Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Wayne Gillespie 6/13/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/14/22This morning, I would be taking just Wayne, so I asked my friend, Capt Jen, to come along (with Wayne's permission, of course), so we could run more lines, and get more fish. They both met me at my house at 4:15.
We ran to the gas station in town, to get gas and ice first, and then headed to Vermilion to launch. We were headed out the channel by 5:15, and didn't have to go far. The wind was from the ENE at around 10-13mph, so there were some roller in the 2-4 foot level.
This was Wayne's first Lake Erie experience, so I had a feeling he was going to feel the effects of those rollers, and I was right.
The bite was fast, and we managed to put 10 nice eaters in the cooler, before he mentioned he wasn't feeling well, and I said, "We can go in any time you want to". "I'm okay, but if you girls want to go in, we can". I said, "It's up to you, because I fish almost every day, and if you leave it up to me, I'll go in. My dog is patiently waiting". Jen piped in with, "I'm boat-less for another month, and haven't been on the water, so I could stay out here all day".
He went another 5 minutes or so, and said it again, so I said, "We'll go in. I know how you're feeling right now, and it's not fun. You're not the first, and you won't be the last". And, we picked it all up and went in.
Wayne was very impressed with the fishery, and how fast the bite was. We had caught over 30+ fish (many throw backs) in the first hour and a half we were out there, so he said he wanted to come back a little earlier in the season next year, and that makes me happy!
It was the same dipsey program and Bandit program that I have been running for the past couple weeks now, so I won't bore you with those details.
I rescheduled Tuesday's trip, due to wind and weather, so I'll be back out with a couple of my regulars on Wednesday. We will probably launch out of Huron, and try to get done before the very hot temps arrive later in the morning. A heat wave with temps close to 100 are forecast, so getting off the water early with my older gents is the order of the day. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 Fishing with Dave and Chris 6/11/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/11/22I woke up this morning, thinking that I woke up before my alarm, but when I looked at the clock, it said 2:53am. It took me a second to realize that I woke up an hour late.
My alarm was silenced by the ringer on my phone being turned down for some reason (I don't remember turning it down for anything), and the snooze kept resetting itself.
Dexter jumped off the bed when I shouted some profanities at my phone, and looked at me like, "What the heck, Mom? Are you psycho?" "Sorry buddy, I woke up late, and now my routine is all screwed up", I said, patting him on the head, as I headed to the kitchen to make my coffee.
It was a rough start, but I managed to leave the house at 4am to head over to the White Caps Motel to pick up Dave and Chris. They were expecting me at 4:30, so I thought I would have time to sit in the parking lot and go down the Tik-Tok rabbit hole for about 20 minutes before they came out, but there they were...standing there in the dark, ready to go again. lol
They jumped in the truck, and off we went. We hit the gas station to fill up the truck and boat, and to grab some ice for the cooler, before heading back over to Huron to launch.
It was still pretty dark when we got to Huron, because the sky was mostly cloudy this morning, so we hit the water at 5:15, and made our way out the channel by 5:30. It was light enough by then to see the surface of the lake, so any floating logs would be noticed before we hit any. The river had a lot of logs floating around early this morning, but we managed to avoid them all.
I was going to try another area over there, but after finding out that they were going to have a long ride home, I asked them, "Should we just go do what we did yesterday, so you can get an early start back to Wisconsin?" They both agreed that that would be best, so that's what we did.
It was the same dipsey program as yesterday...
Dipsies on the zero setting at 25 and 27' back, and the two settings started at 35 and 37' back, but after a half an hour, were dropped to 50 back.
Speed was 2.5-2.8mph.
We added two Off Shore boards on each side, pulling Bandits at 30 to 40 back over 26-28' of water.
Colors that caught were the blue/chrome, Green Lantern, and Carrot Top. The SunSpot didn't catch this morning, which surprised me. It's usually a good producer. The bigger fish came on the crankbaits. I probably should have tried a crank on the dipsies, but we just kept the spoons on, because they were keeping the guys busy. :)
Poor Dave...his side of the boat was not getting as many hits as Chris's side, and he let Chris know he was not happy about that, with all the whining he did.
And, Chris let Dave know that he was not sorry about it. lol
I told them that they were the first ones to claim sides of the boat instead of just taking turns, no matter which side it came on. But, I didn't make them share...if they wanted to claim sides, then so be it.
I did make a turn, and headed back the way we came, so that Dave's side was now on the side that was catching, but that didn't do the trick, and Chris's side was once again the busy side. Oh well...that's just the way it is sometimes.
They had a great time, and did a fine job setting lines, reeling in fish, and netting fish. We all worked as a team, and got the job done by 7:20. Chris said, laughing, "Almost as fast as yesterday, but we finished 5 minutes earlier yesterday". I said, "Well, if you hadn't been dragging that last fish for the past 5 minutes, we would have tied yesterday's clock.". Ha! He agreed.
We finished up and headed in. It was fun going in, with a cooler full of fish, when 25 boats were just heading out of the channel...woot! woot!
The fish were taken over to Port Clinton Fish Co., and I dropped them back off at the White Caps Motel, where we said our goodbyes. I have a feeling those two will be back again in the future, and that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I'm going to go out of Mazurik's and see what we can find over this way. The forecast is calling for SW winds 5-15mph.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Chris 6/10/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/10/22Picked my crew up my Wisco crew at the White Caps Motel at 4:30 and headed to Huron to launch, this morning. We were in the water by 5am, and taking that slow no-wake out of the river at 5mph. We were up on plane and headed east by 5:20. And, by 5:45 we were fishing.
The air temp was 57 degrees, the water temp was 65.7 degrees (down from Monday's 66.9 degrees, when I was over there last), and the wind was less than 5mph out of the south. The sky was clear, and the sun was still below the horizon.
Because we only needed 18 fish in the cooler, I opted to only run the 4 dipsey rods again. And, to be honest...as fast as they were biting this morning, we could have cut it down to just two rods, and kept them busy, but the two rods on each side kept them busier, so I left them alone. The first rod in, had a fish on it within seconds, but I didn't tell them right away. I let them finish setting up the other three rods and then told them, "there's a fish on that first one". "Already?", Dave asked, laughing. "Yeah, it got hit right away", I said.
We had our 3-person limit by 7:15, and kept on fishing for another 1/2 hour, playing catch and release, and then they decided it was a good time to go in and have breakfast.
They had a good time this morning, and handled the dipsies like pros. They do a lot of salmon fishing with dips, so it wasn't something new to them. That made my job this morning very easy, and that makes me happy! :)
Dipsies set on the zero setting at 25 and 27 back, and the two settings started at 35 and 37 back, but were later moved to 50 back. Spoon color did not matter. Speed was 2.5-2.8mph.
I have the same crew tomorrow. I'll see what the wind will be doing in the morning and decide if we will be going out of Huron again, or someplace else.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Chris 6/10/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/10/22Picked my crew up my Wisco crew at the White Caps Motel at 4:30 and headed to Huron to launch, this morning. We were in the water by 5am, and taking that slow no-wake out of the river at 5mph. We were up on plane and headed east by 5:20. And, by 5:45 we were fishing.
The air temp was 57 degrees, the water temp was 65.7 degrees (down from Monday's 66.9 degrees, when I was over there last), and the wind was less than 5mph out of the south. The sky was clear, and the sun was still below the horizon.
Because we only needed 18 fish in the cooler, I opted to only run the 4 dipsey rods again. And, to be honest...as fast as they were biting this morning, we could have cut it down to just two rods, and kept them busy, but the two rods on each side kept them busier, so I left them alone. The first rod in, had a fish on it within seconds, but I didn't tell them right away. I let them finish setting up the other three rods and then told them, "there's a fish on that first one". "Already?", Dave asked, laughing. "Yeah, it got hit right away", I said.
We had our 3-person limit by 7:15, and kept on fishing for another 1/2 hour, playing catch and release, and then they decided it was a good time to go in and have breakfast.
They had a good time this morning, and handled the dipsies like pros. They do a lot of salmon fishing with dips, so it wasn't something new to them. That made my job this morning very easy, and that makes me happy! :)
Dipsies set on the zero setting at 25 and 27 back, and the two settings started at 35 and 37 back, but were later moved to 50 back. Spoon color did not matter. Speed was 2.5-2.8mph.
I have the same crew tomorrow. I'll see what the wind will be doing in the morning and decide if we will be going out of Huron again, or someplace else.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike, Trayton, and Tianna 6/6/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/06/22
Knowing, that the morning winds would be lighter than later in the morning, with storms forecast for the afternoon, I wanted to be off the water early this morning. There's been a hot bite along the east shore from Huron to Lorain, so I decided it would be a good idea to launch out of Huron, this morning. It was cheaper to trailer the boat there with my truck, than run across the water with a 400 Verado.
Mike Shepperson has fished with me for years now, and changes who he brings with him, each time. This morning, he brought his grandson, Trayton, and his granddaughter, Tianna, along. Tianna wasn't too happy about the early morning hour that they had to meet me, but she proved to be a trooper, and a good luck charm. Every fish, she brought in this morning, were the better ones in the cooler.
Trayton, is a fantastic older brother, and was so helpful to her. I said to him, "You're doing such a good job, that I'm going to have to promote you to "First Mate"". He said, "Thank you, but I don't know what that is". I explained it to him....;)
We left the mouth of the Huron river at 5:30am, and headed east. I set the boat, down, off plane, over 28 feet of water, and found there were fish showing up on the Solix, so we set up.
Down came the Ulterra and baby Merc. With the press of a few buttons, they were both set to do their necessary functions, and set on a course along that 28' contour, at a speed of 2.5mph.
Two dipsies ran off each back corner. The "inside rods" (7' rods) ran on the zero settings, and the "outside rod", (longer..8'3" rods), were set on the two settings.
The zero settings were at 25 and 27' back, and the two settings were set at 35 and 37' back. However, sometimes we had to close a bail early, while we brought fish in, and that higher lead would catch too. Or, we got distracted, and the bail was left open too long, so it went deeper, and we would catch on those.
I think the fish are just super hungry right now. (I'm not marking any bait balls, like I have in the past, so that's a bit worrisome, because I don't want to start seeing skinny fish with big heads...because, that would mean they are starving)
Spoon colors were varied...it didn't matter. I had a silver hammered w/1 blue edge, orange/copper, blueberry muffin, and red-headed wonder bread. They were definitely not picky today.
"This feels too much like work", I said to Mike, as I reached for the net, for the 20th time, in a short period. He laughed, and I don't remember his reply, but it was positive. They all had a good time, and did a great job setting lines, and bringing in fish. Mike will be with me again next month, and that makes me happy. :)
My trip for tomorrow has been rescheduled to the fall, and I was scheduled off for Wednesday, for Jen's birthday day, so I won't be back out until Thursday, where I have another island pick up that morning. Too bad, I would have taken them back to Huron for that fun bite. But, I'm not running that far when there are fish around the islands. Gawd, I miss that gas sipping G2 really bad right now. lol
See you in a couple of days...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Troy, Claudia, and Drew 6/3/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/03/22Just a typical morning, this morning. Left the house early, so I could go top off the gas tank in both the boat and the truck, and get ice for the cooler, before heading out to Marblehead to meet my crew and launch.
We met at 5:15 and were headed out by 5:30am.
I'm missing my Costas with the yellow lenses, that I use to drive in the early morning light, because they went overboard several days ago.
A client got his line caught around the frame arm, and flung them off my head while he was trying to reel in a fish....don't ask...I don't know the answer. Anyway, they were off my face, and in the water, faster than I could react. All I could do was say, "Ohhhhh Noooooooo!" And, mutter to myself, "Well, there goes 250.00". Luckily, there aren't a lot of bugs flying yet, otherwise driving without glasses would be painful.
I have a new pair arriving sometime on Monday, thankfully. Those yellow lenses really brighten things up when it's still kind of dark out, and the lenses block the wind on my eyeballs, when we're running.
I digress....forgive me....
We started out running Bandits behind 3 Off Shore boards on the starboard side, and 3 Flicker Minnows 11s on the port side, and one dipsey on the three setting off each corner. We fished shallow water near the lighthouse, and picked up 7, before moving out to deeper water near there.
We started the morning in 12 feet of water, but the better bite was out in deeper water, out in the South Passage....we were over 26 foot of water, when we found a good active bunch to troll through. I took the Flickers off and put three more Bandits on. We made a pass to the NE, then one to the SW, and then another to the NE, and picked up the other 17 needed for our 4-person limit. The size and fatness of the fish was better out there too.
Bandit colors were the same as the past several days...
Blue/Chrome
SunSpot
Green Lantern
Carrot Top (2)
Chrome Barbie
Leads that caught today were: 70, 60, 50 (on the starboard side)...35, 45, and 55 (on the port side).
Dipsies on the zero and two settings ran off each corner.
Zero settings started at 25 and 27...and, eventually, set to 30 and 35 back.
Two settings started at 35 and 37...and, were moved to 40 and 43 back.
Speed was 2.5mph
Spoon colors are all over the place, so I don't think it really matters. They are hungry and will chase anything right now.
Troy, and his friend, and his friend's son, (I think?) did a perch trip with me last year, and we had talked about the walleye in June, so he wanted to bring his wife and his son to do a walleye trip today. Knowing that he has his own boat, and does a lot of salmon fishing, I put them to work right away. That gave Claudia and I chit chat time, while I kept an eye on what they were doing, and instructing when I needed too. :)
Everyone was kept busy setting lines and reeling in fish. The guys even did most of the netting today, too. I figure, if they lose fish at the net, it's not a big deal. We'll catch another one...as long as they are having fun. That's all that matters. :)
It was a beautiful morning on the lake. Luckily, the 30mph gusty winds won't be here until very late tonight. The winds this morning were only 5-10mph out of the west. The sky was bluebird blue, and void of clouds. The Sun was warm on the skin and took the chill out of the air. It was not hot out there, though...not like it is on land. The water temp is still only 69 degrees out there. Very comfortable.
I'm signing off for the weekend....
I didn't schedule any trips for this weekend, because it's my birthday, and I wanted to relax with friends this weekend. Jen and Matt are putting a prime rib on the Traeger tomorrow...and, my old buddy Frank, who I fished with on those fly in's in the past, is coming over too. Maybe we'll get a round of golf in too. :)
Back at it on Monday....have a great weekend, everyone!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Day 2 Fishing with Kevin and John 6/2/2022
by Capt Juls on 06/02/22The wind forecast for this morning was NNE 5-15mph. My plan was to take my crew up to the west side of the islands, so when it started blowing, we would be on the protected side, and the waves would be manageable.
Kevin and John met me at Catawba at 5am, but we waited until 5:15 to launch, because it was cloudy, and it wasn't getting light enough, fast enough. By the time we launched, and Kevin parked the truck, it was 5:30, and now light enough to see.
The wind hadn't really started blowing yet, so the ride north was pretty easy and uneventful. I think the wind was only blowing 5mph, at the time. We made it up to the islands and set up near Middle Bass. The Ulterra steered us towards Rattle Snake Island's rattles, where we made a left turn and headed back towards Catawba on the outside of Green Island. It was just one long troll back to the launch.
We started picking away at them as soon as we set up. It's the same program ...spoons behind dipsies, and Bandits behind the Off Shore boards.
Two dipsies on each back corner:
The zero settings started at 25 and 27' back, in 28-34' of water, and adjusted to 19 back, when we got to 26 feet of water.
The two settings were set at 35 and 37 to start, and dropped to 40 later in the morning.
The Bandits were the same colors I've been using.
Carrot Top (40 back)....caught 3
Blue Chrome (60 back)...caught 2
Green Lantern (60 back)...caught 2
SunSpot (35 back)...caught 2
Speed was not steady at 2.5mph, but rather, bounced around from 2.1 to 2.8, in the waves.
Water temp was 69.7 degrees
We caught our 3-person limit, but we had to go through a lot of throw backs, sheephead, catfish, and one white bass to get them.
My crew stayed busy, and when the wind picked up, the lake got a little "sporty", and my guys got their sea legs tested. They were a little rusty, and had a hard time standing up. When Kevin lost his sense of humor, I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well.
When I saw him stand up after tossing a fish in the cooler, but not turn around to come back...I knew then, that he was feeling pretty poorly. I asked, "Are you feeling okay?" "I'll be okay", he replied. And, we kept on fishing. I think, by then, we only needed three more fish, but I wasn't sure how long it would take, since it wasn't a fast and furious bite, and we had to go through so many little fish to get the nice eaters.
He finally called, "Uncle", when we had 17 in the cooler. But, while clearing lines, we got our last fish. Yay! He was happy to be going in. I told him, "It happens to everyone, from time to time. I can stand in my boat all day long, and have no issues at all, but put me on a bigger boat, and I have to take Dramamine... the Ferry is a killer to me". Northeast rollers are notorious for making people seasick.
We headed in. There was another boat at the dock when we got there, and they said they had come in early, because it was too rough, and one of their crew was seasick too. It happens a lot to people who are not used to fishing the Great Lakes. It's gotten me a few times, so I had empathy for Kevin, (and, the guy in the other boat), because there's no worse feeling than turning green.
John and Kevin, both, did a great job, these past two days, and they said they had a good time, and learned a lot... and, that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow, I have a repeat customer, who has perch fished with me in the past. Tomorrow, he's bringing his wife and his son for a little walleye fishing. We will be going out of Mazurik's in the morning...wind permitting. The TV weatherman said NNW 10-20 (gusts to 30), for Friday, but I'm not seeing anything like that on iWindSurf or on the Windfinder apps. So, I told him we would meet at Mazurik's at 5:15 and see what's happening with the wind in the morning.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
P.S.... sorry, I didn't get any fish pics today...:(
Fishing with Kevin and John 6/1/2021
by Capt Juls on 06/01/22I showed up at Mazurik's, to a quiet and empty parking lot at 4:30am, except for the birds...they were already up, and signing. It sounded so inviting.
The weather was warm and muggy, and the wind was light out of the south, at 5mph.
The air temp was in the high 70s.
The sky was mostly clear, but there were clouds, thick on the horizon, so when the sun started to rise, it looked like mountains in the distance, with really great lighting behind it. It was a beautiful morning to be on the lake....just beautiful. :)
Kevin and John showed up early, so we hit the water at 5am and headed east of Marblehead and Kelly's. I say it that way, because there is a lot of water "East of Kelly's", and this narrows it down a little, if you can figure it out. lol I wasn't all the way to Kelly's, so split the difference, from the mainland to the island...and head east. We didn't have to go very far today.
I don't mind giving the info today, because with tomorrow's NE winds, I won't be going there, tomorrow. I'll go someplace more protected.
The same program is working:
Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 35, 40, 50, and 60 back and spoons behind dipsies, set on the zero and two settings.
Bandit colors that caught today were:
Carrot Top
SunSpot
Green Lantern
Blue Chrome
Dipsey Settings:
Zero settings were at 25 and 27 to start and then when the sun got higher in the sky, and we had trolled to deeper waters, we dropped them down to 35 and 41.
The two settings started at 35 and 37, and one was moved to 40.
Speed was 2.5mph
I have Kevin and John again tomorrow. But, now that they are "trained" from today's trip, tomorrow should be a pretty easy trip for me. I just have to find them some fish....they know how to set it all up to catch them now. I don't even have to net them. Tomorrow is going to be a fun morning...fish be willing! Fingers crossed...:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Kevin and John 6/1/2021
by Capt Juls on 06/01/22I showed up at Mazurik's, to a quiet and empty parking lot at 4:30am, except for the birds...they were already up, and signing. It sounded so inviting.
The weather was warm and muggy, and the wind was light out of the south, at 5mph.
The air temp was in the high 70s.
The sky was mostly clear, but there were clouds, thick on the horizon, so when the sun started to rise, it looked like mountains in the distance, with really great lighting behind it. It was a beautiful morning to be on the lake....just beautiful. :)
Kevin and John showed up early, so we hit the water at 5am and headed east of Marblehead and Kelly's. I say it that way, because there is a lot of water "East of Kelly's", and this narrows it down a little, if you can figure it out. lol I wasn't all the way to Kelly's, so split the difference, from the mainland to the island...and head east. We didn't have to go very far today.
I don't mind giving the info today, because with tomorrow's NE winds, I won't be going there, tomorrow. I'll go someplace more protected.
The same program is working:
Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 35, 40, 50, and 60 back and spoons behind dipsies, set on the zero and two settings.
Bandit colors that caught today were:
Carrot Top
SunSpot
Green Lantern
Blue Chrome
Dipsey Settings:
Zero settings were at 25 and 27 to start and then when the sun got higher in the sky, and we had trolled to deeper waters, we dropped them down to 35 and 41.
The two settings started at 35 and 37, and one was moved to 40.
Speed was 2.5mph
I have Kevin and John again tomorrow. But, now that they are "trained" from today's trip, tomorrow should be a pretty easy trip for me. I just have to find them some fish....they know how to set it all up to catch them now. I don't even have to net them. Tomorrow is going to be a fun morning...fish be willing! Fingers crossed...:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Kevin and John 6/1/2021
by Capt Juls on 06/01/22I showed up at Mazurik's, to a quiet and empty parking lot at 4:30am, except for the birds...they were already up, and signing. It sounded so inviting.
The weather was warm and muggy, and the wind was light out of the south, at 5mph.
The air temp was in the high 70s.
The sky was mostly clear, but there were clouds, thick on the horizon, so when the sun started to rise, it looked like mountains in the distance, with really great lighting behind it. It was a beautiful morning to be on the lake....just beautiful. :)
Kevin and John showed up early, so we hit the water at 5am and headed east of Marblehead and Kelly's. I say it that way, because there is a lot of water "East of Kelly's", and this narrows it down a little, if you can figure it out. lol I wasn't all the way to Kelly's, so split the difference, from the mainland to the island...and head east. We didn't have to go very far today.
I don't mind giving the info today, because with tomorrow's NE winds, I won't be going there, tomorrow. I'll go someplace more protected.
The same program is working:
Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 35, 40, 50, and 60 back and spoons behind dipsies, set on the zero and two settings.
Bandit colors that caught today were:
Carrot Top
SunSpot
Green Lantern
Blue Chrome
Dipsey Settings:
Zero settings were at 25 and 27 to start and then when the sun got higher in the sky, and we had trolled to deeper waters, we dropped them down to 35 and 41.
The two settings started at 35 and 37, and one was moved to 40.
Speed was 2.5mph
I have Kevin and John again tomorrow. But, now that they are "trained" from today's trip, tomorrow should be a pretty easy trip for me. I just have to find them some fish....they know how to set it all up to catch them now. I don't even have to net them. Tomorrow is going to be a fun morning...fish be willing! Fingers crossed...:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike and Matt 5/31/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/31/22It's the last day of May of 2022... Summer, is on the way!
This morning, I was fishing with Mike Smith and his friend, Matt, who were to meet me at Mazurik's at 5:15. I arrived there at 4:30 and was pleasantly surprised to see it empty, and quiet.
I got the boat ready to launch, and put new leaders on the dipsey rods, just to be safe... (I don't like losing spoons to break offs).
My crew arrived early, thankfully, because I was ready to go, and the sky was clear this morning, so it lightened up quickly. I'm not sure what time we left, but when we were halfway to our spot, I looked down at the Solix, to get the time, and it said, "5:08". We were done with our three-person limit by 8:15. We threw almost that many back, too, because they were short.
The size limit may be 15", but it doesn't go in unless it hits 15 1/2 inches...reason being, I throw them on ice, and the fish shrink up a bit, so this rule keeps us from showing up at the dock with a fish that measures under the required 15 inches.
We ran the same dipsey/spoon program I have been running for days:
Zero settings at 25 and 27 to start...dropping to 30 and 35.
Two settings at 35 and 37 to start...dropping to 40 and 43.
Bandits started out unassisted behind Off Shore boards at 40, 50, 60, and 70 back.
Some adjustments were made throughout the morning, and we caught fish with Bandits at 35, 40, 50, 60, 77, and 90.
