Fishing with Dan and Chris Pierce 6/17/2020

This morning was my first trip back after some cancelation/reschedules, due to Corona Virus concerns, and the big blow. I was looking forward to it. I was up at 2:45 and headed out the door at 4:15 to go gas up the boat and truck before heading over to Mazurik's to meet my crew at 5:15.

I got to the park at 4:45 and proceeded to check my lines on the rods. I had to pull a little line off each of the ones I was going to use and re-tie the snap on. (Another reminder to myself to get another hat lamp thingy!)  I put on (4) Reef Runner Mag 44's...(2) blue/chrome and (2) black/gold chrome.  Yesterday, I stopped out at Bay's Edge for some Scorpion spoons, because I had heard that they had just got a shipment in, and I wanted to find some more red headed wonder bread spoons. (I was going to buy all of them that they had, but I left a few, because it would be selfish of me not to share). :)

Dan had fished with me back on the 28th and 29th of last month, with his buddy Rocky...this time, he brought his wife Chris. They showed up a little early, so we were able to hit the water at 5:15 instead of 5:30 this time. 

The sky was clear, so when the darkness started to fade, a tint of blue began to seep into the sky where the glow of the rising sun was making itself known. It was a gorgeous sunrise this morning. The winds were around 8mph out of the east, and the temps were in the mid-60's. Waves were less than two feet.

We headed north out of Mazurik's. I wanted to start on the north side of Kelly's out in front of North Bay and take the waves back to the west with our trolling pass. The Ulterra and baby ETEC worked together to keep our course and push us along at 2.2-2.5mph.  The Helix was marking fish from 12 to 40 feet, so I was hopeful it was going to be an easy bite.

The water temps are still down from last week, but not by much. This morning it was 66.4 degrees. I'm sure it's warmed up with all this sunshine today though.

The four 44's were set out at 57 and 65 back on one side, and 60 and 65 back on the other side.  The four dipsies were run two per side with two different length rods. The shorter one, which would be the "inside dipsey", was set on the 1 setting at 33 back (on both sides). The longer rod, which would be the "outside dipsey", was set on the 3 setting and run at 50 and 65 back. 

We caught 6 keepers and some throwbacks at that first area, but I decided to move to the protected side of the Bass Islands, so Chris could stand up in the boat better. I told her, "Take your shoes off...you'll have better balance", so she did...and, she did. It helped a lot, because it's hard to handle dipsies when you're having a tough time standing up! She got in the groove pretty quick though and did a great job today. Woot! Woot!

The west side of the islands is still holding a lot of fish, but also a lot of smaller fish too. It's amazing how such a tiny little fish will chase down a spoon at 2.5mph and catch it. We just kept checking the dipsies on a regular basis to take the little fish off. Eventually, the right fish would hit it and into the cooler it went. :)

Dan and Chris both had a good time, and that makes me happy!

Tomorrow, I am fishing with another previous customer, Bill Vogelzang and his friend, Doug. We are planning on launching out of Mazurik's again. The winds are supposed to be around 5-6 mph out of the ENE, so I'll probably end up where we ended up today. On the west side of the islands....or, go east. Heck, I don't know...I never know until I look at the lake in the morning. :)

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls