Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Chris, Dave, and JP... June 9, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/09/23Started the morning off with a little entertainment from my nightly critters, that visit my porch buffet. Two Opossums wandered up on the porch, while I was watering the garden next to my boat. They never noticed me, so I kept quiet to watch them. They were two full-grown adults....cute as could be! At one point, I was talking to them, and they were oblivious to me. Then, Dexter started barking at them through the front door, and that big fella just looked at Dexter as if to say, "Yeah, buddy, I hear you, but I'm hungry, and I know you can't get to me, so I'm just going to keep eating"....and, he did. :)
When I finally got back in the house, I got ready, and said my goodbyes to my pups and off I went to pick up my Wisco crew from the White Caps. I told them I would be there at 5AM, but got there at 5:45, because I had to dig out some window washer fluid to fill my truck's washer reservoir. I got tired of the flashing warning telling me it was empty.
To my surprise, my crew was already outside waiting for me. I finished my task, and we headed into town to fill up the Vexus and truck with gas, and get some ice for the cooler. Then, we headed to Mazurik's to launch. It was 5:30 when we hit the water and headed to the north.
It was a little rough this morning, but not too bad....just 1 to 3s. I was trying to decide where I wanted to start and headed towards Middle Island, but the lack of marks on the Helix had me turning west as we got closer to the border. I set the boat down when I started marking some fish, and pointed the Terrova south, with the baby Merc pushing us at a speed of 2.2-2.3mph (Fish Hawk speed was 2.0mph).
We went through a lot of different crankbaits, and here's what caught today...
IB Infected (DJ Custom color) Bandit at 60 back behind the Off Shore board.
Green Clown (stock color) Bandit at 50 back
Reef Runner Mag 44 in Black/Gold, Blue/Chrome, and Purple Glass Perch (60, 50, 40 back...longest lead on the outside board). The Blue/Chrome at 50 back caught two.
Baby Spros (the 85s) in Chrome Perch, Blue/Chrome, and Purple Glass Perch (60, 50, 47 back)
Crankbaits caught the bigger fish today, but the numbers came on the dipsies on the zero and three settings. Zero settings at 27 and 30 and the three settings at 43 and 47 back. Yeck, BadMo Arrow, and Scorpion spoons worked today. All different colors were working, but if the spoon had dots on it, it seemed to work better.
We were fishing over 30-31 feet of water. I just realized, I never looked at the water temp this morning. I'm guessing, it's near 70, though, if it's not already there.
I had the speeds up to 3.0 GPS (2.5-2.7 on the FH), and they bit at those speeds, too, so they will bite faster baits now.
We caught a lot of shorts, and had to keep checking the dipsies for wee little ones, that were hanging on.
My crew did a great job, and only needed a little refresher course, since their trip with me last year. Chris and Dave fished with me last year, but JP is a first-timer, so he was new to it all, but eventually caught on to the program, and could almost keep up with me. :)
I have them again tomorrow, and it should be a nicer day, with light west winds, so it will be another fun morning in the boat with them, I think. Now, that they are trained again, it will be an easy morning for me, if I can just put them over some fish. woot! woot!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Jim and Harold Nelson... June 3, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/03/23I'm always a little more relaxed when I have the same crew as the previous day, because I know they have already learned the basics, and the second day lets them refine their skills a little more, without all my constant instruction. :)
The dogs were happy I got up early, because they needed to go pee. We went out to the backyard, and they did their business, while I checked the wind forecast for the day. iWindSurf was showing 14 out of the north at Put-in-Bay at 2:30AM, but by 3AM it had subsided to only 9mph. I checked the BoatUS app, and they had a small craft advisory starting at noon today, and going through to tomorrow morning.
I figured it would be a decent morning, and we would get our fish relatively quickly, and get off the water before the winds starting gusting.
I told my crew I would pick them up at 5:00, but I showed up at 4:45. They were in the lobby ready to go, so when they saw me pull up, they came out. Jim said, "I read your blogs, so I know you're always early". I could only giggle at that.
We hit the gas station for the usual, and headed back over to Catawba to launch. I had a new area to fish east of the Bass islands, but figured if the NE wind came earlier than expected, I could scoot back over to the west side of them and then down the protected side, to get back.
We launched just before 5:30...or, tried to. I forgot to unhook the bow strap, so it wasn't as fast as it normally is. lol I had to pee when we got to Catawba, and got out of my routine of readying the boat. Oops! Thanks, Jim, for getting your feet all wet, to get us off the trailer!
We got to the east side of the islands and set up over 35 feet of water, doing a north to south trolling pass. The waves were 2 foot or less on that side of the islands (hardly any waves on the west side of them), so it was a nice morning.
We didn't use any dipsies this morning, and set up with all Bandits. And, before I forget to mention it...for those that read my report yesterday, the "Eriegardless Custom Color, "Bagger", that I thought was a Bill Lewis PWC color was in fact, a Bandit. :)
We ran both sides pretty similar in depths. The port side ran a Blue Shiner (stock color) on the outside board at 70, Green Clown (stock) at 60, IB Infected (DJ Custom Eye Lure color) at 50, and Bagger (Eriegardless) at 40.
The starboard side ran the Blue Shiner at 75, IB Infected at 65, Blue Shiner at 55, and Bagger at 45.
Every single one of them caught fish.
Speed was 2.1-2.3 GPS and 2.0-2.1 on the Fish Hawk. Water temps are getting close to 70 now.
At one point, we had to pick everything up to go get a board that either had a fish, a snag, or a dead body that was spooling the reel. Ugh... luckily, it was just a stupid sheephead hooked sideways, that was getting the better of Harold. But, we needed to pick up and run back up to make another pass anyway, so we grabbed it, and the fish, on the way up.
We had a much better grade of fish today, than we had yesterday on the west side, and only two sheephead. There were only two shorts too. Everything else was a good eater. I think, the smallest one was 18", and the biggest was 23-24". (I didn't bother to measure it).
Jim was working the port side of the boat like a champ today, and the Off Shore boards were in line, marching like good little soldiers, and he even got the clicker down today....clicker on, going out....clicker off, coming in. I didn't have to tell him to turn it off, at all. He must have gone to bed thinking about that before he fell asleep, so it would be in his subconscious this morning. ;)
Harold had an easier day, since we let him sit while reeling in the fish. He's got some bad knees, and it was a bit too rough for him to be able to stand. But, he managed well, and got his limit...as did Jim, and me.
As I type this, the wind has picked up, and will be blowing all night. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for sustained NE wind at 23 with gusts to 30mph. I'm sure that small craft advisory will be adjusted and will not end at 8am tomorrow morning, like they are saying right now.
I'm off Monday, for my birthday, and Tuesday was a reschedule, so I won't be back out until Wednesday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Harold...June 2, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/02/23I thought I was going to be late picking my crew up at 5AM, since I had to water my gardens before leaving, since we haven't had any rain for a couple of weeks now, but I made it two minutes before I had to be there, whew!
Jim and his Dad Harold drove in from Iowa for a two day trip with me, and luckily, the weather is perfect for it. This morning, the skies were clear, the air temp was 67 degrees, and the wind was pretty much nonexistent. The lake was flat. We put in at Catawba at 5:30 and headed north again.
As a beautiful sunrise began, we set up over 31 feet of water on the west side of the islands. The Terrova steered us northwest, as the baby Merc putted along at a speed of 2.2-2.3mph. The Fish Hawk was reading a water temp of 67 degrees and a speed of 2.0mph, down below at 15 feet. The Helix was reading 69 degrees on the surface.
There was a lot of switching up on depths and colors, so I'm only going to mention what worked for us today, and save myself a lot of typing.
Bandits behind the Off Shore boards on the port side ran at 65, 45, and 35 back. Colors were "Buck Fever" (a Domka Outdoors color), and a color by Eriegardless Custom Lures called, "Bagger".
EDIT: After looking up the color on Kelly Schmidt's shop page, I think I was actually running two Bill Lewis PWCs, because the "Bagger" color for the PWCs is different than the one with the same name for the Bandit. The Bagger Bandit has a pink belly, and the Bagger PWC has a chartreuse belly. The one we used today had the chartreuse belly. It was a hot bait this morning...running at 35 and 45 back.
On the starboard side we ran two Bandits. The "IB Infected" (DJ Custom Eye Lure color) at 70 back and "Green Clown" (stock color) at 75 back. Each of those took several fish, too.
The dipsies/spoons were not as productive today as the cranks were, so we might just run a couple more boards tomorrow, and take out the dipsies on the three settings. They each might have caught one today. The zero setting at 30 and 36 did okay...not great, but good enough to use them again. The most productive spoon was a blue/silver/hammered Scorpion.
Jim and "Dad", as I called him, are learning how this trolling gig works, and are liking it. We're still working on the "turn the clicker off when reeling in" part, but other than that, they are doing a great job. They will get more practice tomorrow. :)
I haven't decided if I want to launch out of Catawba or Mazurik's yet. I'll decide by morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Joe... May 30, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/30/23Alfie, my 9mo old Golden Retriever pup, woke me up at 1:45 this morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed at 2am and put the coffee on, did a few chores until the coffee was done, then took a cup of Joe out to the back deck, to check the forecast for the day. The dogs happily chewed their morning biscuit next to the fire-pit, as the flames flickered and danced, pushing the darkness away from us.
The iWindSurf forecast was calling for light winds from the ESE at less than 10mph. Looking up to see the stars, told me it was a clear sky. The air temp on land, would be reaching the low 80s by noon.
I left the house at 4:50 and headed into town to pick my crew up at the Clinton Inn and Suites. I arrived 15 minutes early, and putzed around until they came out at 5:15. We headed to the gas station for gas and ice, before heading over to Catawba to launch.
My plan this morning, was to fish out in front of Catawba, until the boat traffic got busy. I wanted to get one or two passes in before we would pick up and leave to go to another spot, and that's exactly what we did. We managed to put 6 keepers in the cooler before leaving the area.
Since we were only fishing over 21 feet of water, instead of the 35' I had been fishing, the leads would be shorter on the dipsies with the zero settings. Instead of 35-40 back, we only put them at 25, and 27 back. Both sported a "Bad-Mo" small arrowhead spoon. One was green and gold horizontal stripes, with a silver belly, and the other was a NASCAR looking color, with a silver belly.
The NASCAR looking color would eventually be replaced with a "Confusion" "Yeck" Spoon....that did well.
The dipsies on the three settings were set at 47 and 43 back. Yeck and Bad-Mo spoons fished behind those. A black/gold "Rippling Redfin" at 43 back caught, too.
Three Flicker Minnow 11s were running behind the Off Shore Boards, on the port side, at 80, 60, and 55. They didn't catch anything. They were switched out to Bandits at the next spot up north.
We headed north to the area I fished yesterday, and set up with the same dipsey program as the day before. Zero setting, varied between 30 and 40, and the three settings at 47 to 55 back.
The 5 Bandits, however, were eventually all switched out to one color...."Buck Fever" (silver chrome with a purple back). The port side, all set at 65 back. They started out at 85, 75, and 65, but the 65 kept getting hit, so they all went to 65. :)
The two Buck Fevers on the starboard side were at 75 and 57, so I left those there. They got hit too.
Dave hired me to learn some techniques and locations. He has a smaller boat, and usually fishes closer to Turtle Creek. He wanted to learn more about the island areas we fish, so on nicer days he can come and fish over here. He was a quick learner, and was setting dipsies and planer boards, like he's been doing it a long time, even though he's never used a dipsey before. Joe was happy to sit back and relax, while we did all the work, and reeled in his 6 fish when it was his turn. We all reeled in fish this morning, and had a great time.
It wasn't a fast a furious bite, but it was steady enough to keep us busy. It was a beautiful morning on the water, too. It doesn't get much better. :)
I have a scheduled day off tomorrow, and my Thursday called to reschedule, due to personal reasons. He will be coming to fish in July instead.
Jen and I are probably going to go catch some fish on Thursday to take over to the "Back to the Wild" rehabilitation center, so the Eagles and other critters that eat fish have a fresh supply.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with John Willams May 29th, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/29/23I left the house at 4:30, and drove over to Catawba to meet up with my customer, John Williams, who was going to be there by 5:30. He was driving in from the Cleveland area, so I didn't expect him to beat me there, but he did.
It was still dark at 5:15, but we launched anyway. I figured by the time the 400 warmed up to temp, we would be able to go.
The sky was clear, and just starting to lighten on the eastern horizon. The reflection of the sky on the water west of the islands made it bright enough to head out.
The air temp was mid 50s, and the flag on the pier at Catawba wasn't moving at all. The lake had some light residual rollers from the previous night's light NE winds.
We headed north to the last place I fished last week, which was off the west side of North Bass. The Helix wasn't showing as many fish marks as last week before the blow, but there were still enough to make me want to set up on them.
The Fish Hawk was showing a depth temp of 61.7 degrees and the surface temp was showing 62.3 on the Helix. Speed was set at 2.2 GPS, which was 1.9mph with a WSW trolling pass.
Since I only had one person today, we could only run 6 lines, so 4 dipsies hit the line-up, and two Off Shore boards. The boards started with two Flicker Minnow 11s behind them...one at 55 back, unassisted, and the other with a 2oz snap weight at 50/69 (total line out 119). Neither took a fish, so they were changed out to Bandits.
"Carrot Top" was set at 75 back on the port side. It caught a nice eater. Then, I had John pick out a color to use on the starboard side, and he chose "Electric Zebra". I also had him pick a number, and he chose 68, so we ran that one at 68 back. It didn't catch anything. The sun was getting higher, and it was hard to see the board on the port side, due to the sparkling reflection on the water, so I reeled it in and put it on the starboard side, too.
The Carrot Top stayed at 75 back, and was moved to the outside. The Electric Zebra came in and was changed out to "Buck Fever" (silver chrome with a purple back...a Domka Outdoors Custom color). That one was set to 57 back... it would catch two nice eaters...while the Carrot Top would tally 2 fish also.
The Yeck spoons, however, were the star of the morning. They caught 9 of the 12 fish. 6 came early, and were in the box before 6:30.
The zero setting at 30 and 35 back were the most successful, while the three settings at 47 and 50 back caught a few, too.
It wasn't fast and furious, but it was a steady enough bite to keep us entertained for a couple of hours until we limited out.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water, and the company was great, too, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I'll be fishing with Dave Dunn and his friends.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Pat and Emily... May 24, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/25/23It was a repeat of day one, so no new report. Please see day one's report for details. :)
Blow day Thursday and I'm off Friday, so I'll be back at it on Saturday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pat and Emily Long... May 23, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/23/23Pat and his wife Emily came for a three day stay, and to fish with me for those three days, but it looks like Thursday is going to blow, so it's only going to be today and tomorrow.
Got up at 2:30, and went out on the back deck with the dogs, and my cup of coffee, to find a calm to zero breeze outside. Just the way I like it!
I was planning a longer ride this morning west of the islands, and knew my crew were older, and didn't want to beat them up on the ride out. So, thank you, Mother Nature, for behaving for them this morning.
I picked them up from the White Caps Motel at 5:15, and we headed into town to grab some ice for the cooler. We hit Catawba, and were in the water by 5:45. After the big motor warmed up to temp, we headed north, to the west side of the islands.
I set the Vexus down over 35 feet of water, and deployed the Terrova and the baby Merc with a course setting to the west at 2.0-2.2mph (GPS), which was 1.8-1.9 on the Fish Hawk.
Two Off Shore boards ran out each side with Bandits behind them on the port side.
Red Headed Wonder Bread was on the outside board at 80 back...(Domka Outdoors color), and a Slim Shady Custom color with the name of "Whiskey and Water" ran at 70 back...both baits ran unassisted.
On the starboard side we started with 2oz inline weights with double willow leaf crawler harnesses at 40 and 53 back. These were eventually taken off, due to lack of activity, and replaced with Flicker Minnow 11s with snap weights.
The "Pooh Bear" color ran 50/67 (total of 117 back) on the outside, and the "Purple Perch" ran at 30/45 behind the inside board.
The Pooh Bear color took two fish, and the Purple Perch took one. The Whiskey and Water Bandit took one, and the Red Head failed me this time out.
Two dipsies ran on each corner. The shorter/inside rods ran the zero setting at 35 on the port side, and 40 on the starboard side. The port side had a copper colored Yeck spoon, and the same on the starboard side. The only difference in the spoons is...while they both had the same pattern on the front side, the starboard side spoon had a blue back. I don't know the name of the color, since they don't put it on the package. (It has a green edge on the left side with a red dot at the skinny end of the spoon, and a black dot at the fatter end of the spoon.) If you don't have that one, the "Confusion" color works, too.
The longer/outside rods were running on the three settings, both at 47 back with black and gold Rippling Redfins. Both caught fish.
The dipsey program definitely outdid the cranks this morning.
Water temp was 59 degrees.
We started catching before all the lines could be set, and it was a steady pick from there. Not fire drill fast, but fast enough that I didn't get a lot of pictures this morning. :)
Emily was very good at reading the dipsey rods, and let me know when a fish was on, if I was busy reeling, or doing something else. We managed our 18 walleye by 8:30 this morning, and that's the fastest it's been for me in a long time! I'm very happy to see this kind of bite coming back to us.
Now that I said that out loud, though, I'm sure it will change....again. lol
I have the same crew tomorrow, and like me, they are really looking forward to it. The weather conditions in the morning should be the same as today. The wind comes in around 10AM, I think...or, at least that was the last forecast I looked at.
Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito May 21, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/21/23Sorry...I have to keep this one short, because I have to get my grass cut...:)
Vito came down from Wisconsin, after two years of reschedules, due to wicked windy weather conditions every time his day was scheduled, and was able to finally get his time in today and tomorrow.
I picked him up this morning at 5:15, and we headed to Catawba to launch. We headed out about 5:45 and went towards G Can, but the wind forecast that was supposed to be west, was northwest, so I wanted to go further north along the front edge of round and go down towards G, but changed my mind and kept driving until we hit C Can. It was just one of those undecided mornings, and I never fished G today.
Since it was just two of us, and we could only run 6 lines today, we set up with two Bandits behind Off Shore boards, on each side, running 70-90 back, and one dipsey off each corner.
Bandit colors were "Wild Thing" (stock color from FishUSA), and "Red Headed Wonder Bread" (Domka Outdoors Custom Color) on the starboard side, and "Carrot Top" (Stock Color from FishUSA), and IB Infected (DJ's Custom Eye Lure color).
Dipsies were set on the zero setting on the starboard side at 40, and on the 3 setting on the port side at 47. We started with worm burners, but switched them out to double willow leaf crawler harnesses, and then to Yeck Spoons, after they didn't produce.
The color that worked for us in the Yeck spoons...I don't know the name of, but it is copper colored with a green edge, a red dot on the skinny end of the spoon and a black dot on the fat end. The spoon running on the starboard side had a blue back, and the same color running on the port side had a copper back.
I picked up the blue backed one at Hi Way Bait and Tackle the other day. Both the blue and the copper backs produced fish, and both ended up on the zero settings...one at 35 and one at 40 back.
Bandit colors were changed out several times...and, eventually, we only had one Off Shore board off each side, with two dipsies off each corner.
Bandit colors that caught today were the (2) Red Headed Wonder Bread, (1)Wild Thing, and (1) Blue Shiner. The dipsies caught the rest.
I had the second dipsey on the starboard side running on the three setting at 47 with a worm burner, and it caught one fish. The two Yeck spoons caught the most fish today.
Speed on the GPS was 2.1-2.3mph and 1.8-2.0 on the Fish Hawk.
Water temp was 56-58 degrees depending on where we were.
We made one long pass from C Can to Middle Bass, via the north side of Rattle Snake. The best marks were on the NE side of Niagara.
Keep an eye out over there though, because there are three sets of nets to navigate around.
We only caught 12 of the 15 fish we hooked up with, but that's all we needed.
It was a fun morning, and we get to go do it again tomorrow. I love fishing with Vito...he's very laid back, with a positive attitude, and that makes me happy!
We will be launching out of Marblehead tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Keith... May 19, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/19/23My crew drove up this morning from Columbus, and met me at the launch at 5:30. The sky was already getting lighter, so we were able to launch and head out at 5:40. It's a 20 minute no wake zone out to the mouth of the Portage River, so it was a few minutes after 6am when we got the Vexus up on plane.
The wind forecast for the day had improved greatly from what it was saying the day before, so that was nice. The waves all day were 1' or less, and I'm guessing the wind never got over 10mph while we were out there.
We started inside the cans, but were kicked out of there at 8am, when the Coast Guard came across the radio telling everyone that the firing range would be closed off to boaters, until 6pm.
I decided to take a ride up to the "Triangle", which is the area between the bass islands...the "Triangle" being points on Rattle Snake, Green, and Middle Bass.
This time of year is usually good, and that area loaded with fish. That wasn't the case today. While there are some fish there, they are not there in the numbers that they normally would be, like in the past several years. I know we had a setback with water temps, but it's not that far off, and only lasted a week, so I'm not sure what's going on with the fish's migration patterns this year. I only know they are not where they normally would be.
To make a long story short....we tried Bandits, Flicker Minnows, Spro 120s, and a Reaper behind the Off Shore boards. The only crank that would catch fish today was the "IB Infected" custom Bandit that DJ paints. It's a chrome yellow/antifreeze color with small magenta dots all over it. We ended up putting three of those out, and all three caught fish. No other colors did, and I tried many.
The worm burners on dipsies caught 3, lost 2, and lost their worms, 5 times, so they were effective...just not very successfully effective. lol
The dipsey settings that caught fish were the three setting at 47 back, and the zero setting at 33.
Speed was 1.9-2.1 GPS (1.7-1.9 on the Fish Hawk).
Steve, who is a police officer, brought his Uncle, Keith, up to get some relaxing, much needed "water time" in. Steve started the morning off by saying, "We don't care if we catch fish, but it would be nice, if we do. I'm here to learn some things from you". And, learn, they did. Steve was running his side of the boat like a champ in no time at all. Keith had a brace on his wrist, so we took it easy on him and just had him reel in his fish, when it was his turn.
I felt bad for the dismal numbers of walleye in the cooler, but he assured me that they had a lot of fun, and learned what he needed to learn, so I feel a little better about that....but, geez....this poor catch streak of mine has got to turn around here soon. I know that firing range would have lit up around mid to late morning, but we couldn't stay there, so my game plan was thrown out the window. I hate when that happens....deep sigh.
Off-topic and a side note....just wanted to say, today was officially the first day we caught a Sheephead, from my boat. I was wondering when they would start wandering around more.
Anyway....I have rescheduled tomorrow, due to the NW wind and my customer (Father/daughter) needing to. So, I'll be back out Sunday through Thursday, which is looking really good all 5 days. I have a regular customer returning to fish with me on Sunday and Monday, and it's just him, so only 6 lines to play with.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Lance and Kim...May 15, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/15/23I opened the back door to the deck this morning, and was hit in the face with a NE wind...ugh. I checked the iWindSurf app, and it showed it was only blowing 9mph at South Bass at 3am, but that the forecast was showing 12-13mph until around noon. I figured it was doable. Not the greatest of conditions, but not bad enough to stay home today.
I was picking my crew up at Bay's Edge Condos at 5:30, so I left the house at 4:45, so I could go gas up, get ice, and hit Hi Way Bait for some crawlers (for my worm burners on the dipsies), before heading over to pick them up. I got there at 5:15, texted them that I was there, and they were ready and out the door by 5:20.
We headed over to Mazurik's to launch, and the parking lot was empty. At first, I was surprised that no one was there yet, and asked myself, "Is it too windy?" But, then I realized it was Monday, and it's always like that on a Monday. It wasn't long after getting the boat ready to launch, that more rigs started pulling in.
After letting the 400 warm up to temp, we headed to the north side of Kelly's, and to the southeast side of Gull Island Shoal. Turning the boat around to go with the waves, the Terrova was deployed, the baby Merc fired up, and the Fish Hawk dropped to depth.
Speed was set to 1.9-2.1 on the GPS, which was 1.8-1.9 on the Fish Hawk.
It lasted an hour, when it shut off due to low battery power. Note to self...put more batteries in the glove box of the boat. oops.
But, it didn't matter...I just kept the GPS speed where I thought it needed to be.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards caught at 100, 85, and 30 back. Colors that caught were the Red Headed Wonder Bread, Blue Chrome, and Chrome Barbie.
The worm burners caught the other three walleye, and the catfish. Dipsies set on the zero, one, and three settings....zero at 27 and 35, the one setting at 40, and the three setting at 47 and 59.
Lance and Kim booked this trip to learn trolling techniques, and "If we catch fish, great, but it's not a priority", said Lance, so that took all the pressure off. We just had fun. It's a good thing it wasn't a priority, because our catch rate was bad today. We caught 6 today....not including a big catfish, that Lance masterfully was able to release before getting it to the boat. We also had a half dozen crawlers stolen from the worm burners, too, so had we caught those fish, too, we would have had a better catch. Oh, well....lucky fish!
Lance had questions, and I answered them the best I could. At the end of the trip, I asked if they learned what they needed to know, and they both said, "Yes". They have their own Vexus boat here this week, so they will be practicing what they learned, and I have no doubt that they will be successful, and have more confidence now, to do it on their own.
My crew for tomorrow, called and cancelled while we were fishing today, stating a "bad tooth" that can't wait. I know very well, what a bad tooth feels like, and how it can ruin the best of plans....so, they are going to come back in September, for a perch trip instead.
My Wednesday crew cancelled, due to his wife's eye doctor's appt, because she won't be able to drive, so he will have to take her....like a good husband should.
He's one of my regulars and has another day scheduled in June, so I'll see him then.
I was scheduled off on Thursday, so I won't be back out until Friday morning. I will get to play with the pups, go bluegill fishing, and get a round of golf in, on my time off. I'll be ready to get back on the water by Friday. :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Shane, Marilyn, and Sharon... May 13, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/13/23Shane, who lives in Minnesota, wanted to share a day on the water with his Mom Marilyn, and his sister, Sharon, so he booked a trip for Mother's Day weekend with me.
Last night the wind forecast wasn't looking too favorable, so the plan was to launch out of Catawba and stay on the protected side, and see what we could find. But, this morning when I looked, the forecast had changed for the better. The gusts were no longer in the high teens to low 20s, but rather 10mph or less. So, with that knowledge, and hope that the forecast wasn't wrong, I sent Shane a text at 4am, to let them know it was a better forecast, and that we would be meeting at Mazurik's, instead of Catawba.