Colors were:
Blue Chrome (stock color)
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Customs)
Chrome Furmi-Nuff (Slim Shady)
Big Bad Bill (Slim Shady)
The grade of fish was decent, and Mike and Matt were happy with the results. They both have their own boats, and do a lot of fishing. They just wanted to go with me to learn some things, that they had questions about...and, learn they did. They did a great job this morning, and made it easy for me.
The weather was beautiful, the company was fun, and the bite was very good...it doesn't get any better than that, and that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow, is the start of a two day trip, and the weather looks good for another day. Then, Thursday, the wind will blow from the NE again. We shall see if this is a two-day trip or a one-day trip.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Matt and Jenny Jackson 5/30/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/30/22Had an island pick up this morning, so I left the house a little bit earlier than normal, and hit Mazurik's at 4:30. My friend, Jen, was meeting me at 5am to launch me and park the trailer, so I didn't have to dig out any bumpers or ropes to use. Thanks, Jen!
It was very early when I left the launch, so I sat there in the dark until my eyes adjusted, and I could read the water. It wasn't really wavy this morning, and it was an offshore wind, so it was pretty flat for a several miles out. I expected a little more wave action up there by the islands, since it was a south wind, but it wasn't bad at all. They were 1 foot or less this morning, I think. Then, the wind laid down a little more, as each hour passed.
I picked them up at the marina at Put-in-Bay at 5:30, and we headed out. We didn't have to go far....we just scooted out of the east side of the islands, dropped the Ulterra, and baby Merc down, and set a course, at a speed of 2.5mph.
The same program with the dipsies and spoons that I have been running for several days now...
Zero setting at 25 and 27, to start...and, then, dropping them to 35 after the sun gets higher in the sky.
Two settings were at 35 and 37 to start and dropped to 40 and 50 later on.
Water temp was 65 degrees.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards ran on both sides. The port side ran at 40 and 60 back and the starboard side ran at 50 and 70 back. Colors this morning that worked were:
Blue Chrome
Carrot Top
Green Lantern
Chrome Furmi-Nuff
The biggest fish came on the Green Lantern, both yesterday and today. Hmmmm....I need to order more of that color, I think. I only have one of that one. :)
Matt had a hundred questions, and was taking a lot of video for his fishing buddy, Jason Houser, who shoots and edits video for his show called, "Bone Wild TV"...which can be viewed on the Pursuit Channel, and a couple other channels on cable. I've never heard of it, and I don't have cable, so I'm going to have to look them up on YouTube.
I think we managed to answer all his questions, while a hot bite was happening. Jenny was great at reeling in, and setting the dipsies, so Matt took that opportunity to shoot a lot of videos, of her and I working the back of the boat.
We had our 18 pretty early this morning, and I had them back to Put-in_Bay by 9am. They were a lot of fun to fish with, and it was even more fun, because the weather was fantastic! You know, one of those kind of days, where in the middle of winter, you wish for weather like this.
After we got back to the marina, and we said our thank you and goodbyes, and I headed back to Mazurik's, where my friends, Matt and Jen, met me, to help me load out quick. Thanks, again, you two! It was very much appreciated! :)
Tomorrow looks like another decent day, wind wise, so I'll be out again with a crew that I have had to reschedule twice, due to wind. We will finally get out there. woot! woot!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jimmie and Kayton 5/29/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/29/22My West Virginia crew was ready and waiting, when I pulled into the White Caps Motel at 4:25, this morning. It was supposed to be Jimmie, his wife, and his daughter, but his wife wasn't feeling good this morning, so she stayed on shore. I would just have Jimmie and Kayton today.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5am. It was still very dark, but by the time I had the motor up to temp, it was getting light enough to see the waves, so we headed out to my spot from the day before.
We made a pass through there, but the size of the fish has shrunk, considerably, so we adjusted the Ulterra's direction to the north, holding to the 26-28' contours, hoping to find a better grade. We went through so many little bitty biters, that I lost count.
It's nice to see the fishery plentiful with all sizes out there, right now, and I'm happy to see the little buggers. They all get kisses before they go back...for being so brave and going after baits almost as big, if not bigger, than them.
But, I'm sure we will start hearing the complaining about catching so many little fish... but, everyone has to remember, those little fish will be really FINE fish in 5 to 7 years. So, please handle with care, and be careful with their little lips. :)
We poked some lips, with the spoons running behind size 1 dipsies (with ring), on the zero and two settings. Zero started at 25 and 27, but was later moved to 35' back.
The two settings started out at 35 and 37, but were adjusted to 47 and 50' back.
Silver hammered, with one blue edge, was a hot color for the biggest of the small fish, that we caught. Most were 16-17 inches, with a couple of larger ones in there.
Speed was 2.5mph.
We started out, just running 4 dipsies. If the previous two days' fishing was any indication of how fast it would be this morning, I would have guessed we would have been done by 7:30. So, I only wanted to run 4 rods, because we only needed 18 fish today. There's no need for fire drills, with a lot of rods, just to see how fast we can get it done. It was manageable for the two of them, and there wasn't any chaos, except for maybe having to net a second fish in the same net as the first one, because they came in at the same time. :)
It was a good bite very early. We went through a lot of fish, but had only kept 10, when the bite slowed down. I eventually put 2 Bandits on each side of the boat, and they pulled 2 fish in the short time that they were out. Both, that caught, were 40 back, behind the Off Shore boards. We didn't get many hits on the Bandits, but in their defense, they weren't out for very long. However, they did catch the two bigger fish that were in the cooler.
We caught a sheephead, a white bass, and 2 white perch today also. That's only the second, or third, sheephead for me this season. But, for the most part...it's all walleye right now, out on the big lake.
Jimmie and Kayton had fun, made some memories, and did a great job manning those dipsey rods. It was obvious to me, that they do a lot of fishing together. I only gave them quick instruction on the setting and retrieving of the dipsies, and they picked up on it, really quick. That made my morning pretty easy, and that makes me happy! lol
Kayton is studying to be a doctor, and just finished her first year of college. You can see the pride, in Jimmie's eyes, when he talks about his daughter, too. They were fun to fish with, and were really down to earth folks, who I would love to fish with again some day. I wish, for Kayton, much success on her journey to becoming a doctor. You Go Girl... :)
Tomorrow, I have an island pick up at Put-in-Bay....................fun times.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Brad, John, and Charlie 5/28/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/28/22Being a Saturday on Memorial Day weekend, I thought I'd better get to Mazurik's early. After gassing up the boat, and getting ice for the cooler, I arrived at the launch just before 5am. There were already boats launching in the dark, and there was only one boat in front of me in the get ready lane, and almost ready to go, so I waited for them to move, so I could move forward and make room for those coming in behind me, before I climbed up in my own boat.
Brad, John, and Charlie each have their own boats, but they all fish and hunt together. They just switch out whose boat they will take each weekend. This trip was a learning trip, like yesterday's. They like to troll, but get tangles...a lot. So, they wanted to learn how to do it with less tangles, and see how I do it.
This was an easy trip for me, since they already knew how to run dipsies. I gave them a little instruction, after seeing how they do things, and they were working them like champs in no time.
Brad said he mostly has trouble with setting and reeling in inline planer boards, so I explained to them, while they did it hands on, how I set, retrieve, and set the Off Shore boards back out into their original positions...without tangles. Letting them do it, gives them the ability to remember it, and gives them the confidence they need to get the job done.
We fished the South Passage again, and had the same results, running the same program as yesterday. Spoons and Bandits. Spoons on the dipsies and the Bandits behind the Off Shore boards.
Scorpion Stinger, Yeck, and BadMo spoons behind dipsies set on the zero and two settings worked the best. The zero setting was set at 25 and 27 for a couple of hours, or until the bite at that depth changed, and we lowered them to 35 feet back. The two settings were set at 35 and 37 to start, and then to 55 back later on.
Bandits behind the boards were set at 40, 50, and 60 on the port side and 40, 50, and 70 on the starboard side.
Colors that worked today were:
Blue Chrome (stock color)
Whiskey and Water (custom by SlimShadyCustoms .com)
Chrome Furmi-Nuff (SlimShadyCustoms .com)
Green Lantern (SlimShadyCustoms .com)
"John's a Dick" (hehehe) This one was given to me this morning, from Brad. He painted it, and when I asked him what the name of the color was, that's what he told me...."John's a Dick" (John of course was fishing with us). It made me laugh. There's a story behind the name, but I don't remember the details, so I'll refrain from telling it. :)
Target Speed was 2.5mph, but with the wind/waves and wake/waves...the speed was all over the place. From 1.9 to 3.0mph. They hit when it was fast as 3.0 and as slow as 1.9, so don't worry too much about speed right now. If you put a bait in front of them, they will eat it.
My guys had a good time and learned what they needed to learn, so that makes me happy...:)
Tomorrow, I have Jimmie Perkins and his crew. I hope the bite continues like this for a while. It's a lot of fun!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Three Generations of the Wirthman Family 5/27/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/27/22Joe Wirthman, his son, Charlie, and Charlie's son, Brandon, met me at Mazurik's at 5:30, this morning. We launched, just as the sky was beginning to lighten from its nightly sleep, and headed out into the South Passage.
The forecast had changed for the better, since last night, and the gusty SSW winds they had predicted for this morning, didn't get that bad. The forecast had changed this morning to 5-15, from a 15-20mph forecast last night, so that was good. The rain had moved and stayed south of the lake, too, so we didn't get rained on at all this morning. Yay!
I asked Joe why he wanted to hire me, since he told me that he had his own boat here, and was already catching limits the past few days, when they went out. "I want to learn. We get a lot of tangles running inline boards, and I want to know what I'm doing wrong, or how I can improve it", he said. "Well, okay, we can do that, we'll be running dipsies along with the boards, right now.", I replied. He said, "That's great...I have dipsies, but I don't really know how to use them, so it will be good to learn".
We set up with the two dipsies off each corner. The "inside rod" is a 7' rod and the "outside rod" is an 8'3" rod. The inside rods were running at the zero setting, and the outside rods were running on the two setting. Zero settings were 25 and 27 back. The two settings were at 35 and 40 back.
Bandits were running behind the Off Shore boards at 40, 50, 60, and 70 back. All took a fish or two, except the 50 for some reason.
Colors were:
Blue Chrome
Carrot Top
Chrome Furmi-Nuff
Chrome Barbie
Speed was 2.4-2.5mph
The spoon bite was definitely better for us, which is nice, because it's so easy to use the dipsies. So . Much . Less . Work! :)
My crew had a good time, and learned a lot. I let them set the dipsies, the boards, and net fish....I would just interject with instructions, on how not to screw it up. Charlie said to me, "What did you do before you were a fishing guide?" As I gathered my thoughts, to answer, he asks, "Were you a cop, by chance?" I laughed, and said, "No, but I probably would have a made a good one, eh?".
They did a great job this morning, and went home happy, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have a new crew that wants to learn stuff....so, I'm going to teach them some stuff, and hopefully, we'll catch some more fish. Fingers Crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Matt, Brian, and John 5/21/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/21/22Matt, Brian, and John came up yesterday, from Cincinnati, and were instructed to meet me at Mazurik's at 5:30, this morning. I showed up there at 4:45, so I had time to change out baits, and get the dipsey rods ready for their first use of the season.
The crew showed up at 5:25, and we were launched by 5:30. We weren't going far, and I'm pretty sure everyone already knows the area, because there were 100+ boats scattered throughout the South Passage. But, being one of the first ones on the lake, we were able to get a first pass in, without any interruptions in our navigation.
I've been hearing, lately, that spoons were taking fish at higher speeds now, so I thought it was time to pull out the dipsies this morning. I love the dipsey program. It's so easy to run them. It takes little time to check/change baits, or see if a small fish is hanging on.
We ran the inside dipsies on the zero setting, and the outside dipsies on the 2 setting. Zero settings were set at 25 and 27, and the 2 settings were set at 31 and 35, and sometimes 40. Scorpion Stinger spoons and Yeck spoons did their job. Colors didn't seem to matter...I had a little bit of every color down, and they all took fish.
Speed was 2.5 mph.
Two Bandits ran on each side of the boat, but only two walleye were caught on them. Blue chrome at 37 back, and Carrot Top at 43 back, running behind the Off Shore boards.
The spoon action was very good though. It kept my crew VERY busy, reeling, re-setting, checking every odd wiggle in the rod tip, to see if it was a fish...then, re-setting the dipsey again...only to turn around, look at it, and ask, "Is that a fish? It looked like a fish hit it". "There's only one way to find out", I said, pointing to the rod, and smiling. I said, "Be my guest". He laughed, and picked it up. Sometimes, there was a fish, and sometimes, there wasn't.
We caught a few short fish this morning too. I've only caught two short fish all spring, so far....until this morning. I think we had about a 1/2 dozen, or so.
The rest of the fish, were anywhere from 16" to 22".
We had their 3 limits in about 3 1/2 hours, but then struggled to get our last limit. We got done a little early, due to a system that was pushing through, so we ended with 22 today. I think we lost about a half dozen too. But, that's going to happen when you're fishing with spoons.
The two larger fish in our cooler were caught on the Bandits.
I'm off for a few days, and will be back out later this week.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Jim and Gary 5/18/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/18/22Left the house at 5am, to go pick up my crew from their motel, at 5:15. It's only a mile down the road, so I thought I would be able to jump down the Tik-Tok rabbit hole for 5 or 10 minutes, before they came out, but they were already outside waiting for me to arrive... Ha! They climbed in the truck and we headed to the other side of town to gas up, get ice, and get to Mazurik's to launch.
When we arrived, we were the only people there. There were no trailers in the parking lot. Just a long haired black cat, that was going back and forth across the park, from the parking lot, to the rocks, and back, was the only other being to make itself known.
Another rig showed up just as we were getting ready to drive down to the launch...then, another, and another, and another. "Good timing", I thought to myself. "It's going to get busy, shortly".
"Hell yeah, first ones in the water today! Woot! Woot!" I was excited! I put the throttle in reverse, and saw that bow start to twist to the side. "Oh, %$#^&!", I said, "I left a strap on... I'm, an idiot." The boat that came in alongside us, in the get ready lane, was launching now too. I shouted over to them, "Hey, any of you guys have muscles?"
"Yeah, what do you need?", said the driver of the truck, as he started walking towards me. He was already bending over to pull his pant legs up, as he walked.
I think he already knew what I did, because he saw me trying to get the bow of the boat back on the roller, so I could winch it back in place. He splashed right in and lifted the bow of that Ranger like it was a car topper canoe, and placed it back inline with the roller...then, proceeded to winch it back up, so we could pull forward and undo the strap. My hero! Thank you, you anonymous person with muscles. (If you're reading this...I'm sorry, I never got your name.) :)
"Okay, the strap is undone...let's try this again" I said to Jim. Jim starts to back us down and I put the throttle in reverse aaaaand she'ssssss not coming off the trailer. "Noooo! Awww, COME ON! I truly am an idiot". (She says, hanging her head and shaking it). Yes, that's right, I forgot to undo the winch strap.
A positive: Thankful for the EZEESteps, because otherwise I would have bruised my ribs trying to climb in and out of the boat as many times as I had to this morning. I stepped down, and undid the winch lock....ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz, ZZZzzzzzzzzz, Zzzzzzzzzz...it whirred, as the handle went around and around at breakneck speed.
When it stopped, I pulled the boat forward and unhooked it. "Well, at least it was easier than a back strap", I thought.
I took a deep breath, to calm myself down, because by now, we were at a very busy launch. A dozen boats had launched, or were getting ready to launch, during my fiasco. I apologize for blocking a ramp for 5 minutes this morning. Sorry!
We headed north out of the ramp, and hit the north side of Kelly's first. We only picked up 5 or 6 there on a very long pass. Then, we moved to the west side of the Bass Islands, where we were yesterday, and picked up another 3 or 4. We worked at it, but it was slow for us. The puzzle pieces weren't fitting together for us today, and never really dialed anything in, other than they liked most the leads 30-50 back. A couple were caught deeper, but most were higher fish.
Jim and Gary had a good time, and learned a ton. They are both off to other adventures in the outdoors, in just a few weeks. Jim's going to Lac Saul (sp?), and Gary is headed to Big Bay de Noc for a couple of weeks. Good luck gentlemen! It was a pleasure fishing with the both of you. Safe travels in your journeys. :)
Tomorrow, I have a repeat crew, that I've had for a few years now, they are always a fun time too, so I'm looking forward to fishing with them again.
The forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, 20mph winds gusts, from the west in the am, but diminishing by 9am. It will be a little chilly in the morning, with air temps only in the low 60's.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Gary 5/17/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/17/22Two of my fellow Walleye Central.com members fished with me this morning. Jim is from MN, and Gary is from Indiana...(that might be the other way around, but that's the way I remember it..lol)
They met through WC and have become good fishing friends over the years. They traveled here to fish Lake Erie, and that's what we planned to do.
When I got up this morning, there wasn't much wind on my back deck yet, but after looking at the iWindSurf app, I knew that wasn't going to last long. The little arrows out on the buoys and islands were registering winds all over the place. To the west it was 20 out of the NW, and over on South Bass Island, it was reading 23 out of the NW, while Kelly's Island read only 3mph out of the NE. Marblehead started at 3mph and jumped to 16 within an hour.
With a forecast like that, I would normally cancel and reschedule if I could, but the TV weatherman said it was going to be 5-15 out of the NW, so I figured it would settle down and be fishable, if we gave it a little time.
I picked my guys up at the White Caps Motel, since it's so close to me, and I told them what I thought. I asked, "Are you hungry? We can go grab some breakfast and let it settle down a little, before we launch". They were agreeable...but, as we drove past the lake, down on Lake Shore Dr, I saw that the lake wasn't white-capping, so I said... "On second thought, let's just go to Catawba and check out the conditions...we'll make a decision from there. Again, they were agreeable.
We stopped for gas and ice...when I was pumping gas, I felt the wind gusting, so I made the decision to go get these guys some breakfast first, so we could waste some time. Jim and Gary were happy about that.
