Fishing with Jonathan, Dave, and Anthony 7/31/17

This of course, had me all off kilter, since I like to have my two cups of coffee and a shower before heading out, but at least the were willing to stop at Big Bopper's for breakfast with me, so that helped a lot. We hit the gas station to top off the Ranger, and then hit Hi Way Bait for some Goldie's for perch'n.

After breakfast we headed to Catawba to launch, since I wanted to perch fish first, and wanted to go back up by Rattlesnake Island to find some.  We tried several spots, where we were marking good perch like marks on the Helix, but then as soon as I put the Ulterra down...hit the spot lock...the marks would diminish or disappear all together.  So, after two hours, and several spots later, I had them keep perch'n while I got the trolling rods ready to go, so we could do some walleye fishing.

We hit an area between North Bass and Middle Island that was holding some fish, and set some Bandits and spoons out. The spoons didn't stay out long, because we started catching on the cranks.  The Domka Outdoors "Huff Daddy" took a couple, as did the "Crown Juls" color that Mike Chafin from Cranberry Creek paints up. I had the stock blue/chrome out, but it didn't do anything, and DJ's Custom Bandit called "IB Infected" took a nice one too.  

We caught a total of 6 nice keepers along with a handful of throw backs. 85, 95, 100, 30/55 w/2oz, 30/63 w/2oz, and 30/67w/2oz were the leads that took fish for us.  (For those scratching their heads on the snap weight leads....put a 2oz snap weight on at 30 feet back...let out another 55, or 63, or 67 feet of line out to make it a total of 85, 93, or 97 back and put the Off Shore board on.)

Speed was 2.0-2.7mph  I was bumping it up and down, and doing a lot of "S turns" too. 

We only fished for a couple hours on the walleye and decided to go back and see if the perch bite had started up yet. I got word from a few friends out there that it was a steady pick, so we were hoping to catch a bunch to put in the cooler.  As it was in the morning, it was again for us in the afternoon.  We would mark them, set up on them, and then only catch a few that were far and few between bites.  We moved 4 times trying to find a better bite, but it didn't happen. We only caught 15 perch for all that effort. lol  But, on the bright side, they were really nice perch! :)

We decided to head in at 2:30, so we could beat the Wharf head boats in, who come in at 3pm, because all their customers take their fish over to the cleaners at Port Clinton Fish Co across the street.  That's where my guys wanted to take their fish. I told them it was best to beat them in, so they wouldn't have to wait so long to get their fish cleaned, and they agreed.

They couldn't have picked any better weather than they did today, because it was a gorgeous day to be on the lake. I think a lot of other people felt the same way, because there were so many boats today, one would have thought it was a Saturday rather than a Monday. 

My guys said they had a good time, and that made me happy! However, I felt bad that I messed up the morning, and didn't have any fresh baked brownies for them....I owe him a double batch the next time they come back. :)

I'm not on the water again until after August 13th. It's time for my annual Meta Lake Lodge Fly In vacation....chasing big pike. So, until then....be safe, and catch lots of fish!

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls