Juls WFA Blog
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
Fishing Day 1 with Clayton and Todd...April 14, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/14/23I was well rested from a good night's sleep, and got up early, to give the dog's some attention before I had to leave. The pup is getting used to the words, "I have to go to work, and you have to stay here. I gotta go fishing, and make some money honey, so you can live". He's much calmer than the first few times I left the house for hours on end, so that's progress. :)
I headed into town to gas up and get the ice for the cooler, before heading to the White Caps to meet my crew. Clayton and Todd flew in from Bismark, ND to do some walleye fishing this weekend. They are mostly doing catch and release, because they don't want to take a ton of fillets on the plane ride home, so they are selecting the good eaters and letting the big girls live another day.
We fished the west side of the islands, this morning, and had 8 in the boat before my Ulterra lost its pairing ability, causing me to not have any controls to operate the unit. Grrrrrrr! If I didn't have bad luck this season, I wouldn't have any luck at all, it seems.
I called Matt Wieland, our local Minn-Kota repair service tech in the area and asked him if he knew what the problem might be, hoping I could fix it on the water, and keep on fishing. However, after a few "try this...is it doing this...can you do that?" questions...he said it needs to be brought in. And, because, I didn't have any controls, the shaft was up in the air as high as it could go. I left it that way, instead of trying to do a manual stow on it, because that is a pain in the butt to do on the water, and it wouldn't hurt anything to keep it up there in the air.
My friend, Chris Utter, was down here from Wisconsin, fishing with his friend, Lyle, and working with us on the water this morning. He offered to take my crew fishing with them, while I got the Ulterra looked at. I was thankful that they were able to keep fishing, even if I wasn't going to make any money today. I would have hated to see them sitting on shore after traveling so far to get here. Thanks, Chris! You're the best!
On my way to see Matt, I decided to just replace the Ulterra with a Terrova, instead. I called him on my way over to his building, and asked if he could find one on such short notice, and to my surprise, and relief, he was able to. He went and picked it up, then installed it in short order, saving me once again. Thanks, Matt! You're the best, too! :)
We had caught 8 nice walleye before this all happened, so at least we had some fun this morning, before my morning fell apart. And, they got a very long day of fishing, because they are still out there with Chris and Lyle, so I'm sure Clayton and Todd are happy too.
We will hit the lake again tomorrow, and hopefully Sunday, before the winds show up, with a cold front, that will knock out my Monday and Tuesday trips.
Sorry there's no report to report....it was one of those days....again. Deep sigh.
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day2 with Greg, Dave, and Jeff...April 13, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/13/23Left the house at 5:15 and picked my crew up at the White Caps Motel at 5:20. We hit town and gassed up, bought ice, and headed to the ramp to launch.
The first stop was up by Greene island and Rattlesnake. Bandits ran on the starboard side and DHJ12s ran on the port side, behind Off Shore boards.
Bandits were set at 95, 75, 65, 55, and 45 back, and the Huskies were set at 80, 60, 50, 40, and 30 back. Speed was 1.6 on the Fish Hawk and 1.9 on the GPS. The water temp, early this morning, was 44.7 degrees.
We caught one relatively quick on a "FJ Spot" (DJ Custom Eye Lures color) at 65 back, and then one on the Khaki Bandit at 95 back. Then, nothing. The marks were gone already, as we trolled north. Maybe they were south. I don't know...I didn't check.
I wasn't going to waste anymore time there, this time, so we picked up and went looking, but never found anything worth setting up on. There sure is a lot of water out there, and we covered a lot of it this morning...lol
After wasting a lot of gas, I called a friend who told me where he was, and that he was on a good bite, and said I should come there...so, we did. Thanks, friend...you know who you are. :)
I'm not going to name you, so you won't get bombarded with texts.
I will not say where that is, because it's not my information to give, and I hope you understand...that's just how I do it. If I find the fish, I can share the info, if I want to, but if someone else gives me the info, I won't share their info without their permission. I was asked not to share it this time, so I won't. That's all I can say about that. Sorry!
So, I guess this will be a short, pretty much non-report, since there's nothing really to share.
Greg, Dave, and Jeff had a great time (definitely more fun than yesterday), and caught their 3-person limit today. We lost 4 fish that came unbuttoned before we got them to the boat, too. The fish were nice and healthy and a good quality size, so they have a good amount of fish to take back to Wisconsin for their family fish fries.
Tomorrow, I have another 3-person crew from Bismark, ND. They have fished with me in the fall for perch before, so I'm looking forward to doing some trolling with them. They are great guys and another fun, laid back, group to fish with.
The weather tomorrow should be very nice, with light winds out of the south, and more sunshine in the forecast.
PSA: Don't forget to use your sunscreen and protect your skin! :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 1 with Greg, Jeff, and Dave...April 12, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/12/23Well, I hate to even post this one, but a good day fishing, but not a good day catching, is worth reporting, too. My Wisco crew was very laid back, and fun to fish with today.
We left Mazurik's at 6:30 and headed north. When we set up, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. The wind was out of the SW at around 13mph, with gusts to 20. Waves were 1-3s. Water temp was 44.3 degrees on the east of Ballast Island. We set a course to the NE at a speed of 1.3-1.6mph, on the Fish Hawk. Speed on the GPS was 1.7-2.0mph.
Marks on the sonar were good closer to Ballast, but as we ventured further out away from the islands, and towards the Canadian line, the marks were few and far between.
We set up with Bandits on both sides first, but after a dismal start, we changed up the port side to WNC Reapers. The blue chrome with groovy stripes on it took one at 57 back. Then, nothing. We decided to move closer to Kelly's north side.
We set up again with the Bandits on the starboard side at 100, 70, 60, 50, and 40 back behind the Off Shore boards, and the Reapers set at 97, 77, 67, 57, and 47.
Fish came on the Reaper at 97, 67, and 57 back closer to Kelly's. The Bandits only caught a plastic bag today.
We made one more move, after that pass from west to east, and when we hit the east side of the island, we moved back to the NW corner of it. This time, I decided to try the 38-40' of water contour lines, headed north, towards Gull Island Shoal.
We changed out the Reapers to Flicker Minnow 11s, and caught a walleye at 67 back on the purple chrome/foil color. Nothing more on that pass up to the shoal and across the bottom of it, headed east.
We had good marks everywhere in that area, so it's just a matter of time before they become hungry and active again. I hate this time of the spawn, when they are recovering...deep sigh.
We changed up colors so often, I can't remember what caught, and what we had out. We ended up with 6 fish though, and that's it. Not a great day of catching, but it was a great day fishing. My Wisco crew is a lot of fun, and very patient, so they made my job less stressful on a tough day.
We will try again tomorrow, but this time headed out of Catawba, and headed to the west side of the islands. The satellite picture is looking better and better every day, the water temps are coming up, the air temps are going up, the full moon is diminishing, and the winds are going to lay down a little bit again. The bite is sure to get hot here pretty soon.
Yes, some people are in the right spot at the right time, and will do very well, and catch their limits....but, for the rest of us that are over fish that do not want to participate, this blog is for them.
Keep the faith, and never give up. Don't lose your confidence, which I know can happen. Right now, I feel like I have forgotten how to fish! But, we're just in the right spot at the wrong time, so just keep plugging away. The lake is huge, and there is no way to cover it all, so just remember, the easy days are just around the corner.
But, this Monday, and Tuesday are going to blow again....and, Monday is a big cold front, again. Wednesday is a NW wind forecast, making for rough seas. Welcome to Lake Erie...be smart and be safe.
Tomorrow, I have the same crew, and we will try our best...that's all we can do.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Jason, Cindy, and John...April 9th, 2023
by Capt Juls on 04/09/23Left the house this morning, with my heart breaking, because Alfie is not used to me leaving without him, yet. He was giving me the sad/confused eyes as I walked out the door. :(
Dexter just jumped up on the couch with a look of, "Have a great day, Mom! See you when you get back." lol
Thankfully, my friend, Jen, came yesterday and today to walk them, while I was gone. Thanks Jen, it's much appreciated! :)
It was 5:30 when I left the house, this morning. I was picking my crew up at the Country Inn and Suites, across town, at 6am. I hit the gas station for ice, but forgot my crew had my cooler from the day before, so I threw it up on the back of the boat and headed to the hotel. They had gotten ice too, so we had an overabundance of ice this morning. Oops!
It was chilly this morning, but the weatherman said it would be warming up to around 53 degrees by noon. It was 37 degrees when we launched at Catawba, and the wind barely made a ripple across the surface of the lake. The wind forecast was for 7-8 out of the east, but I think it was probably around 5mph all morning. the sky was clear of clouds all day, so we also got a great satellite picture this afternoon.
