Fishing Day 3 with Clayton and Todd...April 16, 2023

I went to bed earlier than usual, last night, because I was whooped.  I wanted to get a good night's sleep before fishing the final day with my ND crew. Clayton and Todd were up early, and ready to go when I showed up at the White Caps Motel at 5:30, to pick them up.

We drove to the Speedway on the other side of town, to gas up and get ice, but they were out of ice. The cashier said, "Home City Ice didn't deliver, so everyone is out of ice this morning". We did try two other gas stations, but one wasn't even open, and the other was indeed out of ice, too. So, we decided to leave the cooler in the truck and use the livewell, instead.

We launched at Catawba at 6:15 and headed north to the line. The wind was light out of the SSE, and the waves were less than a foot for our ride up there, so it was a smooth comfortable ride in the Vexus, at a cruising speed of 48mph. We set up short of where we finished yesterday, and headed towards my waypoints. 

We set up with Bandits anywhere from 40-100 back with the following colors:

Buck Fever (3) (purple back with chrome sides and belly...it's either a Domka or DJ color...I can't remember)

Chrome Barbie(2)

Freak Show (1) (Hammertime Custom)

One I don't know the name of, but I think it's a Hammertime Custom, but I can't find the color on his site. 

RC Crush (1)

Some lure colors got changed out, except the Buck Fever and Chrome Barbies...those two were hot, hot, hot!  65 and 75 back were the best leads, too.

Speed on the GPS was 1.9-2.1mph while the Fish Hawk was showing 1.3-1.4mph, at the same time.

Water temp was 53 degrees.

We caught the first fish before the second line could be set, and then we got a few more Off Shore boards out, and they started going back...we had 5 in the boat before all the lines were set. 

S-turns were triggering fish, when it slowed up a bit. Sometimes, it was the fast side and sometimes it was the slow side. So, it was more of a reaction bite. We did have some short strikes, and missed a few too.

When the bite slowed, we headed south and hit an area that was east of Niagara, with no boats around. The water was more stained than where we first started, and the water temp was 55 degrees.  We set up there with the same program, since it was over 33 feet of water, just like where we had started in the first spot.

The Terrova was steering us on a northerly pass, while the kicker pushed us at the same speed as previously stated. It wasn't long, before we caught the first one in that spot...and, then we lost two.  We picked up a couple more in that direction, and then turned to go in the opposite direction. The wind had picked up a little, but the waves were still less than two feet.

The fish definitely liked us going the opposite direction, because we were getting a lot of action with doubles and triples happening.

The final tally, was our 18 in the box, and almost just as many released, when I said we needed to head in. I was watching the sky and the weather coming in and figured the wind would be coming in behind the first system. I was right. As we headed in, the wind was getting stronger, and by the time we hit the ramp, the lake was white capping. We timed it right though, because we hit the ramp before anyone else, so we were loaded out with around a dozen boats behind us looking to load out too. 

The wind had switched from SSE to SSW, so now the waves were going right into the ramp, which makes it a little nastier when trying to hold a boat at the dock, or pier wall, and getting it on the trailer. I will normally use another ramp if the forecast is calling for a SW wind.

The ND boys had a great time, all three days, and said they will be back again, so that makes me happy!

Mother Nature has decided to throw a tizzy fit again, for the next two days, so I'll be on shore calibrating two reels that I had to respool, cleaning the boat, walking the dogs, running errands, and cleaning this house...fun times! Ha!

My next trip will be Wednesday, unless the forecast changes. But, right now, it's showing light NNW winds, so it should be fishable. Fingers crossed!

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls