Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Mike Hamsa and Cousins 4/25/16
by Capt Juls on 04/25/16I swung by the Holiday Inn Express at 5:45 this morning and picked up my crew for the day. Mike, and his cousins, Nick and Matt, were hungry, so we headed to Bopper's for a quick breakfast. When we left, I headed to Mazurik's, but after pulling in, I decided it would be better to launch at Catawba, because I wanted to head to Niagara to start the trip.
We launched at Catawba at 7am, and indeed headed to Niagara. We set up on the northeast side of the reef and had a fish on the first Bandit as the Off Shore board was going out. I made the comment, "I hope this isn't like a tournament day, where you get a fish right away, and then...nothing". They laughed, and agreed, but that's exactly what happened. We didn't see another board go back for the next 45 minutes! We found some good marks further to the NE of the reef, but several of the other charters were catching closer to the reef.
The radio chatter had the Bandits working at all different depths, from 30 to 100 back, and it was making me crazy switching things up and changing colors, trying to match what they were doing.
After the second fish came in, we decided to make the move from Niagara up to the north side of North Bass Island, where I thought I would have it to ourselves. But, that was a wrong assumption, since there were approximately 25-30 boats working that area too. Uffda! We made one pass, and caught one nice walleye. We moved back up to the NE side to make another slide, but I didn't see the marks up there that I would have liked to see, so we decided to move down between North Bass and Niagara...somewhere out in the middle of nowhere in the direction of Niagara. We would mark a bunch, and then nothing....mark some more, and then nothing. At one point, I was listening to that stupid radio again, and decided to change something up. After I took the board off and started to reel, a walleye hit it, so I figured that meant I should speed up the troll, so I did. But, that didn't help anything....we were still struggling.
We were getting really good at catching white bass though. I've got that down pat pretty well!
Then.....it happened....Max pulled a BANANA out of his lunch bag!!!! I looked at him and said, "You brought a banana on a fishing boat?" He said "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" I said, laughing, "What's wrong with that? Have you never heard of the long standing superstition of how bananas shouldn't be on boats....ever?" He looked at his brother and his cousin for some recognition of what the heck I was talking about, but they had never heard of it either. So, I explained it to them, and told him, "Well, you'd better eat it, or throw it overboard". So, he decided it was best to eat it. When he took the first bite I said, "Well, now that it's in you, I have no choice, but to throw your body overboard too". (Just kidding, of course!) He laughed, and finished his banana. Smiling, I told his kin, "If we don't catch anymore fish today, it's Max's fault." They were more than willing to blame him too. lol
After finishing the pass up near the reef, I told them I had one more spot I wanted to try, since the NE wind was starting to kick up. I thought it would be a good idea to go over to Green Island and try that area. This time though, I would turn off that blasted marine radio, put on some Pink Floyd, set out Bandits at 60-75 back, with one on the 2oz inline 60' back, and adjust my speed to the current, which right where we were would be, 1.6mph.
It turned out to be a good idea, since we managed to catch as many fish in a 1/2 hour as we had all morning up north. We ended the day with 10 walleye from 25-29 inches.
After dropping the fish off at Bay's Edge Fish Cleaning, I took them back to their hotel, and told them I would text them tonight with a launch time for the morning. I told them I had to look at the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, since they are calling for a chance of severe thunderstorms overnight and into the early morning hours. More than likely though, I will have to wait until I get up at 4am to check it. We will have to wait for any storm remnants to pass.
All I know is, that I won't be looking forward to more North winds, and colder temps again. I've had just about enough of that, thank you very much....ugh.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Mike and his Buddies 4/24/16
by Capt Juls on 04/24/16Woke up at 3:30am, which was too early, but I couldn't sleep, so I got up and put the coffee on. I checked the weather and wind forecast, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was going to be a nice morning.
After gassing up the Ranger, and hitting Bopper's for breakfast, I drove over to Mazurik's to wait on my crew. They were camping last night at East Harbor State Park, in a tent, so I can only imagine how cold that had to be....brrr!
I was at the ramp early, so I texted them to let them know they could come over as soon as they were ready. They showed at a little before 7am, so we were on the water at 7. Thanks Nick Hogan for dumping us in, so we didn't have to wait!
With only a 4 hour trip scheduled, (something I no longer offer), we made a plan of hitting Mouse Island and the ferry channel area. The reports on the radio were that Bandits 45-65 back were working.
My guys had never run Off Shore boards before, so after a quick tutorial, and my looking over their shoulders, to make sure they didn't have any issues, they were setting the lines with ease.
We caught the first one on a Pink Lemonade Deep Walleye Bandit at 55 back, and then....nothing. So, with the info from the tournament still rolling around in my brain, I thought, "Why not?" So, I put a 2oz inline weight on and a 6' leader in front of a Natural Perch Bandit, and set it out 55 back. I'm only guessing, but I think that puts it in the 21' range. Our speed was 1.6mph.
It wasn't long and the board sporting the 2oz inline went surging back, and another nice walleye was put in the box...putting a smile on my face, since the program everyone else was catching fish on wasn't working for us, for some reason.
We would end the short trip with 5 nice walleye. Four of them came on the 2oz set up, and just that first one came on the higher bait. It's funny how you can be running the same area, same baits, same colors, and one boat does well at it, and the other does nothing. That's a head scratcher for sure!
The guys were happy to have enough for a great fish fry, and for learning a new technique, so that made me happy. :)
Tomorrow is a new group of guys (3 of them, I think?), who will be fishing with me for two days. The weather looks pretty decent for the next two days, so hopefully, the fish will be cooperative. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Montana Men...Cont'd 4/21-22
by Capt Juls on 04/24/16After a fun week of fishing with Craig and Scott, my boat was dirty, my house was dirty, my yard was full of dog poo, and my dogs were giving me the "big sad eyes", so I opted to clean everything up and take the dogs for a ride, and walk, yesterday instead of taking the time to write the blog.
To summarize the info, because I'm headed out fishing again this morning, I just want to say first that they were the greatest guys to fish with, and I hope to fish with them again next year! It truly was more like just fun fishing than work for me, so I can't thank them enough for the opportunity to fish with them.
We fished in the rain on Thursday, but it wasn't bad, and the winds were down, so we could move from spot to spot with relative ease. And, Friday was perfectly calm with the most beautiful sunrise I have seen yet this season. What a way to end the trip.
Anyway, the bite was at Niagara, and we pulled Bandits 55-75 back. Thursday, it was chromes (blues and pinks), and Friday it was Anti Freeze and Fire Tiger that did the best. Speed was a little higher on Thursday at 1.8-2.0mph, while Friday it was back down to 1.6 mph.
If anyone has been following the chatter on the NWT tournament that was just here. The winner, Tom Keenan, I'm told was fishing over in Vermilion, so the fish are definitely on the move now. The second place finisher, who was in the lead on day one, was fishing over by the Marblehead lighthouse...fishing deep. We had hit that area before take off on day one, so my guys could watch the boats fly by...which was pretty cool. It brought back a lot of memories for me too.
One boat gave a pretty good show....but, I doubt he meant to..lol
He hit a wake and the entire boat was out of the water...I could see his prop clear as day. Ouch! I'm sure his Co Angler was thinking, "Holy #%$#, this guy is nuts"! Ha!
Anyway, I'm keeping this one short, because I have too many good memories from fishing with these two gentlemen to get them all down in print. So, I'll just keep the memories to myself this time.
I'm headed out this morning for a quick 4 hour trip (which I no longer offer, but they were repeats and booked early last year before I changed the services)...and, will be sticking close, in order to maximize our time on the water. I'm thinking of fishing either the Mouse Island area, or going over to the lighthouse again to see if I can get those deep fish to bite. Wayne Van Dyke got them to bite on Deep Bandits 150 back, but I'm thinking that if I use a 2oz snap weight, I can cut that length in half and run them 75 back at 35/40. It's worth a try anyway. :)
Good luck if you get out today...I'll blog later since my chores are all done.
Stay tuned...
Juls
Day 3 of a 5 Day Trip with the Montana Men 4/20/16
by Capt Juls on 04/20/16I just want to say, I have been super busy with taking care of my customers, my dogs and cats, my house guest, and my house and yard work...in that order. The blog, unfortunately, is not the highest priority on my "to do" list.
I am telling you this, because I actually got yelled at by a guy on Facebook for not blogging my "what/where/how" info for him to use. I mean.... what?? What? WHAT?
I'm a charter Captain. I share out of the goodness of my heart, WHEN I can. I am not obligated to do it, nor does anyone PAY me for my information. This is how I make my living.
If the fishing is tough, like it has been lately, I am not going to tell you to come in on me, when I have a small bite going someplace. If it's a fast bite, and there's plenty to share, I will tell you. However, my paying customers come first. Always.
I hope everyone can understand that.
So, with that said....it's been very tough with these NE and E winds lately. The fish are moving around like crazy, and it's hard to stay on top of them. Here today, and gone tomorrow, so it's not easy. When you find a small pod of fish, stay on them, and work them out....figure them out. That's half the fun of fishing.
Fishing is SO MUCH more than just putting meat in the freezer.
What I can tell you is, that since Monday, me and my Montana crew of Craig and Scott, we have fished Round Reef, Middle Bass, Green, the Ferry Channel, Mouse, Starve, and D Can. So, it's not a secret. These are all popular places during the transition, and you just need to keep checking for the next group to show up.
We have stayed with the Bandits, and they have produced some nice fish. Today, was our best day out of the three, but the fish were a little smaller. We had 35 pounds for 5 fish yesterday, and 50 pounds for 9 fish today.
The Deep Walleye 5/8 Bandit, run 55-75 back, is still the best for us. The Black Headed Wonder Bread, Blue Chrome, I Be Frozen, and Fire Tiger are our hot colors on sunny days, and the Pink Chrome/purple back, Fire Tiger, Toxic Melon, and Pink Lemonade, are better on cloudy days. Speed is still 1.5-.16mph
Tomorrow will be day 4 of their 5 day trip. Hopefully, the rains will hold off, or stay over to the west while we search for Scott's wall hanger in the morning.
We'll be heading out of Mazurik's in the morning, because the southwest wind will send waves into the launch at Catawba, and it's just easier to load up by yourself without the waves hitting your back end. :)
Good luck if you get out tomorrow. Stay dry, and get off the water if you see lightning! ;)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Chapman's on their New Boat 4/17/16
by Capt Juls on 04/17/16I had a customer reschedule for today, so I had called my other regular customers, Steve and Jeremy Chapman. They have fished with me for the past 5 years, so I know them very well, and they jumped at a chance to fish on a nice day...however...they asked if we could take their new boat out for the first time, and set it up to fish for walleye. I agreed, that I thought it would be a good idea too.
Jeremy bought a "new to him" 2003 23' Pro Line, and after some initial motor trouble at the dock, we got under way, and headed out to the area around the east side of the monument. The water was really muddy there yesterday, but was stacked with fish. Today it was perfect clarity, and we caught some fish. One was a fat 30 inch fish, that still had spawn in her.
I suggested we pick up lines, and move, knowing Jermey wanted to drive his new boat again. He was all for it, but his Dad said he wanted to drive, and so he did...and, we headed over towards Kelly's. On the way, we saw a pack of boats out in the middle between Kelly's and the monument, and decided to set lines again.
We were running Bandits 50-75 feet back, and everything came on 50, 55, and 65 back. Best colors were Fire Tiger, Blue Chrome, and Huff Daddy at a speed of 1.5-1.6 mph.
We went 5 for 7 today with two 30 inch walleye in the mix, and the boat fished well, so they were happy, happy, happy, and that made me happy.
Tomorrow is the first of a 5 day trip for two Montana fellas. They couldn't have picked a nicer week to come. The warmer temps and light winds will finally bring that water temperature up quickly, and those fish out there are going to go nuts on an exceptional bite....or, so I'm hoping. They drove a long way to get here, and U want them to get the experience they've been hoping for. The brownies are fresh out of the oven, and ready to go. :)
So...Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Sorry for the lack of Reports the last couple of trips!
by Capt Juls on 04/17/16It's been a super busy weekend and this week will be better for reports.
I have a house guest this week, and it's been a bit hectic. Sorry for the lack of reports.
It's been tough fishing for myself, since I am usually off trying to find other spots away from the big crowds.
I think this week is going to be a good week as far as fishing goes. We are still under an high pressure situation, and will still have light NE winds today, but the sunny weather will warm things up more, and the fish should start putting the feed bag back on.
There are reports of limits being caught near the Niagara area, and south. Kelly's is starting to pick up, but we need the currents to switch, and quit pushing the fish back west again for that area to get going really good.
I won't be in my boat today, but will be out with one of my regular customers. They bought a new to them boat and wanted me to go to consult them on how best to fish with it. Couldn't say, "No" to that!
Monday through Friday I will have two nice fellas from Montana fishing with me, so that will make for an easier week, and I should be able to get more blogging done.
Enjoy the nice weather headed this way this week...and, good luck fishing!
Stay tuned...
Juls
Fishing with Mike, Steve, and Bob 4/13/16
by Capt Juls on 04/13/16Got up early this morning and made a fresh batch of brownies for my crew today. I have fished with Mike before. He usually fishes with Chris Utter, from Wisconsin, but Chris won't be in until tonight, because he had to stay behind to finish up some work...so, Mike brought Steve and Bob down to fish with him today.
It was calm when we left Catawba launch at 7:20am, but we knew it was going to get windier as the day went on, so I decided the furthest spot was the one I wanted to try first, so we could make our way back as it got windier, and as time ran out.
Our first stop was up by West Reef (south side of it). The water was more clear than I like to see, but we were marking some fish there, so we put some Bandits and a couple Deep Husky Jerks out.
We made one pass there, and decided that the water was getting cleaner, and the marks were dissipating, so we picked it all up and headed west.
I had set a "Go To" line to the area just north of Niagara, because I figured the fish coming off the reefs would be going right past there to the area north of west reef, where there was a pack of boats. I know that pack was picking away at them, slowly, but it didn't sound like anyone up there had anything really dialed in to the point of catching a lot of fish fast, so I opted to go find a less congested spot.
On our way out to the waypoint, I stopped about a mile short of it and marked some good marks on the Helix. The water clarity was perfect, so I had the guys set the lines again.
This time, we ran all Bandits anywhere from 45-75 back. BUT....I over thought it, and I got impatient, AND I looked at the wind forecast....AND I got indecisive....so, I told them to pick them up again, after we didn't catch anything in the first 1/4 mile. (From what I heard on the radio, I should have kept going...ugh!)
Anyway, we moved over to the area on the west side of Middle Bass. A stretch I like to fish this time of year, or just a little later. I wanted to see if they were in there yet.
In the first pass, we caught two beautiful fish (that are now at Jim's Taxidermy here in Port Clinton, for Steve and Bob), using the same set up as previously.
We would catch four really nice fish in that area, before moving down to the area between South Bass Island and Green Island. We didn't mark a lot of fish there, and made one pass about a mile long.
Giving up on that area, our next destination, as we were on our last hour, was over to the Mouse Island area, but as we got closer, we could see it was all mud there.
Pulling the boat of plane, I talked it over with the guys, as to what our options were, and they said, "It's up to you Captain". Steve said, "Let's go back to where we caught some fish", and I heard Mike say to him, "It would take a 1/2 hour to get back over there". That's all I needed to hear, because this gal is running a new Evinrude 300 G2 on this Ranger 621! Ha! Woot! Woot!
I said, "Everyone good?" And, turned to make sure everything was put away, and nothing would fly out of the boat. After a careful navigation through the trough caused by the NE winds in the "Slop Chute", we got to the protected side of South Bass Island, and I opened her up....well, mostly. I wasn't full throttle, but it was over 50...lol It only took us 10 minutes to get from where we started, to our fishing spot. When I set the boat down, and deployed the Ulterra, I turned around and, smiling, said, "Because....we can!" They laughed...and, that made me happy. :)
Again, they set the lines, and the Off Shore boards floated away from the boat with our offerings to the finicky walleye. This would be our last pass of the day. I put some Pink Floyd on the bluetooth, and "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" was playing. Steve told of his experience back in 1975 when he saw them at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Then, as we approached a very small area where we had picked up all our fish, the flag on the middle board on the port side, went down, and then back up. "Did you see that?", asked Bob. Mike, who was sitting on the bow said, "Yeah, the flag went down". I said, "Hit and a miss".
About a minute later the same board went back. That fish was swimming with the bait after it hit it. Ha!
It was a nice 6-7 pound walleye. Then, while we were getting that fish out of the net, Mike jumped to the other side of the boat and grabbed a rod. Looking up, I saw that the middle board on that side was dragging another big fish. The guys did a great job landing all their fish today, and didn't lose any at the boat. Steve said, "Even the fish like Pink Floyd!" I agreed.
We ran out of time, and high-fived our successful move back up there, and headed back in. Everyone said they had a good time, and that's all I can ask for. The fish don't alway cooperate and give us limits, but if you can have fun while you're fishing, then it's a successful trip in my opinion.
Our best Bandit colors were the stock color Black Headed Wonder bread, and the Domka custom colors, "Huff Daddy", and "Toxic Melon". We caught fish at 45 back, 55 back, and 65 back. Speed was 1.4-1.6mph.
I'm not sure if we will get tomorrow's trip in yet. I'll see what the winds are going to do tomorrow, in the morning, and talk it over with my crew. I have Chris and Mike, and a new guy tomorrow, so I know if we do go, and it's rough, I have two out of three in the crew that can definitely handle the conditions.
So...Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Won't be back on the water until Wednesday....
by Capt Juls on 04/11/16Due to water and weather conditions this past weekend, my Sunday/Monday trip was rescheduled, as well as my Tuesday trip too.
My Wisconsin crew will be here for Wednesday through Friday, so hopefully, it looks like we'll be getting all three of their days in this week. The forecast looks pretty good. Especially, next weekend. Next weekend will be sunny and almost 70 degrees! Woot! Woot!
I hope this is a sign that the weather is going to give us a break and let us get back to some great fishing. :)
Hopefully, we'll get a good satellite picture before Wednesday, so we can at least see where the muddy water ends, and where we should start fishing. That sure cuts down on a lot of running around, when you can see it from above. Problem is, it's been cloudy for so many days now....we can't see anything.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Ken and Doug 4/5/16
by Capt Juls on 04/06/16I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to fishing yesterday, because of the muddy lake conditions, and the cold temps in the morning. I'm fighting a stubborn cold right now, and the thought of sitting out there in 30 degree temps was less than appealing. They still wanted to go yesterday, so since it was fishable, we made it happen.
I had advised my crew to stay home, but they came down from Wisconsin anyway. We didn't get out Monday, due to gusty north winds, so Ken and Doug spent the day in Cleveland touring the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". They said that was pretty awesome, and enjoyed exploring it.
We met at Bopper's at 8:45 for some breakfast first, because I wasn't going to go out until the winds laid down, which was forecast for around 8am. By the time we
got to Catawba, the lake was still rough looking on the horizon, but was laying down, so we went ahead and launched.
The first order of business was to locate some cleaner water. The lake looked like chocolate milk coming out of the launch, and from my experience the cans would be muddy too.
I had driven the Catawba point before meeting them for breakfast and thought I had spied a strip of cleaner water on the SW corner of South Bass and Green Island, so we headed there first. It must have been an optical illusion, because when we got over there, I couldn't see the cavitation plate on my G2, but we did mark fish on the Helix. We didn't stay there long, and decided to make the run to the north, to check the water clarity up by Niagara.
The water there was better, so we set up to the east of the reef, and headed SW with the waves. We ran Bandits 45-65 back, at 1.3mph, and picked up two 20(ish) inch fish there, and one white bass. Then, I got a Facebook message from someone that was out fishing too, and he told me there was good water clarity on the east side of the islands, which is always the case after a blow, and that they caught a couple nice fish. I was hesitant to run there, because of how early it is, and I didn't think the fish would be in that area for a few more weeks yet, but we made the run anyway.
Once we got there, he messaged me again and said, "We haven't had a bite in an hour now"...lol Just what you want to hear after making a 10 plus mile run to get there. Ha! Anyway, we set up and made a couple passes, because we were marking fish, and the water looked good. We didn't get anything in those two passes, so I wanted to run down to Kelly's, where I had been fishing last week.
Luckily, when we got there, we found that the water clarity was decent enough to set up and give it a shot. This would be the last spot, since we were running out of time. We would pick up three more eater sized walleye before heading back in at 3:45. They had an 8 hour drive back to Wisconsin, and it was getting late.
The water temps had dropped almost 5 degrees from last week and were 40-42 degrees in the spots we fished yesterday.
Color Bandits that worked for us were the Fire Tiger, Anti-Freeze (caught 2), the Purple with the pink head and 3 Chartreuse dots, and the Fruit Dots (black headed wonder bread color...just thought I should use it's proper name.)
They followed me to Bay's Edge, where I dropped their fish off to be cleaned, and said my thank you and good byes. Ken will be coming back in August with his wife for a couple days of Perch fishing, so that makes me happy, and I'm looking forward to that. Did I ever tell you that I LOVE perch fishing? hehehe :)
I'm glad we made the trip, because it ended up being a really nice day on the water, and the company was exceptional! :)
My crew that would have been here today through Saturday didn't make the trip out from South Dakota, so my next trip will not be until Sunday.
So stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Mother Nature is throwing a Hissy Fit...
by Capt Juls on 04/04/16Just an update....My weekend trips were rescheduled, thus no reports.
My crew for today, are going to Cleveland to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because it's blowing hard out of the north this morning, and it's too rough. They do want to go tomorrow though, even though I told them that the western basin is like chocolate milk right now. But, the winds will be laying down mid morning tomorrow, making it possible to get out, so we'll go try to find some cleaner water and see if there are any fish in that area. I'm not holding my breath on finding a good bite though, but you never know....we might get lucky and pluck a few here and there.
My Wednesday trip has been cancelled, due to a family thing my customer has, but it's going to rain and blow again anyway, so either way, we wouldn't have been fishing on Wednesday.
My Thursday, Friday, Saturday crew has rescheduled to April of 2017, due to the forecast and the unfavorable conditions. They were coming from South Dakota, and it's too long, and expensive of a trip, to come out for really no good chance at fishing. These poor guys had booked last April too, and did drive out here last year, only to find out that they couldn't get on the water. I didn't want them to do that again, so they agreed to try again next April (a little later in the month next time too). I hate giving bad news like this, but I don't want them wasting time or money on a bad trip.
So, I'm hoping Mother Nature gets this crap out of her system by Saturday, so we can get back to fishing again next week!! I'm becoming bored out of my mind sitting here on shore....deep sigh.
Sunday is looking promising....partly cloudy and 50 degrees. So, hopefully, I can get my Sunday/Monday crew out and on some fish. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Schneider Family 3/29/16
by Capt Juls on 03/29/16It's hard to get up early, and then have to wait half a day to get on the water. The northwest winds were blowing hard this morning, but the forecast promised that it would lay down towards noon. I had originally set up a 9:30 pick up at their hotel, but changed it to a 10:30 pick up, so we could launch at 11am.
Today, I would be fishing with Jim Schneider, along with his two sons Trevor and Jimmy.
I met up with Capt Kevin Swartz, who was also picking his crew up later in the morning, and we discussed our plan of attack for the day. After getting a message from Al Cassidy, who was already on the water, that said, "Stay home! It's dirty everywhere", we almost cancelled, but thought we should talk to our crews and let them decide if they wanted to still go out and try it. Both parties did, so off to Mazurik's we went. We ended up waiting for the lake to lay down a little more, and launched at 11:45.
We headed to the area over by the monument on South Bass Island first, but didn't stick around there long, because we weren't marking enough fish there to keep us there.
Then, we moved over to the SW corner of South Bass, and looked at the water...it was a lot dirtier to the west of the islands, so I told Kevin, "I'm going to Kelly's, the water is cleaner over there, and there were fish there the other day". He said, "Okay, that sounds like a good idea", and drove over there too.
I set in a little further northeast of where Kevin sat down on the NW corner of Kelly's, and set lines. The Schneider boys were inexperienced with Off Shore inline planer boards, but after a quick lesson, they were setting lines like they have been doing it for a long time. So, all I had to do was tell them how far back I wanted them to set them out. We ran Bandits on one side of the boat and Deep Husky Jerks on the other side of the boat.
It wasn't long before we had a walleye hit a Fire Tiger Bandit, set at 45 back. Then, we caught another one on a Bandit relatively quick, so we took the Huskies off and put all Bandits out. Blue/Chrome, Black Headed Wonder Bread, Fire Tiger, and a Purple/Chrome Bandit took our only four fish this afternoon. We had a 5th fish on after a long period of no bites, but it came unhooked at the back the boat. Poor Trevor was very disappointed....but hey, that's fishing. Sometimes the fish wins the battle. :)
It was a struggle, and we changed things up quite often, but they were just in a negative mood...contrary to the marks on the Helix that would make one think those fish were really active down there.
I kept getting texts and phone calls from anglers on the west side of the islands who were talking about the tough bite over there too. So, it wasn't just us.
My crew had a 5 hour drive back to MI, and the late start didn't help that, so since the bite was not very good today, we decided it was best to cut the trip down to 5 hours instead of the regular 6 hours, so they could get on the road.
My crew said they had a good time and learned a lot. They were in awe of the size of the fish here, so their excitement made me happy. :)
My Wednesday, Thursday, Friday crew have cancelled due to the less than nice forecast, and my weekend trips might be shot too, but I'm not calling those yet.
So stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jeff and Don 3/27/16
by Capt Juls on 03/27/16Repeat customers, Jeff Smith, and his friend, Don, met me at my house this morning at 6:30. They drove down from Michigan, and were hungry, so after stopping to top off the gas tank in the Ranger, we headed to Boppers for some breakfast.
Since it is Easter Sunday, I figured Catawba would be relatively slow traffic-wise, so we launched there this morning. I was right, and the parking lot was only half full, compared to the jam packed lot it usually is on the nice weekends.
We headed out to the area between D can and Niagara Reef, and started setting baits out. We began with Bandits on one side and Deep Husky Jerks on the other side. Jeff, who was setting the Bandits, was putting his second one out when the first Off Shore board went back...fish on! Woot! Woot! That's how I like to start a trip!
After the second Bandit caught a fish, we switched up to running both sides with Bandits at 45-55 back. The "Green Clown", (which I keep calling "Cheap Sunglasses"), Blue/Chrome, and Fire Tiger were our best colors. Speed was set at 1.4, but as the waves were building, the boat was surging between 1.2 and 1.6mph.
We made one long pass and caught 11. We decided to go back up for one more fish, where the marks were more prevalent, and caught the 12th fish within 10 minutes of setting lines out again.
The guys said they needed to get back to MI for their Easter dinners with their families, so we headed in. It was a very fun morning on the water today, and that makes me happy. :)
A father and his two sons will join me on my next adventure on Tuesday, so....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Tim and Matt 3/26/16
by Capt Juls on 03/26/16Picked up my crew at 6:15 at the Walmart parking lot. Tim and Matt brought up a camper to sleep in overnight, so that was a win win location. Cheap for them, and easy for me to pick them up. :)
We hit Bopper's for breakfast, before heading over to Mazurik's to launch. I figured Catawba would be a zoo again, and from what I heard, I was right.
My guys wanted to perch fish after getting a few walleye in the live well, so I wasn't sure where I was headed with them yet. That's when some friends of mine showed up in the get ready lane behind me, and told me that someone they knew was catching perch near Kelly's. That made the decision easy, since I wanted to find out if those walleye that have spawned in the last two weeks were over there yet.
The marks are not as thick as they are west of the islands yet, but there were enough to keep me interested and working hard for them. We landed 4 nice walleye, with the largest going just over 30 inches.
Best bait/leads were the Bandits at 45-50 back at 1.3-1.5mph. Black headed Wonderbread, Fire Tiger, and a purple one with chartreuse dots and a pink head were the colors....so, as you can see, there's not a preference in color. Just getting a bait in their face will get you bit. :)
With 4 nice walleye in the boat, they decided it was time to go look for some perch. The boat that I was told about, that had been perch'n there, wasn't doing very well from what I could see, so we headed north, up to Lucy's Point.
Unfortunately, the water was very clean, and void of fish on the Helix screen, so we moved west and headed to the Sugar Island / Middle Bass Island area. We marked some fish on the bottom, that we suspected might be perch, so we put the Ultra's Spot Lock to work and dropped some shiners down......nothing. (But, I will remember that nice rocky bottomed spot in the future.)
Still looking for the green and gold, we headed over to the Put-In-Bay area, but didn't find any there either...ugh. So, I said, "Let's head back down to Kelly's before that wind kicks up", and they agreed. We didn't see that perch boat there anymore.... I figured it was a waste of time to even try there, so we headed down to the Marblehead Lighthouse to give it a go.
A long story short....after a 6 hour day, we only had the 4 walleye in the live well. We never got a bite while trying for perch. I know they can be caught this time of year, I just have never tried for them this early, and I'm not exactly sure where they are. I usually don't start chasing them until mid-May.
Anyway, the guys had fun day on the water, and enjoyed the brownies, so that made me happy. :)
I'll be back out again with a new crew tomorrow, to chase walleye only. They originally wanted to chase some perch too, but after I told them today's results on perch, they agreed to just do the walleye tomorrow....whew!
The winds should be laying down over night, and tomorrow should be a nicer day all around.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Greg, Shane, and Adam 3/20/15
by Capt Juls on 03/20/16I hadn't been out since last Tuesday, before the blow, and I was a little apprehensive about what kind of bite it would be after the winds we just had.
Wednesday the winds were out of the SW with gusts blowing 35-50mph, and Thursday, the same, but at 25-35mph. I wasn't worried about that wind direction muddying things up, since it was an offshore wind.
It was the Friday/Friday night winds out of the NE that I was worried about. I figured it would bring in the colder water from the east, and muddy up the inside, by the cans where we had been doing well earlier in the week.
Our original plan this morning was to check the weather at 9am and head out at 11am. Well, I got a little any, and decided to take a drive around the point, to see what the waves were doing. Windsurf had shown it laying down a little more than the forecast I looked at the night before.
The ride around the Cliffs showed that the lake wasn't white capping, and that the waves were looking to be 2 foot or less. So, I called my crew and told them to meet me at the Catawba launch as soon as they could, and we would get out earlier than planned.
They showed up a little after 9am, and we were headed out by 9:15. It was bumpy in the morning, but the forecast said it would start laying down by noon...which it did.
We started out on the SW corner of South Bass Island, and headed towards Green. We didn't mark much there, so we only made one pass. Capt Kevin, who I work with on the water, said he had some numbers that produced fish on both Friday and Saturday, and gave them to me. I punched them in the Helix, and headed over that way. It was inside, and as I suspected, it was really muddy in there. I couldn't even see the cavitation plate on my G2. Needless to say, we didn't stay there very long, even though we marked a few fish here and there.
I thought the water would be cleaner up to the north, so we headed up to the east side of Niagra and to make a trolling pass to the SW, so the waves would be behind us. We were marking really good fish on the sonar, and had two fish in the boat before we got 6 lines set. Things were looking up!
Water temps in the dirty water to the south were 43.5 and only 39.1 in the Niagra spot, but the water clarity at Niagra was very good. I could see the cavitation plate, with a ghostly image of the prop, which in my experience is "perfect". Not too dirty, and not too clean.
We ran Bandits at 45-55 back, Deep Husky Jerks 65-75 back, and Smithwick Perfect 10's with a 1oz snap weight at 20/20 and 30/30.
The hottest color for us today, in both the Bandit and the DHJ's, was Fire Tiger.
Other colors worked too, but that one was by far "on fire" today, in comparison.
Best speed was 1.2mph
Greg, Shane, and Adam came over for the week from the west side of Iowa and the east side of South Dakota, to try and catch some of these big fish....and, today they did just that! They wanted to learn a bit about the big lake before heading out on their own in their Ranger. I think they have more confidence now. Woot! Woot!
They were very happy with today's results, and that makes me happy. :)
I don't have another trip planned until Friday and Saturday, so I'm hoping the weather behaves the rest of the week.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with the Chapman's 3/15/16
by Capt Juls on 03/16/16Steve and Jeremy Chapman drove up from Columbus, and met me at the Catawba ramp at 8am. They were only an hour late (as usual)...lol But, I love these guys, and they fish with me a lot, so I'm used to waiting on them. Jeremy and I even joke about it. He told me before, "Tell my dad that you want us there an hour earlier than the time you actually want to go, and we'll be on time"!