After a quick breakfast, we headed to Catawba to launch. We launched at 6:30, so it was too late to get my sunrise picture, but it was a beautiful morning. The winds were starting to lay down, it was a cool 50 degrees, I think...( I didn't check the exact temp this morning, but it felt like 50, to me). :)
The ride out on the water between the islands, known as the "South Passage", was rough. It wasn't bad, but it was a bit gnarly, due to the washing machine affect the winds were creating with the waves. It didn't know if it wanted to go NW or NE this morning. I think we got a little of both. But, the winds...they did lay down, and it was a beautiful morning to be on the lake. Blue skies, sunshine, fishing, friends, good venison sticks, and walleye make for a wonderful memory...don'tcha think?
We made it to the islands and set up in 31' of water with crawler harnesses on the starboard side, and Bandits on the port side.
Harnesses used (2) 1oz inline weights, and (2) 2oz inlines with (2) #6 Colorado blades and (1) #5 Hatchet blade, and (1) Bad Mo blade
1oz at 30 and 41' back behind the Off Shore boards
2oz at 25 and 27 feet
Speed was 1.6-1.7mph
Water temp was 58
We had two pullbacks on the harnesses at 25 back and 41 back...and caught two at 30 and 25 back. We went a long time with no action, so I felt the Bandits needed a chance at a faster speed, or the crawlers needed to go slower. So one, or the other had to come off. I chose the crawlers, because if I could get the crank bait bite going, then I don't have to mess with crawlers. I kind of feel sorry for them, as I hook them to their fate. lol
We ran Bandits on the starboard side at 35, 43, 53, and 61 behind Off Shore boards, and the port side ran at 30, 40, 50, and 60 back.
Speed was 2.0-2.2mph.
Eventually, all numbers took a fish at one time or another. Two took two fish. We only caught 12 today, so it wasn't a great bite, but we caught their limit to add to their fish fries, which made them happy, and that makes me happy.
We used Chromes, painted, and glass baits. Colors were blue/chrome, perch chrome, Taco Salad, and some I just don't know the name of anymore ...sorry.
Jim, Gary, I will be out tomorrow again. I think we might launch out of Mazurik's and see what we can find. A southeast wind is forecasted for tomorrow....but, it will rain on us in the morning...then, clear, until around 4pm, where it will start raining again. I hate fishing in the rain...it's sooooooo....it's so, wet.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Short Trip with Richard...5/15/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/16/22My crew for the two day trip, that would have been Saturday and Sunday was rescheduled, and I moved Richard from Monday to Sunday afternoon.
I normally don't do any afternoon trips, but his flight didn't land him in Akron until 10:30am yesterday... and, then, he had an hour and a half drive over here to Port Clinton....so, I made an acceptation. I didn't want to reschedule him, again.
The forecast today (Monday/Im writing this late, because it was way past my bedtime when we got done with everything last night. lol) is for gusts to 25 out of the west.
He was staying at The White Caps Motel, so we launched next door, on the Portage River at 2:30. It was just him, so I was making it a 4 hour trip, instead of the usual 6 hour trip. 2:30 in the afternoon for other people is just that...2:30 in the afternoon....for me though, 2:30 in the afternoon is 6:30pm , since I get up so early. (Dinner time for most people, is when I'm usually going to bed).
We headed north out of the river, and fished the water west of the bass islands, in 30' of water.
The Blue Chrome Bandit took 5 of his 6 fish at 30-40 back, at a speed of 2.0mph. Sunspost took his 6th fish at 30 back, too.
Water temp was up to 67 degrees yesterday, which is 10 degrees warmer than it was on Friday, when I was out last.
Richard and I had a relaxing time floating around out there, and had some good conversation. He served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, as a Marine, but is out now, due to injury. He's a super nice guy, and I wished we had had more time yesterday, but it is what it is. He said he had a great time, and wants to come back again for another walleye trip, and possibly a perch trip, before the season ends... and, that makes me happy!
I have a two day trip for Tues/Wed, and so far the forecast looks good. Tomorrow, is a NW wind at 5-10, and sunshine.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mark and Jim 5/12/2022
by Capt Juls on 05/12/22Mark and Jim are two more of my long time customers. I think I met them for the first time, the first year, when I started guiding 11 years ago. :)
The morning's forecast was looking like another beautiful day to be on the lake. Clear skies, kind of warm, but still a little chilly in the mornings...and very little wind out of the ESE. It was probably around 3 mph, so there was just a ripple on the water's surface, when we headed out of Catawba, at 5:45.
"Are you going to be warm enough?", I asked Jim, who was only wearing a sweatshirt, with a flannel over it, and a pair of jeans. Mark wasn't dressed much warmer, so I asked him too. "No, I'll be fine", he said. "Okay", I thought to myself...while wearing jeans with my suit that has the fuzzy warm lining, and is windproof..."They're going to get cold". I know how chilly it can be on the cooler mornings...especially, when the water temps are still only in the mid-50's, right now. I knew they weren't dressed right, but I can only do and say so much.
Anyway...to the fishing...
We caught their limits, and some of mine..before moving to another spot. The first spot was where every boat in the western basin was this morning, I think. I was one of the first to the area, so our first pass was pretty easy, and we caught most of our fish in that first pass. Once it got crowded, it was time to leave.
Bandits behind Off Shore planer boards at (port) 80, 70,60, 50....35, 53, 67, 77 (starboard) Guess which side I set up...;) All numbers caught a fish, or two, today.
Speed was 1-8-2.0 mph...we caught at slower speeds and higher speeds too.
Water temp was 55.7
The second spot was up by North Bass, and we caught 2 on Bandits at 75 and 80 back at 1.8 mph.
Colors used today in the order of their catch rate...
Carrot Top
Chrome Barbie
Sunspot
Taco Salad
Chrome Perch (but, to be fair..(insert LetterKenny echo here! Ha!).. it didn't get put on until late morning, and did catch one pretty fast, so it might have been a better one to have out longer today) :)
Blue Chrome let me down today....weird.
Mark and Jim did a great job today, and will be back at it again tomorrow. They will also be back to fish with me again in June and July, and that makes me happy!
I think we'll be launching out of Mazurik's in the morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