I got there an hour early, so I could pull all the rods, and check the line on them, before picking out what baits I wanted to run this morning. Only three needed trimming, due to abrasion near the lure, so it didn't take very long. I puttered around the boat getting things ready, as the birds started to chirp their morning greetings. It was still very dark out, and quiet.
The feral cats, that hang out around the break wall, were curiously watching me, until other vehicles began to drive in, and they scurried away.
The air temp was in the low to mid 50s, with a light ENE wind.
My crew arrived early, so we had a head start, and launched at 5:30. The sky was cloudy, which kept the sky from lightening as fast as it did the past few days, and we would not get to see a pretty sunrise happen, so that was missed.
We headed to the NW side of Kelly's again, and set up with some Red Headed Wonder Bread Dead Eye lures that DJ Custom Eye Lures painted for me, on each side, behind Off Shore boards. Bandits out produced the Dead Eye this morning for me, so I'm not sure what to make of that. I keep hearing how they out produce the Bandit for everyone else who's running them, so I really had higher hopes for them.
We ran the same program as yesterday with the lures running 90, 80, 70, and 60 on the port side, and 80, 70., 60 and 50 on the starboard side.
Colors were two Red Headed WB Dead Eyes on each side, along with two Bandits on each side. The Bandit colors were (2) "Pearl Shad" by Chris and Matt Hoopes (the one I kept reporting as "the white one with the black dot", that I didn't know the name of, or who painted it...I found out today, they painted it, but don't paint lures anymore.), (2) "Red Chartreuse"(stock color at FishUSA)...one of each of those on each side. The Red Headed, which is usually my best color, didn't produce at all this morning, but the other two colors did.
At one point, I took one Red Head off each side and then added two dipsies to each side...running the zero and three settings. We started with spoons, and then I remembered I had some crawlers in the cooler, so I dug out the worm burners and put one on each dipsey.
The zero setting was set at 25 and 27, while the three settings were set at 43 and 45 back.
I adjusted our speed to run 1.9 on the Fish Hawk, which was 2.3-2.4 on the GPS and we started catching at a better rate.
The Worm Burner took the biggest fish, on a three setting at 45 back.... which was only a "good eater", at maybe 25 inches. 5 crawlers were stolen, too, so they were hit and misses.
I took the Bandits that were running at 50 and 60 back out of the line-up and put a 2oz snap weight on them, running at 50/24 (total of 74), and that took two with Pearl Shad Bandit.
Water temp near Starve was 58.2 on the surface, but only 52.7, at 15 feet down.
It was a tough bite overall, and like others have said, the bite for us slowed way down at around 8:30-9:00, too. We had 9 when that happened, and would only get two more the rest of the morning, before it was time to head in.
My crew had fun, even when it was raining on them. Shane was an excellent "First Mate"...having never run boards before, he did an excellent job. He caught on very quickly, and was running his side of the boat in no time at all. His mom and sister had fun reeling in fish, even if they had trouble standing up in the boat, after the wind kicked up a little.
It was enjoyable for me to spend their special time together, and I hope Marilyn has the best Mother's Day weekend, possible.
Tomorrow's crew has been rescheduled to Monday, since my Monday crew had to reschedule to July, due to an unexpected surgery, because the winds tomorrow will be nasty.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there....for those with human children and to those of us with furry four-legged children. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Francisco, Lonny, and Ted... May 12, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/12/23Guess what....I woke up early today...(sheepish grin)...made some coffee, fed the cats, got the dogs outside, and checked the weather.
It was going to be another fantastic day to be on the water. No rain, light wind, clear to partly cloudy skies, and an air temp in the low 50s to start. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?
We launched out of Mazurik's a little before 6am and headed to the north side of Kelly's to start. Water temp on the surface was 54 degrees, but it was only 52 degrees down at 15' in the water column, according to the Fish Hawk.
We set up with white bodied Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, running 90, 80, 70, and 60 on the port side and 80, 70, 60, and 50 on the starboard side.
Speed on the GPS was 1.9-2.0 to get a lure speed of 1.6-1.7mph.
Fish came on the 70, 80, and 90 foot leads, but it was a slow bite. The early bite was best, but it slowed way down for us around 8:30, so at 9am we picked up and ran to the west side of the bass islands, to try near Niagara. We stayed east of the pack that was there, and set a course back to Greene Island. We managed to pick up three more for a total of 10 for the day. We only lost three fish today, too, so it wasn't a stellar bite for us, today.
My crew stayed positive, and enjoyed the morning. "Cisco" was making me very hungry with his talk of culinary experiments, that were successful. He built a brick oven in his backyard, for making pizzas, and showed me a picture of it. Oh, how I wish I had that in my backyard! It's amazing! He said if I could ever stay awake late enough, that he would make me one. So, I guess that means I'm never getting a pizza. ;)
They had a good time, and told me they would like to make it an annual tradition, so that makes me very happy!
Tomorrow's crew, which is a fella from MN, and his Mom and Sister, who live here in Lima, OH were notified of the NE winds, and chance of rain showers, tomorrow, and how it will cut down on the areas I can take them, to fish safely, and gave them the opportunity to back out, but they still want to go. It's Mother's Day weekend, so he told me, "I'll be fishing all month, so if we catch fish, great. If not, it's no big deal. I just want to spend time with my Mom and sister on the water". So, we'll give it a go.... we will be launching out of Catawba and seeing what we can find on the protected side of the island.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jerry and Mark, May 10, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/10/23I woke up 20 minutes before the alarm was set to go off this morning, so I just got up and started the morning off with a good cup of coffee. The dogs were eager to get outside, so we went out on the back deck to check the weather. It was going to be a beautiful day, today. Yay!
I picked my crew up at the White Caps Motel at 5:15 and headed into town for the routine gas and ice stop at the gas station, and headed to Catawba to launch by 6am.
It was a clear sky this morning, and brighter than previous days, at the same time, so I felt like I was late, or something, but we weren't. We hit the water a little before 6am, and while the 400 warmed herself up, I opened the rod locker and pulled out 8 rods, that were already baited up with Bandits, and put them in the rod holders, for the ride out.
The air temp was around 48 degrees, and there was no wind at all. The lake was like glass this morning. The only ripples on the water came from boat wakes, from boats that got out there before us. :)
We started in the same place I left off on Monday, which was west of the islands and east of the cans, in 30' of water. Bandits ran on both sides of the boat, behind Off Shore Tackle boards, anywhere from 117 back to 40 back. Leads that caught the best today were 65, 70, 80, and 90'.
Best colors were white bodied baits again. The Red Headed Wonder Bread caught the most, then the full white one with the big black dot on the sides, that I don't know the name of or who painted it... was second best, with RC Crush, Green Clown, Chrome Barbie, Chrome Black Headed Wonder Bread, and Blue Shiner all taking a fish or two.
We had three pullbacks that never hooked up, and lost two on the way to the boat. Most were lightly hooked, so they were definitely were not trying to inhale them, like they are known to do, from time to time.
The all white, no named Bandit, was out with a 2oz snap weight....first, at 50/27 (total 77') and took one fish. Then, I set it at 30/30 with the 2oz, and it took two fish at that depth.
Speed was 2.0-2.2 (GPS) and 1.8-1.9 (Fish Hawk)
Water temp today was 53.7 degrees, but I'm sure by this afternoon it has gone up a notch or two.
Jerry and Mark did well learning the trolling game, and had a good time, while enjoying the gorgeous weather Mother Nature finally decided to bless us with. I hope she stays in a good mood for a while. I'm ready to start going barefoot in the boat! lol
I'm off tomorrow, to finish my gardens, but am scheduled the rest of the month with only two days scheduled off for the rest of the month...unless "Mother" decides to make it blow again.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dick and Brad May 8, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/08/23I got up early, made some coffee, and went out to the back deck with the dogs, to check the weather apps, and find out what was in store for my crew this morning.
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
Fishing Two Days with Jeff, Kevin, and Dan... May 4/5, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/05/23I'm not going to write much about yesterday, because I would rather forget it. We only caught 2 walleye north of Lucy's, up on the line. The marks were there, but the fish were mostly in a negative mood. I know some people caught them up there, and good for them, but they didn't want what we had to offer, and that was Bandits, Reapers, Bill Lewis PWCs, and Crawler Harnesses.
We caught one on a Bandit and one on a crawler harness, so no pattern, and no more bites. I felt so bad, that Jeff, Kevin, and Dan had come all the way from MN for our Lake Erie walleye bite, and I couldn't produce it for them. They didn't complain though, and said "We're fishermen, so we know that's how it sometimes goes".
I still felt awful though, so I went to bed earlier than usual, and got up with a new attitude and plan, after looking at the satellite picture from yesterday afternoon.
After deciding where I wanted to go, I talked to two people that confirmed my suspicions, and gave me a boost to my confidence that I needed. Thanks guys, you know who you are. :)
I picked my crew up at 5:15 from their VRBO rental, and proceeded to the Speedway on the other side of town, for gas and ice. We hit Catawba while it was still dark, but the huge full moon to the west was shining so brightly across the surface of the water, that it didn't feel dark.
We launched a little before 6am, and let the 400 warm up before heading north. The sun was just starting to lighten the sky to the east with a warm palette of oranges, yellows, and reds. The sky was clear, the air temp around 50 degrees, and just a whisper of a wind, that put little ripples on an otherwise flat lake.
The 8 mile ride took no time at all, and was smooth as could be. I love mornings, like this morning! I wish they could all be like this....perfection. (Well, I could do without the full moon, but you get it).
We set up in 30' of water and set all Bandits behind the Off Shore boards with longer leads of 120, 97, 80, and 70 on the port side, and 120, 93, 83, and 65 on the starboard side.
Colors that caught today were:
Wild Thing (JT Custom through FISH USA) Had 3 of these running out there
Blue Shiner (Stock Color) Had 2 running out there
Whiskey and Water (Slim Shady Custom)
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom)
Blue Chrome (stock color, of course)
All the leads took fish, but the 80 and 83 back, took the most fish.
Speed was 1.8-2.0 on the GPS but 1.5-1.6 on the Fish Hawk.
Water temp went from 49.8 to 52.3 in the 6 hours we were out there.
We managed to catch our 4-person limit of 24 fish, so I was much happier with today's outcome, than yesterday, and I'm sure my crew was too! Ha!
They have another charter tomorrow, where they will go jigging, with another captain. I am off tomorrow, and have some things getting done around the home front this weekend, so I'll be back out on Monday.
Have a great weekend, everyone! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 4 with Ed, Dennis, and Jay 4/27/2023
by Capt Juls on 04/27/23Yesterday morning, we weren't sure we were going to get to fish today, because the forecast was showing some gusty east winds, but by yesterday afternoon it showed lower wind speeds, so we made plans to fish this morning.
I picked my crew up at the White Caps Motel at 5:30, and we headed to the gas station on the other side of town, for the usual, before heading to Catawba to launch. We were in the water by 6:15 and headed north.
The sky was clear, the air was cool and crisp, and the wind was barely moving the flag hanging on the tall pole on the pier at the launch. The lake was like glass on the protected side of the island, and rolling a little more and more as we ventured further away from land towards Niagara Reef and C Can.
We set up on the north side of Niagara, when a few fish were marked on the Helix, and a WNW heading was set on the iPilot, while I fired up the baby Merc, to push us at a speed of 1.9-2.1mph (Fish Hawk speed was 1.4-1.6mph). For those that don't know what a Fish Hawk X2 is, it's a probe that is lowered into the water at a desired depth (I like 15-20 feet), and a transducer slides down the line, so it can transfer the water temp and speed info to the unit in the boat. When currents slow, or speed up the lures, the Fish Hawk can give you that info, to help you dial in a speed easier.
Water temp was 47.3 on the surface and 47.9 down below at 15 feet.
We set up with Bandits behind Off Shore boards on both sides of the boat, first thing. I said to Jay, "Go ahead and pick some numbers...you know what we have been doing the past three days, I trust you". My side ran at 71, 61, 51, and 35.
After he was all done setting the boards out, I asked, "What numbers did you pick?" He replied, "74, 64, 54, and 39". I laughed and said, "I like odd numbers". Laughing, he said, "Oh, I thought you just meant you didn't want it at 70, 60, 50, and 40". "That's okay, let's see what happens", I said. And, sure enough, his 74 and 54 both went back at the same time. We started the morning with a double. :)
The colors on his side were Buck Fever, RC Crush, Red Headed Wonder Bread, and ...I can't remember the 4th one.
My side ran Chrome Marvin, Blue Chrome, and two other chrome custom colors I don't know the names of anymore...sorry.
Fish were caught on all lead lengths, with a few going off twice.
The wind was picking up and the waves were 2-3s with an occasional 4 footer thrown in for good measure. Ed and Dennis are older gents (Dennis is Jay's Dad), and both are late 70s and/or early 80s, so I wanted to make sure they were comfortable, and decided it was best to head back towards more protected waters to fish. We left that area with 11 nice fish in the cooler, and headed back towards Catawba, to fish off the point with the hour and a 1/2 we had left. This time of year, there is usually some fish in that area.
We took our time, so the ride didn't bust anyone's butts, or the boat, and set up off Catawba. Jay was working on setting his third bait, and before he could get the board on he exclaimed, "I got a fish! I didn't even get the board on, yet!". It was a nice one too...I'm guessing 25 or 26 inches. I didn't measure it.
I asked him, "What does that tell you, when that happens?" He said, "It had to be up very high, because I had just stopped the bait, so it was just starting to dive". "Yes, that's correct. What did you just set that bait at?" "40 back", he said. "Do you want me to bring it back in and make it a shorter lead?", he asked.
I said, "Let's see what happens, since you have it out already, you can always change it. That might have just been a suicidal fish, and not a pattern".
I had gone to the bow for something and looked down in the water and there was a fish (Jay thought it was a bass, but I saw a sheephead) swimming in the top 8" of water, and then we watched it slowly swim out of sight as the boat passed by. So, I thought....hmmmmm....his fish was caught high, and this fish is up high, so let's put some baits out up high and see if they are being weird today.
I changed out the Bandits on my side to DHJ12's and put the shortest leads on the outside this time, running at 15, 25, 35, and 45. Long story short....nada. That was a fail. Hey, but at least we tried. lol
We caught one more on the Red Headed WB at 50 back, and that was it for the Catawba area. It was time to go home.
Ed, Dennis, and Jay learned a lot about trolling with Off Shore boards and now have the confidence to go use what they learned in my boat, to use in their boats. Each day, they got better and better, and I have every confidence that they can successfully run planer boards with fewer problems and tangles, than they had before.
They said they had a great time, and that makes me happy. :)
Tomorrow, would have been their 5th day, but with the crappy weather and gusty NE winds forecasted, it was an easy decision for them to travel back to Wisconsin and Minnesota tomorrow.
My crew for Saturday, sent me a text the other day, to cancel, due to the forecast they saw, so I offered them a chance to reschedule for another time. They accepted that offer. Hey, I don't like fishing in crappy weather, either! lol
It's looking like I'm going to have a lot of days off here, the next several days. Next week is looking bad with lots of wind and rain. So, don't look for a report from me until at least, Thursday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 3 with Ed, Dennis, and Jay...4/26/2023
by Capt Juls on 04/26/23Sorry for no report yesterday, I wasn't feeling well after a day in the cold, and some bad food from a local restaurant. I'm feeling better today, though, so all is well. :)
This morning, I left the house at 4:40, to go gas up the boat and truck on the other side of town, and get some ice for the cooler, before driving back to the White Caps Motel, to pick up my crew at 5:15.
They were up and ready to go when I got there, so we packed up their belongings in the back of the truck and hit the road. We were headed to Vermilion, this time, to see if those bigger fish wanted to play with us today.
We launched at 6:15 and headed NNE out of the river to 40 feet of water, where we found really good marks on the sonar, and set up.
Bandits behind Off Shore boards were set at 80, 70, 60, and 50 on the port side and 85, 75, 65, and 45 on the starboard side. The color spectrum was all over the place with my usual Red Headed WB, Humble Bee w/Blk stripes, Buck Fever, Pooh Bear, some chartreuse and black one with black dots...and a couple others I can't remember the names of, but they all caught fish.
Speed was 1.8-2.1 on the GPS and 1.4-1.5 on the Fish Hawk on a E to W trolling pass.
Water temp was 47.3 degrees.
The Red Headed Wonder Bread was once again the hotter color for us, so that one, for sure, is always going out on any given day....until it doesn't work anymore.
Fish were caught on the port side numbers more than the starboard side, so I switched up the lures on the starboard side to Reapers, and picked up a few fish on the blue/chrome/orange belly with funky stripes at 35, 60 and 70 back. We would end up leaving two of that color on, on those leads, but put more Bandits back out, on that side.
We marked a ton of fish today, but didn't get the bites one would expect with marks like that on the screen. There were a lot of boats over there, too, so being able to keep on an angle that was working was hard to do. We did move out of the pack, once it grew around us, so we didn't have to deal with it, and we did better.
As time was drawing down, we lost our two last fish, with one line tangle in the mix, that ended up getting sucked into my kicker's prop, so that was good timing, if it had to happen. We picked everything up and headed in, with 14 in the cooler. Kicker is fine...no damage to the seal.
It was a much nicer day, than the previous day, with the sun shining, calmer winds, and warmer temps. It's still chilly out there, and I'm so looking forward to the warm days when we don't have to be all bundled up, and I can go barefoot again.
Come on, Mother Nature...what do you say? Can you straighten up your act, soon, please? Thank you!
Ed, Dennis, and Jay are going to get one more day in before it blows again on Friday, so we will be launching out of Catawba, since Mazurik's is closed again tomorrow for pavement repair work, as they finish up the new facilities there.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 1 of 5 with Ed, Dennis, and Jay 4/24/2023
by Capt Juls on 04/24/23
We had a later start this morning, due to the NW wind forecast. First we hit Catawba, but I didn't like the white caps rolling in there, so I thought it best to drive over to Mazurik's to launch, so we could at least ride up along the east side of the Bass Islands, for some calmer waters on our ride up to the line.
It wasn't too bad, and we made our way up going slower than I normally would. My crew consisted of two older gentlemen, Ed and Dennis, from Wisconsin, and Dennis's son, Jay, who resides just outside of the twin cities in MN. I have them for the next four days, too. We will be starting earlier tomorrow, so I'll be off the water in a more timely fashion to get a better report done.
There were about 50 boats up on the line, this morning, and there weren't a lot of nets flying, so I think we did okay with the 12 walleye we boxed. My crew was happy enough anyway. And, tomorrow is going to be a better day wind-wise, so hopefully our tally will improve. :)
Just a quick report today...
Bandits 35-85 back behind the Off Shore boards were catching. Reapers only caught one, so they got changed out to Bandits, too.
Red headed Wonder Bread, Electric Zebra, Khaki, RC Crush, Carrot Top, and Humble Bee w/Blk Stripes all caught fish.
The water temp dropped 6 degrees from last week up there...it was 46 degrees today.
Speed was 1.3-1.5 on the Fish Hawk and 1.8-2.0 on the GPS.
I'm afraid that's all I can type right now. My puppy, Alfie, is climbing all over me, and making it impossible to type. He needs some serious attention, so I have to go throw the ball for him.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Glen and Joe...April 20, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/20/23
Woke up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and looked at the wind forecast for today, trying to figure out where I would take my crew to fish today. The iWindSurf "Live Wind" forecast was showing stronger winds at the islands, than over by Huron and Vermilion, so the decision was made to go launch at Vermilion, this morning.
I left early, so I could go gas up and get ice for the cooler, before picking my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5:20. They were ready to go when I arrived a few minutes early, so we headed out. I told them my plans, and why, and they liked the idea, so off to Vermilion we went.
We arrived at the launch just as it was getting light out, and there were already several boats there launching, or getting ready to launch. We headed out of the river at 6am, and headed west from there. We didn't go very far before marking some good fish on the Helix, so we stopped to set up. The Terrova and the baby Merc were deployed, and set to a westerly course.
Speed was surging, due to the NE rollers happening, but I was trying to keep the lure speed at 1.3-1.5 on the Fish Hawk, while the GPS speed was reading 1.8-2.1 at the same time.
Water temp was 46.7 this morning.
We set up with all Bandits behind Off Shore boards, on both sides of the boat, for the first pass. 80, 60, 50, 40 on the port side, and 85, 65, 55, 45 on the starboard side (Longest leads on the outside).
Colors were Khaki, Red Headed Wonder Bread, Buck Fever, and RC Crush on the port side, and Black Headed Wonder Bread, RC Crush, a Hammertime color I don't know the name of, (not on his site, but was picture in my last report), and Huff Daddy on the starboard side.
We went with the waves, over 25-27 feet of water first, and marked a ton of fish, but only got one small male to bite. Ugh...it was SO slow. It's frustrating to see so many fish on the screen, when they just don't want to eat.
I decided to run the trough from East to West, and out to deeper water. "Let's change the angle of our dangle, and see what happens", I said.
Fish were marking everywhere, but still hanging lower in the water column. I tried one perch colored Spro on a snap-weight, to get it down to them, but they weren't interested, and not eating down there.
We went from 27 feet of water out to 38 feet and turned back around to go west to east. We caught a couple going that way, but it was better going east to west.
I switched up the inside Bandit on the port side to a Walleye Nation Creation Reaper in a color I bought from the "Fishing Addiction" website called, "Blue Chrome Zombie". It was swimming at 40 back for about 10 minutes, before the board slammed back. That was a good sign. When it got hit again, I said, "Let's change up the entire starboard side with Reapers, and see what happens. They may just want a different profile and action today. We'll keep three Bandits on the other side, to see what they prefer.
Another BCZ went out, along with two Purple Tigers, and a Black Headed Wonder Bread. The outside board ran at 60 back, the third board at 50, the second board at 45, and the inside at 43. All the Reapers took fish this morning. A long story shorter....Eventually, the fish on the sonar started to rise off the bottom, and come up. Bandits caught three fish and the Reapers took 9 of the 12 fish we caught.
We had three pullbacks that didn't hook up, too.
It was comical to watch the three of us trying to stand up while running the trough with NE rollers...and, while I have damn good sea legs, I did lose my balance several times. My crew had a much harder time with it, but stayed positive and did a lot of laughing. Thankfully, no one fell or got hurt, so it was worth the effort, because the fish definitely liked that direction better. :)
Glen and Joe had a great time just being on the water today, so catching fish was a nice bonus, which makes my job a lot less stressful when the fish are giving me a hard time, but getting them their limit made me very happy.
Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled by my customer for later in May, so I'm off tomorrow. I'm still watching Saturday's weather, and will decide that one tomorrow.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 3 with Clayton and Todd...April 16, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/16/23If you're looking for a Day 2 report, I didn't write one...I was too tired, sorry!
I went to bed earlier than usual, last night, because I was whooped. I wanted to get a good night's sleep before fishing the final day with my ND crew. Clayton and Todd were up early, and ready to go when I showed up at the White Caps Motel at 5:30, to pick them up.
We drove to the Speedway on the other side of town, to gas up and get ice, but they were out of ice. The cashier said, "Home City Ice didn't deliver, so everyone is out of ice this morning". We did try two other gas stations, but one wasn't even open, and the other was indeed out of ice, too. So, we decided to leave the cooler in the truck and use the livewell, instead.
We launched at Catawba at 6:15 and headed north to the line. The wind was light out of the SSE, and the waves were less than a foot for our ride up there, so it was a smooth comfortable ride in the Vexus, at a cruising speed of 48mph. We set up short of where we finished yesterday, and headed towards my waypoints.
We set up with Bandits anywhere from 40-100 back with the following colors:
Buck Fever (3) (purple back with chrome sides and belly...it's either a Domka or DJ color...I can't remember)
Chrome Barbie(2)
Freak Show (1) (Hammertime Custom)
One I don't know the name of, but I think it's a Hammertime Custom, but I can't find the color on his site.
RC Crush (1)
Some lure colors got changed out, except the Buck Fever and Chrome Barbies...those two were hot, hot, hot! 65 and 75 back were the best leads, too.
Speed on the GPS was 1.9-2.1mph while the Fish Hawk was showing 1.3-1.4mph, at the same time.
Water temp was 53 degrees.
We caught the first fish before the second line could be set, and then we got a few more Off Shore boards out, and they started going back...we had 5 in the boat before all the lines were set.
S-turns were triggering fish, when it slowed up a bit. Sometimes, it was the fast side and sometimes it was the slow side. So, it was more of a reaction bite. We did have some short strikes, and missed a few too.
When the bite slowed, we headed south and hit an area that was east of Niagara, with no boats around. The water was more stained than where we first started, and the water temp was 55 degrees. We set up there with the same program, since it was over 33 feet of water, just like where we had started in the first spot.
The Terrova was steering us on a northerly pass, while the kicker pushed us at the same speed as previously stated. It wasn't long, before we caught the first one in that spot...and, then we lost two. We picked up a couple more in that direction, and then turned to go in the opposite direction. The wind had picked up a little, but the waves were still less than two feet.
The fish definitely liked us going the opposite direction, because we were getting a lot of action with doubles and triples happening.
The final tally, was our 18 in the box, and almost just as many released, when I said we needed to head in. I was watching the sky and the weather coming in and figured the wind would be coming in behind the first system. I was right. As we headed in, the wind was getting stronger, and by the time we hit the ramp, the lake was white capping. We timed it right though, because we hit the ramp before anyone else, so we were loaded out with around a dozen boats behind us looking to load out too.
The wind had switched from SSE to SSW, so now the waves were going right into the ramp, which makes it a little nastier when trying to hold a boat at the dock, or pier wall, and getting it on the trailer. I will normally use another ramp if the forecast is calling for a SW wind.
The ND boys had a great time, all three days, and said they will be back again, so that makes me happy!
Mother Nature has decided to throw a tizzy fit again, for the next two days, so I'll be on shore calibrating two reels that I had to respool, cleaning the boat, walking the dogs, running errands, and cleaning this house...fun times! Ha!
My next trip will be Wednesday, unless the forecast changes. But, right now, it's showing light NNW winds, so it should be fishable. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
