Fishing Day 2 with Jim and Harold Nelson... June 3, 2023

The dogs were happy I got up early, because they needed to go pee. We went out to the backyard, and they did their business, while I checked the wind forecast for the day. iWindSurf was showing 14 out of the north at Put-in-Bay at 2:30AM, but by 3AM it had subsided to only 9mph.  I checked the BoatUS app, and they had a small craft advisory starting at noon today, and going through to tomorrow morning.

I figured it would be a decent morning, and we would get our fish relatively quickly, and get off the water before the winds starting gusting.

I told my crew I would pick them up at 5:00, but I showed up at 4:45. They were in the lobby ready to go, so when they saw me pull up, they came out. Jim said, "I read your blogs, so I know you're always early".  I could only giggle at that.

We hit the gas station for the usual, and headed back over to Catawba to launch. I had a new area to fish east of the Bass islands, but figured if the NE wind came earlier than expected, I could scoot back over to the west side of them and then down the protected side, to get back.  

We launched just before 5:30...or, tried to. I forgot to unhook the bow strap, so it wasn't as fast as it normally is. lol  I had to pee when we got to Catawba, and got out of my routine of readying the boat. Oops!  Thanks, Jim, for getting your feet all wet, to get us off the trailer!

We got to the east side of the islands and set up over 35 feet of water, doing a north to south trolling pass. The waves were 2 foot or less on that side of the islands (hardly any waves on the west side of them), so it was a nice morning.

We didn't use any dipsies this morning, and set up with all Bandits. And, before I forget to mention it...for those that read my report yesterday, the "Eriegardless Custom Color, "Bagger", that I thought was a Bill Lewis PWC color was in fact, a Bandit. :)

We ran both sides pretty similar in depths. The port side ran a Blue Shiner (stock color) on the outside board at 70, Green Clown (stock) at 60, IB Infected (DJ Custom Eye Lure color) at 50, and Bagger (Eriegardless) at 40.

The starboard side ran the Blue Shiner at 75, IB Infected at 65, Blue Shiner at 55, and Bagger at 45.

Every single one of them caught fish.

Speed was 2.1-2.3 GPS and 2.0-2.1 on the Fish Hawk. Water temps are getting close to 70 now. 

At one point, we had to pick everything up to go get a board that either had a fish, a snag, or a dead body that was spooling the reel. Ugh... luckily, it was just a stupid sheephead hooked sideways, that was getting the better of Harold. But, we needed to pick up and run back up to make another pass anyway, so we grabbed it, and the fish, on the way up.

We had a much better grade of fish today, than we had  yesterday on the west side, and only two sheephead. There were only two shorts too. Everything else was a good eater. I think, the smallest one was 18", and the biggest was 23-24". (I didn't bother to measure it).

Jim was working the port side of the boat like a champ today, and the Off Shore boards were in line, marching like good little soldiers, and he even got the clicker down today....clicker on, going out....clicker off, coming in. I didn't have to tell him to turn it off, at all. He must have gone to bed thinking about that before he fell asleep, so it would be in his subconscious this morning. ;)

Harold had an easier day, since we let him sit while reeling in the fish. He's got some bad knees, and it was a bit too rough for him to be able to stand. But, he managed well, and got his limit...as did Jim, and me.

As I type this, the wind has picked up, and will be blowing all night. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for sustained NE wind at 23 with gusts to 30mph.  I'm sure that small craft advisory will be adjusted and will not end at 8am tomorrow morning, like they are saying right now.

I'm off Monday, for my birthday, and Tuesday was a reschedule, so I won't be back out until Wednesday. 

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls