Fishing with Dick and Brad May 8, 2023

The wind was gusting out of the north, but after a double check on the iWindSurf app, it was showing that it would slow down by launch time, which would be 6am out of Catawba.

I didn't have to pick my crew up today, since one lives in Toledo, and the other right here on Catawba Island. They said they would just meet me there. So, Dick drove in from the west, and picked Brad up on the way to the ramp. We were in the water a little after 6am.

I was surprised to see the marine forecast calling for heavy fog, since there was still some wind, and usually with wind, there is no fog. Then, the wind stopped. It would still be a couple of hours before the fog rolled in, though....and at around 8:30 it rolled in pretty heavy.

We were fishing the west side of the islands, with Bandits, behind Off Shore boards, over 30 feet of water.

The port side ran RC Crush (DJ Custom color), Red Headed Wonder Bread (Domka Outdoors Custom color), Sea Sick Frog (pretty sure that's a DJ's Custom Eye Lures color, too), and one I don't know who painted it...it's all white, with just a big black dot on both sides.

The starboard side ran a Red Headed WB, (2) Wild Thing (JT custom color at FishUSA), and a Humble Bee w/Blk Stripes. All baits were run unassisted (no weights)....anywhere from 40 to 110 back.  The best leads for us this morning were 70, 80, and 90. Fish were also caught at 110, 100, 57, and 77.

The hottest colors were the Red Headed WB, Wild Thing, the white one with the black dot, and RC Crush.

We started at a speed of 1.8-2.0 (GPS), which was 1.5-1.6mph on the Fish Hawk (speed at the lure), but struggled to catch early on. A tip from Capt Sam Downing said to speed it up, so we did 2.0-2.2 (GPS) which was 1.8-1.9 on the Fish Hawk, and we started catching much quicker. Thanks, Sam! :)

We put Dick and Brad's 12 walleye in the cooler, and Brad decided he was ready to go in.  They were under dressed for the outing, thinking it wasn't going to be as chilly as it was. I'm still wearing my winter gear out there, right now, because I don't like to be cold, and I can always take it off.  

When we only had 8 fish, I gave Dick my warm Blackfish Storm Skin jacket, and gave Brad my AFTCO rain jacket, that I keep in my boat at all times, so they could stay out longer, to get their last 4 fish.  

That helped, but Brad was still ready to go in after they got their 12, so we went in. It made my pups very happy...lol

Water temp, was 51.6 degrees where we were this morning.

Dick just sent me a picture of some fried walleye cheeks they were making for lunch...I'm jealous. :)

I'm off tomorrow, but will be back out on Wednesday.  

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls