Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Paul and Donna Maynard......10/11/2024
by Capt Juls on 10/12/24Paul's son and daughter had bought him an adventure for Father's Day, and he chose a perch trip. :)
I left the house 45 minutes early, even though they were staying a mile down the road from me. Now, that the sun is coming up at 7:40-7:45, I didn't have to pick them up until 7am, but I knew that Wozniak's Sunoco, was just down the road from the Whitecaps Motel, and opens at 6. They have their own "Minnow Boat", which means, on the nights the conditions allow, they go out and catch their own Emerald Shiners. Several other places in town do that also....Jeanette's Bait, A-N-J Bait, annnnnd...(I can't think of anymore off the top of my head at the moment...sorry).
Anyway, I stopped to get 20 bucks worth of minnows, before heading back to the Whitecaps to pick up Paul and Donna. The shiners were around 2 1/2-3 inch minnows. The perfect size for splitting in two, to use on the hooks.
They were ready to go at 7, so we headed to town for gas and ice.
We launched out of Mazurik's. The wind forecast was for a southwest wind at 10-20mph. The air temp was around 54 degrees, but was expected to get to 77 by the afternoon. The sky was clear, and the sun was just kissing the horizon as we headed out.
The water temp at the launch was 59 degrees, but the water temp on the lake was a touch over 63.
We headed to the Marblehead Lighthouse area, and tried a spot in the rocks in 23-24 feet of water, but only caught Gobies, White Perch, and Sheephead, so we moved.
It would be a total of two moves before we would stay in one spot, for the rest of the trip. The electronics were showing decent marks moving in and out of the area, over 28' of water, so we patiently waited for them to find us. We were the only boat east of the pack, and had around 3/4 mile between us.
It started out slow, but every time I would think about moving again, we would catch another one, so we stayed put. (The bottom was on the softer side...it wasn't a hard bottom, but it wasn't too squishy, either.)
It paid off...the bite picked up, and the Paul and Donna were enjoying themselves.
We were using some two hook crappie rigs I make, with white beads or chartreuse beads, and using split shiners.
We managed to catch 60, before we had to head in. Those 60 perch went 20 pounds at Port Clinton Fish Co. (So, an average of 3 to a pound).
My Saturday trip has been rescheduled...and, so has Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, thanks to the weather. I hope to be back out for trips, Wednesday through Sunday, though....fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Lisa...10/5/2024
by Capt Juls on 10/05/24This is going to be a long one, which is not usual for my perch fishing reports...sorry, not sorry. :)
This morning, I was really looking forward to fishing with Lisa again. She and two of her friends were here back in April, for the total solar eclipse, and wanted to get some walleye fishing in. Lisa has a bucket list of fish she wants to catch, and walleye and perch were two of the freshwater fish she hadn't caught, yet. We did very well on the walleye that day, and she was happy.
She came all the way over from West Virginia, with her dog "Max", to fish for perch, this time. (This afternoon, I got to meet Max, and he is a real sweetheart! I wanted to keep him.)
I cleaned the boat up yesterday, and left the house 45 minutes early, this morning, even though the Air-BNB where she is staying is only a mile and a half down the road from me. I stopped off at Wozniak's Sunoco, on Lakeshore Dr, for some Emerald Shiners and ice, first. The shiners were the perfect 2-2 1/2" inch size, that I like to use. They are perfect for splitting in half. I also had some frozen shiners in Wintergreen Rubbing Alcohol along for the ride, too.
I drove through the Portage River Boat Access's parking lot...to the DNR road between the boat ramp and Vacation Wonderland, or whatever it's called over there, and drove down the road. It's the road where I walk my dogs most days, so I know it well. There was a problem though....
At the other end, the road just outside the gates were filled with piles of stone and dirt. Someone had dumped it there, so I vehicle couldn't pass through, and I had to try and make a tight turn, where I would come within inches of hitting my truck on a telephone pole. "I'm fucked", I thought...starting to panic a little.
I couldn't make the turn. The truck made it, but the boat was going to hit the upright post of the fence that is around the end of the road, on the port side. I had 4" of space before I stopped trying to make the turn.
Then, Lisa showed up, and I told her "I might be screwed here... I'm stuck. I have a pole up here and a fence back there, let me think about this a second." I got in the truck, and started backing up...making sure I didn't hit the telephone pole, or the boat, and once I made it past the pole, I was able to make a three point turn with the trailer, and go back down the way I came in.
(So, thanks to whoever put the piles of stone and dirt in the middle of the road...you made my adrenal levels skyrocket. lol)
We had everything we needed, and headed to Catawba to launch. The wind was forecast, out of the east at 14-18mph, so that was going to be bumpy. Starting out of the launch, we headed over to the green buoy to start looking for some gold. We didn't find any good marks on the sonar, so we kept moving and looking.
The Davis Besse smoke stack wasn't too bent over, so I didn't think it was that bad out, and headed to G Can. But, when we got over there, the waves were 2-3s with some 4s thrown in for good measure...and, the water was pretty dirty, so I said we were going to head back to the lee side of Catawba. I looked over by Clinton Reef...marked some, and Lisa caught one. It was a dandy for her first one, and she was able to check a perch off her bucket list. We didn't stay more than a 1/2 hour, and moved towards the point of Catawba.
Lisa caught a couple more, but the marks were bleak, so I said, "I don't think the wind is supposed to get any worse, so we should drive up to the islands...we can ride the trough up, so it shouldn't be too bad of a ride. The water will probably be cleaner up there, too." Lisa was game, so off we went.
I was right about the ride...it was a little wet, because of the cross-wind, but it wasn't bad. I pointed the Vexus to Middle Bass Island, once we rounded the corner of South Bass, and stopped on the north end of the island, near the underwater "wall", as I call it....(the one between Middle Bass and Rattlesnake).
We were in 29' of water.
It was slow, but then we started getting bites. Then, I looked up and saw a bunch of sailboats come out of Put-in-Bay...like a club race event. The first 15 minutes they stayed over by South Bass, but then they started coming closer. A horn sounded, and the first flight headed north...we were sitting directly north of them. "Ugh", I thought..."This should be fun".
Sure enough, three flights of sailboats went between us, and two other boats that were between me and land, and on the outside of us. Several of them, were as close as 20 feet from our boat....when they had a ton of open water to the west of me. I was the outside boat of the three of us that were perching there. I don't have to tell you that our bite died.
But, it did start picking up again after the third flight disappeared to the north side of North Bass, so we stuck it out.
We didn't limit, but Lisa was having a great time, and said she will be back again next year, with her girlfriends to try and get walleye and perch in the same trip....and, that makes me happy!
Lisa is staying in Port Clinton until Monday, so after dropping my boat off at home, I headed over to the place she staying at, because I wanted to see the VRBO she rented.
It's a very old (but, very well maintained), and charming house on the Portage River, owned by Mark and Tammy Collins. (Tammy, if you're reading this...those old wood floors in that house are stunning!)
That's when I got to meet Max....and, I was starving, so I asked if she wanted to go for Mexican, and she said, "Yes". Lunch was great, as usual.
Tomorrow's trip is rescheduled to next Sunday (13th), due to the wind forecast of low to mid 30s out of the SW. And, Monday's trip is rescheduled to Friday the 11th, due to a gusty NW wind in the forecast.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Robby and Carson....9/22/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/22/24Robbi and his boy Carson came up from KY to fish with me, on a recommendation from a previous customer, who is friends with him. They wanted to fish for walleye, so we were headed to Huron, this morning.
I picked them up from their motel at 6am, and headed into town for the usual order of ice and powdered donuts, and off we went.
The air temp was 61 degrees, the wind calm, and the sky was clear. It was just starting to lighten in the east, so by the time we launched, idled up the river, and hit the lake, we didn't need the navigation lights on anymore.
I wanted to try inside, before heading back out to where I was two days ago, and made one pass to the west, and then one pass to the east...we caught 4 fish. But, the floating grass was bad, and it was making me crazy, so I said, "Let's finish this pass, and then we'll head out there...(pointing to the north, with an out-stretched arm). Let's see if those fish are still out there...there's no grass out there".
Luckily for us, they were, but they were a better size grade than two days ago. I think today's cooler probably doubled the weight of Friday's cooler.
Carson had never caught a walleye, but is a very good little angler. He's joined the Bass Team at his school, and has his first tournament next weekend. Robbi, knows what he's doing in the boat, too, so it was a very pleasant and easy day for me.
They had never used dipsies before, but it didn't take long for them to get used to retrieving and setting the lines on their own. The dipsey program was kept simple...
Two inside rods were run on the zero setting, and the two outside rods were on the 3 setting. Zero, at 55, and the 3 setting at 90 was our best leads.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards at 115 and 100 back, with no weights, and caught two of the bigger fish on the 115 lead, with a "Green Lantern" (Slim Shady Custom). I changed out the two bandits on the port side with more Green Lanterns, but those were the only two fish that would be caught on cranks this morning. The rest were steady-hitting the spoons.
Color didn't seem to matter too much.
Speed was 2.5 on the FishHawk.
We kept circling on a 1/2 mile area, over 43 feet of water, straight out of Huron, and had fun with some wet toothy critters for a few hours.
Robbi and Carson said they had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. We all caught our limits, and headed back in. I took a slow ride in, because it was just one of those end of summer days, you don't want to forget. The lake was perfect for running, the weather warm, and the company... better than par. :)
I am not scheduled until next weekend, but I may have a trip this Thursday, I don't know yet.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tom, PJ, and Zach...9/21/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/22/24
Quick report...
We managed 87 of our 120 limit today. Same area as the other day…between E and D, west of the can line, in 24’-25’ of water. Jeanette’s Bait, had a good mix of emeralds and Goldie’s, this morning. Crappie rigs, with a line below the weight, caught most of them.
Tom, PJ, and Zach did a great job on a very light bite!
Stay tuned…
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dan and Ed....9/20/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/20/24Yesterday, I got a text from Dan Ireland. He's a previous customer, from back in May...he and his friend were staying here all week. They bring Dan's little boat over from Missouri.
"Do you have any openings the next couple of days?", he asked.
I replied, "Tomorrow or Sunday...I'm perch'n right now". He said, "Perching is kind of slow for us...we only 6. How about you?" I replied, "We're only at 21...I'm by E Can...northwest of it, actually, between E and D Cans. Were you at?"
He said, "We are just south of D Can..we will take tomorrow, if you're good with that. We want to walleye fish". "Okay, are you staying at the White Caps?" I asked. "Yes", he said. "Okay, cool...I'll pick you two up at 6am".
Later that morning, he was driving his boat down from D can towards us, so I waved him over, and told him to set up right next to us, since he has Spot-Loc on his boat, and didn't need to throw an anchor...(that would disturb our bite).
We only needed 9 more for our 60 fish limit, and it didn't take long to catch them.
Dan and Ed didn't have any Emeralds, so I gave them what I had left of my frozen ones, and two of the crappie rigs that I designed, and make for myself and my customers, and told them to rip the minnows in half, to use. When we left, they slipped right in over where we were sitting, and managed to add to their count and ended up with 52 nice perch, before they ran out of minnows and the bite died. (The bead colors on the rigs we were using were chartreuse or white).
They decided to head back in.
This morning, I picked them up at their motel at 5:45. I had told them 6AM, but they were ready to go, and waiting outside by Dan's truck, when I arrived.
We hit the gas station for ice, then headed towards Huron.
The sky was just starting to get light, when we got to the get ready lanes at the Huron ramp. After chatting a bit with other early morning launchers, we hit the water at 6:45. I only had a clue of where I was going to look first, and that was NE of the Huron Dumping Grounds. The Helix wasn't showing many marks from the mouth of the river, out to 43 feet, but when we hit 43 feet, they showed up.
The bow mount was deployed, as was the baby Merc, and their speed set to 2.5mph on the FishHawk (for those that don't know what that is...its gadget that runs below the surface, to get the undercurrent speed, and temp readings).
We set a course to the north, and marked fish for about 1 1/2 miles, before turning around to go over them again.
The programs that worked this morning were:
Dipsey on the zero setting at 55 back (had two of these out)
Dipsey on the three setting at 80 back
Dipsey on the two setting at 70 back
Bandits behind the Off Shore Boards at 120, 100, and 97 back caught fish.
"IB Infected" (custom color by DJ Custom Eye Lures...Hi Way Bait) Had two of these out, and they both caught one.
"Green Lantern" (Slim Shady Custom) caught one.
The dipsies and spoons far out fished the cranks behind boards, this morning.
We had our 3-person limit by 10:20, and had around 8 throw backs, too. No junk fish today.
They were only good eaters....nothing big, yet.
Dan and Ed had a great morning, they said, and want to go again. Dan was grateful, that I took them to a new launch, instead of back to Vermilion, where I had first taken them...so, they could learn more areas. (I hope they come back, when there are more fish back on the west side, so we can use Mazurik's or Catawba...it's a lot closer to home). ;)
I have another perch trip tomorrow, so my fingers are crossed that we have another successful catch. But, this time, there will be four of us, so we'll need 120 perch to fill our tickets.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Eric and Mike...9/19/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/20/24Just a quick report...
After rescheduling Eric and his brother Mike 5 times since May, due to wind, we finally got out yesterday. Eric was gifted this trip through Fisherman's Central, for buying a new Vexus, and since he lives close, rescheduling wasn't an issue for them.
We decided to do some perch fishing, and headed out of Catawba at 7am. We tried 4 spots, and the 4th spot was the right one. It was west of the cans between D and E.
Frozen Emerald's in Wintergreen rubbing alcohol was preferred by the perch over the live Goldies, and we we using crappie rigs that I make myself. The bite got better as the morning progressed and turned on around 10:30. By noon we had our limits.
I'm headed out this morning to go walleye fishing with some previous customers...Dan and Ed, from Missouri. We will be launching out of Huron this morning, to see what we can do over there.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Keith....9/13/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/14/24Went 'fun fishing' with Keith, to try and catch some perch for my freezer. Christmas is coming, and I like to take family members in Wisco some perch.
We launched out of Catawba at 8:45 and didn't go far. I was headed towards E can, when I drove over what the Helix showed as a big school of fish in the area, so we stopped and dropped some frozen Emeralds and live Goldies over the side. The fish down there were perch...yay!
It was a light bite, and we missed a lot, but we managed our 2-person limit in 5 hours. I think we may have thrown back around a dozen little ones, fed the seagulls some small white perch, and only one sheephead.
The wind was out of the southeast to start, but around 11:30 it changed to the east...then, around 2pm it turned more NE. The bite improved in the afternoon hours.
My next trip is scheduled for the 19th....going for walleye.
So, I have available dates open as long as the winds behave. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bob 9/10-11/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/14/24Just a quick report of our two days of perch'n....
Day one:
We left out of Mazurik's and stopped out in front of Lakeside, first. It wasn't happening, so we headed north to Kelly Island Shoal, where he and I had fished last year, close to this time, and did well on jumbo perch.
We caught 11 in our first spot. It wasn't fast, but the fish were impressive in size, so Bob was happy. We would eventually move around to 4 other spots, and pick up 2 more. It was slow, but it was a beautiful day, and Bob was just happy to be fishing, according to him.
A Facebook friend loaded out behind us at the ramp, and asked if we wanted their 7 perch, because he didn't want to go get them cleaned, since there were only 7...Bob was happy to take them. The 20 fish went 10 pounds at the cleaners.
Day two was worse, so there's no report...lol We cut the day early and went and enjoyed a nice lunch in town.
I have fished with Bob and his brother for many years now, and they will be back for four days in a couple weeks. :)
Fishing with Allen and Marilyn...9/3/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/03/24Allen and Marilyn drove over from Indiana, on Sunday. We were supposed to fish yesterday, but Mother Nature had other plans, and sent us a gusty NNE wind instead. It was a "no-go".
Initially, we were going to do one day of perch fishing, and one day of walleye fishing. I asked them which species they wanted to target, since we only had one day, and Allen chose walleye, so their day 2 trip was set....walleye it is.
A friend had texted me with some info, from the day before the blow, so that was going to be my starting point, this morning. Crawlers made the most sense, since we had a change in conditions, and what walleye can resist a big fat crawler?
I had told my crew, that I would pick them up at 6AM, but as usual, I got to their motel 15 minutes early...and, to my surprise, they were sitting outside, waiting on me!
I said, "You two are early, it's still very dark out...we're in no hurry". Allen smiled, and replied, "I get up early, too".
We headed to the gas station, bought ice, and some powdered donuts, and headed to Mazurik's, to launch. Yesterday afternoon, I got in the boat, and re-rigged all the trolling rods with crawler harnesses. My friend, who had texted me, told me that blue/silver harnesses worked best for them, so when I looked in my stash, I found I didn't have any blue/silver harnesses made up. So, I made some.
We headed to the east side of Kelly's, and found the residual waves from last night were coming from the NNE. The flag on the pier at Lakeside, showed the wind was still out of the north. My wind app was showing light south winds. Obviously, the flag was correct. That changed my plan a bit...I was planning on starting SE of Kelly's and trolling north. So, instead, we went north, to Kelly Island Shoal, to start there, and troll south.
The water temp was 74.2 degrees.
The FishHawk was dropped down to depth, and turned on. The Terrova and baby Merc, worked in unison to keep us at a speed of 1.5-1.7mph. The harnesses ran with 2oz inline weights behind Off Shore boards anywhere from 60-80 back... over 41 feet of water.
The first board out, was running at 77 back...it got hit before the second board was set in place. It was a big fish, too. Allen reeled it in...it turned out to be a big kitty cat. The rest of the 8 board spread was set out. I had marked fish on the ride up, albeit spotty marks, so we just kept going hoping to hit some of those pockets of fish. We did that for too long, though. 3 hours had passed already.
It was time to go elsewhere and try spoons behind dipsies, and some little cranks behind the boards.
We headed east, off the point of Airport Reef, and kept going until we were north of the white condos, east of Cedar Point, and the Helix showed some marks, that looked fishable. The fish weren't tight to the bottom, like they were in other places, so they should bite.
The dipsies were running on the zero setting at 50 and 55 back, and the other two rods were running on the two settings at 75 back. All four settings caught fish with Yeck (D-11) spoons, and BadMo Arrow spoons. It wasn't a fast bite, and we only had 2 1/2 hours left to fish, so we were only able to manage one limit, of our three-person limit. But, they were decent fish, so Allen was happy with the catch. He said it made him happy that we made a move, and tried something else, when the first program didn't work, too.
The weather was beautiful, and the lake only had a handful of boats within viewing distance. Allen and Marilyn said they both had a good time, and would like to do it again, and that makes me happy.
I don't have anything scheduled until Saturday, which is a perch trip, but the forecast is calling for gusty NNW winds again, so we'll see. I'll have to keep an eye on that, and communicate with my crew.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave, John, and Jay....8/31/2024
by Capt Juls on 09/01/24
This morning, I had the pleasure of fishing with Dave, and his friends, John and Jay. I had told Dave, yesterday, that the perch bite has not been kind to me...more like brutal, and that they could reschedule if they wanted to, but they insisted on going, and taking a chance on a better bite. After picking up some nice Emerald Shiners from "Jeanette's Bait", we launched out of Catawba at 6:30.
Well, to make a long story short....while we did twice as well as I did the day before, when I fished with Tom and Carrie...we were far from a limit for 4 people. But, they didn't seem to mind, and said they had a great time. And, I have to agree...John kept us giggling all morning. The rain stayed to the south, so we never got wet, and that makes me happy! :)
We started out by West Reef, but it was a Sheephead nursery, so we moved over to Niagara, and started catching. We missed so many bites, but when we did catch, they were nice perch.
With an hour and a half to go, and the bite slowed, so we moved on down to D Can and picked up 7 or 8 more keepers and had 5 throw backs.
I'm off tomorrow, and it looks like my Monday trip might have to be cancelled, due to a gusty north wind. I gave the crew the heads up, but they booked two days, so they said that if Monday is cancelled, they will just find something else to do to entertain themselves. East winds are forecast for Tuesday, but it looks fishable...rough, but fishable.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tom and Carrie...8/30/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/30/24Well, it's been 15 days since my last trip out on Lake Erie, due to some reschedules and then my sonar taking a puke, and having to reschedule another one, because of that. Thankfully, the sonar is working again.
The last time out was for walleye, and today was for perch. Tom, Carrie, and I launched out of Catawba at 6:30, and started towards D Can, but had some really good marks just SE of E Can, so we stopped there, to start.
To my dismay, when I opened my bait cooler, the minnows I was given were mostly Goldies with a few Emeralds.. (90/10), even though I asked, when I walked through the door this morning, "Do you have Emeralds, or are they a mix with Goldies?". I was told, enthusiastically, "They are all Emeralds", so I didn't question them, or look at them after they were scooped.
I'm not going to say where this was, because I'm not going to hurt anyone's business over this mistake, but I won't make that mistake again, and will look before I walk out of the store. I knew who had just Emeralds, but didn't go there...I will be going there in the morning, though.
Anyway, it wasn't a good morning for us, catching-wise, but we did have a nice time, on a nice day. It was a lot cooler out on the water, than it was on land, so we had that going for us on this very hot and humid day.
Unfortunately, we didn't even get close to a one person limit, even though we tried 6 spots, and all the spots had great "Lasagna marks" on the bottom and just above the bottom, and when we did catch, it was a nice fat yellow. We tried all kinds of rigs, too.
We caught a few sheephead, one kitty, and handful of white perch, also. So, we did catch some fish...just not the kind of perch fishing I'm craving.
Tom and Carrie, both said they had good time anyway, and that makes me a little happier. ;)
Tomorrow's crew wants to target perch too, and I gave them my results from today, and they still want to go and see what we can do, so launch time will depend on if there are any storms going through in the morning, like they are forecasting.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dan and Ed...8/15/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24My original plan was to go to Huron, but with reports of floating grass in the area, I decided that launching in Vermilion would be a wiser move. We could head north to escape the floating masses.
I picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5am, and headed to the gas station, to get ice for the coolers...we then headed east to Vermilion. No one was there, so the ramp was all ours. After paying the launch fee, and hitting the bathrooms, we launched at 6am. Sunrise is at 6:30 now.
The sky was lightening, so by the time we got to Lorain, it was light enough to remove the navigation lights.
The dipsies went out first, and were catching before I could start on the crankbaits behind the planer boards.
Dipsey settings that worked well for us were:
zero setting 60 back (port side) and 65 back (starboard side)
two setting at 80 back (starboard side)
three setting at 80 back (port side)
Spoons were out-fishing the cranks this morning. Yeck (D-11s) in colors I don't know the names of..sorry. They had pink bellies though, and I think that was the key to those two. Those were on the two and three setting dipsies.
A Black/Silver/Green striped back w/silver bellied BadMo Arrow spoon fished behind the zero setting on the starboard side. A Yeck spoon with copper/red/black on the back, with a royal blue belly, worked behind the zero setting on the port side.
Speed on the FishHawk was 2.3-2.5mph. The currents over in Lorain are all over the place, and flowing like ribbons in a gentle breeze, through the water. We would be scooting along at 2.3mph and then all of the sudden, the FishHawk shows the speed at 2.7-3.3mph, or 1.7-1.9mph....then, it would go back to 2.3mph after a short period. So, we were weaving through these opposing currents, continually.
The baby Spro (85s) ran behind the Off Shores on the port side, and the Bill Lewis Lites ran on the starboard side.
2oz Guppie weights ran 50/70, and 50/60 on the starboard side, and at 50/57 and 50/55 on the port side. All of these caught a fish or two.
Color were:
Spros: Chrome Perch and Blue/Chrome
Lites: Blue/Chrome and Purple Tiger
Water temp was 75 degrees on the surface...and, the same, on the FHawk, 20 feet down.