Well, we tried that, and it still didn't work. Had they not had to stop at Walmart and McDonald's when they hit town, they would have been right on time. lol
Anyway, it was a foggy morning, and we headed out at a safe speed to the area SE of F can. We marked some good fish, so we set lines. We started out running 2 Perfect 10's, 2 DHJ12's, and 2 Bandits. The P-10s were run at 20/20 and 30/30 with a 1oz snap weight. The Bandits were back 45-55, and the DHJ's were back 65-85.
For those that don't understand the P-10 program, it goes like this....I let 20' or 30' of line out...attach a snap weight...let out another 20-30', and attach my Off Shore planer board.
Our most productive speed was at 1.2mph. And, we dialed in the Bandits at 45 back, and the DHJ's at 65 back. We ended up taking the P-10's off, because the fish wanted the other two more.
The best colors were:
Bandits: Black headed Wonderbread, and a custom color that is purple with chartreuse dots on the side.
Huskies: A custom color that was also purple with chartreuse dots on the side.
(Sorry, but there are too many color names for this gal to remember!)
After catching 11 fish in that area, we headed over to the Mouse Island area, where we set lines and immediately caught three more fish. Then, the east wind kicked up a little bit, and brought in colder air. My guys got chilly and we decided to call it a day.
We ended the day with 14 nice fish, with the largest going a hefty 31 inches. Steve and Jeremy kept 5 males for the frying pan, and released all the females.
On a side note, we did have one fish that sunk a board and ended up biting off my expensive custom colored Bandit. (sad face) I told Jeremy that it was either a state record walleye, or one of those elusive Muskies that have been showing up in the Western Basin the past few years. He said, "With my record, it was probably a state record Sheephead". lol
They told me they had a great time, and loved the brownies...then, headed home. They are looking forward to their April trip, and can't wait to come back up, and that made me happy. :)
My next trip is this coming Saturday...hopefully, the forecast doesn't change, because these guys are driving in Friday afternoon from the Sioux Falls area. I'll check the weather forecast tomorrow, so if it changes, I can stop them before they drive all the way out here. They are planning on fishing one day with me to learn the areas, and then fish out of their own boat for a couple days after. I would hate to see them come all this way, and not be able to get out, due to weather.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
The New Ranger 621/ETEC G2 is HOME!!
by Capt Juls on 03/03/16I finally got the new boat home! Woot! Woot!
I have another week before she will be water ready. I need to wait on a custom made steel dash faceplate for my new Humminbird Helix 12 to sit on, and my EZEESteps...both should be here early next week, and then I can install them.
And, with the warm up mid week next week, I can get in the boat and load her up with all the gear, so I can get her on the water and tested before taking any customers out.
The lake needs to clean up a little still, but hopefully we will be fishing soon!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Just a Thank You...:)
by Capt Juls on 02/15/16I just spent this past weekend at the Columbus Fishing Expo, and while it didn't book more than one "for sure" fishing reservation for me, I just wanted to say, "Thank you" to all the nice folks who stopped by to say, "Hi", and to tell me how much they enjoy my fishing blog. I was quite surprised how many people do read my blog, and it motivated me to keep on writing this season.
I had many tell me, "Thanks to you, and your blog, you have helped me catch more fish". That made me happy, and that alone made the trip well worth it to me.
I'm looking forward to another fun season of fishing here on Lake Erie's Western Basin with all of you who booked trips with me so far.
As of today, I am completely booked from March 30th to the end of May. I have a handful of bookings in June, but there's plenty of good fishing to be had all season.
So, if you're interested in a walleye, perch, or smallmouth bass trip this year, don't wait to long to book your trip. :)
As of today, my new Ranger/300 G2 is still sitting at my dealer waiting on my Humminbirds. I'm hoping they show up soon, so I can get her home, get her loaded up, and ready to go as soon as the ice is out again. Woot! Woot!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
See You at the Columbus Fishing Expo!
by Capt Juls on 02/10/16Headed down to Columbus in the morning to set up for the show. I'll be there, sharing a booth with Capt Kevin Swartz...right next to the Off Shore Tackle booth.
Hope to see some of you there! :)
Feeling Fortunate...:)
by Capt Juls on 02/02/16It is with great pleasure that I can announce that I have been added to the newly created "Great Lakes Pro Staff" for Smithwick, Bandit, and Bomber Lures!
Mathew Hougan has worked tirelessly for the past year to get more exposure and lures in the hands of Lake Erie fishermen.
If you have followed my blogs on a regular basis, you would know that the Perfect 10's and Bandits have worked very well for us here in the Western Basin. I want to add more Bombers to my arsenal and give those a try this season too. :)
Matt tells me there is new and exciting products to be added this season, (still a secret), so I'm also looking forward to finding out what's in store for us. I love surprises. :)
Thank you Matt for the opportunity to be a part of an exciting new program!
Job well done, Sir!
Capt Juls
