Fishing with Aaron, James, and Brian 4/12/2022

They stayed at the White Caps Motel, or what I call a compound...I call it that, because they have so much more than just motel rooms. They also have cabins, mobile homes, and RV's to rent, so I hate just calling it a motel. They are also one of the few places here that has a fish cleaning station on their premises, too.  They've done some fantastic remodeling on some of the cabins and mobile homes that I'm envious of, and I really want their designer's name now. lol

Anyway, back to fishing...we launched out of the Portage River this morning at 6:30 and headed NW out of the mouth of it, to the Cans.  I shut the motor down over 20 feet of water and deployed the Ulterra and the baby Merc...got them in sync to a speed of 1.5mph and set a course to the west.

We started at the same area I fished on Sunday with Pat Barrett, and used the same program to start, which was Bandits up high.

Both the port and starboard sides were set the same distance back behind the Off Shore boards with 15 on the outside, then 20, 25, and 30 anchoring the inside boards. We only ran 4 per side, because it wasn't necessary to have more out. There's something to be said for, "Keeping it simple". :)

Water temp was 44.9 when we started and up to 48 by noon. That sun was warm today, for sure!

The colors we used, and all worked, were:

(2)Blue/Chrome.....of course. 

(2)Taco Salad

Chrome Barbie

Sunspot

IB Infected

Chart/Blue Back

Before I get any messages or emails... Yes...I do normally run the longer leads on the outside boards, but when the leads are so short, I prefer to have those really high baits out away from the boat as far as possible and the deeper, longer leads, on the inside.  When they are this short, and most of the fish are coming up to the surface when they get caught, tangles are not an issue.

If I were running long leads, say 50-130 back, then my long leads would be on the outside. The longer lead on a bait, on the outside, will have a better chance of clearing the inside lines as it comes in. 

We had doubles and triples this morning, and had a 3-man limit in less than 2 hours and over 40 fish by noon. Brian caught the only "Fish Ohio" that went 29 1/2 inches and weighed in at 9.5 pounds. He excitedly said, "That's the biggest fish I've ever caught!" 

They were amazed at the size of the fish (Averaging 4 to 6 pounds, I think), and when I said, "Those are what we call 'eaters'", they laughed...mentioning that the average size where they fish back home is 14-15 inches.

Needless to say, they had a great time, and did an excellent job learning how to set the boards out, bring the fish in, and setting the lines back out again, in the spots they came from, and did the "boat dance" very well. :)

The weather today was absolutely beautiful, but once again, Mother Nature is going to throw a hissy fit again for the next three days and blow a lot.

Unfortunately, they are going home a day early. 

My Thursday/Friday crew has been told to stay in MN, which I was sad about, because I really enjoy fishing with Bryon Haro. He's fished with me the past two springs, and we always have a great time. He was bringing his nephews, so they could experience this lake too. He's already rescheduled to next spring, though, so I just have to wait another year to fish with him again... deep sigh.

Weather permitting, I'll be back out this weekend. Fingers crossed! 

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls