Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Steve Gulas and Jim 7/18/19
by Capt Juls on 07/18/19As I headed down the highway towards the other end of town, I realized I had forgotten to put a cooler in the boat before I left. "Ugh", I thought. I didn't have time to go back home and grab one, so I texted Steve to ask if he could bring his. He could, and said it already had ice in it, so that was a relief. I was meeting them at Big Bopper's at 4:45, and they were right on time.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30am, and headed to the north side of Kelly's. I marked fish from the time we left the launch to the time we got up to the line east of Middle. They are everywhere....just choose a spot and fish them. You don't have to make a long run to catch them right now, so if you can save some gas....you might as well. ;)
Nothing new on the program...other than the crankbaits didn't want to produce behind the Off Shore boards this time. All our fish came on the dipsies with spoons or the black/chrome Ripplin Redfin. The zero setting was at 44 and 55 and the three setting was at 65...speed was 2.3-2.5 mph.
We had our 18 fish by 8:21am. It was getting hot, and buggy, so the guys decided that they had enough fun for the morning. :)
I didn't schedule anything for tomorrow, knowing it was going to be a scorcher, and I reschedule my Chicago peeps for Saturday to a new date in August, for which they thanked me, so I'll be staying in my nice air conditioned house for the next couple of days. Be back out on Sunday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Scott and Cathy 7/15/19
by Capt Juls on 07/15/19This morning, I met Scott and Cathy, of Philadelphia, at Mazurik's at 5:15 and we launched at 5:30. It was still dark enough to need the navigation lights, but the eastern horizon was glowing hues of reds and oranges against a gray blue sky. It was going to be a gorgeous sunrise. The lake was flat, so our ride out was a pleasant one.
We headed to the northeast side of Kelly's and set up with the usual program of 4 dipsies and two Off Shore boards. Flicker Minnows were run behind the boards at 55 and 65 back, and the dipsies were set to run at 49 and 55 back on the three setting and 35 and 47 back on the zero settings.
Speed was again 2.2-2.5mph.
Everything caught fish this morning and we were done with our 3 person limit by 8am. We headed back in, because Cathy was ready to go back in after the wind kicked the lake up with 2 foot waves from the southeast. She had recently had a knee replacement, and reeled her fish in from the passenger seat. With dipsies, that seems to work out pretty well. lol They both had a great time, and enjoyed the morning....and, that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow's weather looks to be good right now too, so I'll be back at it with Steve and Jeremy Chapman...my regulars.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Cheryl and Diane 7/14/19
by Capt Juls on 07/14/19Today's charter was delayed a bit, so the north winds could lay down. I had two ladies fishing with me today, and I thought it was a better idea to wait for better conditions. Cheryl and Diane met me at my house at 7am and we drove into town for some ice for the coolers, before heading on over to Mazurik's to launch.
We launched at 7:45 and headed north out of the ramp area, and on up to the Canadian line. We set up with my usual 4 dipsey/spoon/Ripplin Redfin program and set out two Bandits behind Off Shore boards.
The marks were okay, but nothing to write home about. We caught 4 walleye up there before I decided it might be better to move to another spot, and see if we couldn't find a bigger pod of fish, so we packed it all up and took off to the east.
I eventually ended up in a spot that I had been fishing in early June, thanks to a tip from a friend in a big yellow boat, that told me that fish were being caught there this morning. So, I found my old track on the Helix and set a course to run it, from west to east. We set the baits out again. Cheryl and Diane picked up easily on how to run and read the dipsies, and started putting some fish in the cooler. A little over an hour later, and we had another 14 in the cooler, to finish out our three person limit.
They had a very good time, and so did I. The conversation was easy and very enjoyable today. When I brought them back to my house to get their car., they said they wanted to come back and do it again....and, that makes me happy! :)
Dipsies set on the zero setting were run 47 and 55 back and the dipsies with the three setting were run at 49 and 65 back. The silver/black Ripplin Redfin caught fish, but the other's weren't, so I took them off and experimented with different spoons until we found a couple that caught consistently. The red-headed wonder bread (because I don't have a black WB spoon), and one that is orange on the skinny end, silver in the middle, and green on the tail end, with an antifreeze underside were the hot spoons today.
Speed was 2.3-2.6mph.
Tomorrow's crew consists of a husband and wife team. We will be launching out of Mazurik's at 5:30 am. I am thankful tomorrow is Monday, and the ramps will be normal again. I hate weekends here in the summer....way too much traffic and stupidity....deep sigh.
The forecast for tomorrow is calling for light SSW winds....less than 10mph, so it will be a great morning to go fishing.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Shane, April, and Scout 7/13/19
by Capt Juls on 07/13/19That's it...I'm buying a regular alarm clock! I can't trust my phone anymore. I know I set the alarm last night before bed, and when I woke up this morning, I thought I had woken up before my alarm...which I do quite often, but when I looked at my phone it was showing a time of 3:43. I set the alarm for 2:45....now, I only had 15 minutes to feed the dogs, have a cup of coffee, and brush my teeth before grabbing my boat bag and heading out the door to go get my crew, who would be waiting for me at East Harbor Campground's welcome shack at 4:30am (with a 7 year old!).
I stopped to get gas and ice on my way to meet them, and was only 5 minutes late. I really didn't like how the day was starting...it was rushed, I had no shower, and quite frankly, I was worried about my bowels, since I didn't get to do my normal routine that takes care of that business....deep sigh.
Shane and April had brought their Grand Niece along with them. Seven-year-old, "Scout". She was awake and very talkative for the ride over to Big Bopper's, which is very unusual. Most kids I meet very early in the morning, don't say a word unless they are asked a question directly, and then give an answer with a sleepy delivery.
Scout didn't have that problem, she was alert and talking...non-stop. lol
I asked Shane, who was riding shotgun, "Have you ever used dipsies before?" He replied, "We've never trolled for walleye, so this will be our first time with dipsies and off shore boards". April agreed... from the back seat. I smiled while looking in the rearview mirror.....(and, inside)...:)
"Well, that's okay", I said. "We will probably just run the 4 dipsies then...those are easy to use".
Teaching "Newbies" how to troll is favorable...here's why. It takes a good hour of instruction, but eventually, they will start relaxing, getting their sea legs, and able to listen and understand what I'm asking or telling them. Sooner or later, I don't have to say anything and they will be working all the rods like seasoned anglers. Today's crew was no exception...they did a great job, and put some fish in the cooler for their fish fry.