We headed north towards Niagara again, but were going to look at the deeper side of it, to the east, this time. I was expecting to find some muddy water, but it was clean, so we kept heading north until we found some good mixing water with some fish marks in it.
Speaking of fish marks....my sonar is working perfectly after installing the latest Helix software update last night. That monkey is off my back now...whew!
We set up with Bandits on both sides, running behind the Off Shore boards.
The port side was set at 80, 60, 50, 40 (long leads on the outside), and the port side ran at 100, 77, 67, and 57.
Colors that caught fisher were:
Taco Salad (stock)
Freak Show (Hammertime Lures/Sandusky Bait Co.)
Blue Chrome (Stock)
Red Headed Wonderbread (not stock, but I can't remember where I got them from)
Electric Zebra (stock)
At one point, I swapped out the Bandits on the starboard side to all Spro 120s and ran them at 97, 67, 50, and 40.
Colors that caught were the
Blue Chrome (stock)
Chrome Perch (stock)
RC Crush (DJ Custom Eye Lures)
Around 11AM I noticed the water temp on the Fish Hawk was colder down below (43.2) than the surface temp reading from my Helix (44), so I thought since we were in muddy water that the fish might be nose bleed high to soak up some of that warmth from the sunshine without getting blinded, and brought a few baits up really high....like 20 feet behind the board kind of high.
The Red Headed Spro at 20 back got pulled back hard within 5 minutes of setting it, but it was a hit and a miss.
Then, I had Jason set his two inside Bandits at 20 and 30 back, too, and the 20 back took a nice fish, not too long after.
We were doing a lot of S-Turns, and sometimes they hit on the fast side, and sometimes they hit on the slow side. I was trying to keep the speed at the lures around 1.3 to 1.5 mph, which on the Helix was 1.6 to 1.9mph.
Jason, Cindy, and John had a better time today than yesterday, because the weather was so much nicer, and the fish were more cooperative. We will be launching out of Mazurik's tomorrow, for their last day.
I think all of the fish caught today were already spawned out...and, I think all those marks on my sonar this morning were already spawned out fish that just needed to rest up after getting beat up. It won't be long and they will put the feed bag on. Oh what fun that will be, eh? :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jason, Cindy, and John Hendricks... 4/8/2023
by Capt Juls on 04/08/23After a bunch of reschedules this past week, I was finally able to start the season with my Wisconsin crew of three. Jason Hendricks had fished with me a few years ago, with some friends, but this time he brought his father John and his wife Cindy along with him for a three day trip.
As you all know, the winds here have been wacky for several weeks, to where it would blow hard from one direction, and then be nice for a day, and then blow hard from the opposite direction, the next day. The full moon was last night, so typically, if the conditions are right, a good bunch of fish will spawn during the full moon, and ignore our offerings of plastic crank baits as they swim by. The jiggers will have more success with the frisky males on the reefs right now, than the trollers looking for big females.
Not all fish will spawn at the same time, however, so there will be fish that will still bite, so always go if you have the chance. :)
You all know my morning routine of getting gas and ice at the local station, so I'll skip that fun part today, and get right into the what, where, and how.
We launched out of Catawba just before sunrise, so we could get the sunrise pic from the water. It's been a long winter, and it's my first sunrise pic out there this season, so that alone made it a good day for me. lol
We headed north to Niagara, and found some decent water. Unfortunately, my Helix's sonar is acting up again. I just changed out the Y Cable yesterday, because it wasn't reading on plane, and again....It wasn't reading on plane this morning.
It eventually started working, closer to the end of our trip, though. It's like the unit isn't processing the info, or something, until the unit has been on for a few hours. I don't understand it. Another reason I think it's the unit, and not the Y cable now, is that the sonar screen's scroll is set at 10, and intermittently it will slow way down and maybe scroll at a level 2?
Anyway....I knew the area, so we set up over 30' of water, with Bandits behind Off Shore boards, on the south side of the reef. It was an ENE wind (early), and then began to switch to an ESE wind, with some gusts, later on.
Bandits were set at 80, 70, 60, and 50 on the port side, with the longest leads on the outside boards, and 75, 65, 55, 45 on the starboard side. After the port side caught 3 fish, to zero fish on the starboard side, we switched out the starboard side with P-10s (no weight), at 90, 70, 60, 50 (again, longest leads on the outside).