Dan and Ed did a great job getting their fish to the boat and netted...we only lost two that came unbuttoned from the spoons.
They each caught their limit, and I caught mine too. They were happy campers, to say the least, and so was I.
I told them on the way back to Port Clinton, that they should take a nap, and then go back out to try for some perch, because we have wind coming tomorrow through the weekend, and their boat isn't really made of this lake. They were planning on going up to the Detroit River to fish, if it got too windy here.
I was happy to hear that.
We had a great time today, and that makes me happy! :)
I'm off tomorrow, but have Saturday and Sunday trips scheduled for a one day perch trip, and a one day walleye trip. I'll be watching the wind forecast, because where I have been fishing, is not where I would go in any SW wind, gusting to 20-25mph. I'll discuss it with my crew. We may reschedule, if it doesn't improve.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Stacy and Keith Scheurer...8/14/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24I had fished with Keith a couple years ago...his wife likes to read my reports, and relay info for their own trips, because Keith isn't online a lot. He has a Ranger 621, and doesn't live far from the lake. The other day, when I had a cancellation for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Stacy told Keith about it, so he called to see if they could do a perch trip with me.
I was available. :)
I met them at Catawba at 5:45...they were right on time. Stacy got in the boat, and Keith and I got in truck. As I'm driving down to the launch, I see a crew of two, loading their boat in the approach...ugh.
It was still dark out, so there was no hurry at all to get going, I told Keith, "He's lucky it's still dark out, or I would have said something by now." He laughed, and told of his own experiences at other boat launches.
They were taking much longer than we had expected, so I got out of the truck, and walked over to chat with them. As I approached, I said, "You're lucky it's still dark out", and smiled. He nodded, knowing they were in the wrong.... then said, "Morning Captain, we're your crew for tomorrow", and reached out to shake my hand.
I about died...thinking of how close I could have been to becoming a Karen at 6am in the morning, but refrained, and went the nice route instead. It just goes to show you....you should always try to be nice...it always comes back to you when you least expect it. That could have been a very bad experience, otherwise. lol
Anyway....we got launched, and I even waited for Dan and Ed to launch, so they could follow us out to D Can, because they're from Missouri, riding in an aluminum bass boat, and this was their first time to the lake. They wanted to try for some perch today, too. They followed us out, and we both got set up near the can.
We caught, but it was a very slow bite, and I wasn't happy with the marks on the screen, so we moved. The boats were piling in, so ...we left. I pointed the nose of the Vexus to the north, and went up to Niagara. No one was there, but there were good marks, so we set up again.
Stacy and Keith were using the Fishing Addiction Fly Rigs, and I was using one of my homemade crappie rigs. The bite was slow for us again, but the marks were good, and when we did catch one, it was a big fatty yellow perch.
Looking back at D Can, we couldn't even count how many boats were there, because there were so many. I wasn't going back there. I hate fishing in crowds.
Algae formed on the surface of the water, due to the absence of wind, and looked like pea soup. We decided to turn the Spot Lock off and just drift ever so slowly.
We didn't catch our limits of perch, but they were very happy with the amount and size of them. Memories were made, and we all had fun, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have Dan and Ed for a walleye trip.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tracy, Dan, and Elliot...8/12/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/15/24Tracy brought his son Dan, and his grandson, Elliott for a perch trip, this past Monday. We hit 4 spots from the east side of South Bass to the west side by Green, and didn't limit out. They got a couple family fish fries, though...and, they had fun being together, on the lake.
The bite was not generous to us, even though we had good "Perchy" marks on the sonar....when we did entice one to bite, it was usually a nice, fat, Yellow Perch.
The lake was supposed to be 2 foot or less, but it was easily 1-3's, or more like 2-3s, for most of the morning. Then, as we headed in, it started to lay down.
Tracy has fished me several times now....he said, he would be back again....and, that makes me happy! :)
The next trip is a perch trip too...
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Brian and Mandy...8/4/2024
by Capt Juls on 08/04/24Brian and Mandy were driving in from near Dayton, this morning, so I told them to meet me at the Huron ramp at 5:30.
(Note...It's not getting light until 5:45 now, so I'll be changing my meeting time to 5:45 instead of 5:30, so we can be launched by 6am.)
Sunrise this morning was at 6:28.
I left the house at 4am, so I could hit the gas station, before heading to Huron. I wanted to get there early, so I could clean the boat, before they got there. I was going to clean it yesterday, but it just go too darn hot out, and I figured the morning dew would come in handy for wiping it down.
I was in the get ready lanes by 5am, and they showed up at 5:05. It was still very dark out, so I told them we were waiting for it to get light enough, to see the Off Shore boards out there. We were headed out of the mouth of the river at 6am.
As the sky lightened, a partly cloudy sky revealed itself. The air temp was in the 70s, and the wind was light out of the SSW, and below 5mph.
The lake had residual NNW rollers from last night's wind, so we just took our time going out. We didn't have to go far, before we were marking good fish out in 36 feet of water. It's right where I left off 3 days ago, so I was happy to see them still in the area.
Brian had set up this trip as a learning trip, so he and Mandy could get more proficient using both the dipsies and the Off Shore boards, on their own boat.
Their board's releases were set up differently than mine, so I explained why I run them with the orange OR-19 on the front arm, and the Snapper (OR-18), on the back. I showed them the loop trick, so the line will release from the front arm, and turn the board around, so it comes in backwards, attached to the Snapper. Brian saw the advantages of that, right away.
We ran Bill Lewis Lites on the port side, with 2oz snap-weights, at 50/70 and 50/43 back. Colors were Purple Tiger and Chrome Perch.
(For those that are new to reading my "fish speak" language...this means the snap-weight is attached at the 50 mark, and then another 70 or 43 feet of line is let out, before the board is attached... I run the longer leads on the outside, and the shorter leads on the inside).
The starboard side ran the baby Spros (85s), with 2oz...colors were Blue/Chrome, and Pink Lemonade. The outside bait was set at 50/67 back, and the inside bait was set at 50/27 back.
The early morning bite was the best for us. It slowed way down, from what it was earlier, at around 9am. We had our 18 by 10am(ish), I'm not sure...I didn't look at the clock.
Mandy managed to catch her personal best, with a "Fish Ohio", that went a little over 28 1/2 inches. I couldn't weigh it, because I had stolen my 9V battery out of the scale, to use in the voltage meter the other week, and I never put it back. My bad....but, I'm guessing she was in the high 8 pound range.
Both said they had a good time, and they learned a lot. I feel confident, from watching them work the dipsies and boards, that they will be able to easily do this on their boat, too. Mission accomplished...:)
Tomorrow, I have a perch trip with a father and his two grown sons. The weather is looking good for a perch trip, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the bait shops have some Emerald Shiners in the morning, but if they only have Goldies... I have some frozen Emeralds in the freezer, I can take.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 3 of 3 with John and Janet....7/31/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/31/24John and Janet, had one more day of fishing, and one more night in town, before they head back to Missouri. Janet told me that Missouri is known as the "Show Me" state, so I wanted today to go even better than it did yesterday, and yesterday was pretty darn good.
It was going to be a nice day, either way. There was no rain in the forecast, the sky was clear, and the winds were expected to be light. The air temp this morning, was 74 degrees.
I picked them up at the Whitecaps Motel, at 4:40am. After picking up ice for the coolers, we headed to Huron, again. I had been given some good info last night, using Flicker Minnows, so I took off my "confidence baits" that had been working for the past two months, and put some number 11s on.
I'm not going to give the area, or the depth on that one, because it wasn't my find, and the info was given to me, so it's' not my info to share. I know you understand.
All I'll say is, is that we caught 5 there, before deciding it was too slow, and headed back to where we caught them early, yesterday. The plan was to get the walleye early, again, and then go try for some perch in the area.
We left the first area, and headed out to where we started yesterday, in 38' of water NNE of the river. (This will be known as "spot 2").
Yesterday, we had our limits in one pass, so I was kind of expecting the same, this morning.
After the boat was set up, and headed in a NNEasterly direction, the Flicker Minnows were replaced with my tried and true little hunters...the Spro 85 and the Bill Lewis PWC Lites.
Speed was set to 2.3-2.5mph on the FishHawk.
The wind was out of the SSW at around 10mph, so the waves were much less than they were yesterday, with that 15-20mph SW wind we had.
Today was 1' or less, and yesterday was 1-3s, 10 miles out.
There was just enough wind to keep the bugs at bay, but not enough to make it rough. It was... kind of... perfect. :)
Perfect weather, but not a perfect bite...
The area we fished yesterday has been infiltrated with A LOT of white perch, so we had to continually check the dipsies, and reel in the Off Shore boards, every time a flag laid down. I think we caught close to 90, or more....I wasn't keeping count, but it was constant work for me, and my "First Mate" Janet, to keep resetting lines. But, she enjoyed every minute of it, while John was enjoying seeing his wife of 30+ years doing what she loves to do, and kept our moral up by being positive.
After picking up a keeper walleye here, and there... in-between the onslaught of white perch...we found a good school of bigger walleye, than we had been catching. (spot number 3).
Most of the fish in the early morning cooler were 16-20 inch fish, and the late morning catches were 20-24 inches.
We were fishing over 36 feet of water in the third spot.
The program that I ran yesterday, in the 38-43 feet of water is in the previous day's report, so if you need it, you can find it there.
The program for our third spot, over 36 feet of water, was similar, but with little changes in leads.
A Spro 85s ran with a 2oz snap weight, on the starboard side's outside board, at 50/67 , and a BL PWC Lite ran behind the inside board at 50/27. Colors were Pink Lemonade and Purple Tiger.
The port side ran two Bill Lewis PWC Lites (Blue/Chrome and Barbie) at 50/65, and 50/43 with 2 oz snap weights.
The two inside dipsies ran on the zero settings at 45 and 50 back back.
The three setting dipsey ran at 70 back and the two setting dipsey ran at 65 back.
In the second spot, I was changing out colors of spoons, and lures, trying to catch walleye and not white perch, but those little buggers eat everything. It would be nice, too...if, the white perch could learn to just take ONE hook in their mouths, instead of all three...every time.
The third spot was mostly walleye and not white perch, and they were hitting everything we had out, so it didn't take long to finish our tickets.
We ended right on time, with 10 minutes to spare, but we caught all our fish, and even beat yesterdays weight, so John and Janet were very happy with their three day adventure, and want to come back again, next season. I can't wait to do it again! Janet's last words to me, as we parted, were, "Well, I guess you showed us!", then, nodded and smiled.... and, that makes me happy! :)
My next scheduled trip is Monday, August 6th, for a perch trip.
Weather permitting, I have this weekend available.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 of 3 with John and Janet...7/30/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/30/24The dogs woke me up a 1/2 hour early this morning, so I had to get up to see what they wanted. Turns out, they just wanted me up, so I stayed up, brewed some coffee, grabbed the dog treats, and went outside.
The weather this morning, had a light breeze out of the SW, a partly cloudy sky, and a 77 degree air temperature. I checked the radar first, because scattered showers and thunderstorms, for the area this morning, was the last thing I heard, last night. The radar showed a line of rain coming in from the WSW, but it looked like it was going to move north, before hitting Port Clinton.
The plan this morning was to launch out of Huron. The radar showed no precipitation headed in that vicinity any time soon, so I felt good about that decision. The wind direction was also favorable for Huron, so that made it even better.
I'm glad we went perch fishing yesterday, because I'm sure it was rough at Green Island today. :)
I picked John and Janet up at 4:45, and we headed to the gas station for some ice. The boat and truck were already gassed up, and ready to go. We hit the Huron ramp at 5:30 and waited for it to get lighter out, before launching at 5:50am.
I explained to them, how an offshore wind makes small waves inside, and it looks calm, but the further you go out the rougher it is going to get. They understood. The wind forecast for the morning, was 11-14mph, with gusts up to 21, out of the SSW. But, it was more SSE early this morning, and changed to SSW around 8:30-9:00am.
The Vexus was pointed NE, out of the river, and set down over 38 feet of water. The Helix was showing us there were fish down there, so the usual things happened. The Terrova got deployed first, sand a course set to the NNE. The FishHawk went next, to read the current speed down below. Then, the baby Merc was throttled up with the iTroll, to a desired starting speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
Dipsies ruled this morning... with BadMo Arrow spoons (the smaller ones), Yeck spoons (D-11s), and Michigan Scorpion spoons running behind them.
The inside rod, on both sides were set on the zero setting. The port side started at 45 back. The starboard side started at 50 back. Both, were dialed in a little more as the morning went on, and they constantly caught fish anywhere between 50 and 60 back.
The outside rod on the port side, ran a three setting at 75 back. (It was the busiest of the 4 rods.)
The outside rod on the starboard side ran a two setting dipsey, at 65 back. That one stayed busy too.
Two Off Shore boards ran on each side, pulling Spro 85s on the starboard side, and Bill Lewis PWC Lites on the port side. All ran with 2 oz Guppie weights.
The port side ran a Chrome Perch at 50/77, and a Black Headed Wonder Bread color at 50/47 back.
PWC colors were, Pink Lemonade at 50/80 back, and Purple Glass Perch at 50/43 back.
John and Janet had a great time reeling in their limits, as did I, and they did a great job, for never having used dipsies, or planer boards, before. We had our three-person limit by 8:15, but stayed out and played catch and release for another hour, or so, before heading back in.
We will be trying another area tomorrow, and heading out of Mazurik's.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 1 with John and Janet...7/29/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/29/24John and Janet, drove in from Missouri yesterday, and made it to Port Clinton around 3:30pm. John called, and said he had some Bison (a roast and some strip steaks), and some homemade salsa for me, and asked if I would come and pick it up, since the little fridge in their room only had a tiny freezer in it. "I'll be right over", I said. Heck yeah, I want that! lol Yum!
It gave me a chance to meet them, before our three day trip started, and I knew then, that we would have a good time. They are really nice people. :)
John, who is an avid outdoorsman, and fishes and hunts all over the world, had never perch fished before....so, I didn't want to disappoint, and felt the pressure to get on some. Having not been perch'n a lot, yet, I was a bit nervous, since I had reports saying some did very well, while many others did not. I didn't want to be one of the "did nots", this morning.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:45, and headed towards Green Island. I checked the red buoy on the south side of Starve Island first, because that rock pile can sometimes hold a good school of perch...but, they weren't there, this morning. So, we kept going until we got to the west side of the Ferry lane, then slowed down to get better sonar readings.
When we hit 29 feet of water, the Helix started marking fish on the bottom, so I put the Terrova in the water, but I wasn't ready to stop yet. I just wanted it down, so when I did find the right fish, I could stop the boat with the big motor, and hit Spot-Loc on top of them. We found better marks in 28 feet of water, and "anchored up".
After a quick explanation of how to work the crappie rigs, and bait the hooks with minnows, John and Janet got to work. "A dollar for the first yellow?", I asked, and John said, "I'm in"....so was Janet. Luckily, John caught the first White Perch, but I caught the first yellow...woot! woot!
The crappie rigs are some that I make myself, and the Emerald Shiners came from Hi Way Bait. They are small, but big enough. I used some that were frozen in Wintergreen Rubbing Alcohol, and they used the fresh ones. Both caught fish.
It wasn't a fast bite, but it wasn't super slow either. As Janet would comment on the ride home, "The bite was fast enough to keep a person interested". I didn't want to go looking for other fish, and potentially lose a good spot, if the bite got better, so we never moved.
We ended up with 48 of our 90 fish limit, but both of them were more than happy with that count...especially, John, because he was planning on cleaning them all himself. "That's going to take me a couple hours", he said. I smiled, and shook my head in agreement.
Our time was running out, when some heavy rain was approaching from the SSW, so we headed in. Just as we got back to the dock, the heavy clouds dumped buckets of water down on us...that was fun...(smirk with an eye-roll inserted here).
They mentioned more than once, how much fun they had, so mission accomplished! I had a good time fishing with them, too...and, am looking forward to the next two days fishing for walleye.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Val....7/27/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/27/24Woke up at 2am, grabbed a cup of coffee, some dog treats, and headed out to the back deck with the dogs, to check the weather.
The air was clean and crisp, the stars were shining, and the temp was a comfortable 65 degrees. The wind was absent, so I checked the iWindSurf app, to see what it was doing, and would be doing this morning.
It showed light winds out of the SSE last night and through the morning hours, so that would help knock down the NE rollers from yesterday's wind.
Joe and Val are local, so they planned on meeting me at the launch, this morning. I asked them to meet me in Huron, because it was closer to the fish that I was on, Monday, and I had heard the fish were still there, yesterday, so I didn't want to launch from Mazurik's if there were still NE rollers out there. I'd rather drive the truck that distance, and launch over there....go out 4 miles, and set lines, than running 13 miles from Mazurik's. The truck gas is less expensive. ;)
I told them to meet me at 5:45.
At 5am, they passed me on the highway, and I was 45 minutes early! I wanted to add a bead to the 4 dipsey lines, to keep customers from reeling the snap swivel up into the tip, while I waited for them (so they got to watch me do it).
That can cut the guide, which in turn can cut the braid...making one lose an entire dipsey set up.
If I hadn't thought of it, while I was drifting off to sleep last night, I would have done it yesterday. But, it was still dark out, so we had lots of time to waste.
I was early enough to get the spot under the light, up by the bathrooms, so I could see what I was doing, while cutting lines, adding a bead, and retying. It didn't take very long, and was done just in time to get the boat launched, before it got busy.
We headed out of the river at 5:45, to a beautiful scenic view of the lighthouse, lit by a morning sky in the background. The Sunrise wasn't happening for another 35 minutes, so we had time to get to the area near the Huron Dump, before the Sun would show itself. It was beautiful this morning. :)
The lake had some residual small NE rollers still, so the ride out was slower than normal, but it wasn't bad. Once we hit 39 feet of water, we came off plane and started marking fish. The bow mount and the kicker were deployed after the FishHawk was, and synced together... to maintain a speed of 2.3-2.5mph.
Once again, the baby Spro (85s) were set behind Off Shore boards, (because, that's what I had on the last time out)...with 2oz Guppie weights, and run at 50/75, 50/67, 50/50, and 50/47.
Colors were:
Chrome Perch
Purple Glass Perch
Blue/Chrome
and, one I don't know the name of, but it's purplish-perch on its back and has a white belly
The dipsies ran the usual zero settings on the two inside rods, at 50 and 54 back...sporting BadMo Arrow spoons (smaller ones).
The two setting on the starboard side ran at 65 back, and had a Yeck Spoon (D-11)
The three setting on the port side ran at 75 back, and fished a spoon Val picked out. It looks something like Veggies on the back and had a pink belly.
The largest of the fish came on the spoon Val picked, (it may have gone 3 1/2-4 pounds, I think), so she was pretty happy about that. She said it was the biggest walleye she's ever caught. In fact, she caught the top three best fish in the cooler this morning. lol
We had to go through a ton of itty-bitty walleye, white perch, white bass, and sheephead to get to our 18 fish limit, but we did it. I showed them how important it is to keep checking the dipsies, because if they aren't doing something, there is probably a little fish on it. It didn't take long for them to learn how to reset the dipsies, and get them fishing again. Val really liked them, and I know they will fish them more on their boat now, because they both did a great job handling them.
Joe gained plenty of experience with the Off Shore boards, by learning how to set them, and has more confidence now, to use them on their own boat. They have some, they just weren't sure how best to use them. Now, they do.
Today's best direction for us was from west to east, or SW to NE...every other direction was mostly junk fish, and a slower bite.
I'm off tomorrow, but then back at it Monday, for a three day trip, with a couple from Missouri (I think). They want to chase Perch and Walleye next week, so I'm really looking forward to the perch'n. Did I ever tell you, that I LOVE perch fishing? heheh
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Debbie....7/22/2024
by Capt Juls on 07/22/24Sorry for the lack of reports the past couple few weeks but, those that follow me on Facebook already know that I was having some electronics issues, a sprained ankle, and a couple of cancellations during that time, so my time on the water has been limited this month.
My electronics are working fine again, my ankle is healed, and I have a handful of trips scheduled for the rest of the month. In other words, I have some openings. :)
With that said....let's get on to today's report.
Yesterday, I prefished with some old friends, for this morning's trip, and where we ended yesterday, is where I was going to start this morning.
The alarm went off at 2AM, and, as usual, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to the back deck with the dogs. The air was calm, crisp, and clear. The temperature was 61 degrees, and the full moon that lit up the backyard with a dull light, was waning.
I picked up Steve and Debbie from The Whitecaps Motel at 5AM. We drove through town, to the gas station. After gassing up the truck, I grabbed some ice for the fish cooler, and some for the boat cooler, too. It was only 5:15 when we got to Mazurik's, so we waited until it was light enough to launch. With the commercial nets moving from area to area this time of year, I prefer to wait and launch when I can see the little flag markers on the nets.
We were headed to the area between Cedar Point and Huron. When we got close to where me and my friends were fishing yesterday, the Vexus came off plane and the Helix lit up with good marks...I felt confident we would have a good morning of fishing, and catching.
Once the FishHawk was sent down to its designated depth of 20 feet, the Terrova and the Baby Merc were synchronized to acquire a speed of 2.3-2.5mph...then, directed to the east.
Water temp was 76 degrees
(4) Baby Spros (85s) were riding behind Off Shore boards with 2 oz Guppie weights hitting the 21-26 foot range in the water column.
(2) Chrome Perch, Blue Chrome, and I think, a Purple Tiger (?) (It's purple tigerish on the back, and has a white belly).
The cranks caught the bigger fish, this morning... but, they sometimes dragged itty-bitties around until we checked them, too. But, the dipsies caught the most fish.
The dipsies kept busy with Scorpion spoons, Yeck spoons (D-11s), and a Yaleye Mooneye Minnow.
The inside dipsies ran on the zero setting anywhere from 40 to 54 back.
The outside port dipsey was on the three setting, and bounced back and forth from 70 to 85 back.
The outside starboard dipsey was on the two setting at was set at 65 all morning.
I'm often asked what rods and reels I use for my dipsies:
The inside rods are 6' Med Ugly Stiks, and the outside rods are 8'6" Okuma Classic Pro GLTs "Downrigger" rods.
I'm using the old style Shimano Tekota 500 reels, that were used on my board rods, until I bought new Tekotas for the board rods, and moved the old ones to the dipsies, to replace the older Diawa Sealine 27s.
The reels are spooled up with 30# Power Pro in yellow, so it can be seen in the water, and a visual of a line angle change easily noted.
I run the size 1 dipsies with the ring, and use an 8" snubber, from Amish Outfitters, (I just like their snubbers best), behind the dipsey.
The leader length is whatever my arm spread is. I'm tall, so they are probably around 6 footers.
Everything caught fish....We all kept busy reeling in fish, and talked about how the future of the fishery looks strong, and in about 4 years, the fishing is going to be awesome. All these little fish will be really nice reproducers, and good sized fish that anyone would be happy to catch in the future. :)
The smallest walleye caught was around 5 inches, and the biggest was a nice chubby 26 incher. Debbie was thrilled to be the one that caught that one, because it is the biggest walleye she has ever caught to date. Woot! Woot!
They had a good time, and did great! Their positive attitude, and energy to just have fun, whether we caught fish, or not, was just super cool, and relaxing. But, we did manage our 3 person limit, so it's safe to say, it was an awesome morning of fishing and catching with the Jones's. :)
Right now, I don't have anything scheduled until next Saturday, so unless I pick up a trip, I'll be entertaining the dogs, cleaning the house, working in the yard and gardens, and cleaning the boat, this week.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