At 8:30, we had 19 of our 24 fish limit when the wind decided to kick up a little, which turned Shane a little green, so April decided that the cooler had enough fish in it for an upcoming fish fry and they could go in. Shane didn't argue and was ready to go in. I put everything away and stowed the Ulterra and Baby E-TEC, and off to homeport we went.
There was a ton of bait balls in the area we were fishing today, which I believe slowed the bite down a little bit. The walleye that we did catch were spitting up tiny shiners all over the place. And, I couldn't be happier! It's been years since we had a great shiner hatch (which happens the first week of June, I think?). With all the young walleye to feed, the shiner hatchlings are going to be a great food source for them. It will help our perch population too.
I set a heading, going with the waves to the NNE, from the NW corner of the Huron dump this morning, at a whopping speed of 2.3-2.5mph. We ran two dipsies on each side of the boat and two Off Shore boards with different cranks. Okay....okay....I know I said we would only run 4 dipsies, but I'm a woman and changing my mind is my prerogative. Ha!
The port side ran my go-to color Bandits 42 and 55 back (blue/chrome and Buck Fever for those that don't keep up or are new to my reports). And the starboard side ran Yozuri's at 45 and 65 back.
The port side dipsies were run 35 back on the zero setting and 65 back on the three settings. A spoon and a Ripplin Redfin sported those lines.
The starboard side settings were 0/41 and 3/55 and also running one Ripplin and one spoon. All four dipsies were catching fish, but not as fast as the past several trips, and it had me assume that the bait balls showing on the Helix might have something to do with that.
Anyway...it was slower, but not bad. It was a steady bite. There have been previous years where I would have been thrilled with this morning's action.
Even though I was slightly disappointed in the action...my crew had a great time, and that's all that matters. :)
Tomorrow's wind will once again be out of the NE....sigh. That means downtown Port Clinton's roads, on the river side, will be flooded again, along with all the businesses situated there.
I have an all female crew tomorrow consisting of Cheryl Stimpson and Diane Leeson. We might have a slightly later start in the morning, if the forecast remains the same as it is showing right now, so.....
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Don and David Goodrich 7/12/19
by Capt Juls on 07/12/19This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with return customers, Don and his son David. Don was 79 when he started fishing with me, and is now 81. He and David make it an annual trip, to add to their memories together, and usually do it in June, but their trip had to be rescheduled, due to weather last month.
I picked them up at their hotel at 5am, and we headed off to Big B's for some breakfast. I checked the wind forecast and found that it would be around 10mph out of the north. I didn't want to take a 16 mile run with Don in the boat, so I told them that we would drive over to Huron after breakfast to launch instead. It would be easier to run to my spot north of Huron instead of running east out of Mazurik's and save us some miles.
Nothing new on the program...same thing as the past several trips (see previous reports). I only ran 4 dipsies, to keep it easy for them, and to keep the chaos down to a minimum. The bites came at a nice steady pace. Don stayed in the port side chair and I would hand him a rod to fight a fish, and David worked the other side, reeling in fish, while I netted them, and setting the baits out again.
It was a pleasant morning, with the light north wind and cloudy sky. The humidity we have had of late was not present today, so that was a big relief too. The waves were 1-3's north of Huron, but were laying down a bit as the morning progressed.
We fished until 10am, and headed back in at a nice leisurely pace with a following sea, so the ride was smooth as could be. :)
They said they had a wonderful time, and that makes me happy. Don, has won a battle with stage 4 cancer in the past, and suffers from COPD now, so he's uncertain of the future. I wish him the best and hope to see them again next year!
Tomorrow's wind forecast is for 10-15 mph winds out of the SW, so the plan is to launch from Mazurik's and find some fish east of Kelly's again. I may or may not make the long run again.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Mike and Ben Roseland 7/10/19
by Capt Juls on 07/10/19Mike and Ben fished with me on Monday, and went to Cedar Point Amusement Park yesterday, and then fished with me again this morning. Monday's trip was delayed due to wind, so there was no blog. I got home too late to add it. We had gone out of Catawba on Monday and fished between the islands, just west of Green, and down to Catawba Point. The fishing was poor in my mind, but the father and son team said they enjoyed it. They didn't mind catching sheepshead, white perch, and white bass along with the walleye. We only kept 14 walleye that were anywhere from 15 1/2" to 18 inches for a total of 22 pounds.
This morning, we launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30 and headed back to where I was yesterday with the Sulcheki twins. It was the same as yesterday....a quick three person limit and non-stop action. How does that saying go? "Second verse same as the first...". It was the same program, same area, same speed, same line....everything.
However, one thing I did do after putting their fish in the cooler is put out a blue/chrome Rippling Redfin on one of the dipsies. It wasn't swimming more than 30 seconds before it got slammed by another walleye. I waited until it caught a second one in quick fashion before putting a couple more out. I added the chartreuse/purple head, and an IB Frozen colors and those two were catching right away too. The fish seemed to be a little larger on the cranks than on the spoons too, so I might just start out with two Ripplin's and two spoons on each side, and keep it simple. If the cranks produce the bigger fish again, then I will change them all out to Ripplin's.
They had a good time and decided to get off the lake before it got too hot, and head back to Chicago. They said they would be back again, and that makes me happy...:)
Tomorrow's charter is with John Zielinski and his brother (who's name I don't know yet). The forecast is calling for winds out of the west tomorrow, so that will be a nice change of pace from the ENE winds of late. I just hope we don't have any thunderstorms in the morning.
THURSDAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11am, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 7 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
I may or may not be able to make that run again, if there are storms a brewing near the Indiana/Ohio line, and will have to find some closer fish.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Caleb and Jacob 6/9/19
by Capt Juls on 07/09/19
This morning, I went to Big Bopper's alone, because my crew of twin brothers Jacob and Caleb Sulcheki, were meeting me at Mazurik's at 5:30. The first time I fished with these two was back in 2016 when they were only 16 years old. Today, was the 3rd trip with them. They had to go with another charter last year, due to my schedule already being full when their annual visit to Lakeside takes place.
In the past, I have bass fished and perch fished with them. Today, we did walleye. I told them, "We'll be going that way for quite a while", and pointed east. They settled in and we took a comfortable ride out for approximately 16 miles ENE.
Hey, guess which program I ran today....lol Yep, the same one I have been running for the past two months now....if you missed it....
Standard size 1 dipsies (w/rings) set on the zero and three settings. The zero setting was very productive at 35 back. The three setting was hitting on 49/55/and 65 back. There would probably be a lot more numbers, but those are the ones we chose and since they caught fish, we didn't bother to change them or try any others.
Silver spoons of all combos were working very well. (I would like to see more silver ones offered at our local bait shops as they all seem to be out of them or have a small inventory of color choices when they do have them). The Emerald Shiner is one of the lake's best food sources for the walleye, so it only makes sense that they would want to chase down a silver spoon that imitates an Emerald, eh?
Anyway...I digress....
Speed was....2.3-2.5mph. However, the waves were surging us as high at 3.0mph, at one point, and the fish still kept biting, soooo...they that proves they will chase it down and eat it, if they can.
We had a three man limit in the cooler and many fish let go in 45 minutes, so we just played catch and release until the boys had had enough. We were back in by 10am. They had a great time, and did a great job with the dipsies, and that made me happy.
Tomorrow's trip is with my crew from yesterday. They had to split up their two days, because the twins had already booked today ahead of them. I'll be picking Mike and Ben up at 4:30am and doing it all over again.
Tomorrow's weather looks even better than today, so I'm looking forward to it.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Norm 7/6/19
by Capt Juls on 07/06/19This morning did not start as I had planned...deep sigh...
I had set my alarm for 2:45am, and when it went off...I got up, made my coffee, and took it out on the back porch. All was well, I was sipping my coffee, looking at facebook, and checking the weather, when I noticed that the time on my phone suddenly changed from 3:21 to 4:21. It had never changed time zones when I drove through Indiana yesterday on my way home from Wisconsin.....stupid phone. For a 1000.00 phone, you would think it would easily keep track of time zones (rolling my eyes here)...hell, the minivan I rented changed time zones right where it was supposed to, but an expensive Apple phone can't do it? Ugh!
Anyway...rant over. I had 9 minutes to get ready and out the door now. I didn't have time for a shower, or breakfast, so I got dressed real fast, threw my ponytail under a hat, and brushed my teeth...out the door I went. The dogs were not used to that routine, so they looked a little sad when I left...poor dogs. :(
I hit the gas station for gas and ice. My guys pulled in behind my boat and said, "Good morning, Juls". I turned and said, "Good morning", as was walking into the Speedway to pay for ice, not knowing that they were my guys. I kind of thought it was them, so when I came back out I said, "I'm guessing you're Bill and my crew for the day." He smiled and said, "Yes, we are".
I finished gassing up both the truck and boat, and put the ice in the coolers, and told them to follow me out to Mazurik's. They had never been there before, and are usually launching out of the marinas to the west...Wild Wings, Turtle Creek, Meinke's, etc.
We headed out of Mazurik's at 5:30am with the navigation lights on, because it was just dark enough to need them, even though the sky was lightening up to the east...the direction we were headed. By the time we drove 14 miles we didn't need the navigation lights anymore. We set up with the usual program...4 dipsies..two set on the zero setting and two set on the three setting...a pair of them on each side of the boat. The zero setting goes straight down, while the three setting goes out to the side, which keeps them from getting tangled while trolling.
Speed was the usual 2.3-2.5mph.
We started out with two of the new Yozuri's (see previous blog about them) on the port side, and only caught one this morning. I changed them both over to the starboard side, because you know that sometimes one side of the boat does better than the other, so I thought that may be the case this morning and switched them. The last time out, I ran them off the starboard side and they whacked the fish.
I took one off and put the Buck Fever Bandit on, and caught one on that one at 42 back. The Yozuri took one, but the fish was dragged for a while before I could tell it was on. That wasn't the Yozuri's fault though, it was mine. I didn't check it when I thought "maybe" there was on there. It was a smaller walleye, so it was hard to detect (I had the spring tension settings pretty tight, due to the speed we were trolling).
The dipsies were constantly going off though, so I was always reaching for the net, and bothering with that outside board that may or may not have a fish on it was not one of my high priorities....call me lazy, but I didn't want to mess with it with everything else that was going on. We did indeed drag that fish around for a while. It was still alive though, and set itself free before we got it in, so that was good....whew!
We caught our limit of 18 nice eaters, and many smaller ones, along with a plethora of white bass, sheepshead, and white perch, so the guys were kept busy reeling and setting the dipsies. They had a lot of fun and when we had our 18 in the box they called it, since it was starting to get hot and humid out. The black flies hadn't invaded the boat yet, so that was a relief, and I was happy to be heading in before they found us.
This trip was set up for tomorrow, and today was supposed to be an off day for me after getting back from a week in Wisconsin yesterday, but after seeing the wind forecast for Sunday, I asked them if they could go today instead. It all worked out, and it was a perfect morning. The heat index today will be scorching, so I'll leave the boat cleaning for tomorrow when the NE winds bring in a cooler and dryer air to work in.
I'll be out again on Monday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joel, Roxy, and Chris 6/29/19
by Capt Juls on 06/29/19The day was forecast to be a hot one, so I wanted to get an early start again, and picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 4:20. Joel and Roxy are from Wyoming, and Chris is a relative from Michigan. We headed into downtown to eat at Ala-Carte, which opens at 4:30am, before heading over to Huron to launch.
It's the weekend, and I felt that there would be fewer boats over there than over by the islands or Cedar Point, and I wanted to be able to troll without having to look over my shoulder every couple of minutes to take note of moving traffic, and who has the right of way.
As the morning light began to break, we were idling out of the Huron River. It was still dark enough to probably need navigation lights, and yet light enough not to have to, so I opted to leave it in the rod locker. I figured by the time we got to the end of the river we wouldn't need it. Besides, there were only two other boats heading out ahead of us, and the lake was ours. :)
I put the sparkly red and white Ranger up on plane and headed NW from the river, and watched the Helix for the sign that there were fish below. We only went a mile or so, before I shut the G2 off and deployed the bow-mount trolling motor and Baby-E-TEC. The Ulterra was set at a power level of 5 and directed on a SW to ENE course. The Baby-"E" pushed us at a speed of 2.2-24 mph for most of the time, but was also pushing at 2.5-2.7 mph...both speeds caught fish.
My crew had never used dipsies or Off Shore boards before, but quickly learned and were working them proficiently in no time at all. When we were setting up, Chris was letting out a Yozuri crankbait, and before he could get to 75' back, I saw him set the hook on a fish that didn't want to wait. The skunk was out of the box in less than a minute of fishing. I smiled inside knowing it was going to be a great morning.
The forecast was for partly cloudy skies with wind gusts from the SW at 15-20, which would be no more than 1-3 foot waves out of Huron. But, for most of the morning it was less than two's. We caught our 4 man limit early and played catch and release for a few more hours. They came a long way to fish here, and I wasn't about to take them in that fast, and I didn't have any perch stuff in the boat.
Same program as the past several trips....but the Yozuri Crystal Minnow (4 3/8) were new. Capt Kelly Schmidt painted some and gave me three to try. I used the blue/orange belly and the one that looks similar to a "Huff Daddy" scheme...(I don't know the names he's calling them...sorry). All I can say about their performance today is, "It's going to cost me a lot of money!"....deep sigh. I was pretty impressed with their performance today, and I want to pick up some more.
Bandits 42 and 55 back....blue/chrome and Buck Fever
Yozuri's were eventually dialed in at 51 back.
The dipsies were set on the 3 and 0 settings on both sides of the boat. Spoons with either blue/silver, green/silver, or purple/chart/silver very productive. The 3 setting was set anywhere from 49 to 71, and caught fish on every numeration we thought to try.
The zero setting was either 27 or 35 most of the time and also caught a lot of fish.
Joel, Roxy, and Chris said they had a great time, and were all smiles....and, that makes me happy!
Needless to say, the fishing is excellent right now, so if you have a window of opportunity...and, a means....you should come and fish Lake Erie's Western Basin for a good time, and some great memories. :)
I'm headed to Wisconsin for the week, to visit family, so I won't be blogging anything until my first trip, on the 7th.
Good luck this week....stay safe....and, have fun!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Maynard and Jody Derby 6/27/19
by Capt Juls on 06/27/19This morning, I took my coffee out on the back deck to check the weather. I was greeted by some lightning. A few seconds later deep rumbles of thunder growled across the sky out over the lake. "Ugh", I thought and grabbed my phone out of my robe's pocket to check the radar. I was hoping it wasn't going to ruin the plans for the morning.
It looked like it was going to be okay by the time we launched, so when I picked up Maynard and Jody at their hotel, I told them we were going to go to Big Bopper's for breakfast...to waste a little time before launching...I explained it was better to give this storm a little time, so we could see what path it was going to take before heading out.
After Maynard and I both agreed it looked like the storm was staying north of us, and there wasn't anything else showing on the radar, we decided to launch and head out. The lake was flat with just a little ripple on the surface. It was a beautiful morning, other than a dark gray sky with lightning flashes from time to time to the north, so I got the Ranger up on plane and headed east to the Cedar Point/Huron area. I wanted to stay as south of that storm as I possibly could.
When I turned my head and checked over my shoulder, I found the sky to the WSW was now dark too. I stopped the Ranger to look at the radar app again, and found there was a "pop-up" blob that blew up out of nowhere as it approached the lake. I said, "I think we need to go back to the dock and wait this out", and they agreed, so we went back.
We weren't back at the dock for more than three minutes when the wind kicked up and turned the lake to one full of white caps. It was gusting out of the WNW at a minimum of 20 mph...and, quite possibly more from time to time. It was not expected or forecast on any of the wind apps, so all we could do was guess that it was just the backside of the storm cloud and it would pass...and, it did.
We headed back out to the east side of Kelly's, and I set up on a contour line in 42 foot of water. As usual, the Ulterra and Baby E-TEC did their thing. The program was the same as the day before, so there's no need for me to type it all out again, and be repetitive.... Just check yesterday's blog here: www.julswalleyefishingadventures.com/Blog.html
We had our 18 walleye in short order and headed back in. We took the fish over to Bay's Edge to be cleaned, and headed back to their hotel. They would be staying in town until Sunday morning. I offered to keep their fish in my freezer, after cleaning and packaging them up, because they had no way to keep them in the hotel properly for that length of time, and I didn't want the fillets to go to waste. So, they will pick them up from my house on their way out of town, and enjoy a nice fresh fish fry when they get back to Minnesota.
Maynard and Jody enjoyed their adventure this morning, and talked about coming back, so that makes me happy! :)
I am not fishing tomorrow. I have some things that need to be taken care of, but will be back out on Saturday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jay, Megan, and Kosta 9/26/19
by Capt Juls on 06/27/19Picked my crew up from the "Our Guest Inn" at 4:45 and headed to Big Bopper's for some breakfast after stopping off at Rickard's for some ice and minnows. I like to take minnows along, so when we finish with our walleye in a quick fashion we can go look for some perch. Memories are made during these fishing trips, so why hurry it. Life goes by too fast as it is.
Anyway....
I decided to trailer the Ranger over to Huron to launch, because of the wind forecast, and that area would have the best conditions for fishing with a young couple and a 12 year old boy. I was kind of surprised to find that the parking lot had only one trailer in the parking lot when we arrived at 5:45am....I thought there would be a lot more people fishing out of there at this time.
We headed out of the river channel at 6:11am and headed NE to that hump that's less than a mile out, where the Helix showed some decent marks in the right place in the water column (mid column). I deployed the Ulterra and Baby E-Tec to do their jobs. I pointed the Ulterra towards Cranberry Creek and set a pace of 2.3-2.4 mph with the baby E.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 55 and 65 back...(blue/chrome, chrome Barbie, and Buck Fever) caught a few, but the majority of them were caught off Scorpion spoons behind dipsies, that were running on both sides of the boat. They were set on the 3 and 0 settings, to help keep the two lines separated from each other and minimize tangles. I will only run the closer settings with experienced dipsey anglers. It has been my experience, while wathcing people, that it can seem very tricky to the novice. The 3 setting was set at 49 on the port side and 65 on the starboard side. The 0 setting on the port side was set to 25... and, 35 on the other side.
The bite seemed a bit slow in that direction, compared to the marks I was seeing on the sonar, so I said, "Let's change the angle of the dangle", and started a turn, so we could troll from SE to NW. By the time we reached the Huron Dump we had our 24 walleye. Now, we could go perch'n.
Everyone knows I love a good perch session, but not having fished the Huron area since last fall, I wasn't optimistic that we would be finding any perch. Unfortunately, I was right. Megan was the only one to bring one up.
Jay Schlicher, his girlfriend, Megan, and her boy Kosta had a good time despite the less than stellar perch bite. Even when Kosta lost a Fish Ohio behind the boat, he kept a great attitude. His arm was burning, because it was coming in on the outside Off Shore board, and there was a lot of reeling to do. I was standing on the livewell in the back of the boat, waiting to net it, so I had a better view of the fish than anyone else. When he lost the fish, I turned and said, "Holy crap...That was a BIG FISH!" They asked if I had seen it, and I said, "Yes, I did. It was at least a Fish Ohio". They asked what that was, and I explained that it would be any walleye that was 28 inches or better. Kosta was a little miffed, but was still happy to have fought it. I told him, "It's good karma to let one go once in a while....keep telling yourself that", and winked at Megan. She laughed. :)
We went in with our 24 walleye and 1 perch. It always so much easier to go after perch when you have a full limit of walleye in the cooler. They were happy with their experience and their catch...and, that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I have Maynard and Jody Derby of Minnesota for a walleye trip only.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Rich and Chris Jacklin 6/23-24/19
by Capt Juls on 06/25/19Yesterday, was the first day of a two day trip with Rick Jacklin and his son, Chris, from Wisconsin.
June 23rd, 2019
I picked my crew up from the Commodore Perry Inn, and headed to the gas station to fill up the Ranger...then, to Big Bopper's for some breakfast. After we ate, we headed back to Hi Way bait to pick up some minnows for perching, before hitting Mazurik's to launch. Three scoops, of a mix of Emeralds and Goldies, would be enough since the Emeralds were very large and could be cut in half.
We launched at 5:45 and headed northeast as the sun came up over the horizon. I wanted to fish the spot I ended up in the day before with Eric Vechera and his two boys... (didn't blog that one, due to chores that needed to be done)....the day before we had been in an area that was now invaded by a lot of boats, so we picked everything up and went looking.
My Helix showed some good marks, and there was no one around, so we set up in 44' of water with dipsies set on the 3 and 0 settings on each side of the boat. The 3 settings were 65 and 85 back and the 0 settings were 35 and 45 back.
We ran Bandits on one side of the boat behind Off Shore boards at the usual 42 and 51 back (blue/chrome and Buck Fever, of course), and #11 Flicker Minnow minnows at 55 and 75 back. Speed was 2.3-2.5mph.
Yesterday, the conditions were beautiful. There was a light east wind and the waves were 1 foot or less. We set out the Buck Fever Bandit at 42 back first, and while I was showing them again how to use the line counter reels and put the board on the next one, I looked up and saw that the first board was heavy with a fish and said, "We have one already...there's a fish on that one". Rich and Chris were excited to see the action happening so soon, and we put the first fish in the box.
We set up the same as the day before, but this time with one Bandit and one Flicker Minnow on the same side of the boat, because I was short one person in order to be able to run the extra two boards on the other side.
To make a long story shorter...we caught our 18 walleye within two hours and put everything away and got ready to go find some perch. We took a long ride over to D can where I was told there was a good perch bite going on for the past couple of days. However, when we got there, there was absolutely no one there. lol
I looked for some telltale signs of life below and marked a few, so we set up there, and gave it shot. We only caught 12 perch, along with as many sheepshead and white perch, so they guys enjoyed the relaxing time of listening to good music and reeling fish in.
Fast forward to today....June 24, 2019
The morning was much the same as the previous day, but we didn't have to stop for gas and minnows, because the guys just wanted to go for walleye this time. If we got done early, the plan was to head back to Wisco earlier. Well, with the wind forecast for the day, and the fact that I got the feeling Rich didn't care for big waves, I decided to try some areas closer to the mainland over to the east.
It wasn't rough inside, so we headed over to the Huron area. There was a lot of fish stacked up inside in 30' of water, but it was pretty muddy from the NE wind last night, so they were not biting like I've been used to. Finally, and dipsey rod bounces and Chris reels in a sheepshead...ugh. Then, a second fish hits...another sheepshead...sigh. I wondered and said out loud, "I wonder if all those marks are just sheep?" But, then a third one hit and it was a nice walleye, so that gave us a little more confidence.
I had been going from NW to SE and turned the boat to go the opposite direction, and the bite picked up. They weren't jumping in the boat, but it was a steady bite until we got to the last 5...then, it took some time. The wind had started to gust into the 20's and the boat was rolling while we rode in the trough, and maybe the dipsies were bouncing too much...I don't know. But, we eventually got our three person limit and headed back in.
Today's program was all over the place, and no real decisive numbers played out. We kept changing depths until something worked and then tried that again...but, we just had to keep changing things to get our fish today.
It was a good time, and the Jacklin's were a lot of fun to fish with. :)
Tomorrow's crew will be here for two days also, and I will inform them of our launch time when I get up tomorrow. The forecast keeps changing, so I'll take a look at it in the morning and let them know what's what at that time.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ryan, Diane, and Chris 6/19/19
by Capt Juls on 06/20/19Picked my crew up at their hotel at 4:45 and headed to Rickard's for some Emeralds to use for perch after we got our walleye this morning. Hit the gas station and then Mickey D's, because my crew was running behind this morning by 15 minutes, and a stop to Big B's would have made us late for a perfect sunrise on the water.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 5:30 and a short time later we were back to the spot I was yesterday morning, and taking pictures of a beautiful sunrise.
Ryan's mom Diane has never caught a walleye before, so this trip was for her. Ryan and Chris do a lot of saltwater fishing, so running dipsies and Off Shore boards were new to all of them, and a little training was in order.
We set up the Off Shores with both Bandits and Flicker Minnows behind them....bet you can't guess which colors...hehehe. Yeah...Blue/Chrome and Buck Fever Bandits and the Huff Daddy and Purple Flash Flicker Minnows.
The Bandits were 42 and 51 back and the Flicker Minnows were 55 and 75 back.
Speed was 2.3-2.5mph today.
The dipsies were set on the zero and three settings on both sides of the boat and we narrowed it down that the best bite was at 35 on the zero setting and 65 on the three setting. Silver spoons with either blue, green, or purple on them worked best this morning.
It was not as fast as it was yesterday, even though I was marking the same amount of fish down below. I began to get a bit nervous when we were able to get all the baits in the water before one went off, but all in all...the pace was pretty good for this crew. It took us a couple hours to get our 24 walleye, as compared to 18 yesterday in just under an hour.
Diane picked up on the training much easier than the guys, but by the time it was time to pull the walleye gear...they too were just getting the hang of it. heheh
They all had fun catching nice eater walleye, and it was time to go find some perch.
The perch were a little more difficult to find, and after two stops I said, "Let's go to the South Passage where I was my last time perch'n...there's a good chance there are some down there." So, we moved and set up on the exact spot I was on last Wednesday. Chris had the first fish on and it turned out to be a nice perch...I internally breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't a sheepshead or a white perch. I kept my fingers crossed that this spot would pan out.
With the time we had left though, we only caught 12 nice chunky perch. The bite was picking up and I asked, "Your 6 hours is almost up, would you like to add another hour and stay out longer?" But, they needed to get back to Columbus and were more than happy with their catch today, so we headed in with our 12 perch and 24 walleye.
It was a beautiful day again today...even nicer than yesterday. The bugs are still on their way up, but this morning the Helix was showing the bottom was clearing of them, and moving up the water column. Soon, they will be flying and covering every light post in town. I noticed on my way into town this morning that all the streetlights have been turned off downtown. This will prevent mounds of dying Mayflies from covering the sidewalks and walls of businesses....a very smart move indeed.
Tomorrow's trip has been canceled. They were driving in from Iowa and wanted me to make that call yesterday afternoon. I told him that it changes daily, but that if I had to make a call on what the forecast was at that moment....it would be a no go. He thanked me, and said he would be fishing with me again another time.
We're supposed to get hit with another 1-2" of rain tonight through tomorrow, so I have to go outside and cut my grass, or what grass I can now, before that happens.....deep sigh.
My next trip will be Friday with Tony Lubarsky and his crew.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike and Vicky Phillips 6/18/19
by Capt Juls on 06/18/19This morning, I had the winners of a donated trip. They won it at the South Shore Marine Seminar Event, that was held this past March.
Mike and Vicky met me right on time at Mazurik's at 5:30, and we headed out.
It was a near perfect morning. There was only a whisper of wind out of the NE and the air temp was 64 degrees. The sky was clear to partly cloudy, and just starting to lighten up enough, so that I didn't need to put the navigation lights on.
I say, "It was near perfect", since the lake still had a small NE roller situation going on, and I couldn't open up the 300G2 for a fast ride.
We headed east from Mazurik's and set up when the Humminbird started to show some consistent marks in the middle of the water column. These are the fish that are most active and ready to chomp on something passing by them, so I try to find those kinds of marks before setting up on them.
The Ranger came to a glide across the water and slowed to a stop. The Ulterra was deployed through the Helix. (Once I figured out that I could easily deploy it through my Humminbird, without having to go through a bunch of menus...I've been stowing and deploying it from the H'Bird instead of the remote....that's so much faster and easier than having to look for the remote, grab the remote, and go through the menu to hit the buttons. It also impresses my customers...heheh).
Then, the baby E-TEC was lowered down and powered up.
I set the course for the Ulterra to move us to, and rpm level of the baby E to push us there, at a speed of 2.2-2.4mph. Both Mike and Vicky have run dipsies before, and Mike has run inline planer boards before...just not Off Shore boards or how I have my releases set up on them, which is the Snapper in the front and the )R-16 in the back.
The Scorpion spoons in blue/silver w/silver backs were outfishing the others by 2:1, I think...or, close to it. The dipsies were set on the 0 and 3 settings on both sides of the boat. The 3 settings were 55/65 and the 0 settings were both at 35. The 0 setting rods were outfishing the 3 settings too, but both kept up with the action.
We had our 18 fish within the first hour. After we cleaned everything up...We just felt like floating around for a while to enjoy the nice lake conditions. and morning. We chatted for about 15-20 minutes, and then headed in. I was glad that I didn't stop at Big Bopper's on the way to the launch, because I was then able to hit Big B's on the way home. For years, I have seen "Chipped Beef on toast with Eggs" on their specials board, and I have never even tried it, so I tried it this morning...it's good...very good. I think next time though, I'll get the Chipped Beef over the scrambled eggs... and, get the toast on the side. I was craving some jelly this morning, and that bit of sweetness would have bode well with it.
Anyway...I digress...I have a trip tomorrow with Ryan Goodwin and his Mom, and lucky us...the weather forecast should be very similar to today's, so I am expecting another fun day. We will be looking for some perch after catching our walleye in the morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Craig and Teddy 6/12/19
by Capt Juls on 06/12/19Today was the second day of a 3-day trip. Yesterday, when I dropped them off, I asked, "Can I pick you up at 4:30 tomorrow? I know you're from different time zones, so if that's too early..." Teddy immediately said, "No, no...that's fine".
I arrived to their hotel in the usual fashion...15 minutes early. I wasn't there a minute, and Teddy came out and saw me...laughed, and said, "We thought you might be early...we'll be right out". They loaded in the truck and we headed to Big Bopper's for an early breakfast.
We hit Hi Way bait for some emeralds and ice, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch. We were in the water by 5:45 and headed to the east side of Kelly's for a look at new water. I've been fishing in the same area for two weeks now, so I wanted to try a new spot.
The Cedar Point Dump isn't on my LakeMaster Map, so I had to look at my Navionics app on my phone to get the coordinates...then, find it on my Helix.
Once we were in the area, we started to mark some fish...not a lot...but, some.
With the ESE wind this morning, the waves were just starting to build as we were headed out. Once I found the area I wanted to fish, I had to take into account the wave direction, so I could set my course to hit some humps, that usually hold fish, without getting off course. We were successful, and the fish were there. We had our three man limit in an hour and 45 minutes. Not as fast as it has been, but the bite was nicely spaced apart, which made it more fun, in my opinion.
It's the same program that I was using on the north side of Kelly's the past two weeks. Spoons behind dipsies with the 3 setting at 49 and 57 and the 1 setting at 33 and 41. The dipsey with the 1 setting that was at 33 was eventually put to 41...then, picked up its pace in catching fish. Silver spoons with blue on them worked best for us this morning. The Blueberry Muffin Yeck Spoon caught some, but not like it did the other day.
After we had our limits, we put the walleye gear away and headed over to the west side of Kelly's to start our search for some perch. We hit 3 or 4 spots, and only stayed on a spot for 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour before moving. If we were only catching sheepshead, then we moved. It was in our last spot today, about a mile to a mile and a half NW out of Mazurik's that the Helix once again showed some hopeful sign of perch on the bottom, so I deployed the Ulterra and hit the Spot-Lock. It was a good spot...we did well. The perch were much bigger today than yesterday too. Yesterday, we caught 30 perch....today we caught 50. There were probably 3-4 sheepshead caught for every one perch too. lol
We fished longer today, because the last time I saw the forecast for tomorrow (prior to having seen it when I got home this afternoon)..was for nasty weather/wind. The forecast looks fishable tomorrow, but my crew is tired and have long drives ahead of them. Craig is driving back to Sioux Falls, and Teddy is headed back to northern Wisconsin.