The speed on the surface was different than the speed at the Fish Hawk swimming down below. The SOG, as we trolled towards Crib Reef, said it was 1.6-1.7mph, and the Fish Hawk read 1.0mph at the lure.
Colors that caught the 5 fish this morning were...Bandits: (2) Red Headed Wonder Bread @ 40 back, RC Crush @60 back, Taco Salad @ 80 back, and one Fire Tiger P-10 @60 back.
When the waves started turning into 3's and 4's in the shallow reef area, we picked up and headed down inside, to Clinton Reef, and set up with a trolling pass towards the Portage River. Nada...just one pull back there. Didn't mark much there either, which is unusual for this time of year.
Since we didn't have time left to go anyplace else and start again, and it was windy and chilly, they opted to head in early to try again tomorrow. We will be launching out of Mazurik's in the morning.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Finally Ready to Go!
by Capt Juls on 04/02/23I had been trying to fish this past week, both on Tuesday and Thursday, to make sure everything was working before I started running any trips, but equipment gremlins kept me from fishing, either day.
Long story short.... Dan, at Fisherman's Central, got my Minn-Kota and Humminbird working again, so I was good to go this morning.
Jen and I launched out of Dempsey's at 9am and headed out to the lake to see if we could find some clean water. With the offshore winds the past two days, I figured all the mud that had been closer to shore would have blown out to mix with the cleaner water to the NNE, so we headed north, in search of the right mixing water.
Last night's gusty winds had subsided to a light wind out of the north, by 9am, so the ride out wasn't that bad.
We ended up starting at the 39/32 line, and set up on a WNW to ESE trolling pass, to a north to south pass.
Water temp was 39.4 degrees up there on the line, and only 36.9 in the south passage.
I set the speed to 1.2mph on the gps, and got the lines in the water. Jen ran Bandits on her side, with an RC Crush at 110 on the outside Off Shore board, Daydream Bandit at 65 on the middle board, and a Red Headed Wonder Bread Bandit on the inside board with a 2oz snap weight, set at 50/40.
My side ran the "Christmas Tree" "Bill Lewis Precise Walleye Crank" at 65 back on the middle board, and the Black Headed Chrome Wonder Bread, 30 back, on the inside board. The outside board ran a custom color from DJ's Custom Eye Lures called, "FJ Spot" at 80 back.
After the baits were in the water, I proceeded to set up the "Fish Hawk" unit. Once it was up and running, I noticed that I had to be going 1.6mph (SOG) to have the baits swimming at 1.1mph, down below. That's a big difference!
We only caught two walleye, before heading back in at noon. One nice 6ish pounder came on the Red Headed Wonder Bread at 50/40 2oz, and a nice eater bit the RC Crush at 110 back, unassisted.
I got the peace of mind, to know that everything is working in the boat again, as it should be. So, now, I just need Mother Nature to back off and get her act together, so I can get back to work. Several days may get rescheduled this week.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
It's a Lousy Weather Day Today so I'm Just Checking In...:)
by Capt Juls on 02/22/23It's one of those days dreary days, where a freezing rain taps on the windows, quietly in the background, while I'm sitting here at my computer, tapping on the keys.
A gusty wind, puffs from the NE...it's 34 degrees, with an even colder windchill, and a rain system coming in from the opposite direction. It's just an all around weird and yucky day.
I thought I would take advantage of being stuck at home, while the dogs are quiet, and touch base with those of you who will be fishing with me this season. :)
First, I want to thank all of you have already scheduled trips, I couldn't do this without you, and I'm looking forward to fishing with you all! ;)
April is already full...woot! woot!
May has only the 31st left to fill.
June has the following open...the 19th, 23rd, 26th, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th.
And, there's plenty openings in the summer, right now, too.
I'll be at the Huron Fish Expo on March 4th, working the Off Shore Tackle display, along with 3 other OST Pro Staffers, to answer any questions people might have about the product. Then, the following weekend, I'll be at the South Shore Marine Show with the OST display, too.
March 18th I'll have my boat at a test ride event with Fisherman's Central, at a local ramp. I'm not sure where they are going out of yet. I would think Dempsey's would be a good choice, but I don't get to pick the spot. lol I'll update this when I know where.
Hopefully, after that, the weather will start behaving better, and I'll get back to fishing and blogging more.
Stay Tuned....
Capt Juls
