Fishing with Tom, Susan, and Mimi 6/1/2021
by Capt Juls on 06/01/21Left the house at 4am, hit the gas station for some gas and ice, and headed to Catawba State Park to get things ready before my crew showed up.
I almost rescheduled this trip, thinking the lake was going to be too trashed after that big blow last week, but after running a scouting trip yesterday with my friend, Capt Jenn, we found enough hungry fish to make me change my mind.
I called Tom, to let him know we could run, and what time to meet me at the ramp. He agreed, so he and his wife Susan, and Susan's sister, Mimi, showed up a little before 5:15.
Capt Bobby Green was there early this morning too. He said his crew wasn't showing up until 6am. I asked him, if he could drop us in while he was waiting around, and he happily agreed to do it. Thanks, Bobby! Much appreciated! :)
It was dark when we headed north out of Catawba, with clouds covering most of the sky. There were three patches of clear sky on the horizon, that lit up the ripples of on top of the water, as we drove across to the Bass Island area at a nice cruising speed of 39mph.
The wind was absent this morning, so the lake was like glass. I was thankful for that. It makes it much easier to spot floating debri out there. After last week's big blow from the NE, it left a lot of big items floating down the rivers and across the lake. Be very careful out there for the next couple of weeks if you get out. Don't be nervous about it, but just keep a good eye out for them. They can ruin your day, or even possibly your life.
The air temp was 60 degrees, and the water temp was 62 degrees. The forecast was calling for a cloudy sky, and a high temp of 73 degrees. A perfect morning in my book.
Our long ride up north was enjoyable, because I know of only two boats that launched ahead of me this morning. PorkChop Express, and a local. So, the ride up was....well....FUN! It's nice when you think you are the only one on the lake at that moment. Especially, knowing how crowded it was going to get in just a couple hours.
I slowly throttled down, and when the boat felt like it was in a slow glide, I hit a couple buttons on the Helix, that deployed the Ulterra, so it could slowly and methodically, deliver itself into workhorse position. With a few pokes on the remote, I had it set for a course to the NNW. The baby ETEC was fired up to help push the boat, while the bow mount steered us, at a speed of 1.8-2.0mph.
We set up with Bandits on the starboard side, and Flicker Minnows on the port side. Both sides ran the longest leads on the outside, behind Off Shore boards, and the shortest leads on the inside. So, from the inside board to the outside board, we ran them 45, 50, 55, and 60 back. "S-Turns" proved they would also take the baits faster, or slower, depending on which side they hit on, and how hard of a turn it was. :)
Colors that worked best on the Bandit side were:
RC Crush, at both 55 and 60 back (best producer today)
Another one I don't know the name of, but its got white, light blue, orange, and chartreuse on it...but, mostly white and light blue. That one was very good at 50 back.
Buck Fever at 45 back caught a few too.
Colors that worked best on the Flicker Minnow (11s) side were:
Racy Shad at 60 back took a bunch
Flashy Chartreuse at 55 back took a few
Flashy Pearl was good at 50 back
Chartreuse/Pearl caught a couple
Tom said, "I think we've caught more fish this morning, than we have in an entire year!" (They are not set up for trolling, (yet), and have only drift casted in the past, so this trip was to teach them how to troll, and to help them decide if he wanted to invest in all the equipment needed to start trolling. I'm pretty sure they all had fun today, and they did a great job learning how to set lines, so it wouldn't surprise me if they actually do set up their boat to do some trolling. I have all the confidence in the world that if they remember how to do what they did today, they can be successful at it.
Tomorrow, I have three customers. One is coming from Ohio, and the other two are coming from Wisconsin. I told them to bring their rain gear, since it will probably be raining tomorrow. As long as there are no storms on the radar, we will fish.
Now, I must go cut the grass again, because it's going to rain tomorrow....:)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
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