They booked three days, in the hopes of getting at least two in, and we did that, so they have decided to head home early. They thanked me for a great time, and said I did a great job. Teddy said, "I think I may just give up my annual trip to "Lake of the Woods" and just come fish with you every year"... That makes me happy! :)
So, that means, I have an unexpected day off tomorrow. The boat is clean and the grass is cut...I have no monkies on my back right now. Life is good. :)
I'm looking at Friday's winds and it doesn't look good for my next trip. I have a Father and Son crew, who I have fished with the past two years, and the Father is 80 years old. A chop is fine, but "rough" isn't. It will probably be a reschedule. I'm waiting until the deadline to let them know, so they can reschedule their hotel accommodations.
Saturday, is iffy too...watching that right now...
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Craig and Teddy 6/11/19
by Capt Juls on 06/11/19No blog the last three days, because of reschedules...so, I got some much needed sleep and yard work done over the weekend.
This morning, I picked up Craig, who hails from Sioux Falls, SD, and his bro-in-law, Teddy, who hails from Eagle River, WI at their hotel around 4:45.
They are scheduled for a three-day trip, but it looks like Thursday is going to be a blow day again, so more than likely it will just be today and tomorrow.
We hit Hi-Way Bait on the way to Big Bopper's, because I needed some more Yeck spoons, and they are the only ones that have them right now. After breakfast, we headed to Mazurik's and launched at 6:30. I bet you can guess where I went, eh? That's right...straight north again, where I have been fishing the past two weeks.
It was the same program as the last two weeks too, and all you have to do is bring up the previous blog to find the details of the program....easy-peasy. :)
We caught our 18 walleye, but it took just a little longer this morning than it did last week. The water is a little stained, but not bad. The water temp has dropped one degree from last Friday too...it was 65 degrees today. The lake is muddy inside, near the mainland, but it's cleaning up.
After we got our walleye, we went to look for some perch. We found some in the first spot we went to....east of the monument...and picked away at 30 perch. I was happy to see there were some smaller perch being caught in the bunch, and thrown back too. It's always good to see there is a future batch to be caught....if the walleye don't eat them all first.
One of the walleye in the cooler puked up a smallish perch which was probably a 4-5" fish at one time. It was a little decomposed, so I'm just guessing here.
Tomorrow's forecast is looking good, and we will probably do an 8 hour day, because I'm pretty sure Thursday is going to blow. Since they drove so far to fish here, we'll put more time in tomorrow, in case they can't get out on Thursday.
Craig and "T-Bear" had a good time today, and are looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. Neither of them has run dipsies or Off Shore boards before, and were quick learners....they did a great job handling it all. Tomorrow will be much easier for me too, since they know how to do it all now. ;)
Gotta go cut the grass around the puddles.... again...sigh
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Nick, Ethan, and Curt 6/7/19
by Capt Juls on 06/07/19Today, was the day I was supposed to go find "less fast fish", so my crew from Sandusky could learn the dipsies and Off Boards a little more in depth. Well, that didn't quite happen.
I met my crew at Big B's, and while waiting on our breakfast to come out, I asked Nick, "So, how fast do you want them this morning?" He and his brother, Ethan, laughed, and said, "Fast would be good". I told them, "If it's like yesterday, they will come every 3 minutes, and it's going to be controlled chaos". I wasn't sure how much they would learn working that fast, but I said, "Okay, we'll launch out of Catawba, since the wind is supposed to pick up out of the east... we can run up to the middle passage and cut over to where I have been fishing. Then, when we have all our walleye, we can run back over to the west side of the islands and find some perch. That way, if it gets rough, we can run the trough back to the ramp."
They all liked that plan, so we launched the Ranger and off we went. The lake was pretty flat, and only had a baby walleye chop on the surface, so I hit the throttle and kept her at a nice cruising speed until we reached our destination on the east side of the islands.
Before the chaos could begin, I explained that everyone needs to be aware of what's going on around them, and that the most important person in the boat at any moment is the one with a fish on, and to do whatever is needed to make sure that fish makes it in the boat. Whether that be moving out of the way, getting the net, taking a board off, getting hooks out of the net, everyone is doing everything in my boat, and we can be like a well oiled machine or a total wreck...it's up to them. :)
We set lines at 6:43 and proceeded to pull in fish before the third rod was in the water...it didn't stop! At 7:32 we had 24 walleye in the cooler, and a boat full of very satisfied anglers. ;)
It was the same program as the last week...
Big dipsies at 49 and 57 on the 3 setting and 33 and 41 on the 1 setting...with spoons. Bandits (blue/chrome and buck fever) at 42 and 51 back and the #11 Flicker Minnows (purple flash and huff daddy) were set at 55 and 65 back behind the Off Shores. Speed was again...2.3-2.4mph
Water temp today was 66.5 degrees.
Nick, Ethan, and Curt did a great job of learning the dipsey and board programs and were setting lines as fast as they could. Several times, we netted two fish at a time. But, even with all that distraction, the guys focused and we had very few missteps in our "boat waltz".
After we put the walleye gear away, we left the area and went back to where I had been the previous three days, looking for more perch, but I didn't feel good about it, since yesterday's catch there was pretty poor compared to the two days prior. So, we hit several more spots with little success other than some sheepshead, white perch, and a couple of catfish. They did end up catching 6 or 7 perch out in front of Catawba, so at least they have enough for a couple of perch sammies.
They said they had a good time and Nick is planning another trip out with me in the fall with is Dad, who couldn't make it out with us today. I'll be looking forward to that. I told him they should register for the Fall Walleye Brawl, because you just never know what Lake Erie is going to give you. She may just give you a prize walleye worth a new boat and motor, when you least expect it.
We shall see...
I have rescheduled tomorrow to next weekend, because of the forecast for gusty east winds.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mik, Tianna, and Freeman 6/6/19
by Capt Juls on 06/06/19This morning, I was meeting one of my regular customers who fishes with me 2-3 times a season. His usual crew couldn't make it this time, so he brought his granddaughter, Tianna, and his friend, Freeman along with him.
We were to meet at Big Bopper's, since they were driving in from Indiana, and not staying here in town. I had to stop at Rickard's for some ice and shiners before heading over there. I wanted to pick up some Yeck Spoons, because the one I had was getting all beat up from catching so many fish, but they didn't have any, so I made a quick stop at Hi Way Bait on the way to Big B's, and he had a box full of them ready to put on the display pegs. I rummaged through and picked out 3 Blueberry Muffin looking ones that matched my beat up one. It has purple on onc side with light yellow spots and a chartreuse underside, for those of you unfamiliar with what BM looks like. ;)
After breakfast, they met me at Mazurik's and we were on the water by 6am again. And, again, we headed north to the same spot I had been fishing for a little over a week now. We caught our walleye, in what Mike had figured out to be, "One every 3 1/4 minutes". It's what I called, controlled chaos.
