Juls WFA Blog
Fishing Day 2 with Bill and Max Claassen... July 12, 2023
by Capt Juls on 07/12/23I wasn't going to write a report, because of the late start today, but it wasn't a usual day, so I wanted to share it.
The bad news is, there is a missing young man in the lake right now. His last known location was at the 36/53 line (near F Can). He went overboard last night around 10:45/11PM, and didn't surface. I don't know any details beyond that.
When we arrived at Catawba this morning, there was the Sheriff's truck, and boat trailer in the lot, along with two other squad cars, that I assume were out there with him...searching.
The USCG had their orange helicopter out looking, and that big C1 airplane (is that what it's called? I forget). That big plane that flies so slow, that it looks like it could just fall out of the sky...that one. The USCG also had one of their boats out near South Bass, too.
I listened to channel 16 the entire time I was out there, and as of 2pm, when we got off the water, he still had not been found. So, if anyone reading this is going to be near that area, please keep an eye out for him. If you have Side Scan on your unit...use it. It may just find him.
He's 21 years old and wearing a white t-shirt, and khaki shorts.
I hope they find him soon, so his family and friends can get some closure.
Fishing Report:
It was rougher than expected this morning. It was 1-3s on the west side of islands, so we headed up to the "Triangle", between the islands, to see if there were any fish up there, and to fish more protected water. I didn't want Bill to be uncomfortable, again.
We set up at the south end of Middle Bass, and trolled north, over 31' of water.
Mag 44s ran behind the Off Shore boards on both sides at 50-90 back. Blue Chrome, black/gold, and purple glass perch.
Dipsies were running on both corners again, and ran on the usual zero and three settings. I like those settings, because it is less likely to cause tangles, with that kind of separation. :)
Zero settings were at 30 and 40, and the three settings were at 65 and 70. Yeck, Scorpion, Stinger spoons ran on three rods, and the black/gold Ripplin Redfin ran on the 4th.
Speed was 2.2 on the Fish Hawk and 2.3-2.5 GPS/SOG.
We made one long ass pass, from there, to around the north side of Rattlesnake...down the front side of Green, and down to the F Can area.
We caught a fish here and there, but the the most productive areas were east of E Can to F Can, and F Can to Catawba.
The bite got better the shallower we got. The bite picked up over 27 feet and kept going and getting better as we entered into 24 feet. We also had a lot more shorts to deal with there, too. The eaters were nicer, however, so dealing with all the shorts was worth it.
One Mag44 was running on the starboard outside board at 60 back, and the "IB Infected" Bandit (DJ Custom Eye Lures creation) was running at 65 back.
On the Port side, two "Blue Shiner" Bandits (original blue shiner color/stock) at 70 and 80 back.
All of those caught multiple fish.
The dipsies were brought up to:
zero setting: 27 and 30
three setting: 43 and 47
The black/gold RR was replaced with another Yeck spoon.
Copper backs were best today. "Confusion" was a hot one.
We put our three-person limit in the cooler, but did a lot of catching today. We went through tons of shorts, one cat, several sheep, and a few white perch....oh, and two yellow perch, to get the 18 eaters, so it was a lot of work, today.
Water temp is 75.5 at F Can right now.
I'm going to cut this short, because my pup is climbing all over me, while I'm trying to write this, and wants to play....so, I must go play before I go to bed.
Tomorrow is the same crew....not sure what the plan is yet. I'll decide that in the morning, when I know what the winds and forecast are.
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Max Claassen... July 11, 2023
by Capt Juls on 07/11/23Bill and Max Claassen, drove in from Iowa yesterday, to fish three days with me. I picked them up at the Best Western at 5:15, and headed to the gas station on the west side of town. I had already gassed the boat and truck up the afternoon before, at another gas station, that saved me money. I only needed ice for the coolers, so it was a quick stop.
We went to Mazurik's, to launch. We were in the water, and on our way back to where I fished yesterday, by 5:45. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, as we rode north, showing us what a blazing orange fiery ball it was going to be this morning. It was spectacular...the camera didn't do it any justice at all.
When we reached the line, the Terrova was deployed and the baby Merc fired up. They steered and pushed us along at a speed of 2.3-2.5mph. Once the Fish Hawk was set down to depth, it showed a speed of 2.2mph. It was time to set the dipsies.
We ran the same program as yesterday, with the dipsies set on the zero and three settings.
The zero settings started at 40 and 50 back, but the 50 was less active, so I raised that one to 36 back, and put a gold/black Ripplin Redfin on, and it did better than the spoon at 50 back. The three settings were running at 65 and 70 back, and both were productive.
We caught a bunch of shorts this morning too, along with some Sheephead, and one White Bass.
It wasn't rough when we headed out, but it got rougher as the morning progressed. Just 1-3s with some 4s thrown in for good measure, from time to time, so not too bad, but, it was a little too rough for "Papa", because he started feeling seasick.
When we put their 12th keeper walleye in the cooler, I asked, "Do you want to move down south where it would be a little less rough, and try for those last 6? Or, would you like to go in?" Bill asked Max, "Max, what do you want to do?", and Max replied with the usual reply of... "It doesn't matter to me, whatever you want to do". Without hesitation, Bill turned to me and said, "We can go in". So, we packed it up and headed in.
It was a short day, today, but they still had a lot of fun, and are looking forward to going out again tomorrow. However, I will not be going back up to the line with the east winds that are forecast, (12-13mph...1-3s again), and will take them to the west side of the islands for a bit of protection, and smaller waves. I was over there three days ago, and managed to catch some keeper walleye, so I know we can put some in the cooler tomorrow, too. We just have to dodge some early morning scattered thunderstorms first, I think. At least, that's what the TV Weatherman just said on the news, at noon.
It might be a later start in the morning...I won't know until the morning, though, when I can look at my radar, and see what's headed this way.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Scott and Mark... July 10, 2023
by Capt Juls on 07/10/23Scott Smith, and his friend, Mark Delagarza, met me at Mazurik's at 5:30, this morning. We launched shortly after their arrival, and headed up to the Canadian line, to see if we could find some fish. The Helix lit up with good marks, so we started setting lines.
Both, had fished with dipsies and Off Shore boards before, so little instruction was needed...just a refresher course, since it had been a while since they use different releases on their boards, than I do. I run the OR-18 (Snapper release) on the front and the OR-16 (red release with the pin in the center of it). They use the OR-19 on the front, so they can trip it, and release the front one.
They caught onto the dipsey program pretty quickly, and were very adept at not tangling any lines. :)
We ran Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, three on the starboard side and two on the port side, and two dipsies off each corner.
Bandit colors that did well were the Blue Shiner (Original one..not the foil one with the same name), Chrome Barbie, and one I can't remember the name of, but it's perch colored without stripes, and has a black "Shad dot" on it. "Green Shad", maybe? I don't know. Sometimes, I can remember the name, and sometimes it eludes me. lol
Anyway, we were trolling over 39 feet of water and had the Bandits set at 120, 85, and 65 on the starboard side, and 81 and 70 on the port side. Each one caught a fish, but the Blue Shiner was running on both sides of the boat, and caught 4 or 5 between them at 65 and 70 back. Chrome Barbie caught 2 at 81 and 85 back and the Green Shad caught one at 120 back.
Speed was 2.2 on the Fish Hawk and 2.3-2.5 on the GPS.
Dipsies ran on the usual zero and three settings....zero at 40 and 50. The three setting started out at 47 and 65, but both would be dropped to 70, eventually, and would catch their fair share of fish, too.
The grade of fish was pretty darn good for the island area, this time of year, so we were all happy to see that. We had a good number of young fish, too, that were carefully removed from the hook, and sent back with a kiss, and a wish, for them to survive, and grow up, to be big fish. :)
We had their two-man limit in an hour and a half, and then I reeled in 4 of my 6, when the bite slowed way down. I asked, "Do you want to grind it out for the last two walleye? Or, do you want to go try and find some perch?" They decided to go perch'n instead. Long story short...three spots (very good marks in all three spots)...all we caught were three perch, and a half dozen sheephead. It was a bust. But, it was relaxing, and there was good music and conversation, and the guys enjoyed themselves anyway.
I have a three day trip starting tomorrow with a father and son team. I'm not sure if I'll get back up there tomorrow, due to the gusty SW winds in the forecast, but we'll see what it looks like in the morning. Wednesday and Thursday's winds look much better.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Carol and Hugh Gaylord... July 8, 2023
by Capt Juls on 07/08/23Carol and Hugh, who live in the Toledo area, drove to my house this morning, to meet me at 5AM. Since the sunrise wasn't until 6:06AM today, we were a little early, so we took the long way into town, instead of using the hi-way. We hit the Speedway for gas, and ice, before heading over to Catawba to launch.
There must be a bass tournament today, because the Speedway was lined up with them at 5:15.
We launched by 5:45, and headed a little west, to start the morning. Neither Hugh nor Carol, have ever used Off Shore inline planers, or dipsies before. Hugh had limited mobility, so he was unable to do any of the setting up, but he was helpful with the handing off of the net. :)
I explained everything to Carol, as I set up the Reef Runner Mag 44's behind the Off Shore boards on the port side....set at 25 and 35 back, over shallower water, and, then, to 50 and 42 feet back, over the deeper water.
Flicker Minnow 11s ran on the starboard side, at 30 and 50 back over the shallower water, and then taken off, to be replaced with two more Mag 44s at 60 and 50 back, over the deeper water.
The port side ran the blue/chrome and the black/gold 44s. The starboard side ran the blue/chrome and Purple Glass Perch 44s. All four caught fish this morning.
Two dipsies ran off each corner, with the inside rods set at zero, and the outside rods set on the 3 setting. Scorpion and Yeck spoons were on three rods, and a gold/black Ripplin Redfin ran on the fourth.
The zero settings were running at 25 and 27 back, in the shallower water (16-18 feet), but lowered to 30 and 35 when we were over deeper water (27-30 feet)
The three settings were running at 45 and 55 back (Ripplin on the 55), at all times...meaning the depth of water didn't matter for the three settings....they remained the same. All the setups caught fish.
Speed was 2.2 on the Fish Hawk and 2.3-2.4 on the GPS.
Water temp, west of Catawba, was 75 degrees at 15 feet down (Fish Hawk). I don't remember looking at the Helix for the surface temp...sorry.
We put 10 eater walleye in the cooler and tossed back a bunch of small walleye, sheephead, white perch, and two big catfish. One was around 5 pounds and the other was every bit of 10 pounds, if not more.
I had been watching my radar app.. (RadarScope-Pro version), to see how long we could stay fishing. The app was showing some lightning strikes in the system that was moving in, so I wanted to make sure we didn't get stuck at a busy ramp, when everyone else would decide it was time to go in, so we picked up and headed in. We were able to load out, prep the boat for the road, and load up the truck, right before it started raining. As we drove out the park, a lot of boats were headed to the dock. So, it was the right move at the right time. :)
We were headed to "Port Clinton Fish Cleaning", when I realized that I handed the cooler down to Carol, but I didn't tell her to put it in the back of the truck, because I would do it when I climbed down. But, as I was walking down the steps on the front of the boat, Carol said, "How do you like those "EZEESteps"? And, I got distracted, and told her what I thought of them......I'm pretty sure you can guess what happened next...I forgot to load the cooler into the truck. AAAaarrrrgghh!
The sick feeling hit me when we were almost downtown, and I knew I hadn't put the cooler in the back of the truck, and I know Carol hadn't, either. OMG! It's sitting in the parking lot at Catawba.
"Someone is going to take it", I thought. "It's an expensive cooler, and has 10 nice walleye in it, someone will surely take it".
I thought it would be long gone, when we got back there.
To my relief, as we pulled into the lot...there it was. Sitting there, all alone....waiting. Whew!! I didn't want to have to buy them fish to take home, and I certainly didn't want to have to buy a new 120qt cooler! So, thank you, to everyone that walked right on by it...I appreciate it. :)
My crew for tomorrow wants to reschedule..so I'll be back out on Monday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Three Days Fishing with Marc and Jim... 6-28/29/30-23
by Capt Juls on 07/01/23Day 1: Walleye Fishing...
Picked my crew up from the Best Western at 5:15 and headed to Mazurik's to launch. The wind was blowing out of the north, with gusts over 15mph, so after talking with Capt Mitch Daugherty, while in the get ready lanes, we both decided to hold off for a while, and launch later. So, I took them back to the hotel, went home and grabbed the dogs, so I could take them for a walk, before leaving again.
I picked my crew back up at 8am and we headed back to the launch, and found the lake no longer white capping, and headed out. I decided to go towards Huron to fish the dump, on a suggestion of a friend that had been there the previous day, who did well.
We set up with crawler harnesses behind the Off Shore boards, as the bug hatch was still happening, and I find during a bug hatch that crawlers usually do best. We were over 37-40 feet of water on our passes. The first pass was west to east and then the second pass was going back the other direction, over the same fish.
2oz inline weights ran on the starboard side, and 3oz weights were on the port side. 2oz at 25, 42, 55, and 62 back, and the 3oz at 20, 40, 50, and 60 back.
We caught a ton of little fish, and had to keep checking the worms, as they were getting stolen from short strikes.
Eventually, and a little too late into the trip, I switched one side to Flicker Minnow 11s, and immediately got hit on the first bait, as I was setting the second one out. Got that fish in, and the second board went back, with another keeper. I set both sides up with Flicker Minnows at 100, 80, 70, and 60 back, and ended the trip with 11 of our 18 fish limit. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and I should have switched up sooner.
Speed was l.7-1.8 on the Fish Hawk.
Day 2: Walleye Fishing
Picked my crew up at 4:30, and headed to the gas station to gas up the truck, because we were headed to Vermilion to launch, this time. My plan was to hit Lorain waters for a better limit of fish. We were headed out of the river at 5:30, and went NNE to the Sand Bar, first. We fished the SE side of the bottom tip, over 48 to 50 feet of water.
This time, I set up with two dipsies on both sides, with the inside rod running on the zero setting, and the outside rod running on the 3 setting. Yeck spoons and Scorpion spoons were on three, and a black/gold Ripplin Redfin was on the other. However, the Redfin was only catching smaller fish, so it got changed up to a Scorpion spoon, too.
Bandits and Reef Runner Mag 44s ran behind the Off Shore boards. The Bandits were set at 110 (Blue Shiner), and 80 (Green Shiner) back, and the Mag 44s were set at 90 (black/gold) and 80 (blue/chrome) back.
Speed was 2.2 on the Fish Hawk.
The dipsies shined that day, and the cranks would only catch three of our 3-person limit.
Day 3: Perch Fishing
Long story short....it sucked. We only managed to catch 11 of our 90 fish limit. lol
I did catch a nice 20" walleye, though, so that was a little more meat for their freezer.
At one point, Jim had minnow slime hands, and leaned over the side of the boat to wash his hands, not realizing the brand new ultralight rod under his body, doesn't bend that far, and snapped it in two places. I had only brought three perch rods, so I had to give him mine to use, with 2 1/2 hours to go.
The bad part is, Marc and I were the only two catching, or even feeling the bite (Jim has bad feeling in his hands), so he wasn't being very productive. It was hard to just sit there, and not fish. I love perch fishing, so I was really disappointed that I couldn't fish anymore.
Yeah, I know..."You should always have a back up rod in the boat". I thought of that, and almost brought the third rod, but thought we would be fine with just one rod per person. It was the first perch trip of the season, so I wasn't thinking something like this would happen.
I don't usually let anyone use my rod, because I've had it since 1987, and it's my "special rod", and even had someone offer me a lot of money for it, and refused. It's just an old Fenwick Ultralight, that was broken by a dog fish, back in Wisco, that took a foot off the tip, so I made this 5' rod, my perch rod. It's been the best rod I've ever had, or tried, and can't find anything like it as far as feel and action go. I keep looking though, because one day, this rod will break on a big fish, too....and, I'll need something to replace it with. The Presso Ultralights (5') I bought for my customers have been working well, but they are still not like my rod.
Anyway....my crew, who have been fishing with me since 2014, still enjoyed the morning, and the nicer weather. The smoke that was hanging in the air the first two days had dissipated quite a bit, so it was more comfortable out there. They headed back to Wisco with enough fillets for many fish fries to hold them over, until their next visit down here.
I'm off for several days now, because my big sister and brother-in-law are coming down from Wisconsin, to celebrate her birthday, and the 4th of July, with me.
I'll be back on the water July 6th.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Andy and Susan Teconchuk... June 22, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/22/23My crew was staying way out in Marblehead, so I had them meet me at Catawba this morning at 5:15. I was looking at iWindSurf's wind forecast, and was a little concerned about the gusts to 20 from the East, and the fact that no one else was at the launch yet. As I waited on my crew, I noticed that the wind was from the SW at Catawba, at about 7-9mph, and thought that maybe iWindSurf had it wrong today.
They showed up a little late, but we still managed to launch by 5:40, and head up to the west side of the Bass Islands. It wasn't rough at all. There were some rollers from the NE as we rounded the tip of Catawba, but they were smallish, and the ride was easy.
I figured, that if the wind forecast was correct, we would have at least 5 hours, before it started to blow, and get rough out there. I was right. It was downright beautiful in the morning up between the islands, with maybe a 6" wave from the SSE.
The Terrova was deployed over 31 feet of water, the baby Merc came to life and pushed us along at a whopping speed of 1.9-2.0 SOG, while the Fish Hawk read 1.6-1.7mph on a northerly trolling pass.
I opted to start with the crawler harnesses again, since they seemed to catch larger fish on my last two adventures out. Root beer colored beads with a gold hammered hatchet blade, is one of my creations to mimic the Mayfly, and does really well. And another that I make, is a perch pattern color with a gold #6 Colorado blade.
It was pretty much the same program I used north of Kelly's this past week. 2oz inlines on one side, and 3oz inlines on the other side.
The 2oz's were set at (shortest leads on the outside) 20, 35, 42, and 50, and the 3oz leads were set at 25, 30, 40, and 50. All leads caught fish today.
Andy and Sharon have their own boat, but wanted to learn how to run the Off Shore boards more efficiently, so they came to learn. Catching was a bonus for them. However, we went through a lot of fish, with a lot of itty-bitties hooking up, or stealing our crawlers, so we had to keep checking the baits, to make sure we weren't dragging a 4" walleye, or dragging a bait without a crawler.
Andy certainly got his wish on how to work the boards. He did a great job of listening to instructions, setting lines, retrieving them without tangling, and then setting them back out to their original spots again without having to move other boards to do so. Susan, who was sitting up on the bow, was quick to notice a change in the action of a board, and let us know when she thought there was a fish on one...she was usually right! She was also very good at reeling in fish, without tangling the lines.
I didn't have to keep repeating myself, over and over, so I know I can say with confidence, that they now understand what they were doing wrong, before, and now know what to do right. They will be able to have a lot more fun and success in their own boat, now. :)
We were one short of a two-person limit, but went through close to 40 fish this morning. One of these years, all those little fish will be so much fun, when they get bigger. I can't wait.
The wind was forecasted to pick up around 10AM, and it showed up at 10:19....out of the east. The waves started white capping, and we fished until 11:00, then headed in. By then, it was solid 2-3s with some 4s thrown in for good measure.
My crew had a good time, learned some things, and will be taking their own boat over the weekend to practice what they learned today, and that makes me happy. :)
I have an older crew tomorrow, that I informed it would be raining in the morning (Yuck), and offered them to reschedule, I'm still waiting to hear what they want to do.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Bill and Stan... June 19, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/20/23
Quick report...
Beautiful morning…and, no bugs! No big fish…just eaters. Ran the crawler harness program again, that we ran yesterday…15 keepers, and lost 4 more that didn’t stay hooked up well….and, one 8-9 pound catfish, 3 sheep, and 3 white perch.
Ran one dipsey on the zero setting, 30-35 back, with a Scirpion spoon, for a little while…it only caught itty-bitties, so I removed it.
My crew enjoyed the morning, and are headed back to Iowa with fun memories and some fish for their fish fries. 
I might have made a bad call for my next two days with my MN crew. We will see. Yesterday, and for several days prior, they were calling for more ENE wind, gusting to 23, so I told them to stay home. They are rescheduling. But, I see it’s changed now….of course! (Insert eye-roll here).
Back at it Thursday…
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Fishing with Paul and Janie... June 17, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/17/23I was a little nervous about my customers today, since Paul is 87 years old, and the oldest I have taken out, to date. His daughter, Janie, bought him this trip for Father's Day, so they could spend some fun time together. They flew in from Nashville, yesterday, so they were both pretty tired, but were right on time this morning when I picked them up from the White Caps Motel.
The forecast was looking really good, and other than the thick haze that hung over all the land masses, so we couldn't see anything but water out there, it was a very nice day.
Waves were 1 foot or less much of the morning, and then, the wind laid down even more as the morning went on.
We launched at Mazurik's, (Thanks, Mark Greisbach, for dumping us in this morning! I appreciated it very much!), and headed east/northeast to look for fish. I didn't want to go west, because of the muddy water, and I didn't want to go straight north, due to the Mayfly hatch happening.
We started out in front of Cedar Point, over 37 feet of water with Bandits behind Off Shore boards and spoons on dipsies, but I realized it was going to be too much work for me, when every time I checked the dipsies, there was an itty-bitty hanging on it.
I wasn't getting any help with setting rods this morning, so I figured it might be a good idea to head out to the Weather Buoy, with hopes that there would be larger fish out there that were hungry, so I wouldn't have to keep reeling little fish in, and throw them back.
My crew was up for the 12 mile ride, so I brought everything in, and secured it, and off we went. I didn't drive fast, because of my elderly passenger. Even though he was spry, and in very good shape, for an 87-year-old, I felt it necessary to be extra cautious. So, we took our time, and eventually made it out to the line.
Again, we set up with Bandits behind the Off Shores at 70 to 90 back, with one at 50/40 w/2oz.
Dipsies were set on the zero and three settings, with the zero settings set at 35 and 50, and the three settings at 65 and 80 back.
I was disappointed in the lack of fish marks shown on the Helix, when we started just west of the buoy, and were trolling towards it....right on the line. My screen was void of fish (Ugh!). Two LEWT tournament boats were going by us in the opposite direction, about 25 yards south of me, and we watched them each pluck a fish from the Lake, and put it in their live wells.
"I think what we have here is a directional issue," I said. "What do you mean?", asked Janie. I explained, "Sometimes, the fish like to bite when their food is coming from a particular direction, and we don't seem to be going the direction they like, right now". I started to make a turn, and halfway through it, the outer Bandit, which was a "Nitro Shad" color at 90 back, got bit. It was on the slow side of the turn.
Another Nitro Shad, set on the same side with the 2oz snap weight also went back, so Janie was reeling that in while I took Paul's picture with the fish he just caught.
When I put my phone down to take the board off for Janie, I could tell the fish wasn't there anymore. "Hit and a miss," I said. "At least we know they like that color today," I added.
We spent an hour over there, and I decided it was time to head back towards the west to try over there.
I stopped where I had fished two days ago, and there were a bunch of boats there, so we set up and headed to the west on our trolling pass. We would only catch one more keeper, on the three setting dipsey with a black/gold Ripplin Redfin at 65 back, and a couple shorts. We ran out of time.
It was not a stellar day for us, but they still had fun being together, and enjoying the lake. They both said they would like to come back and try it again another time, so that makes me happy. :)
I'm going to go out of Huron tomorrow, with my two day crew of a Father and Son team from Iowa. The weather is looking good for both of their days, and hopefully, we find some fish willing to bite. I may have to pull out the crawler harnesses, if the Mayflies are over there, too, but I'm hoping I don't have to. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dick and Brad 6/15/2023
by Capt Juls on 06/15/23I'm tired today, and I'm having a little trouble being motivated to write this report, so I'll just keep it short and give the details of what we used and what caught fish.
Dick and Brad are a couple of my regular clients, that fish with me a couple of times a year. They met me at Mazurik's at 5:15, and we launched at 5:30. We headed north to the waters east of Ballast Island, trolling north, towards Lucy's point.
There were fish marks on the Helix, but there were also the marks of a decent sized Mayfly hatch emerging from the mud and rising to the surface.
We set up with two Off Shore boards off each side, along with two dipsies off each corner set on the zero and three settings. The dipsies were set to the usual starting numbers of 30 and 35 on the zero setting and 43 and 47 on the three settings.
Two Bandits ran on the starboard side, behind the boards at 90 (Sun Spot) and 70 (Chrome Pink Panties) back. Two Reef Runner Mag 44s ran on the port side at 50 back...one blue/chrome, and the other the black/gold.
The dipsies were catching fish, and the first one came before we got the second rod out. It was only 16 inches, though, but big enough to go in the cooler. Most of the fish caught on the dipsies were smaller fish...many were from last year's hatch, so not very big. Some were even from this year's hatch and only 4 inches long...so freak'n cute. They all got a kiss on their boo-boo, before being sent home to grow bigger.
The Sun Spot Bandit caught a nice one at 90 back (BTW: all the fish caught on cranks today were the bigger ones in the cooler).
After seeing the Mayfly hatch coming up, I decided to make a run to the east, and ended up setting up about 4-5 miles east of Middle Island. (From the reports I'm reading on Facebook, I should have kept going east...lol)
This time, the Mag 44s were taken off, and all Bandits were used behind the boards. Red Headed Wonder Bread at 80 back caught, as did one that I don't know the name of, but I can best describe it as IB Frozen with a black spot behind the gill. That one caught a couple with a 2oz snap weight at 50/40 (total of 90 back).
Spoon colors that worked are the Red Head Wonder Bread Scorpion, Blueberry Muffin Yeck, Blue/Silver Hammered Scorpions, and one Scorpion that Dick thought was called, "Monkey Puke"...but, after looking it up just now, it's called, "Frankenberry" .
We were in deeper water out there, east of the island, over 41-43 feet, so the dipsey settings were changed, and we caught fish on the 43 and 50 back on the zero setting, and 65 and 80 back on the three settings.
Speed was 2.1-2.5mph per the Fish Hawk...which was 2.4-2.8 GPS.
Water temp out there was 66 degrees.
Dick and Brad were happy with their trip, and are looking forward to their next one....as am I. :)
I've rescheduled tomorrow's client, because he's one of my regulars, who always brings along different people. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for rain showers in the AM along with NNW winds, so we opted to change it to a day with better conditions for his crew.
I'll be back out Saturday, with someone who will be my oldest customer to date...he's 97 years old... his daughter wanted to give him a fishing trip, so it's just him and her.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Cesar, Courtney, and Ken... June 11, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/11/23I was meeting my crew at Mazurik's this morning at 5:30. Cesar, his wife Courtney, and their friend, Ken, were driving up from the Columbus area, so that's about a two hour drive for them. I'm sure they were tired, and not used to getting up that early.
I decided to leave the house at 4AM and head that way, because I wanted to hit the car wash before hitting the gas station. The seagulls went to town on my truck the day before, and one of them must have had diarrhea. I didn't want to show up with my truck looking like that. lol
After hitting the gas station, I arrived at Mazurik's around 4:30, and took that time to wipe the boat down, since I didn't do it yesterday, when I got home. I decided playing with the dogs was more important....knowing I could do it this morning, while I waited for them.
They showed up at 5:15, and we launched. It was light enough by then to see the lake's surface, for safe driving, but the navigation lights were still required.
The wind was around 10mph out of the south, the sky was mostly cloudy, and the air temp was in the high 60s.
We didn't go directly back to where I was fishing yesterday, north of Kelly's, but started on the SE corner of Kelly's first. After catching sheephead, and a bunch of itty-bittys, we pulled the lines and headed north again.
The set-up was the same as yesterday, with Bandits behind Off Shore boards, and dipsies on the zero and three settings off the back corners.
Yesterday, the cranks did better than the spoons, but today was the opposite. We had to keep checking the dipsies for little fish, though, or we would be dragging them around for a long time, and you can't catch bigger fish, if there's a little fish hanging on the spoon....spinning around.
I did change out a few of the Bandits to the Reef Runner Mag 44s and set them at 50 back...and, they took a few of the nicer fish. Blue/Chrome and Black/Gold were the colors.
The Bandit colors that caught were the Blue Shiner (stock color) at 83 back, Sun Spot (stock) at 90 back, IB Infected (DJ Custom Eye Lures color) at 80 back, and two other colors I don't know the name of or who painted them...both at 90 back.
I looked on the FishUSA site, and DJ's site, and neither is listed there, so I don't know where I got them. I'm guessing I picked them up at a local bait shop here in town....either Fisherman's Wharf, Hi Way Bait, or Fisherman's Central. I don't know....sorry.
Spoon colors were a wide spectrum, but the "Confusion" Yeck spoon, "Red Headed Wonder Bread" Scorpion spoon, and "Blueberry Muffin" Yeck spoon, all did well.
Zero setting was at 31 and 40 back. The three setting was at 43 and 47 back.
Speed was anywhere from 2.0 to 3.0mph GPS and caught fish at all speeds. I mostly kept the Fish Hawk speed at 2.2-2.4mph, though.
"S-Turns" helped us get bites, too. Sometimes, they bit on the fast side, and sometimes they bit on the slow side, so again...speed didn't really matter. If a bait was in front of a hungry fish, it was going to eat it at any speed.
The marks were not in the same area as they were yesterday, either....which is a shame, because the boat traffic was WAY down compared to yesterday, so it would have been nice if the little shits would have stayed put. hehehe Oh well...
We managed to catch their limit, and they had fun, and that's all that matters. Cesar just bought a beautiful 30' boat, and is getting it ready to fish, and wanted a trip to learn a few tips and tricks, while trolling. They did a great job, and I'm confident they will be successful on their own outings.
Tomorrow's crew has been notified of the gusty winds and rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so they are rescheduling to later this summer/fall. Tuesday is a blow day too, and my crew today was initially scheduled for Tuesday, but were able to go today instead, so my next trip isn't until Wednesday.
My dogs will be very happy, that I have two days off, to give them some much needed attention. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Chris, Dave, and JP... June 10, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/10/23This morning, I left a little earlier than I did yesterday, to go pick up my crew, because I wanted to put some new spoons away that I bought yesterday afternoon, but didn't get around to taking them out of the packaging and putting them away. So, I pull in, put the baits away, and there is my crew, all ready to go, even though I was earlier than yesterday. lol Gotta love Wisco Boyz! :)
We hit the gas station for the usual, and headed out to Marblehead to launch. We hit the water at 5:20 and headed north. The weather was very nice. Calm winds from the west, partly cloudy/hazy sky, and a temp of around 70. I never looked at the air temp, actually, but I was wearing pants made of thin material and flip-flops, and I wasn't cold, so it wasn't below 65, or I would have been chilly.
Water temp, up on the line, was 64.9 degrees, this morning.
We set up over 35 feet of water and worked our way out to 40 feet. The cranks did much better today, than they did yesterday, and we were catching with Bandits behind Off Shore boards at 90 back and 50/42 (total: 92) with a 2oz snap-weight.
"Sun Spot" (stock)
"IB Infected" (DJ Custom Eye Lures)
"Green Clown" (Stock)
and a color I do not know the name of, or who painted it...sorry!
During a trolling pass from east to west, against the current, Sun Spot was running at 90 back, on the outside board, on the starboard side, and suddenly went flying back.
It was JP's turn to reel a fish in, so he grabbed the rod, and pointed it to the port side of the boat, (which forces the planer board to stay back as it comes in, rather than coming straight to the boat, where it would have a chance to tangle with the inside lines). "I need to tighten the drag," he said. I said, "Let me check it, first". I tested the drag, and tightened it a little bit. I said, "That's a big fish, you can't tighten the drag too much, or you could break the line, and lose it. Just take your time..it will get here."
He took his time, and it did get to the back of the boat, where Chris (or, was it Dave?) netted it for him. Luckily, it was hooked really well in the big fat/bone part of the upper lip, and wasn't going to come off easily, because he got it up by the motor, and Chris (or, was it Dave? lol) couldn't get the net in there, to net it. It was doing a lot of flipping around in that corner, and that's when I saw the size of the fish...OMG..WOW!!
I had to turn around, so I didn't have to watch that fiasco, and crossed my fingers that it would get in the net.
It did...and, high-fives and whoop/whoops were had by all! A measurement on the "Judge Ruler" showed us the tail just touching the line at the 30 inch mark. The scale read 9.28 pounds, though. I explained to them, that if that fish had been caught with a belly full of eggs, it would have easily gone 11 pounds.
Chris and Dave explained to JP, that this was a fish of a lifetime, and that people fish for a life time, and never catch one that size. He was very happy. He's going to get a replica made of it, to remember this trip. I asked him to send me a picture of it, when it was done, and he said he would. :)
The dipsies kept us busy with mostly little baby walleye, but every now and then a nice eater would show up, and take the spoon offerings. Yeck, and BadMo Arrow spoons were the ticket for us today.
Zero setting at 35 and 40 back
Three setting at 45 and 55 back
Speed was all over the place this morning, and we caught fish on the slow side of turns, which I'm guessing was probably 1.8-1.9mph, and going faster... up to 2.7mph GPS which was 2.5mph on the Fish Hawk.
We had fish early, and then when the fleet of charter boats showed up, it slowed way down. We had two limits by the time they showed up though, so we only needed 6 more for their limit, and it was only 8am....we had time.
Unfortunately, we ran out of time, when they needed to get off the water an hour early to head back to Wisconsin. We managed their limits, and I reeled in a couple of mine, too. Today's grade of fish was a little better than yesterday's, so they were very happy with the results.
They had fun, learned a lot, and caught a lot of fish, and said they would be back again, and that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I am fishing with a customer that I had scheduled for Tuesday, but since Tuesday is supposed to blow, he took advantage of the nice weather tomorrow, and the fact that I had tomorrow open.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Chris, Dave, and JP... June 9, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/09/23Started the morning off with a little entertainment from my nightly critters, that visit my porch buffet. Two Opossums wandered up on the porch, while I was watering the garden next to my boat. They never noticed me, so I kept quiet to watch them. They were two full-grown adults....cute as could be! At one point, I was talking to them, and they were oblivious to me. Then, Dexter started barking at them through the front door, and that big fella just looked at Dexter as if to say, "Yeah, buddy, I hear you, but I'm hungry, and I know you can't get to me, so I'm just going to keep eating"....and, he did. :)
When I finally got back in the house, I got ready, and said my goodbyes to my pups and off I went to pick up my Wisco crew from the White Caps. I told them I would be there at 5AM, but got there at 5:45, because I had to dig out some window washer fluid to fill my truck's washer reservoir. I got tired of the flashing warning telling me it was empty.
To my surprise, my crew was already outside waiting for me. I finished my task, and we headed into town to fill up the Vexus and truck with gas, and get some ice for the cooler. Then, we headed to Mazurik's to launch. It was 5:30 when we hit the water and headed to the north.
It was a little rough this morning, but not too bad....just 1 to 3s. I was trying to decide where I wanted to start and headed towards Middle Island, but the lack of marks on the Helix had me turning west as we got closer to the border. I set the boat down when I started marking some fish, and pointed the Terrova south, with the baby Merc pushing us at a speed of 2.2-2.3mph (Fish Hawk speed was 2.0mph).
We went through a lot of different crankbaits, and here's what caught today...
IB Infected (DJ Custom color) Bandit at 60 back behind the Off Shore board.
Green Clown (stock color) Bandit at 50 back
Reef Runner Mag 44 in Black/Gold, Blue/Chrome, and Purple Glass Perch (60, 50, 40 back...longest lead on the outside board). The Blue/Chrome at 50 back caught two.
Baby Spros (the 85s) in Chrome Perch, Blue/Chrome, and Purple Glass Perch (60, 50, 47 back)
Crankbaits caught the bigger fish today, but the numbers came on the dipsies on the zero and three settings. Zero settings at 27 and 30 and the three settings at 43 and 47 back. Yeck, BadMo Arrow, and Scorpion spoons worked today. All different colors were working, but if the spoon had dots on it, it seemed to work better.
We were fishing over 30-31 feet of water. I just realized, I never looked at the water temp this morning. I'm guessing, it's near 70, though, if it's not already there.
I had the speeds up to 3.0 GPS (2.5-2.7 on the FH), and they bit at those speeds, too, so they will bite faster baits now.
We caught a lot of shorts, and had to keep checking the dipsies for wee little ones, that were hanging on.
My crew did a great job, and only needed a little refresher course, since their trip with me last year. Chris and Dave fished with me last year, but JP is a first-timer, so he was new to it all, but eventually caught on to the program, and could almost keep up with me. :)
I have them again tomorrow, and it should be a nicer day, with light west winds, so it will be another fun morning in the boat with them, I think. Now, that they are trained again, it will be an easy morning for me, if I can just put them over some fish. woot! woot!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Jim and Harold Nelson... June 3, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/03/23I'm always a little more relaxed when I have the same crew as the previous day, because I know they have already learned the basics, and the second day lets them refine their skills a little more, without all my constant instruction. :)
The dogs were happy I got up early, because they needed to go pee. We went out to the backyard, and they did their business, while I checked the wind forecast for the day. iWindSurf was showing 14 out of the north at Put-in-Bay at 2:30AM, but by 3AM it had subsided to only 9mph. I checked the BoatUS app, and they had a small craft advisory starting at noon today, and going through to tomorrow morning.
I figured it would be a decent morning, and we would get our fish relatively quickly, and get off the water before the winds starting gusting.
I told my crew I would pick them up at 5:00, but I showed up at 4:45. They were in the lobby ready to go, so when they saw me pull up, they came out. Jim said, "I read your blogs, so I know you're always early". I could only giggle at that.
We hit the gas station for the usual, and headed back over to Catawba to launch. I had a new area to fish east of the Bass islands, but figured if the NE wind came earlier than expected, I could scoot back over to the west side of them and then down the protected side, to get back.
We launched just before 5:30...or, tried to. I forgot to unhook the bow strap, so it wasn't as fast as it normally is. lol I had to pee when we got to Catawba, and got out of my routine of readying the boat. Oops! Thanks, Jim, for getting your feet all wet, to get us off the trailer!
We got to the east side of the islands and set up over 35 feet of water, doing a north to south trolling pass. The waves were 2 foot or less on that side of the islands (hardly any waves on the west side of them), so it was a nice morning.
We didn't use any dipsies this morning, and set up with all Bandits. And, before I forget to mention it...for those that read my report yesterday, the "Eriegardless Custom Color, "Bagger", that I thought was a Bill Lewis PWC color was in fact, a Bandit. :)
We ran both sides pretty similar in depths. The port side ran a Blue Shiner (stock color) on the outside board at 70, Green Clown (stock) at 60, IB Infected (DJ Custom Eye Lure color) at 50, and Bagger (Eriegardless) at 40.
The starboard side ran the Blue Shiner at 75, IB Infected at 65, Blue Shiner at 55, and Bagger at 45.
Every single one of them caught fish.
Speed was 2.1-2.3 GPS and 2.0-2.1 on the Fish Hawk. Water temps are getting close to 70 now.
At one point, we had to pick everything up to go get a board that either had a fish, a snag, or a dead body that was spooling the reel. Ugh... luckily, it was just a stupid sheephead hooked sideways, that was getting the better of Harold. But, we needed to pick up and run back up to make another pass anyway, so we grabbed it, and the fish, on the way up.
We had a much better grade of fish today, than we had yesterday on the west side, and only two sheephead. There were only two shorts too. Everything else was a good eater. I think, the smallest one was 18", and the biggest was 23-24". (I didn't bother to measure it).
Jim was working the port side of the boat like a champ today, and the Off Shore boards were in line, marching like good little soldiers, and he even got the clicker down today....clicker on, going out....clicker off, coming in. I didn't have to tell him to turn it off, at all. He must have gone to bed thinking about that before he fell asleep, so it would be in his subconscious this morning. ;)
Harold had an easier day, since we let him sit while reeling in the fish. He's got some bad knees, and it was a bit too rough for him to be able to stand. But, he managed well, and got his limit...as did Jim, and me.
As I type this, the wind has picked up, and will be blowing all night. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for sustained NE wind at 23 with gusts to 30mph. I'm sure that small craft advisory will be adjusted and will not end at 8am tomorrow morning, like they are saying right now.
I'm off Monday, for my birthday, and Tuesday was a reschedule, so I won't be back out until Wednesday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jim and Harold...June 2, 2023
by Capt Juls on 06/02/23I thought I was going to be late picking my crew up at 5AM, since I had to water my gardens before leaving, since we haven't had any rain for a couple of weeks now, but I made it two minutes before I had to be there, whew!
Jim and his Dad Harold drove in from Iowa for a two day trip with me, and luckily, the weather is perfect for it. This morning, the skies were clear, the air temp was 67 degrees, and the wind was pretty much nonexistent. The lake was flat. We put in at Catawba at 5:30 and headed north again.
As a beautiful sunrise began, we set up over 31 feet of water on the west side of the islands. The Terrova steered us northwest, as the baby Merc putted along at a speed of 2.2-2.3mph. The Fish Hawk was reading a water temp of 67 degrees and a speed of 2.0mph, down below at 15 feet. The Helix was reading 69 degrees on the surface.
There was a lot of switching up on depths and colors, so I'm only going to mention what worked for us today, and save myself a lot of typing.
Bandits behind the Off Shore boards on the port side ran at 65, 45, and 35 back. Colors were "Buck Fever" (a Domka Outdoors color), and a color by Eriegardless Custom Lures called, "Bagger".
EDIT: After looking up the color on Kelly Schmidt's shop page, I think I was actually running two Bill Lewis PWCs, because the "Bagger" color for the PWCs is different than the one with the same name for the Bandit. The Bagger Bandit has a pink belly, and the Bagger PWC has a chartreuse belly. The one we used today had the chartreuse belly. It was a hot bait this morning...running at 35 and 45 back.
On the starboard side we ran two Bandits. The "IB Infected" (DJ Custom Eye Lure color) at 70 back and "Green Clown" (stock color) at 75 back. Each of those took several fish, too.
The dipsies/spoons were not as productive today as the cranks were, so we might just run a couple more boards tomorrow, and take out the dipsies on the three settings. They each might have caught one today. The zero setting at 30 and 36 did okay...not great, but good enough to use them again. The most productive spoon was a blue/silver/hammered Scorpion.
Jim and "Dad", as I called him, are learning how this trolling gig works, and are liking it. We're still working on the "turn the clicker off when reeling in" part, but other than that, they are doing a great job. They will get more practice tomorrow. :)
I haven't decided if I want to launch out of Catawba or Mazurik's yet. I'll decide by morning.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Joe... May 30, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/30/23Alfie, my 9mo old Golden Retriever pup, woke me up at 1:45 this morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep. I got out of bed at 2am and put the coffee on, did a few chores until the coffee was done, then took a cup of Joe out to the back deck, to check the forecast for the day. The dogs happily chewed their morning biscuit next to the fire-pit, as the flames flickered and danced, pushing the darkness away from us.
The iWindSurf forecast was calling for light winds from the ESE at less than 10mph. Looking up to see the stars, told me it was a clear sky. The air temp on land, would be reaching the low 80s by noon.
I left the house at 4:50 and headed into town to pick my crew up at the Clinton Inn and Suites. I arrived 15 minutes early, and putzed around until they came out at 5:15. We headed to the gas station for gas and ice, before heading over to Catawba to launch.
My plan this morning, was to fish out in front of Catawba, until the boat traffic got busy. I wanted to get one or two passes in before we would pick up and leave to go to another spot, and that's exactly what we did. We managed to put 6 keepers in the cooler before leaving the area.
Since we were only fishing over 21 feet of water, instead of the 35' I had been fishing, the leads would be shorter on the dipsies with the zero settings. Instead of 35-40 back, we only put them at 25, and 27 back. Both sported a "Bad-Mo" small arrowhead spoon. One was green and gold horizontal stripes, with a silver belly, and the other was a NASCAR looking color, with a silver belly.
The NASCAR looking color would eventually be replaced with a "Confusion" "Yeck" Spoon....that did well.
The dipsies on the three settings were set at 47 and 43 back. Yeck and Bad-Mo spoons fished behind those. A black/gold "Rippling Redfin" at 43 back caught, too.
Three Flicker Minnow 11s were running behind the Off Shore Boards, on the port side, at 80, 60, and 55. They didn't catch anything. They were switched out to Bandits at the next spot up north.
We headed north to the area I fished yesterday, and set up with the same dipsey program as the day before. Zero setting, varied between 30 and 40, and the three settings at 47 to 55 back.
The 5 Bandits, however, were eventually all switched out to one color...."Buck Fever" (silver chrome with a purple back). The port side, all set at 65 back. They started out at 85, 75, and 65, but the 65 kept getting hit, so they all went to 65. :)
The two Buck Fevers on the starboard side were at 75 and 57, so I left those there. They got hit too.
Dave hired me to learn some techniques and locations. He has a smaller boat, and usually fishes closer to Turtle Creek. He wanted to learn more about the island areas we fish, so on nicer days he can come and fish over here. He was a quick learner, and was setting dipsies and planer boards, like he's been doing it a long time, even though he's never used a dipsey before. Joe was happy to sit back and relax, while we did all the work, and reeled in his 6 fish when it was his turn. We all reeled in fish this morning, and had a great time.
It wasn't a fast a furious bite, but it was steady enough to keep us busy. It was a beautiful morning on the water, too. It doesn't get much better. :)
I have a scheduled day off tomorrow, and my Thursday called to reschedule, due to personal reasons. He will be coming to fish in July instead.
Jen and I are probably going to go catch some fish on Thursday to take over to the "Back to the Wild" rehabilitation center, so the Eagles and other critters that eat fish have a fresh supply.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with John Willams May 29th, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/29/23I left the house at 4:30, and drove over to Catawba to meet up with my customer, John Williams, who was going to be there by 5:30. He was driving in from the Cleveland area, so I didn't expect him to beat me there, but he did.
It was still dark at 5:15, but we launched anyway. I figured by the time the 400 warmed up to temp, we would be able to go.
The sky was clear, and just starting to lighten on the eastern horizon. The reflection of the sky on the water west of the islands made it bright enough to head out.
The air temp was mid 50s, and the flag on the pier at Catawba wasn't moving at all. The lake had some light residual rollers from the previous night's light NE winds.
We headed north to the last place I fished last week, which was off the west side of North Bass. The Helix wasn't showing as many fish marks as last week before the blow, but there were still enough to make me want to set up on them.
The Fish Hawk was showing a depth temp of 61.7 degrees and the surface temp was showing 62.3 on the Helix. Speed was set at 2.2 GPS, which was 1.9mph with a WSW trolling pass.
Since I only had one person today, we could only run 6 lines, so 4 dipsies hit the line-up, and two Off Shore boards. The boards started with two Flicker Minnow 11s behind them...one at 55 back, unassisted, and the other with a 2oz snap weight at 50/69 (total line out 119). Neither took a fish, so they were changed out to Bandits.
"Carrot Top" was set at 75 back on the port side. It caught a nice eater. Then, I had John pick out a color to use on the starboard side, and he chose "Electric Zebra". I also had him pick a number, and he chose 68, so we ran that one at 68 back. It didn't catch anything. The sun was getting higher, and it was hard to see the board on the port side, due to the sparkling reflection on the water, so I reeled it in and put it on the starboard side, too.
The Carrot Top stayed at 75 back, and was moved to the outside. The Electric Zebra came in and was changed out to "Buck Fever" (silver chrome with a purple back...a Domka Outdoors Custom color). That one was set to 57 back... it would catch two nice eaters...while the Carrot Top would tally 2 fish also.
The Yeck spoons, however, were the star of the morning. They caught 9 of the 12 fish. 6 came early, and were in the box before 6:30.
The zero setting at 30 and 35 back were the most successful, while the three settings at 47 and 50 back caught a few, too.
It wasn't fast and furious, but it was a steady enough bite to keep us entertained for a couple of hours until we limited out.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water, and the company was great, too, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I'll be fishing with Dave Dunn and his friends.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing Day 2 with Pat and Emily... May 24, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/25/23It was a repeat of day one, so no new report. Please see day one's report for details. :)
Blow day Thursday and I'm off Friday, so I'll be back at it on Saturday.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Pat and Emily Long... May 23, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/23/23Pat and his wife Emily came for a three day stay, and to fish with me for those three days, but it looks like Thursday is going to blow, so it's only going to be today and tomorrow.
Got up at 2:30, and went out on the back deck with the dogs, and my cup of coffee, to find a calm to zero breeze outside. Just the way I like it!
I was planning a longer ride this morning west of the islands, and knew my crew were older, and didn't want to beat them up on the ride out. So, thank you, Mother Nature, for behaving for them this morning.
I picked them up from the White Caps Motel at 5:15, and we headed into town to grab some ice for the cooler. We hit Catawba, and were in the water by 5:45. After the big motor warmed up to temp, we headed north, to the west side of the islands.
I set the Vexus down over 35 feet of water, and deployed the Terrova and the baby Merc with a course setting to the west at 2.0-2.2mph (GPS), which was 1.8-1.9 on the Fish Hawk.
Two Off Shore boards ran out each side with Bandits behind them on the port side.
Red Headed Wonder Bread was on the outside board at 80 back...(Domka Outdoors color), and a Slim Shady Custom color with the name of "Whiskey and Water" ran at 70 back...both baits ran unassisted.
On the starboard side we started with 2oz inline weights with double willow leaf crawler harnesses at 40 and 53 back. These were eventually taken off, due to lack of activity, and replaced with Flicker Minnow 11s with snap weights.
The "Pooh Bear" color ran 50/67 (total of 117 back) on the outside, and the "Purple Perch" ran at 30/45 behind the inside board.
The Pooh Bear color took two fish, and the Purple Perch took one. The Whiskey and Water Bandit took one, and the Red Head failed me this time out.
Two dipsies ran on each corner. The shorter/inside rods ran the zero setting at 35 on the port side, and 40 on the starboard side. The port side had a copper colored Yeck spoon, and the same on the starboard side. The only difference in the spoons is...while they both had the same pattern on the front side, the starboard side spoon had a blue back. I don't know the name of the color, since they don't put it on the package. (It has a green edge on the left side with a red dot at the skinny end of the spoon, and a black dot at the fatter end of the spoon.) If you don't have that one, the "Confusion" color works, too.
The longer/outside rods were running on the three settings, both at 47 back with black and gold Rippling Redfins. Both caught fish.
The dipsey program definitely outdid the cranks this morning.
Water temp was 59 degrees.
We started catching before all the lines could be set, and it was a steady pick from there. Not fire drill fast, but fast enough that I didn't get a lot of pictures this morning. :)
Emily was very good at reading the dipsey rods, and let me know when a fish was on, if I was busy reeling, or doing something else. We managed our 18 walleye by 8:30 this morning, and that's the fastest it's been for me in a long time! I'm very happy to see this kind of bite coming back to us.
Now that I said that out loud, though, I'm sure it will change....again. lol
I have the same crew tomorrow, and like me, they are really looking forward to it. The weather conditions in the morning should be the same as today. The wind comes in around 10AM, I think...or, at least that was the last forecast I looked at.
Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned.....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito May 21, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/21/23Sorry...I have to keep this one short, because I have to get my grass cut...:)
Vito came down from Wisconsin, after two years of reschedules, due to wicked windy weather conditions every time his day was scheduled, and was able to finally get his time in today and tomorrow.
I picked him up this morning at 5:15, and we headed to Catawba to launch. We headed out about 5:45 and went towards G Can, but the wind forecast that was supposed to be west, was northwest, so I wanted to go further north along the front edge of round and go down towards G, but changed my mind and kept driving until we hit C Can. It was just one of those undecided mornings, and I never fished G today.
Since it was just two of us, and we could only run 6 lines today, we set up with two Bandits behind Off Shore boards, on each side, running 70-90 back, and one dipsey off each corner.
Bandit colors were "Wild Thing" (stock color from FishUSA), and "Red Headed Wonder Bread" (Domka Outdoors Custom Color) on the starboard side, and "Carrot Top" (Stock Color from FishUSA), and IB Infected (DJ's Custom Eye Lure color).
Dipsies were set on the zero setting on the starboard side at 40, and on the 3 setting on the port side at 47. We started with worm burners, but switched them out to double willow leaf crawler harnesses, and then to Yeck Spoons, after they didn't produce.
The color that worked for us in the Yeck spoons...I don't know the name of, but it is copper colored with a green edge, a red dot on the skinny end of the spoon and a black dot on the fat end. The spoon running on the starboard side had a blue back, and the same color running on the port side had a copper back.
I picked up the blue backed one at Hi Way Bait and Tackle the other day. Both the blue and the copper backs produced fish, and both ended up on the zero settings...one at 35 and one at 40 back.
Bandit colors were changed out several times...and, eventually, we only had one Off Shore board off each side, with two dipsies off each corner.
Bandit colors that caught today were the (2) Red Headed Wonder Bread, (1)Wild Thing, and (1) Blue Shiner. The dipsies caught the rest.
I had the second dipsey on the starboard side running on the three setting at 47 with a worm burner, and it caught one fish. The two Yeck spoons caught the most fish today.
Speed on the GPS was 2.1-2.3mph and 1.8-2.0 on the Fish Hawk.
Water temp was 56-58 degrees depending on where we were.
We made one long pass from C Can to Middle Bass, via the north side of Rattle Snake. The best marks were on the NE side of Niagara.
Keep an eye out over there though, because there are three sets of nets to navigate around.
We only caught 12 of the 15 fish we hooked up with, but that's all we needed.
It was a fun morning, and we get to go do it again tomorrow. I love fishing with Vito...he's very laid back, with a positive attitude, and that makes me happy!
We will be launching out of Marblehead tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve and Keith... May 19, 2023
by Capt Juls on 05/19/23My crew drove up this morning from Columbus, and met me at the launch at 5:30. The sky was already getting lighter, so we were able to launch and head out at 5:40. It's a 20 minute no wake zone out to the mouth of the Portage River, so it was a few minutes after 6am when we got the Vexus up on plane.
The wind forecast for the day had improved greatly from what it was saying the day before, so that was nice. The waves all day were 1' or less, and I'm guessing the wind never got over 10mph while we were out there.
We started inside the cans, but were kicked out of there at 8am, when the Coast Guard came across the radio telling everyone that the firing range would be closed off to boaters, until 6pm.
I decided to take a ride up to the "Triangle", which is the area between the bass islands...the "Triangle" being points on Rattle Snake, Green, and Middle Bass.
This time of year is usually good, and that area loaded with fish. That wasn't the case today. While there are some fish there, they are not there in the numbers that they normally would be, like in the past several years. I know we had a setback with water temps, but it's not that far off, and only lasted a week, so I'm not sure what's going on with the fish's migration patterns this year. I only know they are not where they normally would be.
To make a long story short....we tried Bandits, Flicker Minnows, Spro 120s, and a Reaper behind the Off Shore boards. The only crank that would catch fish today was the "IB Infected" custom Bandit that DJ paints. It's a chrome yellow/antifreeze color with small magenta dots all over it. We ended up putting three of those out, and all three caught fish. No other colors did, and I tried many.
The worm burners on dipsies caught 3, lost 2, and lost their worms, 5 times, so they were effective...just not very successfully effective. lol
The dipsey settings that caught fish were the three setting at 47 back, and the zero setting at 33.
Speed was 1.9-2.1 GPS (1.7-1.9 on the Fish Hawk).
Steve, who is a police officer, brought his Uncle, Keith, up to get some relaxing, much needed "water time" in. Steve started the morning off by saying, "We don't care if we catch fish, but it would be nice, if we do. I'm here to learn some things from you". And, learn, they did. Steve was running his side of the boat like a champ in no time at all. Keith had a brace on his wrist, so we took it easy on him and just had him reel in his fish, when it was his turn.
I felt bad for the dismal numbers of walleye in the cooler, but he assured me that they had a lot of fun, and learned what he needed to learn, so I feel a little better about that....but, geez....this poor catch streak of mine has got to turn around here soon. I know that firing range would have lit up around mid to late morning, but we couldn't stay there, so my game plan was thrown out the window. I hate when that happens....deep sigh.
Off-topic and a side note....just wanted to say, today was officially the first day we caught a Sheephead, from my boat. I was wondering when they would start wandering around more.
Anyway....I have rescheduled tomorrow, due to the NW wind and my customer (Father/daughter) needing to. So, I'll be back out Sunday through Thursday, which is looking really good all 5 days. I have a regular customer returning to fish with me on Sunday and Monday, and it's just him, so only 6 lines to play with.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
