Juls WFA Blog
Blog will be updated Wednesday morning...
by Capt Juls on 04/22/13Hi all,
I'm sorry I haven't been blogging, but I am dog sitting for a friend that is in MN fishing the NWT tourney on the Mississippi River in Red Wing.
I can't blog from my phone, and he doesn't have internet access at his house (I KNOW, right?) lol Just kidding Scotty!!
Anyway, long story short, it was a great day of fishing today, and I have another charter tomorrow morning, so I will be sure to get back home Wednesday morning to get on my computer to write the report.
I apologize for the delay, but have you ever tried to type a long report from an iPhone? It doesn't work. :)
I was able to get a couple pics on the site (page 4 of the photos) from today, so at least there is that.
Talk to you Wednesday! ;)
Capt Juls
Little Expectations Result in a Great Day!
by Capt Juls on 04/14/13Very early this morning, when I let the dogs out, I was pleasantly surprised to find the wind was calm to non existent. I knew I was up before my guests, who were staying in a very nice RV in my driveway, so I made sure not to wake them as I uncovered the boat and started my morning ritual of getting the boat ready for fishing.
Once they were up and about, we decided that launching a little earlier than we had decided would probably be the best bet, since an East wind was supposed to pick up in the early afternoon. We launched at 7:30 am out of Catawba State Park. It wasn't busy yet, so that was a relief. Easy launching and no wait for a change.
Without a satellite picture for over a week, and big winds from just about every direction, along with a lot of rain, my hopes of finding clean water were nil. I had explained to them that it might be a very tough bite today if we can't find any good water to fish. I really thought it would be a mud hole everywhere today.
I set a course for Green Island. I figured the water around the islands usually cleans up first, but as I got closer I saw two boats pick up and shoot out of there, so I figured there were either no marks, or the water was too dirty. "Hmmmm...well, I guess I don't have to keep going straight", I thought to myself....the question was, "Which way do I go?".
Knowing there were a lot of marks the last time I was out to the west of the islands, something in me kept turning my attention to the right, so I turned East. It's a good thing I did, because the water was the perfect color of "mixing" that I'm always looking for, and there were many good marks on the Humminbird too. It was loaded!
I asked my guests, Jim and Renee McEwen, if they had ever used in line planer boards before, and they said, "No, we usually just long line crawler harnesses out of the back of the boat". So, this was an opportunity to show them how to use the line counter reels and attach Off Shore boards to the lines, and set them out in "marching soldier" fashion.
They were very fast learners and I only had to show them once how to do it. Yay!
Now that they were all set up and ready to sit back and wait, I said, "Okay, we have pull them all back in now, so we can move up again and get where I want to be, and then we'll set them all back out again. Are you up for that?" (Of course they were)
After getting in line with a pass I wanted to make, they got their lines set pretty fast, and we were trolling again. It was about an hour and 15 minutes before we got the first fish on. It would turn out to be a nice fat 6 pounder caught on a Deep Husky Jerk 65 back. Best colors were the Pink/White glass, the Iridescent one (not sure of the name), and the Purple Perch.
Speed was dependent on whether we were going with the current, or against the current, and I was constantly changing it. So, I can't really give any set speed. I had just tested a lure at the side of the boat, going in both directions, and figured out what it needed to be to make the baits move in the "action" they were designed to make.
To make a long story short....this was a 4 hour trip, and we ended up with 6 nice walleye with the largest two going 30 inches and right in that high 10 pound to low 11 pound range.
Photos have been added to the photo album here on page 3, if you care to see them. :)
Conditions today were:
light South winds and cloud cover until about 10:45am. Then, an East wind at about 10mph started blowing and the bite slowed down. As we headed in at 11:15 it started to drizzle.
Waves were 1-2 feet
I'm hoping this warm weather this week helps get things going even more. I just hope the winds have decided to stop blowing for awhile. That would be nice.
I would like to thank Jim and Renee McEwen for a fantastically fun day on the water. I had an absolute blast fishing with you two today. :)
Capt. Juls
Back on the water...report back later today..:)
by Capt Juls on 04/14/13The wind and rain have finally stopped...for a day.
Jim and Renee McEwen want to give it a shot on the water today and see if we can find a few fish willing to eat in this dirty water.
Either way, I know it will be a fun day with these two good natured folks. Jim is a taxidermist on the side and we're hoping Renee lands a "fish Ohio" for him to mount for her.
All we can do is try out best...fingers crossed.
I made no promises of a "good bite", knowing all too well how tough it's going to be after a blow like we had this past week. But, they just want to get out and have some fun...........I can do that. :)
Have a great day everyone!
It was a Tough Bite Yesterday 4.6.13
by Capt Juls on 04/07/13
Well, I wish I had a better report for everyone, but it was a tough day of fishing for us yesterday, and for everyone else I think, if the chatter on the radio was true.
However, a group from Wisconsin that we met up with at a local eatery at the end of the day said that they lit up out by B can in the afternoon at around 3:30pm.
Unfortunately, my charter was over at 3pm and it was about 12 miles away from where we launched. Doh! lol
We only had one small "eater" that we got in the first half hour we were out yesterday morning... around 8am.
I texted Gary Zart, who was fishing somewhere close by, and told him what we caught it on, and how far back, and his clients caught nice 9 pounder on the same, a little while later. Then, he said he had to go in, because his clients were seasick. (ouch)
We searched all over for some active fish. We went from between G can and F can to over by Green...then took a swing by to see if the water was "good" by starved island....not.
Then, shot up to Northbass to see if there was good water and marks by West reef...not...
Started a troll NW of Rattlesnake towards C can....water was really muddy, but there were good marks...no takers...
Shot back down towards Green (clean water) and started a NW troll towards dirtier water....no "good" marks...looked more like perch (note to self ;)) and no biters.
Headed back to G can...to 20' of water (South of the muddy water) and trolled west.....nothing....sigh
Got a phone call and got some numbers to try....headed there and set up....trolled for the last half hour......nothing.
Jeff and Luke let their one fish go in ceremonial fashion and we headed in.
We had a great time on the water, even though we didn't get into them, and an even better time at dinner....lots of laughs. So, I was told by these two fun guys that the day was a total success for them. And, that made me feel better.
I'm happy they had a great time yesterday, but I really wish I would have gotten them on some big fish "biters'.
Well, like they said, if it was that easy, it would be called "catching" and not fishing. And, luckily, they know all to well, how it goes on the water sometimes, since they are well seasoned walleye anglers themselves, from Traverse City, MI.
So, it was a good day despite the lack of fish yesterday.
The wind was chilly most of the day and then it warmed up a bit when the sun came out and the winds subsided a little.
Then, out of the blue, and unpredicted, it switched and came out of the NNE around 2:30pm. That was a chilly wind again. We finished up at 3pm and went to get something to eat.
I'm hoping the weather becomes more stable really soon so the fish will be more cooperative the next time out. :)
What an AWESOME Weekend!!
by Capt Juls on 04/01/13Saturday, March 30th my friend, Scott Bogen, and I fished a tournament he was signed up for with his Dad.
His Dad couldn't fish it, so I filled in. We used my boat, since another friend of ours that was fishing the tournament hadn't taken delivery of his new boat yet, and he used Scott's boat instead.
Anyhooo....Friday we prefished all day and only caught a handful of 6-7 pound fish. We also lost a bunch of fish that just wouldn't stay hooked up.
We knew come tournament day that we had to find bigger fish to compete against a field of 50 teams that are all locals and hot sticks on Lake Erie.
It was a nice day Friday, and the forecast was looking even better for tournament day with a West wind of less than 5mph and becoming light and variable around noon. A lot of sunshine was expected too. Thank goodness the forecast was correct, because it was the best day on the water since last year.
The morning of take off, we knew where our number one spot was going to be, and we headed there.
The lake was calm and it made running easy, and it was one of the very few days on this lake where you can test out your wide open throttle.
When we neared our first location, close to Southbass Island, I said, "Geez, the lake looks calm", and Scott replied with, "I've never seen it look like a pond before". But, after we entered that "calm" water, we realized it wasn't "calm like glass" as we thought, but skimmed over with a layer of ice!
We slowed the boat and decided we had better move to plan B, as the planer boards would have a hard time moving through the ice field and the lines would most assuredly be damaged or cut.
We decided to wait until the hot sun coming up melted the ice, so we moved back towards F and G cans and set up our first trolling pass.
We hadn't gone a 1/2 mile and we hooked into one. She was a healthy 7 pound fish that we managed to get into the boat. While it took the skunk out of the livewell, we knew it wasn't a winning type of fish. We had to catch bigger ones to compete with this field of anglers.
After putting a nice 9 pound fish in the boat on the second pass, we did the one thing most tournament anglers never do..."Leave fish to find fish".
However, we knew what was in our first choice of a spot if the water conditions were good, so we pulled our lines and headed over there. Luckily it was only a 5 minute boat ride from where we were. So, if the conditions were not to our liking, or we didn't mark any fish there, we could always run back and not lose that much time in the process.
When we got to our original spot and set the lines, neither one of us was feeling all that confident in the conditions, but neither one of us had said anything. We were marking fish, so that encouraged us a little more, but the water clarity was cleaner, and the water temps colder, than where we were before.
After trolling for about 20-30 minutes with nothing, we hooked up with the third fish of the day and it was another pig. It was just shy of 10 pounds, so we put her in the livewell too.
Now we just needed two more to make a limit and one more to upgrade that 7 pound fish we caught early on.
After catching another big fish, we were talking and found out that neither one of us had good feelings about the spot when we originally got there, but that feeling had now changed. We both laughed.
The next fish would come unbottoned half way in, and the next one would be another fish just under 10 pounds. We now had our limit of 5 fish to weigh in and now we just needed to upgrade that smaller fish.
We still had a lot of time to fish, and ended up catching that upgrade a 1/2 hour before we had to head back to the launch site.
That would end up being our last fish of the day.
Unfortunately for the fellas in Scott's boat, who were fishing by us all day, they would end the day with zero fish, making it a very long day for them.
They had us scratching our heads, because they were doing the exact same program as Scott and I.
And, anyone that has ever spent an entire day watching other people catch fish, when you're not, know exactly how they felt.
And, anyone that has ever spent an entire day watching other people catch fish, when you're not, know exactly how they felt.
Scott and I finished in 6th place out of 50 teams and were only one of 12 limits brought to the scales that day. Our program was running deep husky jerks (size 12's) in the "Sexy Shad" and "Blue/Chrome/Orange belly" colors 60-90 back.
After we got back to my house to put the boat to bed and take some pictures of the big fishies, we celebrated with a couple of steaks on the grill and a couple of cold beers to end a spectacular day of fishing for us.
Thanks Scotty for asking me to fish this event with you! I had an absolutely fantastic time, and the memory of that day will stay with me forever. :)
April 6th is my first official charter of the season, and I hope the weather is fishable, because I love fishing with these two gentlemen who fished with me last year, and I want to put them on fish like we had this past weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed that Momma Nature stays in a good mood! :)
First Time On The Water 2013!!!
by Capt Juls on 03/24/13Well, after cancelling last weekend's fishing trip due to unfavorable NE winds and cold water temps, we were finally able to get the new Ranger on the water yesterday for a few hours. She ran like a champ. I just need to tweak a few things and she'll be ready to go for the season.
We set out yesterday morning, with frost on the windshield, in search of some cleaner water. Northwest winds that blew earlier in the week had churned up the water near shore, turning it a muddy brown color, and too muddy for a good bite.
As we traveled out a few miles, the water started to clean up, and we stopped to check the sonar reading on the Humminbird to see if there were any fish below us. There wasn't. We concluded the water was too clean where we stopped, and the water temps were colder than the fish wanted, so we moved back in towards the mixing water, where it wasn't too clean and it wasn't too dirty, and found a pod of fish stacked up there. Now, we just had to see if they were biting.
After setting lines and trolling for about 20 minutes, we hooked into our first walleye of the season. She was a nice fat 8 pound female full of eggs. After taking a few pictures of her we let her go back in the water to live on and spawn. We would catch one more for the day and lose one big one.
We were only out for a few hours, because I had to work in the afternoon and we were hungry and decided to go have some Mexican food for lunch. :)
I cannot give you any of the information yet, since my fishing partner and I are fishing the LEWT event out of Fenwick next Saturday and I have been sworn to keep my mouth shut until the event is over. Ha! That's easier said than done, but I will bite my tongue until then.
It was a great feeling getting back on the water again. The sun was warm and shining most of the day, and the north wind stayed below 10mph. It was a perfect day to get the cobwebs and cabin fever removed from my head. :)
The next report will come after the tournament on Saturday March 30th, so stay tuned....and, wish us luck!!
Capt Juls
Maiden Voyage was a No Go....
by Capt Juls on 03/18/13Had the guys over for a homemade breakfast of fresh buttermilk biscuits warm from the oven with yummy sausage gravy.
We talked about the NE wind that was blowing and the chilly temps and decided that it was better to hold off for another week and try again this coming Saturday.
Spent the day instead making crawler harnesses for the upcoming season.
So, sorry, there is nothing to report yet, but stay tuned! Hopefully, there will be a report Saturday afternoon. :)
Maiden Voyage Planned for Sunday 3/17/13
by Capt Juls on 03/14/13The sun is shining today and I am getting excited to get on the water this coming Sunday. The winds are predicted to be less than 10 out of the north, which isn't the best after a big blow out of the NW, but we'll give it a whirl.
