelo
by Capt Juls on 06/18/13Woke up at 4:30 and took care of the dogs before hitting the shower and getting ready for another day of fishing.
After a quick check of the weather on the computer, I went outside to remove the cover on the Ranger, and put the crawlers in the cooler. Headed to the hotel where my guys were staying and picked them up a 1/2 hour early. Wind report was for building winds by mid morning, and 15-20 out of the North/ Northeast. Unfortunately, it was every bit of that and the lake was pretty rough.
We left Mazurik's at 7am and headed toward Middle Island, but stopped short when I had second thoughts of being a small boat on a rough Lake Erie on a Tuesday when very few boats were around. Instead we set up a troll on American Eagle Shoal, where several other boats had the same idea. We only caught a sheephead on that spot, so I decided we would give the old college try and headed to the East side of Kelly's.
Yesterday morning, in that spot, we only caught giant catfish. Today we managed to get 5 walleye to bite, with one of them being another "Fish Ohio" for these two. We also caught a nice chunky smallmouth bass on a Reef Runner, but didn't catch any catfish today. Again, not much to tell as far as presentation. Same double willow leaf harnesses I've been running for weeks at 1.6 mph. The RR's caught the smallie and one of the walleye and were trolled at the same speed as the harnesses. 45-55 back was the count on the RR's.
When the trip was over I took the guys over to the fish cleaners to get their fish cleaned before taking them back to their hotel.
We said our goodbyes and we thanked each other for a fun two days. I would call it a success. :)
This coming Saturday and Sunday is going to be beautiful. Both charters have rescheduled for July, due to personal or work obligations, so this weekend is open for anyone that wants to book a charter. I'm available now.
Capt Juls
June 17th Trip with Denny and Angelo...
by Capt Juls on 06/17/13Well, I had to reschedule two trips this past week, due to weather, and the Youth Tournament I was supposed to fish was cancelled, due to a small craft advisory this past Thursday. So, after a weekend of attending the Cabelas National Walleye Tour that was in town this past weekend, I was too busy to keep up with my blog. My apologies to anyone who is actually reading/following my random thoughts. :)
Anyhooo....
Today was an exceptional day on the water. The weather was absolutely beautiful.
I picked my crew of two up at their hotel at 6:45 and we launched out of Mazurik's at 7am.
We headed straight to the SW corner of Kelly's and made one pass in the 28-30' edge and caught 6 huge catfish. I said, "Enough of this! I don't even like handling the little cats, let alone the big ones with bigger stingers!" So, we got on plane and headed to the East side of Pelee Island.
There, we got into some real beauties. We made two passes using the same double willow leaf harnesses I have been using the past month, and trolled at a speed of 1.6 to catch our fish. 2oz 25-35 back was the ticket there. We only caught 8 of their 12 fish there, but 4 of them were "Fish Ohio's" (28 inches or better). Pictures have been uploaded to page 4 on the photos page of my website if you want to see them.
We made a move with one hour to go, over to the area between Middle and North Bass, where I had been fishing a lot the past few weeks. The fish are still there and there are still some big fish there too. We caught three more "good eaters" and finished the day off with the biggest fish of them all. (Sorry, I didn't measure it).
As we were reeling in the lines to head home, we had one little walleye hanging on the outside board, so I said, "Well, it looks like I get to eat dinner tonight after all", to which they both laughed. It was a fun day with these two gentlemen.
Denny is a a farmer in Wisconsin. His friend Angelo is a retired banker. They both had a great time reeling in these big fish and are looking forward to going out and doing it again tomorrow. The weather will be cooler tomorrow, due to a NNE wind that's expected. Conditions will determine where we will start tomorrow, so at this point I'm not sure yet.
I only know that they are still biting, and I'm grateful that we had such a great day of fishing today.
The Mayfly hatch was huge yesterday. This morning the Kroger parking lot was covered in them, as were many businesses and houses off of 163. What a mess! The husks that were left floating in the water were all over Ohio waters in the Western Basin and made a mess of the lines, planer boards, and my boat...yuck! I thought for sure the fishing would be tougher today, but luckily for us, it was still good. :)
I'll be back tomorrow to write another blog, and hopefully, it will be another good report.
Thanks for reading it.
Capt Juls
June 11th Trip with Jerry, Mike, and Mark
by Capt Juls on 06/11/13I got up early and made another batch of homemade brownies, but this time I added glazed walnuts and dark chocolate chips for a little sumpin-sumpin to make them outstanding...and, they were, if I do say so myself.
Jerry Cohen, last year's Commodore at the CIC on Catawba Island, and two friends of his were to meet me at Mazurik's launch at 8am. I was about a 1/2 hour early, and so were they! However, they had forgot to pick up fishing licenses, so I sent them over to Hi-Way Bait to get them before heading out.
We launched at 8am just like we planned and headed to the area I was fishing on Sunday...between North Bass and Middle Island in 34 feet of water just South of the Canadian line. We were using the same program with the double willow leaf harnesses as Sunday, which was #2 Tadpoles and 2oz inlines at 40-55 back.
We made two passes and picked up three fish in the first pass. One of them was a nice fatty 29 1/2 inch walleye. That one got high fives all around. We caught one more walleye in the second pass and decided to pick up and head over the East side of Kelly's Island where Duncan Wooster, another Captain friend of mine, was fishing and catching some nice 'eaters', along with one or two "Fish Ohios" if I'm not mistaken.
Anyhooo...we started out deep, but Duncan called and said to come inside to the 18-20 foot contour...so, we did. It wasn't long before we had a planer board go back and another walleye in the livewell. We continued on that contour and ran into some thick algae weed like substance that stuck to the planer boards, inline weights, and harnesses...Yuck! But, we also had another board go back telling us another fish was on. This one would escape Jerry as he tried to reel it in closer to the boat, due to a hook that was barely holding the fish on.
Even though their time was up, we stayed out a little longer and managed to get one more fish on the line. This time it was another big fish. A nice 28 incher! High fives all around again and we called it a day.
My guys did very well learning how to troll with Off Shore boards and crawler harnesses. By lunch time I had them setting all the lines while I made them some sandwiches. They did a fantastic job and I hope to fish with them again soon.
Thanks Jerry, Mike, and Mark for a very fun day! :)
Capt Juls
A Much Better Trip for Dion, Sabrina, and Mike This Time! (June 9th)
by Capt Juls on 06/10/13The last time I fished with these three it was a rainy and cold day in April. Dion and Sabrina had forgotten their rain gear at home in Michigan, but insisted on continuing with the trip. Mike Mink offered Sabrina his rain jacket, which she put on, and Dion wore a wind breaker jacket over his sweat suit. They were soaked and shivering by the end of the trip.
Yesterday was a much better trip for them. I immediately set a course from Mazurik's to the Canadian line where I was the day before. The program would be the same too. (See the June 8th blog for info).
We weren't even done setting all the lines out when the first fish hit and ended up in the livewell. All three were very excited now. And, it continued....we would have two of the three limits in the box within the first two hours of the day, and in the first pass.
As we neared Lucy's Point, we decided to bring all the lines in and head back East to make another pass and fill the last person's limit. This time, the fish decided to take a break and didn't bite. We caught two fish in that entire second pass and lost a couple of light biters. Of course, the sheephead never come off and Dion managed to catch a big fatty that got his adrenaline pumping, thinking he had a huge walleye on. That made for some great laughter and teasing for the rest of the day. :)
The winds were picking up by noon, so when we finished the second pass out by the line, I decided to head back over to North Bay to make a NE to SW trolling pass for the last hour of their trip. We caught one more walleye and two more sheephead to finish out the day. .
We ended up with 14 walleye and three happy customers, so I would consider that a successful day on the water.
We talked about the perch fishing and Sabrina said she had never done it, so we are planning a perch trip in the near future. I love perch fishing,....probably more than walleye fishing, so I'm definitely looking forward to that trip!
Good luck to everyone that is in town to fish the National Walleye Tour this week. The weather looks great for a fun tournament. :)
Capt Juls
June 8th Trip...Learning Trip
by Capt Juls on 06/09/13Saturday, June 8th, was scheduled as a "learning charter" for Capt. Jim Mazanec and his son Jim. They wanted to learn how to troll crawler harnesses behind inline planer boards.
They met me at my house in the morning, then we drove into town to gas up the Ranger, get some ice for the cooler, and some Mickey D's for my belly.. When we arrived at the ramp at 8am, my regular fishing partner Steve was waiting for us.
We headed to the North side of Kelly's to start the day. The conditions were perfect. After many days of blowing winds, the lake was calm for a change and made moving around a lot easier. The first pass we made was in front of North Bay where I had had successful trips earlier in the week.
Double willow leaf wire harnesses on 6' leaders behind #2 Tadpoles pulled at 1.6-1.8 in various colors was the order of the day. We marked several clouds of Mayflies floating to the surface...and, I mean BIG clouds! So, Port Clinton, its going to be a messy buggy week for us, I think. The fish didn't bite for us at N. Bay, so we moved. Were they full from gorging on the Mayflies? I don't know, but it could very well be the case.
We decided to move to the Canadian Line between Middle Island and North Bass Island, and started an East to West troll at 1.8 mph. After passing over some good marks and not getting a pull back, I tried dropping our speed down from 1.8 to 1.6 and immediately a board went back. It was pretty good fishing after the speed change and the boys had a great time.
Jim was pretty excited and asked where he could buy the boards to use on his boat. It looks like another drift/caster has been made a believer in the effectiveness of trolling. He also commented and said that it was a lot more involved than he originally thought.....we trollers get that a lot. lol
Anyway, it was a successful day on the water and I had two very enthusiastic clients that took away some knowledge to use on their boat. That's always the goal. To teach others how to use the equipment that's available to everyone. Some things can look intimidating if you've never tried it before, but with a little practice it becomes very easy and less intimidating.
Jim had seen the "Review" page on my site and sent me an email the next morning with the following. I couldn't help but feel kind of proud of myself.....thanks for the kind words Jim. :)
"My son and I went with Captain Juls on her Ranger for a trolling seminar on Lake Erie this weekend. I have fished the Lake for over 40 years and thought I knew everything about walleye fishing but, I must admit, I was wrong.
Captain Juls is the real deal! Her expertise, dedication, commitment, and integrity set her apart from most Charter Captains. We not only caught walleye, but she was constantly teaching and suggesting different techniques of how to catch those wonderful fish we all chase around the western basin for six months out of the year. I appreciated the opportunity to see how a true professional operates.
It’s apparent that Captain Juls loves what she does and is a great teacher. I look forward to the next time my son and I can get out with her for another Walleye adventure."
Captain Juls is the real deal! Her expertise, dedication, commitment, and integrity set her apart from most Charter Captains. We not only caught walleye, but she was constantly teaching and suggesting different techniques of how to catch those wonderful fish we all chase around the western basin for six months out of the year. I appreciated the opportunity to see how a true professional operates.
It’s apparent that Captain Juls loves what she does and is a great teacher. I look forward to the next time my son and I can get out with her for another Walleye adventure."
Capt Juls
June 4th Trip...Great Time With Two Great Guys!
by Capt Juls on 06/05/13I was meeting my regular customer, Steve Chapman, and his son Jeremy at Mazurik's ramp at 8am, so I got up at 5am and made them some dark chocolate brownies and Deviled Egg salad for sandwiches later in the day.
I stopped off at the gas station to top off the tank in the boat, and headed to Hi Way Bait and Tackle to pick up some ice. I took in some of the still warm brownies for the guys working and they appreciated that very much. Guess who didn't have to pay for ice! lol
Larry Lambert was at the shop, and gave me some fishing info, but it meant that I had to switch out my regular crawler harness set ups for his custom made double willow leaf crawler harnesses. These harnesses would allow me to run the boat at a faster speed, which would help in the rougher conditions than the marine forecast was calling for. They sure missed that one. The forecast said "1 foot or less" for wave heights, but it was sure more like 3-5's on our way out to the starting spot on the NE corner of Kelly's!
We set in at the green can between the shoal and the NE tip of the island and set a course for a SW troll in front of North Bay. The fish were stacked in there.
Shortly after setting lines out, we caught the first walleye of the day. A nice 29 inch fish. In that first pass we would catch and box 6 walleye and miss 3 others. We also caught a few sheephead to keep things interesting.
We were running our baits with 2oz Tadpoles and inline weights behind Off Shore boards at a speed between 1.6 and 1.8 (with surges to 2.0) mph.
Colors were all over the board from Perch pattern, pinks, purples, and oranges, so color wasn't a factor yesterday. They liked them all.
We made another run up to make another pass, but this time, though we were still marking fish, they were not biting as quickly. We missed a couple more light biters and caught 4 more walleye to finish out their trip with 10 in the box that went 40 pounds. They were both very happy customers.
We had talked about the perch fishing on the lake, and I told them that I love to perch fish, so they are bringing their wives up on the 16th of June to do a little perch'n. That will be a great day if we can find a nice school of them around the islands.
They treated me to a couple of drinks and an early dinner at Ciao Bella, a new italian restaurant in town, for my birthday, and they headed home.
It's always a fun day on the water with these two and I always look forward to fishing with them.
It's my birthday today, so I am on shore writing articles that have deadlines, and hoping to get my grass cut before I have to work tonight (happy birthday to me, right? ha!)
I have a trip in the morning...if the conditions are right. They are an older couple staying out on Kelly's Island for the week, so if it's going to be too rough I will cancel it. I won't know until I get to the ramp in the morning. If I don't show up at the ramp on the island by 8am they know I'm not coming and will go have breakfast. :)
The forecast is calling for NE winds again, which makes it rougher than normal for a 15mph wind out there.
Have a great day everyone!
Capt Juls
Tuesday June 4th....headed out this morning
by Capt Juls on 06/04/13
I was up early to make some dark chocolate brownies for my charter today, along with some deviled egg salad sandwiches...so, now the house smells like chocolate eggs. lol
Have a great day everyone...I'm going fish'n with two of my regular customers, so it should be a really fun day! :)
You'll hear about it later....conditions today are:
TODAY...NORTHEAST WINDS 10 KNOTS OR LESS. WAVES 1 FOOT OR LESS. Sunny with a high near 65
I have 5 days left in June that are available for charters..
by Capt Juls on 05/29/13
I changed my work schedule around, so I could fit more charters in, so the dates available to you now are Saturdays, 22nd & 29th....and Sundays 16, 23, 30th.
Book your "Adventure" asap...first person to hold a date with a 100.00 deposit gets the date. (It's the only fair way to do it). :)
Capt Juls
Memorial Day Fishing Trip with the Jacksons
by Capt Juls on 05/28/13May 27th, 2013
Charlene Jackson called me on Friday of last week, and said that she had seen my article in "The Beacon", (a local paper that I write a weekly fishing report for).
Last weekend, when they were here fishing on another charter boat, she picked up the paper in the hotel and took it home to Indiana with her.
She said that she and her husband owned a smaller boat and wanted to learn how to troll with it. I said, "Well, that's what I do best, and if you're good students, by the end of the 6 hours you will know how to run crawler harnesses behind OST boards and use spoons behind dipsies and jet divers."
My Ranger 621 is only a couple feet bigger than their boat, so it was a perfect fit for them. And, as I had promised, by the end of the 6 hours they were both running their respective sides of the boat without my help, except for a little guidance here and there to tweak things.
We started the morning off by launching at Mazurik's. We dropped in at American Eagle Shoal, but didn't mark anything, so we moved on out to the south side of Gull Island Shoal and didn't mark anything there either, so we moved once again....this time to Lucy's Point.
We set a trolling pass to the North side of Northbass Island, and I went about teaching them how to set up the rods with dipsies and jet divers. I explained how the dipsies have left and right side capabilities and explained the depth chart and how it works. I recently bought some 40 Tru-Trip Jet Divers that I was looking forward to trying out, since the radio is always on fire with announcements from the "Pooh Bear" and his other fleet of Captains saying things like, "40 Tru-Trips 45' and 50' back...another double", or "another one in the box"..."Just got a triple"!
The only difference between the old style jet divers and the new Tru-Trips is that the new ones have a release on them like the dipsies, so that when set properly, and a fish hits, it releases and you're not fighting the jet diver to the boat. The fish usually comes to the surface, unless it's a toad, and stays deep on its own. :)
Anyhooo...back to the story....
We caught one walleye and two sheephead at Lucy's, so we picked up and went to the west side of Northbass, where I had done so well the weekend before with Larry and Steve. This time, I pulled the crawler harness rods out of the rod locker and showed them how to hook the crawlers and explained how the lightest weights go on the outside boards and the heavier weights on the inside. Once we were set up and trolling, it wasn't long before we hooked up with some nice eaters.
It was the exact same program as last weekend with Larry and Steve. We ran 1 ounce inlines and 1 ounce Tadpoles 35 back and the 2 ounce Tadpoles 28' back. Our speed was between 1.1 and 1.3mph.
We made three passes...the first pass we caught three fish. The second pass we caught another three fish. And, the last pass we caught two fish, so now we had 9 of their 12 fish in the box.
It had started to rain with a couple hours to go, and the wind had switched from East to Southwest. The bite just seemed to go south, so we decided to move. I took a route back south around west reef and through the channel between Northbass and Middlebass Islands and stopped short of Lucy's point. We were marking some fish there, so we put the crawlers back out to see if we could catch three more fish, and finish out their limit.
An announcement on the radio had said that chartreuse was working well for someone, and the fish had moved higher in the water column. We made some quick adjustments and it wasn't long after that that a fish had hit one of our harnesses sporting a blade with a chartreuse underbelly, so I changed all the pink blades out to blades with chartreuse underbellies. Soon after doing that, we caught the last two fish and headed in.
It was a wet day, but it was a lot of fun fishing with Mr. and Mrs Jackson. They were very good students and I have no doubt that they will be able to take what they learned and use it on their home lake.
My next charter is June 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
I'll be turning the big "5-0" on the 5th, so I'm hoping 4 successful days of fishing is a great way to celebrate my birthday this year. Fingers crossed!
Wish I could make it back to Wisconsin to celebrate the milestone with my twin brother and other family, but it looks like it will just be a party with me and my dogs...again....sigh.
Customer Review found on Walleye Central...
by Capt Juls on 05/24/13I thought I would share this here, since it was a nice report. ;)
This was written by Steve Johnson who fished with me this past weekend with Larry Schmitz. Steve wrote:
| |||
 Erie TripA buddy and I just made a short trip to Lake Erie. We Drove Saturday, fished Sunday and Monday and drove back home Monday afternoon and evening. This was the 1st Lake Erie trip for both of us. I started communicating with Juls, one of Walleye Central's moderators, last August. I decided that we would use her services after our 1st email exchange. It was a wise decision. A single statement made by my buddy says it all. His comment on the way home was "I am done going to Canada and will be going back to Lake Erie and will be hiring Juls every time". We had no idea what to expect, but were very impressed with the hospitality and fishing experience she provided. She picked us up at our motel the 1st day and even agreed to joined us for dinner. We were (probably still are) novices at fishing with planer boards. She was a good teacher and was very patient with a couple of almost senior guys that needed more than a little coaching to do it right. The best part of the story was the fishing. Sunday, day one, was a little slow. We got four Walleyes and then decided to have some fun catching perch. Monday was a different story. We spent no more than 4 hours fishing for Walleyes and boated 14. Two were over 10 pounds and the top five averaged 8.5 pounds. We had a great time and will be repeating the trip, including hiring Juls if she will have us. Larry and I will go together again, he will be making a trip with his grandchildren and I will be arranging one with my wife, daughter and granddaughter. Larry and I would plan our family trips together, but we would both want to use Juls and her Ranger isn’t big enough for that. I hope I haven’t crossed the line with my comments about Juls as I didn’t ask her what I could say. If so, I trust that one of our moderators will let me know. I just told her I was going to post something here hoping to make a few Walleye Central regulars jealous. I have been to Canada and experienced a 100+ Walleye day for 2 ½ guys (don’t ask) and this was far better. I will take the quality we caught over quantity any day. |
Memorial Day has been Booked!
by Capt Juls on 05/23/13Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Jackson from Indiana....I'm looking forward to fishing with the two of you! :)
Free to fish on Memorial Day!
by Capt Juls on 05/23/13I'm off from my regular job on Memorial Day, which is very unusual, so if anyone is looking to book a charter...6 hours 350.00 up to three people...I'm available! Monday's weather looks great! Sunny and 66 degrees...waves 1 foot or less is predicted.
Still have available dates for July, August, and September too.
May 19th and 20th with Larry and Steve From Iowa....
by Capt Juls on 05/20/13Steve Johnson and Larry Schmitz drove over from Iowa on Saturday, and rested up for their two day Lake Erie adventure for walleye and perch. I however, had to work a double at the CIC club on Saturday and didn't get home and in bed till well after 11pm.
Then, that darn alarm clock went off right after I closed my eyes. Or, at least, that's what it felt like. 5am came much too fast. But, when you know it's going to be a nice day out, and you get to go fishing, it's not so hard to get out of bed.
I gave myself 2 hours of wake up time to make sure my coffee did it's job and I got the boat ready. I picked up Steve and Larry at the hotel in town at 7am.
After a couple stops to pick up ice and bait, we headed to the ramp. We would be running crawler harnesses both days.
There are charters catching fish in numbers with spoons, with 40 Tru-Trips 45-50 back with Scorpion spoons. I think I have to go to the store to find these tru-trips I keep hearing about on the radio. I have the old style jets, but they claim these are much more effective, so I'll go take a look see later.
We started our day of fishing trolling between Middle Bass Island and Rattlesnake Island. There was a pack of boats between Green Island and Rattlesnake, but I prefer to stay out of those packs and fish where other boats are not cutting me off all the time. It makes it much more fun for me and my clients.
We didn't fair all that well on Saturday....only 4 eyes in the box when we decided we wanted to go perch fishing for the rest of the time left. We managed to find some, along with some white perch, whitebass, sheephead, and put about a dozen or so yellow ones in the cooler before we headed in.
Even though we didn't catch a lot of walleye, it was a fun day. The weather was gorgeous and the conditions were good.
I took the fellas to the Moose Club for their perch dinner on Saturday night. We talked about the day over a couple of beers and were looking forward to Sunday's trip.
Once I was home I received a text from Mike Knippenberg, a tournament pro and charter captain friend of mine, who was out Saturday too. He had done well up by West Reef, and shared his info with me. That spot was just a hop skip and a jump from where I started in the morning, but instead of going north after we left our first spot, I went west......sigh. That's the problem with such a big lake. It's hard to cover that much ground and you can only hope the decision you make is the right one.
Anyhoooo....to make a long story short. We used Mike's info and headed to W. Reef. Sunday morning.
The program was the same as what we were using the day before. We arrived at the numbers Mike gave me and set up a trolling pass.
We were running 1 oz inline sinkers 35' back and 2 oz Tadpoles 28' back (Tadpoles are an Off Shore Tackle inline diving weight). The colors working were all over the board....from pinks and purples to oranges, coppers, and chartreuse. The fish were hungry and didn't discriminate.
It wasn't more than 15 minutes after we set up when we got the first one in the boat with another biter directly behind that one. In the first hour we had a one man limit in the boat and started work on the second limit.
The icing on the cake was hitting a triple header of "Fish Ohio's" (fish over 28 inches) to finish the morning off right.
By 11:45 we had their two limits and two fish out of my limit, for a total of 14 walleye. The best 5 fish went 42.5 pounds and all 14 went 80 pounds.
Then, we decided to go perching for a little while before we would head in and get their fish cleaned for the trip back to Iowa.
This was the Lake Erie experience they were looking for, and they got it. They couldn't have been happier. And, I was happy I got to experience it with them.
Getting the fish cleaned..........:(
I don't usually talk badly about any business in this area, but I feel I need to warn anyone that plans to use the fish cleaner at Drawbridge Marina in town.
We took our fish there to be cleaned and I was disappointed to see this new cutter using electric knives to fillet the fish.
Had I known that I would have used another business.
While I know that some skilled fish cleaners can use an electric fillet knife, and not waste any meat, the same cannot be said for this business.
I watched him cut a 10 pound fish and missed a good 1/2 inch of meat off the back on each side, and that adds up to a lot of meat. When I said something about it he just grumbled and turned his back to me, so I told my clients what I saw and told them I was sorry I brought them there.
I will not be taking anyone else there this season either.
You can check out the days catch in the photo album on page four. It was one of those days we all dream about. The fishing was great...the company was great...and the fish cooperated. It was a perfect day in my mind.
I'd like to share an email I received long after I went to bed last night from Steve Johnson...it said:
Juls,
Thanks for a great trip. We had a great time. The fishing was great and you were an outstanding host. I would have said guide, but you did a lot more than that and it made the trip even better.
This is not trip that I will forget. I will now go to work to get Janice (wife) and Erica (daughter) to make with me. Logistically, that may not be possible until 2015, but it would be worth the wait. It would be a major event, as I suspect we would need two days to drive each way with my granddaughter.
I missed the discussion about the sloppy work on the part of the cutters. I have now seen all of the fillets and would agree that they had too much waste. I am slow but would have produced larger fillets. We can't hold that against you, and don't. It won't do anything to diminish the great time we had. I would encourage you to find somone else for the future.
Again, thanks for a great time.
Steve
This coming weekend is a busy one at the club where I work, because it basically is the start of the season and it's a holiday weekend. So, I didn't schedule any charters for next Saturday or Sunday.
I thought I was going to have to work Monday on Memorial Day, but I have off, so that day is now open for a charter if anyone is looking for a day on the water. :)
Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
Capt. Juls
Today's Trip was Rescheduled...
by Capt Juls on 05/15/13The alarm went off at 4:30 and I got up to check the weather. The conditions weren't positive, but I readied the boat anyway. I showed up at my customer's hotel a half hour early, with boat in tow, to find out if they still wanted to go. After discussing their options, they decided it was best to leave the deposit with me and reschedule for another date either in June or September.
Yesterday they fished with Captain Mike Knippenberg, who luckily had the day off to take them out since I had another charter already scheduled. Mike impressed them with his laid back and easy going style and put them on some fish. Thanks Mike for taking such good care of my new Wisconsin friends!
As I right this, it's 8:30 in the morning and it's the second thunderstorm to roll through. More are expected throughout the day, so it was a good call to stay on shore today. The winds are stronger than yesterday, so it has to be pretty rough out there...even though from shore it looks pretty calm. :)
They said it was a very positive experience and were looking forward to coming back.
FYI: My next charter is Sunday and Monday, so there won't be anymore blog updates until Sunday night.
Capt Juls
Fun day today...
by Capt Juls on 05/14/13I waited at Mazurik's launch this morning for my Father and Son charter of Steve and Jeremy Champman. They were running on schedule, but got delayed by a train and a school bus, that made many stops to pick up children. So, they were about 15 minutes late.
We launched and headed to the SE corner of Kelly's Island, but the "slop chute" was pretty rough, so I decided to change course and head up the west side of Kelly's to get around to the North side.
I hadn't been out for about 5 days due to my work schedule, and it being Mother's Day weekend, so we would be hunting for them and figuring out a program that would work today.
After setting up by the "Carpenter's Dock", we trolled a line to the East, staying in about 32 foot of water. After about a mile, I checked my facebook messages and found one from Zak Jobes telling me that he was in North Bay and there were nice "eaters" in there (3-5 pounds), and they were protected from the wind there. So, we pulled our lines and moved about a mile up from where we were trolling. Thanks Zak! :)
We set lines again with 1 oz inlines 30 back and 2oz Tadpoles 28 back. We were using purples and pinks with blades that had either chartreuse or pink antifreeze colors on the underside of the blades. Both of those leads/combos worked well today. Our speed was kept at 1.0-1.3mph.
We went 9 for 13 fish today and had a blast.
This was Jeremy's birthday present from his Dad, and he said he had the best time he's ever had on Lake Erie, and that he would be coming back with his wife. Saying, "she would love this, this is so much fun!"
Temps were chilly this morning, but it improved all day and was 74 when we got off the water. Tomorrow is supposed to be nearing the low 80's, so hopefully that will also improve the bite tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the winds are predicted to be even stronger tomorrow, and out of the West. Today they were out of the SSW.
There was a flotilla of boats trolling the shoal area, and some out by Gull Island Shoal too. I don't think anyone had a hot and heavy bite going on but I'm pretty sure everyone out there today caught a few fish. There is also an MWC tournament this weekend that a lot of my friends are fishing in, so I know they won't be talking much.
Time to play with the dogs and then hit the hay...I'll be back at it again tomorrow with two nice fellas from my home state....Wisconsin! :)
Good luck to all who get out tomorrow. Be safe!
Capt Juls
Wind the Past Two Days....
by Capt Juls on 05/13/13
Well, it blew for the past two days out of the Northwest and the lake is very muddy today. It's muddy, but it's not "chocolate milk". There wasn't a good satellite picture yesterday, due to the clouds, so I can't see where the good water is, but I would suspect it's in and around the islands.
You can usually find somewhere to fish after a blow like this.
I had a trip planned for 1pm-7pm this afternoon. But, the person who scheduled the trip, said his Father didn't want to fish today, because of the muddy water and cold temperature.
Unfortunately, the temps were at a chilly 32 degrees this morning and will rise to only a high of 57 by 3pm today. By Wednesday of this week it should be near 80 degrees.
I have a charter tomorrow morning and Wednesday morning, along with next Sunday and Monday, so today I will catch up on housework, lawn care, and exercising the dogs.
Sorry I do not have and fishing information for you today.
Enjoy your day...smile. :)
Capt Juls
Delayed Blog....Sorry! May 5th and 9th Fishing Trips...:)
by Capt Juls on 05/09/13It's been a hectic week and a half, so I haven't had time to keep up with my blog. I apologize for that. I didn't realize so many were reading it!
Between work at my night job, my Sister and Brother in Law visiting, and getting my gardens ready for the season, I only have been out twice since April 30th.
May 5th: John Butts, a Canadian professional angler who I've known for several years, came down to deliver a boat in Michigan and then took a trip out with myself and Bob Luellen (My boat insurance man from World Wide Marine).
We had a great time, but the wind was from the east and the bite was tough for everyone. At least that's what it was sounding like on the radio.
We managed to catch a couple fish and moved around to several spots trying to locate a bigger pod of fish. They just don't seem to be in the numbers that Lake Erie is known for anymore.
We ran the usual spinner program with pinks and purples and whites...same blades as my other trips (blogs) too.
________________________
May 9th: Today I fun fished with a facebook friend that answered my request for someone to fish with. We ran out of Catawba and headed up to the North side of Rattlesnake Island. We only marked a fish here and a fish there, and didn't get a bite, so we moved over to the area between Sugar Island and West Reef and didn't mark anything there either.
We set a line for the white house on the ferry dock on North Bass and gave up when we witnessed the only three other boats there getting on plane and leaving that area. That's never a good sign!
We then ran out to the line between North Bass and Middle Island and the water was super clear there. And, again, we didn't mark any fish there, so we just kept heading East to the East side of Middle Island.
We set up and trolled for awhile, but gave that up when all we caught were little white perch stealing our crawlers.
Next stop was Kelly Island Shoal. Again, really clear water and only a mark here and a mark there. We trolled for an hour and nothing but a white bass...sigh.
Another phone call and we found out my next stop at Starve Island was void of fish too! What the heck? All these fish couldn't have left the area yet. What's going on?
So, I decided to go see what was happening up by Green Island. After another long run (thank goodness the lake was like glass today), we found a pack of about 75 boats all fighting for position in one small area on the North side of Green Island. I was fun fishing today, so I decided not to play bumper boats with the crowd and kept heading West out to D Can. We marked a few more fish than we had anytime previously, and we set our crawler harnesses out.
1 oz inline 33' back took a nice 4 pounder and a 2oz Tadpole 30 back took a nice 6 or 7 pound fish. Our speed most of the day was at 1.0 but I decided to bump it up to 1.3mph and that's when we got our hits.
Our time was up too fast it seemed, and my dog's bladders needed to be relieved, so we packed it in and headed back to the launch.
It was a gorgeous day to be on the water today, but we could have used just a little more wind to help things along.
Thank you to John W. Thompson III for going fishing with me today. Your company was enjoyable. :)
So much to do and so little time it seems...I'll be out again this Saturday (fun fishing before work), but I have to work the Mother's Day Brunch at the CIC on Sunday. :(
I have a charter on Monday and Tuesday next week, so I hope to have better info for you then.
Capt. Juls
April 30th Fishing Report
by Capt Juls on 04/30/13
Steve Chapman and his buddy Mike arrived at my house at 8am this morning. I was already sitting in my truck waiting on them to arrive, so all they had to do was transfer their coats and personal items to my truck and jump in.
We launched out of Catawba State Park at 8:20am and headed for the East side of Rattlesnake Island.
The program was the same as yesterday:
Crawler harnesses with 1 oz inline weights 20-30' back.
#5 and #6 blades that had chartreuse or pink metallic undersides were the hot colors. My bead combos that were most popular were the Pink Lemonade combo and the purple/chartreuse combo.
Speed was 1.0.
Conditions today: Sunny, 70's, light SSW winds, water clarity in the Rattlesnake area was perfect today. Not too dirty and not too clean. :)
After I showed them how I like to have the crawlers hooked on the harnesses, how to operate the line counter reels, and put the Off Shore planer boards on the lines, we got our 6 lines out and were fishing by 8:45. We made a South to North trolling pass over 30' of water.
It wasn't long before we had a nice "eater" sized 5 pound fish on the line.
Mike was first up and reeling the fish in, and when we got it in the boat, they were both very excited at the size of it. I never get tired of hearing that...:)
After a few pictures and resetting the line, it wasn't long before there was another fish on an outside board.
Now, things get a little more exciting since neither one has ever trolled with inline boards before, and I had to quickly explain about clearing the two inside lines and what to do with them while the third person reeled in the outside board.
Both of them listened and did a great job...we netted a nice 8 pound fish. Now, they were really excited about trolling.
You have to understand...I fished with Steve and his brother Chuck last spring and they told me they only liked to jig, so we went jigging that day. This spring, I told Steve when he called that the jigging bite was over and that he would have to go trolling with me. He didn't mind, but didn't sound to excited about it either.
After that second big fish, he was converted and said, "I like trolling, this is a lot less work and the fish are bigger". (A lot less work for HIM that is..I just make it look easy...heheh)
After a turn and making a North to South pass over the fish, we didn't catch a thing, so I told them to bring the lines in and we would run up to the starting point again and reset the lines.
Once we were fishing again, we went a little ways and had a board go back, but it got off. A little further and I see a board go back and the fish let go right away, so I figured it just grabbed the crawler's butt end and I quickly grabbed the reel to let the line out about 5 feet, and then engaged the spool again. It worked...the fish grabbed it and this time it was hooked pretty good.
They were both impressed with that little trick and we netted a nice 6 or 7 pound walleye.
A little further in our pass and we hit a quad...four fish hooked up, but we only managed to get 3 in the boat.
Two fish to go and we tried the other direction again and caught one on the turn (fast side) on the inside board.
One fish to go...(or, should have been)
All three of us miscounted them as they went in the livewell and we finished with one fish short of a two man limit. They didn't even care, because that was more walleye meat in the cooler than either of them has ever had before. :)
Note to self....start using the perch counter to count fish as they go in the livewell. D'Oh!
It was a super fun day and the weather was perfect. It's going to be nice throughout the weekend, so I hope everyone gets a chance to go fishing and experience some of the fun we have been having.
Good luck to you all!
Capt Juls
