Fishing with Paul and Janie... June 17, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/17/23I was a little nervous about my customers today, since Paul is 87 years old, and the oldest I have taken out, to date. His daughter, Janie, bought him this trip for Father's Day, so they could spend some fun time together. They flew in from Nashville, yesterday, so they were both pretty tired, but were right on time this morning when I picked them up from the White Caps Motel.
The forecast was looking really good, and other than the thick haze that hung over all the land masses, so we couldn't see anything but water out there, it was a very nice day.
Waves were 1 foot or less much of the morning, and then, the wind laid down even more as the morning went on.
We launched at Mazurik's, (Thanks, Mark Greisbach, for dumping us in this morning! I appreciated it very much!), and headed east/northeast to look for fish. I didn't want to go west, because of the muddy water, and I didn't want to go straight north, due to the Mayfly hatch happening.
We started out in front of Cedar Point, over 37 feet of water with Bandits behind Off Shore boards and spoons on dipsies, but I realized it was going to be too much work for me, when every time I checked the dipsies, there was an itty-bitty hanging on it.
I wasn't getting any help with setting rods this morning, so I figured it might be a good idea to head out to the Weather Buoy, with hopes that there would be larger fish out there that were hungry, so I wouldn't have to keep reeling little fish in, and throw them back.
My crew was up for the 12 mile ride, so I brought everything in, and secured it, and off we went. I didn't drive fast, because of my elderly passenger. Even though he was spry, and in very good shape, for an 87-year-old, I felt it necessary to be extra cautious. So, we took our time, and eventually made it out to the line.
Again, we set up with Bandits behind the Off Shores at 70 to 90 back, with one at 50/40 w/2oz.
Dipsies were set on the zero and three settings, with the zero settings set at 35 and 50, and the three settings at 65 and 80 back.
I was disappointed in the lack of fish marks shown on the Helix, when we started just west of the buoy, and were trolling towards it....right on the line. My screen was void of fish (Ugh!). Two LEWT tournament boats were going by us in the opposite direction, about 25 yards south of me, and we watched them each pluck a fish from the Lake, and put it in their live wells.
"I think what we have here is a directional issue," I said. "What do you mean?", asked Janie. I explained, "Sometimes, the fish like to bite when their food is coming from a particular direction, and we don't seem to be going the direction they like, right now". I started to make a turn, and halfway through it, the outer Bandit, which was a "Nitro Shad" color at 90 back, got bit. It was on the slow side of the turn.
Another Nitro Shad, set on the same side with the 2oz snap weight also went back, so Janie was reeling that in while I took Paul's picture with the fish he just caught.
When I put my phone down to take the board off for Janie, I could tell the fish wasn't there anymore. "Hit and a miss," I said. "At least we know they like that color today," I added.
We spent an hour over there, and I decided it was time to head back towards the west to try over there.
I stopped where I had fished two days ago, and there were a bunch of boats there, so we set up and headed to the west on our trolling pass. We would only catch one more keeper, on the three setting dipsey with a black/gold Ripplin Redfin at 65 back, and a couple shorts. We ran out of time.
It was not a stellar day for us, but they still had fun being together, and enjoying the lake. They both said they would like to come back and try it again another time, so that makes me happy. :)
I'm going to go out of Huron tomorrow, with my two day crew of a Father and Son team from Iowa. The weather is looking good for both of their days, and hopefully, we find some fish willing to bite. I may have to pull out the crawler harnesses, if the Mayflies are over there, too, but I'm hoping I don't have to. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
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