The water is a bit muddy, but there will be some clean water in different areas around the Western Basin.
I'm hoping to see a satellite picture this afternoon, if the clouds stay away long enough for a picture to be produced. That will tell us where the best place to start fishing is.
We will be looking for the mixing water that is not to clean and not too dirty. The dirtier the water the more lockjaw the fish will tend to have.
The mixing water will be warmer than the clean water and will be holding the most active fish, or at least that is the rule of thumb we go by. While there will be fish caught jigging on the reefs, we are planning on running cranks off of Off Shore Tackle's in line planer boards to search out the big females who are staging outside of the reefs, and will venture onto them when the water is a bit warmer (42-46*).
The females will be greeted by the male of the species that anxiously await their arrival. The males will beat them up with their tales to make the females drop their precious cargo (eggs).
We can only hope for a good spawn this spring, as last year's was just over a normal spawn average, and while that is good, it doesn't load the lake up with big populations like we have had in the past.
Momma Nature needs to give us a break for a change...:)
So, keep your fingers crossed for clear skies this afternoon and decent weather on Sunday.
I'll report back with a fishing report Sunday night...good or bad.
Capt Juls
The Days Are Getting Warmer!
by Capt Juls on 03/07/13It's March 7th, 2013.... there is still some ice along the southern shores of Lake Erie. Ice is blocking the channel between the mainland and the Bass Islands too, but the lake is pretty much opened up to the west, north, and east.
The weather this weekend is supposed to warm up into the high 40's and low 50's. A good south wind is expected on Sunday and will help push that ice out, and help start opening up some ramps around here.
I received a message the other day that they are already starting to fish on the very western end of the lake where it is ice free now, and they are catching fish.
It won't be long until we can start posting some fishing reports here, so stay tuned!
She's Ready to Catch Some Fish!
by Capt Juls on 02/25/13Well, the boat is rigged and ready to fish thanks to the help of my friend, Scott Bogen, who whipped my boat into shape with the plethora of new toys that needed to be installed.
There are still a few items that need to be installed yet, but as far as being able to efficiently catch fish, she's ready to go.
I still need to add the tracks for the Bert's Trolling Trees, and the tracks and power ports for the Cannon Down Riggers, but it won't be long until that is all done too.
It was a beautiful day today, and the sun was shining warmly on my skin while I puttered around and did some odds and ends in the boat.. Tomorrow, we are expecting a mix of rain turning to snow with a total accumulation of 6 inches by Thursday....sigh. I'm so ready to be done with winter now. Ya hear that Momma Nature? I'm done with it already!!
Come on Spring!!! :)
The Boat is Home...:)
by Capt Juls on 02/17/13I picked up my boat from Vic's Sport Center a couple of days ago, and sure enough, it has snowed (flurries) every day since then. The ice on the lake is still out there. Today's temps are only in the 20's, but tomorrow it warms to a whopping 43 degrees. A friend of mine said, "We'll be fishing in two weeks". I hope he's right, but first I have the rest of the boat rigging to take care of, so I need it to warm up quick!
Two More Days!
by Capt Juls on 02/13/13The time is near.....I get to pick up my new Ranger 621 on Friday! The new Terrova 101 with iPilot LINK was delivered by my friendly Fed-X driver yesterday too.
My spare bedroom is packed full of new toys to install on the boat, and I'm looking forward to getting it all out of there very soon, so I can open the door up again. I have to keep it closed, due to the new four legged addition in the house that likes to find things to chew on. :)
The one "toy" that has my curiosity up the most is the Cannon Digi-Troll 10 downriggers. I have never used them before, so it's going to be a learning experience this year. And, I plan to put that experience...from the install, learning to run them, and catching fish on them, in this blog to help others who have never run them either learn to do so, or at the very least, help give them confidence to do so. Because, if I can do it, anyone can! :)
Stay tuned....
Spring Can't Come Soon Enough!
by Capt Juls on 01/29/13It's January 29th and it's 50+ degrees out. It feels like spring, but there's still a few months to go.
The good news is, my new Ranger boat is at Vic's Sports Center, but there to, I will have to wait to pick her up until their boat shows are over with for the season. They are so busy right now I do not want to bother them. Besides, I can wait a little longer to get her.
With the warmer weather, it has inspired me to get a blog going for this season.
I plan is to make it like a diary with experiences from each of my guiding trips. The hard part will be doing it in a timely fashion, as often times I am working my regular job at night and there's not much time in between a day trip and my night job. :)
Bear with me, and if you have any suggestions to help make my business an even better experience, please share your thoughts here.
Thanks and I look forward to fishing with you this season!
Captain Juls