We ran the dipsies at the same program as the previous several days...
1 setting at 33 and 41 and the 3 setting at 49 and 55/57. Speed was 2.3-2.4mph.
Two Bandits (blue/chrome and Buck Fever) were set at 42 and 61 back behind the Off Shore boards on the starboard side and two #11 Flicker Minnows (huff daddy and purple flash) were run on the port side at 55 and 65 back.
Everything caught fish today.
Freemand and Tianna did a great job for having never fished with dipsies or boards before, and were quick learners.
After we put away all the walleye gear, it was time to head to yesterday's perch spot. Once we arrived, I slowed to a stop and deployed the Ulterra and hit the Spot-Lock button to hold us on that spot. It wasn't as fast as the past two days, and the marks were definitely thinner, but they were still biting enough to keep my crew happy and interested. Along with the perch, we caught some big sheepshead, white perch, walleye, and a catfish.
A fun time was had by all and that's all that matters. ;)
Tomorrow's forecast is calling for some east winds, so I think it's time to hit Catawba again and see if those fish are still there and willing to bite. If not, I'll run the trough up to the west side of the islands and look for some fish up in the triangle between the islands. I'm guessing there are some perch in that area too.
The crew is new, and want to learn in depth about how to run Off Shore boards and dipsies, so I don't want to finish with the walleye as fast as we did today. That was just nuts, and they wouldn't have time to process what they are learning. ;)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with John and Seth Feldhausen 6/5/19
by Capt Juls on 06/06/19Writing this one a day late....I'm going to make this short since it was my birthday yesterday and I didn't want to do anything after I got off the water, except get in my fuzzy robe and relax!
The morning started out crazy. We launched at 6am and caught 7 walleye out in front of the shipping dock west of the lighthouse before we had to go back in, due to a thunderstorm approaching the area.
We loaded out as the rain poured down, and headed back to Big Bopper's for some coffee and hot chocolate while we waited for the second storm behind it to pass too. Once it passed, we headed out again, since the radar showed nothing coming until the afternoon.
To the north we went again...same as the day before...same program and everything. See previous day's report for that info.
Then, we hit the same perch spot where we caught some the day before, which was up near Sugar Island, between Middle Bass and North Bass islands.
The highlight of the day was when I heard John say to Seth, "Whatch's got there? Another Sheepshead?" And, when I turned around, there was Seth with a big 14 1/4 inch perch hanging in front of him. "Holy Moly!", I said. "That's a huge perch! That's what we call a "Fish Ohio"", I said. "What's that?", Seth asked. So, I explained how Ohio gives out pins for trophy fish that measure a certain size, or bigger, if you fill out a form on the ODNR website and submit it. :)
It was a fun way to spend my birthday, but I was too tired to write yesterday, so I took the afternoon off as more thunderstorms rolled through.
Capt Juls
Fishing with John and Seth Feldhausen 6/4/19
by Capt Juls on 06/04/19Woke up at 2am with one of my cats purring on my chest....needless to say, it was enough to keep me up, so I got up, made some coffee, and set off to the back deck to check the weather for the day. I was greeted with a cool, calm, morning. I thought to myself, "It's going to be a great day".
I picked my guys up from the White Caps Motel at 4:50 and we headed off to Rickard's Bait to pick up some ice and some shiners. The shiners would be needed after we caught our limit of walleye, for a round of perch'n.
After we left the bait shop, we headed to the Big B's for some breakfast, and got to know each other a little bit. John and Seth are Grandfather and Grandson...who love to fish together, and they wanted to do a trip out here. I was looking forward to this trip for a long time. I was going to take my birthday off tomorrow, but when he reserved his days months ago, and wanted two days, I could hardly say, "No.". Besides, fishing on my birthday? I like that idea...how freak'n lucky am I? :)
When we got back in the truck to head to the launch, John asked Seth, "Get me that box out of my bag". Out came a bright yellow wrapped birthday present with a card. "Your birthday is tomorrow, right?", asked John. I nodded, still trying to believe that a customer... one I had never fished with before...would bring me a birthday gift! It made my morning, and I opened the card and gift with the enthusiasm of a kid.....well, a kid on his/her birthday. lol
John had brought me a beautiful metal art piece that was created on a round saw blade...it's very cool. It had a majestic Elk, mountains, and a pine tree on it. "Thank you, it's beautiful! I know just where I'm going to put it too", I said. And, with a happy heart, we headed on over to the launch.
We launched out of Mazurik's at 6am, and headed north to where I have been fishing the past several days. With the wind switch from the NNW to the SSW this morning, I stopped short of where I had been starting and set in with a SW to NE trolling pass. I deployed the Ulterra, set it to power level 5, and fired up the baby E-TEC to get my speed to 2.1-2.3mph to start. (I would adjust from there as the fish told me what they wanted, which was again closer to 2.3mph.)
It was pretty much the same program with dipsies and Off Shore boards, but besides just using spoons on the dipsies, I swapped out two spoons for the Ripplin Redfins. The "Huff Daddy" and "Firetiger" paint schemes were the ticket and caught several good eaters. The spoons were pretty much 50/50 against the RR's in the catch rate. The "Buck Fever" Bandit caught 2 eyes...one at 42 back and one at 51 back. The "Blue/Chrome" Bandit caught one walleye today at 61 back.
*Sorry...I never took notice of the water temperature, but I think it was around 64?
The first pass produced some fish, but a lot of fish were lost, due to the guys learning how to use dipsies and boards. Neither of which they have ever used before. On the second pass, I changed the direction of the trolling pass to a SE to NW this time. The fish seemed to be more active with that direction and the guys were getting the hang of it, so we were done with 18 before we finished that entire pass.
We put all the walleye stuff away and went to look for perch....after three spots, we found some bigger ones. But, they were also hanging out with big white perch and big sheepshead. It didn't matter though, because they were just happy to be fishing and catching. The species didn't really matter all that much, but it was always good when the target species was put in the cooler. John also caught a nice smallmouth out in a spot that I would never have guessed a smallmouth to be, so that was a nice surprise today too.
The 6 hours was almost up, and the sky was looking like there was heavy rain coming, so we packed it up with 24 perch and 18 walleye in the box. There were probably just as many sheepshead and white perch as there were perch too, so they had a good time today....mission accomplished. And, that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow's weather is a little snotty, but we'll figure out what to do in the morning. I'm never set on anything until I hit the launch and look at the lake. The conditions will determine where we fish tomorrow....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
