Juls WFA Blog
Fishing with Danny and Randy...5/25/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/25/26Left the house at 4:45am, hit the gas station for some ice, and headed to Mazurik's to get things ready before my customers showed up at 6am. The wind was very light out of the north, the air temp was in the low 60s, and the sky was cloudy.
When I got to Mazurik's, it was dark, and there were a few others already there and launching their boats. After the usual boat prep, I jumped in to dig out some crankbaits that are in the front storage compartment....those are the ones I don't use that often. This time, I was going to try the Reef Runner Mag 44s on one side and Bandits on the other side. They've worked in May before, so I thought I would give them a try.
Danny and Randy showed up on time, and we launched just before it got really busy at the ramp. I hadn't seen Danny in a year, and this year he was walking with a cane, so I told him to meet me at the courtesy dock instead of trying to climb the EZEESteps on the trailer to get into the boat. It would be much easier for him. Randy parked the truck and came down, jumped in the boat, and off we went.
I knew I wasn't going back to where I was yesterday, and decided to head towards Starve Island area, and the east side of the Bass Islands. On our way there, the Garmin kept marking a lot of fish in 20-22' of water, so I turned the Vexus around and went back to a starting point, and set up.
The Ulterra and baby Merc worked in unison to keep us on a course to the north at a speed of 2.5mph (FishHawk speed).
The water temp on the surface was 58.5 degrees, and at 15' down it was 60.2 degrees.
The lake was only a little rough from all the boat wakes...not the wind. The north wind was less than 5mph at 6am. A fog threatened to come in, but never really did, so that was a relief. I hate fishing in the fog.
Danny wasn't able to stand up, so Randy helped set lines after I showed him how to attach the Off Shore boards and set dipsies.
Two dipsies ran off each stern corner. I use a 6' rod and an 8.6' rod on each side. The shorter one is the "inside," and the longer is the "outside".
The inside run on the zero setting, and the outside run on the three settings.
The zero settings were set at 25 and 27 back. The three settings were at 35 and 37 back. Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons were used. I didn't even bother with the worm-burners this morning.
We had 8 in the cooler in no time at all, and then we had a major mishap happen...it was no one's fault, but it was disastrous.
Here's what happened....
Since Danny can't stand very well, when a fish was on a dipsey, he would heave himself off the driver's seat and sit on the starboard compartment, so he could reel in a fish. Well, this time, he sat on the Ulterra remote that I had set down, and the remote freaked out.
The trolling motor lost it's paring to the remote, so I couldn't do anything with it, and it had gone berserk....speed was at power 10...it was turned to the right...and not responding to commands to turn the prop off. By the time I was able to put the kicker motor in neutral and get up to the motor itself to turn it off, the boat had done 1 1/2 circles and had board lines under the boat, and eventually had three lines wrapped around the kicker's prop. I was at least able to use the net to get the Off Shore board that was hanging off the end of the kicker back in the boat.
The line wasn't budging, though, so we would have to go back to the dock to free it. I wasn't about to go swimming at this time of year to fix it. Maybe when the water is 80 degrees, but not when it's 58! lol
Three lines had tangled in the kicker prop, and one even found itself around the trolling motor shaft. Two Bandits were still floating out back, and when I got the boat on plane, one of them came flying into the boat. A "Buck Fever" Bandit was lost, and it is floating out there somewhere.
We made it back to the dock around 7:30, and it was busy, so we pulled up to the courtesy dock and were able to free the kicker prop of line. However, since I have the day off, I have three reels that will need to be respooled tomorrow. Too much line was removed to keep them in calibration.
We went back out, but this time we only set the dipsies, because the crankbaits did nothing in that first hour, and the spoons were catching. We only fished four lines, but were able to get our limits before we ran out of time. Whew! Nothing big...just good eaters today.
Some days aren't perfect, but they can be interesting. ;)
Randy has his own boat, and it will be launched for the season tomorrow. He's got a nice 1988 Tiara.
Danny will be back next week for a two-day trip with a friend who is coming in from Utah.
I'm off tomorrow, but will be back out for a two-day trip with Mick Jandl and two of his friends. They are coming down from Wisconsin. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Joe and Mike...5/24/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/24/26Joe Conley, who used to fish the same walleye tournaments that I did back in the early 2000s, reached out to book a trip with me, because he didn't want to pull his boat back here again this month. He was here last month with his own boat, and was able to get out each of the 5 days they were here, and limited each time out, too. :)
This time, Joe brought his friend, Mike, who is originally from MN, but now lives in California, because he's never been to Lake Erie, so this was his first time.
After this two-day blow we just had, with gusty NE winds, the water was going to be muddy in areas. Since there was no satellite pic to see where the dirty water is, it was just a matter of heading out, driving around, and finding clean enough water holding some fish, to fish in.
The obvious direction was to head north, since it was the shoreline that got beaten up in that wind. It wouldn't be as muddy up there, and that proved to be correct.
We started SE of Kelly Island Shoal in 36' of water, and trolled to the NE...out to 45 feet of water. There were good marks from 10-40 feet down in the water column. The kind of screen that gets a person excited, because they look like very active fish. However, that wasn't the case. It was a slow bite and a grind to just get their 12 fish.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards, and the only ones that would catch would be "Buck Fever" (Domka Outdoors Custom) at 63 back, Blue Chrome at 85 back, and "The Big Kahuna" at 93 back....that's another Domka color.
The Bandits would only catch 4 fish all morning. There were also two pull-backs, but the fish came off. I tried the Bill Lewis PWC Lite with a 2oz snap weight, but it didn't do anything. I tried the Spro Madeye 120 "Ghost Purple Perch", which is usually a producer, but it didn't do anything either.
Most of the fish came on dipsies with Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons. The "worm-burners" only got their crawlers stolen this time. The bite wasn't aggressive, so the fish would grab the crawler's tail and rip it. The last time out, they were engulfing it to the back of their throats.I removed the worm-burners and replaced them with more spoons.
The 2 zero settings were at 30 and 40, and the 2 three settings were at 57 and 82. All of them caught fish.
Speed was 2.3-2.5 on the FishHawk. Water temp on the surface was 58 degrees, and at 18 feet down it was 60 degrees.
We only ended up with their limits and none of mine, but it was still a fun morning to be out there. The weather was beautiful, the lake was pleasant, and the company was entertaining. At one point, Joe called his girlfriend to tell her, "I've never had a woman tell me what to do in a boat before"...hahahah That made me giggle.
He confessed he learned a trick or two, and that made me happy! :)
Tomorrow, I have Danny and his friend, Mike (I think his name is Mike)...they were rescheduled from last Tuesday, when it was blowing out of the NE, and we cancelled.
We'll be launching out of Catawba tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Blow Days....deep sigh...5/22/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/22/26 Tuesday, I met my crew down at Catawba at 6am, but we decided to reschedule their trip to this Monday, due to a gusty NE wind that morning. Monday is looking great, so hopefully that will stay that way.
Yesterday's trip had already been rescheduled to June 1st, due to....you guessed it...more wind. Today, (Friday), it's another small craft advisory, but thankfully, I didn't have a trip scheduled today.
More wind and rain tomorrow, but tomorrow's crew were able to move to Sunday.
The good news is....Sunday through the next 7 following days looks like Momma Nature is going to take a break and stop blowing. Winds are showing mostly less than 10mph the entire time. Yay! :)
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Josh and His Daughter Kinley...5/19/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/19/26Nothing is better than that first hot cup of coffee... sitting out on the back deck in the wee hours of the morning when all is quiet, and the dogs are just sniffing for whoever walked on their grass overnight. There is the occasional animal drama beyond the fence that sends my dogs into a running frenzy, but they don't bark at that hour for some reason...thankfully!
The weather forecast for the morning was calling for light winds out of the SSW early, then building as mid-morning approached. I was hoping to get our three-person limit before 9am and off the lake before she started blowing.
I picked up Josh and his daughter Kinley from the Whitecaps Motel at 5:30, hit the gas station for ice, and headed over to Mazurik's to launch. We were in the water by 6am and headed to the area around Starve Island to start. With the wind direction as it was, I figured if it started blowing earlier than predicted, it would be behind us and pushing us to the NE. That would give me a lot of productive water to cover without having to pick up and run back up to a starting point.
That was just a plan, though, and it turned out to be one of those perfect mornings where plan B wasn't needed.
The wind was less than 10mph, the lake was 1' or less, and the fish were active.
Kinley loves to fish, and her Dad brought her to Lake Erie to do just that. They are originally from MN, but now live down near Dayton, so fishing is in the blood.
Josh had only used planer boards once before. I gave him a tutorial on how to attach the Off Shore boards, how to release the line from the front clip if a fish didn't hit it hard enough to do it itself, and let it swing to the center before reeling it in.
Kinley caught on real quick with the dipsies, but was fine with just me and Josh setting the boards lines.
The dipsies caught the most fish this morning. I ran the usual zero and three settings on each side. The zero on the port side was at 30 back, and the three setting was sometimes at 47 and sometimes at 57 back.
The starboard side zero setting was at 40 back, and the three setting was at 61.
Each side ran a "worm-burner" spoon and a Yeck spoon. If you don't know what a worm-burner is...is a spoon that has a 3-4 inch crawler harness attached to it, so you can run a crawler really fast without it blowing out.
The Yeck spoon is one that I have "DJ Custom Eye Lures" paint a special blue on the belly. The back has copper/red/black/and green on it. They sell it over at Hi-Way Bait...I haven't seen it anywhere else. However, the ones hanging don't have the blue on them,
; that's a custom order you would need to ask them for.
That spoon has been working great for a few weeks now, so I haven't taken it off yet.
The "Ghost Purple Perch" Spro Madeye120 caught a couple, as did "Buck Fever" (Domka custom) at 97 back. The "Fruit Dots" Bandit caught one at 75 back.
The "WalleyeX Bralwer" didn't want to attract anyone today, so that was switched out for another "Bandit", two different ones actually, but neither color would catch a fish, either. I tried "Khaki", and one that Kinley picked out, which I don't know the name of.
Speed was 2.3-2.5mph on the FishHawk. The water temp at 18' down was 57 degrees.
We had our limits by 8:45 and headed in before the wind kicked up. It was kicking up on our ride in, so the timing was perfect.
Both of them said they had a great time and want to come back in the fall to try for some perch, and that makes me happy! They were a lot of fun to fish with, so I'm looking forward to that. Did I ever tell you that I LOVE perch fishing? lol :)
Tomorrow looks like I'll be hiding on the west side of the islands, due to a NE wind forecast. Danny Harris and his friend will be meeting me at Catawba's ramp in the morning.
I've already rescheduled Thursday's trip due to the big NE blow that's forecast. They rescheduled for June 1st.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Paul and Steve...5/17/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/17/26This trip was originally scheduled for yesterday. Due to the wind, and mine and their availability to change it to this morning, we made plans to meet at Mazurik's at 5:30. Unfortunately, Paul's brother couldn't make it today, so it was just Paul and their friend, Steve. Easy names for me to remember, because my Dad's name was Paul and my twin brother's name is Steve. :)
You all know my morning routine by now, so I won't bore you with those details this time. I left the house at 4:30 and hit the gas station for some ice. I was the second person to pull in at Mazurik's. There was a boat tied up to the courtesy dock already, but after we launched and I pulled up to it too, we chatted, and I found out that he had driven up from a couple of hours way, and he had gottenn there at 2am. He was just waiting for the sky to lighten before heading out on his own. It was definitely a boat that he could sleep in while he waited. It had a nice little cabin on it, so I'm guessing there was probably a little bed down below he could use.
The sky was just beginning to lighten at 5:30, and rigs were pulling in the park. I wanted to get out in front and let the motor warm up before it got crowded at the launch. Once it had, we headed north. I kept the Vexus at a slow speed of only 25mph, so that by the time we got to where I thought I wanted to start, it would be light enough to see the Off Shore boards.
Plenty of fish were marked between the mainland and Kelly's, but I was thinking of going further north. After we passed American Eagle Shoal and got out of the shallow water, there were some decent marks, so the Vexus was stopped, the big motor shut off, the Ulterra deployed, and the baby Merc warmed up. The FishHawk was sent down, and then the dual-team of the Ulterra and the baby Merc handled it from there. The Ulterra's course was set to the north, towards Gull Island Shoal, while the baby Merc pushed us along at the FH speed of 2.2mph.
Seeing so many posts about crawlers working, I still didn't want to run them behind the boards, because I don't like going that slow...So, I had grabbed the box of "Worm Burners" out of the fishing room last night. They would be run behind the dipsies. It was a good decision, because they caught the most fish this morning.
The zero setting at 28 and 31, and the three setting at 57 and 60 produced fish. The three setting on the starboard side ran that Yeck spoon with the blue belly that has been consistently producing each trip, and it didn't disappoint this morning, either.
Speed was best between 2.2 and 2.4 (FishHawk).
Behind the Off Shore boards, we started with the WalleyeX "Chrome Tiger" and "Craw" on the port side, and the "Blue Shiner" and "Khaki" Banidits on the starboard side.
The chrome tiger ran at 50/22 with 2oz caught the two largest fish, and the craw at 120 back caught one, but would be changed out to the Spro Madeye120 "Ghost Purple Perch" color at 97 back. It started catching, so I put another one on the port side, too.
Both the blue shiner and the khaki had caught a fish, but that was it, so I changed out both. One was swapped with the Spro (GPP), and the other was changed to the "Fruit Dots" Bandit. The Spro ran at 97 back and the Fruit Dots at 70 back.
Everything caught fish this morning. We all caught our limits and headed back in at 9:30, so they could get the fish cleaned and grab some breakfast before heading back home.
They did a great job...they said they had a great time, and learned a lot....and that makes me happy!
Mission accomplished. :)
I'm off tomorrow, but have trips scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday....wind permitting. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dick and Jonathan...5/15/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/15/26I got up at 1:30, and did the usual routine of dogs, coffee, back deck, and checked the weather apps. The air temp was 46 degrees. The sky was clear and full of stars. The wind was pretty much nonexistent.
There was a package on my front porch that the nightly critters visiting the "Critter Buffet" luckily didn't take an interest in, and I brought it in. It was the new Minn-Kota remote for the Ulterra that they sent me.
At 3am, I went out to the boat and turned the Ulterra and the remote on... paired the new remote to the motor, then paired it to the One Boat Network app, so I could do the software update on the new remote. That all went smoothly, and it did end up working perfectly this morning...so, all is well again.
This morning was a second trip, this week, for Dick Lehto. This past Tuesday, he fished with his friend Brad. This morning, he brought his friend, Jonathan, with him. Jonathan is an avid fisherman, so this was going to be easy.
They were meeting me at Mazurik's at 6am, so I was there by 5:15. I wanted to get everything ready, so when they showed up, we could hit the water right away. They showed up around 5:50, which was perfect timing, because many more boats were entering the park at a steady rate. We were able to launch and get out of there before it got too busy.
Initially, I was going to head north of Kelly's, because it was going to be a light south wind, but I decided to head over to Huron, because of that same light south wind. It would be an easy ride over there, and wouldn't use up too much gas. Normally, the fish are abundant over in that area this time of year, so I thought it was a good idea.
Womp....womp...:( lol
We started in 40' of water, north of the white condos, east of Cedar Point. We marked some fish when we set up, but they would come and go off the screen...but, mostly "go"....there was a lot of blank screen in the pass we made.
We were set up west of the Huron Dump, and headed towards it, so in my mind, I thought the marks would get better as we got closer, or on the east side of it. It's usually pretty good right now. However, that wasn't the case for us.
Like I said, we started in 40' of water....went in to 37' of water, and then back out to 44' of water. So, we covered a lot of water and never found a school of fish. Just a fish here and a fish there...it was a grind to say the least. (I was kicking myself, because I probably should have gone north out of Mazurik's instead of east. But that's how it goes sometimes. You make a decision and stick with it.)
My crew was not complaining in the least and kept saying how much they were enjoying themselves. Jonathan said, "This has been a shitty week, but this definitely makes up for it." I smiled and said, "It's a beautiful morning to be out here...you guys didn't want to be done by 8am anyway, right?" Dick was quick to agree.
Bandits let me down today....not one fish was caught on a Bandit, or PWC Lite. Three baits caught their limits. The WalleyeX Brawler, Spro Madeye Minnow 120, and the Yeck spoons.
The WalleyeX Brawler colors that caught were the "Chrome Tiger" at 80 back and "Craw" at 120 back, unassisted. The "Ghost Purple Perch" Spro 120 at 100 back caught several, too.
The dipsies caught a few fish, but not like they did the other day. The biggest fish came on a Yeck spoon on a 3-setting dipsey at 57 back.
Speed was kept between 1.9-2.5mph...again, most bites were during the 2.2-2.3 speeds.
The water temp was 55 degrees on the surface and 56 degrees 18' down.
We only managed to catch their limits, but none of mine. They were happy campers, and we headed back in. The ride was smooth as the lake was only producing a 6" chop, but the south passage was its usual self with wakes coming from all directions, so that was the only bumpy part of the ride.
Both said they had a great time, and that makes me happy!
My trip for tomorrow is moving to Sunday, since I had it open and they were driving in from their hometowns here in Ohio, so they could move it to the next day. Tomorrow is fishable, but it's going to be rougher than Sunday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dick and Brad...5/12/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/13/26I'm writing this in the wee hours of the next morning, due to the forecast calling for more rain the next two days. I had to get the grass cut, vegetable garden planted, and had to run to Sandusky to pick up some more soil for a raised garden I started weeks ago, but never filled with dirt. By the time I was done, it was already my bedtime, and I was whooped. It's not a "we killed them fast" kind of report either, so I didn't feel the need to get it done fast, either. lol
I've been fishing with Dick and Brad for many years now. They are older gents who like to fish together and have their own boats, but still like to hire me for a day or two each season, as a refresher course. It's always a good time, due to Dick's sense of humor and his ability to keep a conversation going.
This morning, I was meeting them at Catawba, due to an ENE wind that was switching to the SE early in the morning.
My plan was to head back up to where I left off two days ago, when I was fishing with Dave and Danielle. Dick and Brad are local, so they met me at the park at 6am. The flag on the Catawba pier was lightly flapping in the mostly calm wind. That meant that the wind was already switching, so the lake was lying down.
As we headed north through the south passage, there were still some NE rollers, but they were on the smaller side. When we were passing the middle passage, the wind had picked up a little, and the waves were coming from the SE, but by the time we got to the north passage, the wind was still coming from the NE. It would eventually switch to the SE up there, too.
There were marks on the Garmin when I got to the area where I ended the last trip out, so we set up. As usual, the Ulterra is the first to be deployed, so that I can set the course and keep the boat on course, while I get everything else set up. Next, the baby Merc is warmed up, while I send the FishHawk down to 18'. Then, the baby Merc is put in gear, the iTroll adjusted, so it can achieve the speed I want, which in this case was 2.0mph to start.
Dick has better sea legs than Brad, and likes to help set lines, so he can get a refresher course on using the Off Shore boards. After I showed him how to attach them, it all came back to him, and he was off and running on setting the port side.
While he was doing that, I put the two dipsies out on the starboard side...I'll bet you can guess the settings by now. lol Yep....zero and three settings. The zero setting was set at 27 back, and the three setting was set at 47. Both were running Yeck spoons with blue bellies.
4 Bandits ran on the port side at 80, 70, 63, and 50 back. The port side ran 3 Bandits at 77, 63, and 53 back. Colors were (3) "Green Lantern" (Slim Shady color), (3) "Buck Fever" (Domka color), a Black and a Chrome with foil sides (not sure whose that is?). The last time up there, Buck Fever was the hot color. This time, it was Green Lantern.
The early morning bite was better with the spoons, and the dipsies took the first 5 fish, so I removed two board rods from the port side and added two more dipsies on that side, and let them choose the spoon colors to use. The zero setting was set to 33, and the three setting was set to 53. They were running a little deeper than the other side. All four dipsies would catch fish at those settings.
Fish bit from 1.9-2.6mph, but mostly at 2.3mph. Water temp was 55 on the surface and one degree warmer at 18' down. The dipsies outfished the Bandits this time.
The fish were scattered more than last time up there, so we made one pass headed west, turned around, and headed back to the islands, since the waves were only 1' or less...we just kept the baits in the water and trolled back. The bite was not fast, but we had their limit within the first three hours, and then it got slower. Brad looked tired and was ready to head in whenever Dick was ready. Dick wanted to fish a little longer, so we gave it another half hour. I caught one of mine, and then Dick made the call to head in.
We stopped for lunch, and enjoyed some chit-chat, exchanged some pictures before heading our own ways. I will be seeing Dick again on Friday, when he and his other friend will be fishing with me again. Friday is looking really nice, after we get through two days of gusty W and NW winds, with lots of rain in the forecast.
My trip for today (Wednesday) has been rescheduled, so I'm off today and tomorrow, and will be back out Friday and probably Saturday. Saturday's crew cancelled their reservations at the Whitecaps, because the motel said they require a 3-day cancellation notice to get a deposit back, and when he asked about the forecast, it was looking iffy. I told him that if he felt he needed to make the call that day, to just go ahead and cancel it. He said they could drive up that morning if the forecast changed. So, that's where I'm at on Saturday.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dave and Danielle---5/10/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/10/26I woke up at 1:30, but decided to sleep in, because I was going to take my neighbors, Dave and Danielle, out fishing this morning. I told them it would be a late start, due to the wind forecast, so I went back to sleep for another hour and a half. I woke up at 3am to a fat little pitty telling me her breakfast was an hour late, and I should feed her, "right now!" lol Alfie, the Golden, is just the opposite. I have to beg him to eat most of the time.
I got up and made her breakfast, made some coffee, and the three of us went outside. The wind was still, but iWindSurf was showing it was going to start gusting by 5am out of the north. By 10am it was going to lie down, as it switched from the north to the NE, and would be less than 5mph by 11am.
When I took the dogs for their walk, we passed by the lake, and I could see that it was white-capping. It was a good call to wait.
I told Dave and Danielle to be at my house at 9:30, so we could launch by 10am. They are my neighbors across the road from my house, and they are super nice people. We share different food recipes with each other, and Dave is a wizard with the smoker out back. Yum!
They both had birthdays within the last two weeks, so I decided to take them out for a few hours of fishing today.
We launched at 10, right on schedule. When Danielle and I were at the ramp with the boat waiting for Dave to walk back, after parking the truck and trailer, another boat with three fellas in it yelled to me, "Are you Juls?" "Yeah...that's me", I said, smiling. "I read your reports all the time", one of them said. "Thanks for reading them", I said. He added, "In fact, you said in your report yesterday that because of the wind forecast that you would be launching right now, and that's why we're here right now", he said, laughing. "Was I right?" They all agreed and nodded. We wished each other good luck today, and off they went.
It was still a little bumpy as the north wind was subsiding, but it wasn't bad at all. I pointed the Vexus north along the west side of the Bass Islands, and watched the Garmin for any fish marks as we drove. I noticed the chart speed was a little slow and was still set to a trolling speed, so I bumped it up to 10, so it would mark fish better while the boat was on plane.
Once we found the kind of numbers on the screen that made it worth a stop, we set up. I'm not going to say exactly where, because the fish move, so just use your electronics to tell you when to stop. I will say I wasn't more than a couple of miles west of the actual islands. I drove until I ran out of fish marks and then turned the boat back around to go south.
Side note: I'm having another issue with the Ulterra that is caused by the new software update that I had to do this past week. Any time I turn the motor's power off and turn it back on again, I have to re-pair the remote to the motor. I shouldn't have to do that. It's supposed to stay paired all the time. I'll have to contact Minn-Kota again to see if that's a known issue and if there is another software update for that.
Once the FishHawk was down to 18', the Ulterra and baby Merc were set to a speed of 2.0mph.
The water temp on the surface was 54.7 degrees and 56.2 degrees at 18 feet down.
The dipsey rods were set out first. The usual zero and three settings. We were only over 34 feet of water and marking fish anywhere from 15 to 30 feet down, so the zero setting was set at 27 to start, and the three setting was set at 47 back.
Both were running a Yeck spoon with a blue belly that I got at Hi-Way Bait. DJ Custom Eye Lures added the blue bellies for me. I don't know the name of the actual color of the spoon, but if you ask them, they should know the spoon I'm talking about. It's been a productive spoon for me over the past couple of years that I have been using it.
The zero setting was eventually set to 33 back and caught a couple of fish. The three setting caught two and lost one fish, too.
Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards...4 on the port side, and 3 on the starboard side.
Long story short...bait colors were changed out until we found the ones that were repeatedly producing. The best one was "Buck Fever" (Domka Outdoors custom color), It's a purple back with chrome sides and belly. 63 back unassisted was the magic number, apparently, because it caught the majority of our fish. We ended up putting two more out.
Another that caught a few fish was "Green Lantern" (Slim Shady custom color) at 67 back.
It was one of those days where the starboard side was outproducing the port side for some reason, even though we had the same setups on both sides. It didn't matter if we were going north to south or south to north...the one side just caught more fish.
By 11am, the lake was calm, so we were able to just circle around the school of fish in that area. There wasn't anyone close to us, so it was a pleasant day. There were boats out further to the west of us, but never close enough to bother us with "Right of Way" issues.
We managed to catch our limits in about 3 hours. It wasn't on fire, but it was steady enough to keep it fun. The fish were perfect eaters, too....mostly 18-22" fish. We had two throwbacks and two that came unbuttoned before we saw them.
Dave and Danielle had a great time, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and caught more fish than they expected to. Danielle said, "I just like being on the lake", and Dave said, "I would have been happy if we had only caught 4, so this is great"....and that makes me happy! :)
Happy Birthday, you two! I had a great time fishing with you, and I'm looking forward to your trip in June!
I'll be back out Tuesday with a couple of my regulars, Dick and Brad. Wednesday is a trip with some new clients, and Friday is with Dick and Brad, again. The winds this week are up and down....hopefully, they stay down! This wind is making me crazy.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Keith and Jeremy...5/9/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/09/26Sorry, I haven't written all week, but I didn't have any trips scheduled. I had one scheduled for this past Thursday, but due to a reschedule on their end, it didn't happen. It would have been a nice day for fishing, though. They will be here next week, on Wednesday, but the forecast is calling for a big blow, so they might be doing Thursday instead. The forecast is always changing, so we'll see what happens.
The winds were light this morning at 2am, when the dogs and I went out on the back deck, and the air was relatively warm. The sky let a star poke through here and there, so I could tell it was partly cloudy.
As the dogs nibbled on their morning treats and I sipped my hot coffee, I checked iWindSurf's wind forecast for the upcoming morning hours. It showed that it would still be light winds until around 10am, then pick up out of the SW. It would be getting gustier as the afternoon hours approached.
The trip today was with friends, because I couldn't spend another day on shore, and needed to find some fish. When you don't fish for a while, you wonder what's happening out there. Sure, there are tons of reports of "We caught them in an hour and a half", "Fast limits", and pictures showing full fish boards...but, no info as to what they caught them on, or a general area, to help anyone.
With that said, it was time to get out there again...
Keith and Jeremy drove in from the Perrysburg area and met me at my house, since I was on their way in. They showed up at 5:45, got in the truck, and we headed to the gas station for some ice. The boat was already topped off with gas, so that didn't have to be done.
When we arrived at Mazurik's, the line was short, but it was starting to get busy behind us. I readied the boat, and we hit the water. After the 400 warmed up, we went east. My last time out was on the SE side of Kelly's, and there were a lot of fish there....I was hoping there would be more migrating through there.
The Garmin marked a handful of fish, but it was nothing like last week.
We were by the Marblehead dump when I decided that we should just get some baits in the water and head north to deeper water. We started in 40' and went NNE until we hit 44'. The marks were few to none most of the way.
We picked off a few fish here and there, and the screen was blank when they hit.
7 Bandits were running behind the Off Shore boards, and to make a long story short....the winning bait was once again "Khaki" (stock color) running at 100 and 115 back, unassisted. One was run on each outside board, and between the two of those, they took the most fish. More Khaki Bandits replaced unproductive colors and set out at 80 and 90 back. They took fish too.
"Electric Zebra" (stock color) caught one fish. But, it was khaki that they wanted most today.
The dipsies were running at the usual zero and three settings at 40 and 57, respectively. The zero setting was changed up a few times to run deeper and shallower, but never took a fish. The three setting at 57 took two nice walleye with a Yeck spoon.
We were running at 1.9-2.5mph, and catching at all speeds. As it got windier, the speed was up and down, due to waves, boat wakes, and boat direction.
The water temp on the surface was showing 52.7 degrees, while the FishHawk showed 54.2 degrees 18 feet down.
We ended after 4 hours, going 11 for 15, which was better than I thought we would do since we weren't marking very many fish. Our trolling pass was from the SE corner of Kelly's up to the NE corner (S side of the shoal), and then over to the north side of Kelly's.
There were a lot of boats working the north side of Kelly's, and that's where we caught most of our fish. I think we had 5 in the cooler by the time we passed through the bottom of the shoal, and moved over to the north side of "North Bay". Then it was just a matter of playing dodge the boats. Most seemed to know the "Rules of the Road", so there were no issues....(whch isn't usually the case). lol
Since Keith and Jeremy have fished with me before, they knew how to do everything, so it made my job easy this morning. I just had to control the boat speed, direction, watch for other boats, play DJ, and serve sandwiches. lol
It was a fun morning, and it felt good to get back on the water again. The time off allowed me to get the boat to showroom clean again, so it was nice fishing out of a "brand new" boat again. UPDATE NOTE: The iPilot problem I had last week with the Ulterra has been fixed with a software update, so all is well again. :)
Tomorrow, I'll be taking my neighbor's Dave and Danielle out for a few hours to celebrate Dave's birthday. It's supposed to be a gusty North wind in the early morning hours and then fading to less than 5mph as it switches to the NE.
The plan is to launch out of Catawba around 9:30 and head up to the west side of the Bass Islands to find some fish. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Rob and Marical Greenwood...5/1/2026
by Capt Juls on 05/01/26We went from summer temps earlier this week to winter temps this morning. The back deck visit in the early hours wasn't as pleasant as it had been, and the forecast for the day wasn't looking like it was going to be a fun one. Temps in the low to mid 40s during the morning fishing hours, and rain. At least the wind was going to be light out of the north, so we wouldn't have to deal with that, like we did yesterday. Yay...I guess that's the bright side of the crappy weather report we had to look forward to.
Rob and Marical came over from Iowa with their boat, and wanted to fish with me to learn a few things about running Off Shore inline planer boards, and then would be fishing the next few days on their own.
I picked them up from the Best Western hotel at 6am, and after hitting the gas station for some ice for the cooler, we headed to Mazuruik's to launch. The ramp wasn't busy this time, so I got the boat ready, and we launched at 6:30.
It was light enough to see, but I still put the navigation lights on, due to the heavy cloud cover and relentless drizzle/rain that was falling. The lake was maybe a 6" chop, if that. We headed north, up the west side of Kelly's, towards the line. But, as we neared, I could see the water was very clean, and a lot colder than by Kelly's. The water temp up there was 47.1 degrees and 51 down by Kelly's. The fish marks were not there either, so we turned around and headed back down.
We stopped NW of the island and set up. The baby Merc went down first to get started and warmed up. Then, the Ulterra was deployed, set on a course to the south, and the autopilot engaged. The FishHawk went down, and when it reached a speed of 1.9mph, we started setting lines.
I showed Rob how to attach the boards with the loop/twist on the front arm and the Snapper on the back. He picked it up right away and was setting his side on his own in no time at all. I looked up to see the island wasn't where it was supposed to be, and found the Ulterra's iPilot wasn't working as it should....ugh!
I stowed it and redeployed it, changed the batteries in the remote, and it still wouldn't hold its course. The iPilot mode was in "Course Heading", which means it uses the compass and should go where I initially point it. If it gets off course, it's supposed to correct itself and get the boat back on course. It wasn't going to work. I would have to be paying attention the entire trip, which was a pain in the butt. One truly doesn't know how spoiled one gets with an iPilot working for you. lol
We ran 7 Bandits and 2 dipsies. The port side was running 4 boards, and the starboard side ran the 2 dipsies and 3 boards.
On the Port side, the Bandits were:
Khaki on the outside at 100 back (stock color)
Electri Zebra at 90 Back (stock color)
Flare at 70 back (stock color)
An orangey one painted by Matt Maynard (M&M Customs), but I can't find it on his site to give you a name....sorry. That one ran at 60 back.
The dipsies were the usual zero and three settings. The zero ran at 40 back, and the three ran at 50 back. Both caught fish with spoons.
The Bandits on the starboard side were:
Khaki at 100 back
Fruit Dots at 97 back (stock color)
Electric Zebra at 80 back
Speed was funny....I sped up at one point to get out of a situation I saw coming, and was doing 3.2mph when a fish hit the Fruit Dots Bandit. So, we caught anywhere from 1.9mph, 2.5mph, and 3.2mph. How do you like them apples? :)
It was a cold and wet morning, but Rob and Marical were very positive and upbeat, which kept my attitude in check and on the positive side, too. My hands were numb, my face was numb, and everything in the boat was soaked. Not my idea of a good time, but they were a good time, and I enjoyed their company immensely. I don't mind rain when it's 80-90 degrees out, but when it's cold out...that's another story.
They came to learn, and learn they did. I am confident they can now successfully run more than two Off Shore boards per side, if they wanted to. They did great!
They said they learned a lot and had a great time, and I'll just have to take their word for it, because my Ulterra issue kind of had me pissed off. It worked perfectly yesterday, so what happened in 18 hours to make it not work today? Grrrrr.
I called Minn-kota, and they advised I first update the software, if needed. BUT, the only way to do that is through the One Boat Network app, or a Humminbird unit. I no longer run Humminbirds, so I have to use the app. Well, guess what...it won't let me pair my phone to the motor through Bluetooth right now. I did have to register the motor through the app, so maybe it just needs time to catch up. I'll try it again in the morning. Fingers crossed!
Tomorrow and Sunday's trip, with Tim McGlothlin, has been rescheduled, due to the temps. He's a warm-weather fisherman (lives in Florida), and says he doesn't even own clothes to keep warm in 40-degree weather, so I'll get him out when Mother Nature comes to her senses and warms it back up here.
My next scheduled trip isn't until Thursday, the 7th. That should give me enough time to make sure my Ulterra is back and working as it should.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Dan and Marcel...4/30/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/30/26Slept in until 3am, and then hit the back deck with the dogs and coffee. I was going to be doing a later start this morning, due to wind speed. It was forecast out of the NW, but was to lay down a little bit around 8am, so I told Dan to meet me at Mazurik's at 7:45.
Of course, I got there early and started getting the boat ready at 7:15. They pulled in at 7:30. It was good timing, because the forecast last night that had the wind lying down was now showing it would be staying the same most of the day, so why wait? It would be 12-15 out of the WNW most of the day.
I pointed the Vexus to the east side of Kelly's Island and took it slow, because it was rough. We marked fish on the SE corner, but kept going to see if there were fish up further....there weren't, or at least we weren't marking any, so we went back down to the SE side.
We started out with the waves behind us, and set up with Bandits behind Off Shore boards, and two dipsies.
When the FishHawk hit a speed of 1.9-2.0mph, the Ulterra and the baby Merc were set. SOG showed 2.2-2.3mph.
4 Bandits ran on the port side at 120, 90, 80, and 67 back (longest leads on the outside). Colors were:
Khaki (stock color)
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom)
Flare (stock color)
Pink/white/black (Not sure who makes it, I can't find it on Domka's site or DJ's site anymore...it looks like Pink Squirrel, but instead of black dots in the white part, there are three black stripes instead). I'm going to name it "Pink Zebra". :)
The starboard side had two dipsies...one on the zero setting at 40 back and one on the three setting at 63 back. Both caught fish. One fish was on a BadMo Arrow spoon in the green/blk/silver, and then that was changed out to a Yeck spoon in the "Confustion" color...that caught a fish, too.
The 3 setting ran a Stinger spoon in the "Confusion" color, and caught a nice fish.
The Bandits on the port side were running at 97, 81, and 71 behind the OST boards...colors were:
Fruit Dots (stock color)
(2) Electric Zebra (stock color)
All caught fish, but the Electric Zebra caught the most.
Water temp on the surface was 52. 7 and at 18 feet down, it was 54 degrees.
Dan and Marcel wanted to learn how to run the Off Shore boards, so after a quick tutorial...they were setting the lines. They learned quickly, so other than reminding them about the tension button (clicker), they had no issues or tangles while setting lines. They did great, and I have no doubts that they could go out tomorrow and do the same thing on their own, successfully.
After our three limits were in the cooler, we headed in. It didn't happen in an hour and a half, like I had been hearing for the previous few days, but we managed to do it in about 4 1/2 hours. It was a fun morning fishing with these two, and they both said they had fun and learned a lot, so mission accomplished!
Tomorrow, I have a couple from Iowa, and we'll be launching out of Catawba to fish the protected side of the islands. The forecast is calling for a NE wind with rain....fun...fun...deep sigh.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Frank and Ray...4/23/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/23/26Last night, before I went to bed, I looked at the forecast, and it was showing that fog would roll in around the islands around 9-10am, so I looked at the weather for Huron and Vermilion, and it showed no fog at all. I made the decision to head that way and told Frank and Ray I would pick them up at 5:15 in the morning.
When I got up and headed out to the back deck to check the weather, it was still showing the same forecast, so I felt confident I had made the right call. I hadn't fished over there since the fall, so it was going to be starting from scratch. Especially, since I didn't save any info on the Garmins from last year, and had new ones in this boat, with nothing on them. But that's how I do it. I start fresh every year, so that I'm not fishing memories.
I picked up Frank and Ray, who will be here for the next 6 days, fishing out of Frank's boat, and headed east. I was originally going to launch at Vermilion, due to reports of lots of mud and logs in the Huron River, but having driven that way the other day, and finding road construction (lots of barrels) between Huron and Vermilion, I decided to chance Huron and launch there.
We arrived at 5:40, and sunrise wasn't going to be until 6:38, so we were very early. There was only one other boat there at the time, so after getting everything ready, we put the Vexus in the water. My plan was to just put-put down the river and let the sky lighten up a bit, so I could see any logs floating on top of the water. Luckily, there weren't any in the main channel, but there were some off to the sides that were pretty big.
With it still pretty dark out, it was hard to see how muddy the water was near shore, but the marks were incredible, so we set up in 22 feet of water, and pulled cranks for about 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour. The sun was nearing the horizon, so I could finally see how muddy it was inside, and decided to pull everything and move over towards Vermilion, where I thought the water might be cleaner....it was.
Capt Sam, who runs the Pork Chop Express Charters, kindly gave me a starting point, and we took it from there. Thanks, Sam!
I won't give any more details on the location, because it wasn't mine to start with. I hope you understand. Just know, there's fish all over the place. If you mark them...start fishing!
The sunrise was spectacular this morning! The air temp was in the low 60s, and there was very little to no wind. The water temp was 50 degrees.
I started with the program that worked for me at the islands the last time out, and made adjustments from there. To make a long story short, here is what worked for us.
Running behind Off Shore boards at a speed of 1.9-2.0mph on the FishHawk were...
"Bandits" on the port side...colors were:
"Khaki" at 120 back/unassisted (took the most fish this morning)
"Green Lantern" at 90 back (Slim Shady Custom)
"RC Crush" at 80 back (DJ Custom Eye Lures)
"IB Infected" at 50/24 2oz (DJ Custom)
"WalleyeX" "Brawlers" ran on the starboard side...colors were...
"Horizon" 50/27 2oz (second for taking most fish)
"Blue Shiner" 50/30
5 fish were caught on dipsies....3 fish came on the zero setting at 40 back, and 2 fish on the 3 setting at 60 back. BadMo Arrow spoon (smaller one) with green/black/chrome took the 3 on the zero setting, and a yeck spoon that DJ painted a bright blue belly on it for me, caught 2 fish on the 3 setting.
I'm very happy to see the spoons starting to work so early. I love fishing with dipsies. :)
We had our 18 fish in the cooler by 9:45 and headed in at a nice 38mph pace. The lake was pretty flat since there wasn't any wind to speak of, so it was a nice ride in. I think Ray was napping on that ride, but I couldn't tell behind his sunglasses...that's how smooth the ride was.
There wasn't a lot of boat traffic over there, like there is by the islands, so it was nice to not have my head on a swivel every few minutes.
Frank and Ray got their refresher training before their adventures begin tomorrow, and are now more confident heading out on their own again.
Tomorrow's trip will start a little later than sunrise, because Steve and Jeremy are driving up from Columbus....and, well, Jeremy has no control over his dad's tardiness. lol It is what it is....we still love him. :)
We will be launching out of Mazurik's and finding new water to fish this time.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Jacob and "Lumpy" (Jim)...4/22/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/22/26After rescheduling the 3-day trip with some Nebraska fellows that were supposed to fish this past Monday, Tuesday, and today...I was able to pick up a trip for this morning.
Mother Nature has given us a reprieve, and it was supposed to be nice today through Friday, with winds coming back in on Saturday. I'm taking the weekend off, because my sister and brother-in-law are coming down from Wisco for the weekend, and I want to spend all my time with them. :)
The temperature when I went out to the back deck at 2am was in the high 50s, and the wind had settled down to almost nothing out of the WSW. It was looking to be a nice morning on the lake, and I was looking forward to it.
Jacob and his Dad Jim met me at Mazurik's at 6:15, and we were in the water by 6:30. I decided to head to the east side of Kelly's this time, because all the boats that had launched ahead of us were headed north up the middle, or to the north side of Kelly's. I didn't want to play bumper boats with them, so we headed east instead.
As the Vexus approached the SE corner, the Garmin was marking plenty of fish. The sun was still below the horizon, so it was hard to tell what color the water actually was at the time, but the fish were there, and so were we, so I shut her down and deployed the FishHawk, Ulterra, and the baby Merc.
As the kicker and bow-mount worked in tandem...one pushing, and the other steering, a northerly course was set at a speed of 1.9 on the FishHawk. Speed Over Ground (SOG) would show 2.2mph.
Water temp was 49.5 on the surface and 50.7 down 18 feet, where the FH was hanging out.
I started with the program last used, which was the WalleyeX Brawlers on the starboard side and Bandits on the port side, running behind Off Shore boards.
The Brawlers ran both unassisted and assisted, with a "Craw" color running on the outside board unassisted at 100 back. The next in line was another "Craw" at 80 back.
The assisted Brawlers were "Horizon" at 50/17 with 2oz and Blue Chrome at 50/30 2oz. (For those new to snap weights...this lingo means you put the weight on at the 50 mark, and then let out another 17 and 30 feet before putting the boards on. Total line out would be 67 and 80 feet).
The Bandits ran three unassisted and one assisted. Colors that caught were Blue Chrome at 50/27 2oz.
Fruit Dots (black-headed wonder bread) at 80 back
The Bandits were not doing as well as the WalleyeX baits, so eventually, we ended up swapping the Bandits out for more Renegades and put a few more fish in the box from that side of the boat. The program was the same.
It was by no means a fast bite, but we still caught our three limits. They had thrown two keepers back early, because I was sure we could catch more/bigger ones, and we ended up one short of our 3-person limit when we came in. Oops...lol
They didn't mind, though, and were very happy with the day's catch.
It was a very fun and relaxing morning. Those two picked on each other relentlessly, but it was all in good fun. They had driven in from MN and stopped to fish before heading to Maryland, where Jacob is stationed next. He got his Master's in Electrical Engineering through the government, and has been reassigned out there. I can't remember which branch he's in, and I don't want to misrepresent by guessing.
They have their own boat and wanted to learn how to use the inline boards, because they bought some and have all the trolling gear now, but just wanted to gain the knowledge and confidence to run a spread in their own rig. They accomplished that mission, and I have zero doubt that they will do just fine when they attempt it. They both did great with setting the boards out and bringing them in. We had zero tangles this morning, and they did most of the setting. I mostly just watched and gave advice. :)
They both said they learned a lot and had a great time, so my mission was accomplished, too.
Tomorrow, I have long-time customers, Frank Smith and Ray, who usually fish with me one day and then fish out of Frank's boat for a few days following.
Friday, I have my longest customers, Steve and Jeremy Chapman. Steve was my very first customer when I started this venture 15 years ago. They're more like family to me than "customers" after all these years, and I always look forward to fishing with them. :)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
I Won't Be Out Until Thursday 4/23/26.....4/19/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/19/26Due to the forecast for Monday through Wednesday, my guys that were traveling 11+ hours from Nebraska have decided to reschedule their trip to next spring...so, my next trip will be on Thursday 4/23.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Glen...4/17/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/17/26Woke up a little before 2am, grabbed my cup of coffee, some dog treats, and hit the back deck with the dogs. The forecast for the day was calling for some fog in the morning, which would burn off by 11am. But it wasn't foggy at 2am. The sky was clear, and the stars were shining. The wind was light out of the west and would switch to the east at about 5am. That's when the fog rolled in.
I picked up Bill and Glen at the Whitecaps Motel at 6am, and we headed into town to hit the gas station for some ice, and then headed to Mazurik's to launch. There were already a lot of boats ahead of us, but it wasn't bad. Everyone was quick at the docks, so everyone was able to launch at a steady pace.
I was kind of annoyed by how many didn't have their navigation lights on, since it was so foggy, and reminded a few that they should turn them on. One got annoyed that I was telling him to turn them on. lol Common sense isn't so common anymore, I think.
Anyway....
We headed north and fished between the islands. It was slow going at first, but there were areas that had better visibility, so we were able to get going faster until visibility diminished again, and then we would slow down. As soon as I started marking some fish, we stopped to set up.
I was generously given some WalleyeX crankbaits by Justin Sieverding to try out, so I put 4 "Renegade" colors on the starboard side. Bandits would run on the port side. All would run behind the Off Shore boards.
Since it was so calm this morning, Bill and Glen were able to stand up in the boat this time. Last time it was rough, and they didn't stay vertical for very long, so I ended up setting all the lines for them. This time, Bill wanted to learn how to do it, so I had him set lines on the port side, after showing him how to attach the boards properly on the first one. He did great and caught on very quickly.
The Bandits were unassisted and set at 100 back on the outside board, 80 back on the next one, then 60 back, and 50 back on the inside boards.
From outside to inside, the colors were:
"Whiskey and Water" (SlimShadyCustom)
"RC Crush" (DJ CustomEyeLures)
Blue/Chrome
Khaki
The WalleyeX lures ran both assisted and unassisted:
"Craw" was 81 back unassisted on the outside board
"Chrom Tiger" was run 50/15 with 2oz (total line out 65)
"Horizon" was 50/17 2oz
"Goblin" was 50/40 2oz
All caught fish...but, the WalleyeX took the lead in the catch rate. I'm very happy with them!
The water temp on the surface was 47.5 and 49 degrees at 18 feet down.
The FishHawk was reading 1.9mph, while the SOG was 2.2-2.3mph. I kept the speed at 1.9 all morning, and we went 18 for 21 fish by 9:30.
We worked about a 3/4 mile stretch before turning around and going over the same line again. We would make 4 passes over that line, and then we would be done.
It was a fun morning, and Bill and Glen couldn't have been happier with our catch. They kept talking about the size of the walleye here, compared to lakes they normally fish, and were thrilled with the "Good Eaters" we put in the cooler. :)
It felt good to get back on the lake today, since I had cancelled the three-day trip earlier in the week, due to the forecast. I'm kind of kicking myself for that one, but it was iffy, so it is what it is. It happens.
My next crew is coming in for a three-day trip, Monday through Wednesday. Monday morning is supposed to have a low of 27 degrees and a high of 47 with light NW winds....brrrrr! It was showing gusty NW winds earlier, but changed, so we'll see if it changes again. Tuesday is showing gusty S winds from 20-35, and wednesday is showing ENE 16-18mph. But this is Ohio, and it's going to change daily, so we'll see what happens. I call them and let them know what's up...I'm not sure how far they are coming from.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Vito...4/12/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/13/26Vito is a friend and customer from Wisconsin who bought one of my Ranger boats back in 2017. I've been fishing with him for around 10 or 11 years now, and it's always a very relaxed and fun trip with him. He's very chill, and catching fish is just a plus...he just likes to be on the water. He's one of my favorite people to fish with, because there's absolutely no pressure on me. lol
The wind was forecast to be out of the SE and turning S later in the morning, so I decided to launch out of Catawba and head to the west side of the islands, to find out what's happening there, instead of heading out with the pack of boats fishing east of Kelly's. I might not have made that decision had it not been Vito in the boat, but I knew he was game for anything.
We headed north to find cleaner water and ended up west of Middle Bass Island. There was one boat ahead of us when we arrived, but they didn't stay and headed out to the east of the islands, so we had it to ourselves. The Garmin was marking some good fish, so we decided to fish there.
The school of fish was holding to a relatively small area, so we would end up just making circle after circle to keep going over them, and each time we did, we would pick a fish up here and there. It was by no means a fast bite, but the area was peaceful and protected from the wind, so it was a relaxing morning for both of us.
Vito works hard at his job and does a lot of traveling, so he was happy even with the slower bite.
I asked a few times if he preferred moving to try and find a more active bite, but he said he was happy fishing right there.
We pretty much had it to ourselves for a while, but shared the spot when another boat would pass by. I think they had the same mindset we had, and stayed, but we were both able to stay out of each other's way with no problems. :)
We were fishing over 30-32 feet of water with Bandits and Bill Lewis PWC Lites. The bandits were used unassisted and assisted. Unassisted's best lead was 97 back, and assisted was 50/24 with 2oz...(put the weight on at 50 and then let out another 24' of line and put the Off Shore board on at 74).
Speed, when a fish hit, was always 1.6-1.7 on the FishHawk...SOG was 1.8-1.9mph.
Water temp there was 43.6 on the surface and 45 degrees 18 feet down.
The wind picked up around 11:30, and had gone more SW, which is not good for launching or loading at Catawba, so we called it 15 minutes early to head back before it really started blowing, so loading out wouldn't be too bad. It still was, but we managed to get out without any issues. I never like to use Catawba with a SW wind, because it blows directly into the ramp.
Vito and I went to Fisherman's Central after, so he could see if they had a starting battery for his boat, because they were having their big sale over the weekend, but they didn't have the right one for his Ranger. Then, we went and grabbed some lunch before dropping him back off at the Whitecaps Motel. We were going to drop the fish off at Port Clinton Fish Co., but they were closed at 2pm. I thought they were open on weekends now, but apparently not. I let him take the cooler when I dropped him off, so he could run them out to Bay's Edge to be cleaned, so he didn't have to get his clean cooler all slimy. He then dropped it off at my house when he was finished with it.
Time spent with a good friend in the boat is always a good time! Fish are just a bonus. :)
I'm off Monday, and my 3-day trip with Jason Carlson and his wife on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is looking like a no-go. They are traveling down from Wisconsin, and as usual, Mother Nature is throwing a tizzy fit and is blowing hard again. We're supposed to have a big storm come through, due to the very warm/humid temps coming in, too. I'll be watching the forecast and let them know what to expect....they may not be coming down. I don't like to have people travel that far if they are just going to sit on shore the whole time. Gas prices are too high for that kind of nonsense!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Fishing with Steve, Denny, and "Ollie" (Mark)...4/11/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/11/26My guys are locals, so I was able to just meet them at the launch this morning, instead of picking them up. The original plan was to meet at Mazurik's, but I think the LEWT tournament anglers were all launching there this morning, so the line was backed up out into the road by a 1/4 mile when I arrived. The line was slowly making its way, so I took that opportunity to call my guys to tell them to meet me over at Dempsey's instead.
There were only about a 1/2 dozen trailers at Dempsey's, so it was a good call. :)
Normally, when you get to the launch before sunup, even on the weekends, it's never that crowded.
My crew are all fishermen, and wanted to learn how to use the Off Shore boards better, so that was our goal....besides catching fish, that is.
We launched and headed to the lake via Bayside Marina, and then headed north, towards clean water. It was pretty muddy inside.
It was a NNE wind at 8mph at 7:15, and the waves were maybe 1-2s, with a 3 thrown in every now and then, so it wasn't bad at all. By the time we were northeast of Airport Reef, the water clarity was looking pretty good. I said, "I'm going to just keep going until the marks run out, and then we'll turn around and go back over them". About another mile further, I turned the Vexus around and shut down the big motor, dropped the baby Merc, started it up, so it could warm up, and then deployed the Ulterra to keep us on course.
Once the FishHawk was sent down, the baby Merc was put in gear, and a speed of 1.2-1.3 was the target speed I wanted. SOG was showing 1.6-1.7 while the FishHawk showed 1.2-1.3mph.
The water temp on the surface was 42.3, and at 18 feet down, it was 43.6.
I usually start with the program that last worked for me on the last trip, and then make adjustments from there. So, Bandits were used again, on both sides.
On the starboard side, we ran them unassisted, and on the port side, we ran them with 2oz weights at 30/30 and 30/40.
Both sides would do just as well as the other side, so there was no clear winner as far as the program went.
Early on, we hit a pocket of some very actively feeding fish and put 5 in the box in no time at all, so I thought it was going to be a fast, chaotic morning, but then it wasn't. The bites would come more slowly after that, but steady enough to keep them entertained. Steve and Denny did a great job learning how to use the Off Shore boards efficiently, and didn't encounter any tangles. :)
Steve was ecstatic to have caught his personal best walleye to date, which was a nice 28" fish. We didn't weigh it, though, so I don't have a weight on it. It's the longest one he's ever caught. It appeared to be a spawned-out female, though.
(4) Bandits unassisted at 117, 97, and 85 did best on the one side. I never did get the inside bait to hit at 77 and changed it up a few times....nothing. I changed the color three times...nothing.
(4) The assisted baits had two baits at 30/30 and two at 30/40...they all caught fish.
SlimShadyCustom "Gender Reveal" was a hot color again. That one ran at 97 back. (I'm going to have to order a couple more of that one, because I only have one right now).
Taco Salad at 117 back
Chrome Barbie (I think that's a DJCustomEyeLure color) 30/40 2oz
Fruit Dots 30/30 2oz
Blue/Chrome 30/40 2oz
RC Crush (another DJ color) 30/30 2oz
We turned and went into the waves for a bit, but the bite was definitely better going from north to south, so we turned around again and just kept going south.
The further south we went, the dirtier the water got, but I could still see the prop, so we kept going.
It was in the dirtier water that Steve caught his 28 incher. That was after losing a big fish at the back of the boat, which we never saw, because it stayed down. He was so disappointed. As he whined about losing it, I chuckled and said, "That fish is probably really happy right now". I added, "Sometimes they just come off...it's nothing you did. There's more out there". And, it wasn't long after that that he got his PB. :)
We still had an hour of fishing time to go when I asked them if they wanted to pick up and head back north to cleaner water, because it was getting pretty muddy in 36 feet of water off Cedar Point. They asked, "Would you be okay with us just going back in?" I said, "That's up to you guys...my dogs would be very happy with that decision though". They were happy with their catch and wanted to get some other things done today, so we went in.
I met them over at Bay's Edge Fish Cleaning, so I could drop off their fish for them. No need to get another cooler all slimy if we didn't have to. I told them I was going to stop at Casa Las Palmas for lunch, and asked if they wanted to join me while they waited for their fish. They wanted to, so we went to lunch and had some great conversation, before I headed home to take care of the critters.
They all said they had a great time, and they are booking another trip in May or June...I just reminded myself that I have to send them the open dates.
Tomorrow, I will finally get Vito out on the water. It's supposed to be a 15-20mph south wind, so we'll start inside and troll north, I think.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
Fishing with Bill and Glen...4/8/2026
by Capt Juls on 04/09/26Bill and Glen had scheduled a 2-day trip for Tuesday and Wednesday (4/7-4/8), but Tuesday showed up with freezing temps and gusty winds, so we rescheduled that trip to the 18th. We did get out for Wednesday's trip, though.
The morning started early, as usual, and I was up at 2am to have my coffee and cuddle time out on the back deck with the dogs, while I checked the weather forecast for the day. The wind forecast was out of the SE, and a little gusty early, but would be lying down towards late morning. The temps were chilly early, but would also be rising as the morning went on.
I told them that we would be doing a later start, and I would pick them up at 8:20 from the Whitecaps Motel, so we could launch by 9am. We only had to stop for ice for the fish cooler.
We hit Mazurik's on time and got in line to ready the boat. The ramp was busy, due to the NWT tournament guys launching and all of the out-of-staters, who are taking advantage of some open water vacations, due to ice-covered lakes back home. :)
Luckily, all these guys know how to launch boats quickly, so it wasn't a problem getting on the water in a timely fashion.
We headed out after the V-10 warmed up enough, and headed over towards Starve, but when we got closer, I didn't like the water clarity, so I turned the Vexus to the NE to look for better-looking water with some marks in it.
There were a lot of boats trolling the north side of Kelly's, but as I passed that way, I wasn't seeing the marks on the Garmin that would make me stop and start fishing in that crowd. (I don't like crowds).
We kept going east until we hit the bottom of Kelly Island Shoal, and started marking some good fish. I kept going east past the shoal until the marks ran out, and turned the boat around to head west. The waves were more east than SE, so we would be going with the waves.
The Ulttera and the baby Merc were deployed, as was the FishHawk, and the speed was set to 1.2 on the FishHawk. The SOG was showing 1.7mph when the FishHawk was showing 1.2mph.
The water was stained, but I could make out the prop, so it was perfect.
My guys had never run Off Shore boards before, so as I set lines, I showed them how to attach them to the lines. But, as it would turn out, they were more than happy to just let me set lines all morning, due to it being kind of rough, and they were having trouble standing up in the boat.
We started out with Bandits on the starboard side and P-10s with 2oz snap weights on the port side. Leads were:
Bandits: 50-100 back unassisted
P-10s: 20/20, 30/30, 40/40, 30/45
Bandit colors were Taco Salad, Blue/Chrome, Chrome Barbie, and Khaki
P-10s: Marvin, Blue/Chrome, Purple-headed wonder bread, and Lime/Orange throat
We caught the first fish before all the lines were set, and then nothing....deep sigh.
I said (chuckling), "I hate when that happens...makes it feel like a tournament day". It was time to move, because we were heading back into the minefield of boats, and I wasn't about to deal with that.
We picked everything up and headed down to the SE side of Kelly's, where there were fewer boats, and much better marks. After resetting lines again, removing the P-10s and replacing them with more Bandits, we hit a pocket of fish that put a quick 5 more walleye in the cooler. Bill and Glen were giggling like school boys with that kind of action....and, then, as we trolled further NW....nothing. Ooof!
We picked up one more time and headed further SE to make another pass in a more westerly direction than NW, and that turned out to be the right decision, as we would end up putting the rest of their limit in the cooler and a few of mine too, before heading back in.
The best leads that ended up catching the most fish were 85 and 115 back. Slim Shady Customs' Gender Reveal and Fermi were good producers, as was the stock blue/chrome and chromeBarbie. Khaki let me down, and didn't catch one fish this time. Taco Salad caught a couple, and DJ Custom's RC Crush caught, but was put out kind of late, so it didn't have time to show how well it would have done.
We headed back in around 2:15, and I had an issue at the ramp. I loaded the boat on the trailer, but hit the roller wrong, so I backed off to try again, and when I did that...for some reason the power steering went out on the Big V, and it was hard to steer it. It took all of my strength to turn the motor, but I was able to get it back on the trailer and hooked up this time.
I called Dubbert's as soon as we stopped at Port Clinton Fish, Co. to have the fish cleaned, and explained what happened, and that I didn't have a trip scheduled until Saturday, and asked if they could take a look at it for me. They said they could, and that I should bring it in first thing in the morning. Whew! That's a load off my chest! I didn't want to have to drive it two hours to the other Fisherman's Central store, where they have a service dept. (The store here in PC doesn't have a service dept). So, all's well that ends well...I'm hoping it was just a fuse. A fuse that I don't know where it resides, or something else that's not too hard to fix. Fingers crossed!
My next crew are locals, so looking at Friday's forecast, calling for gusty winds and some rain, we rescheduled for Saturday instead.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
Rescheduling Today's Trip...4/4/26
by Capt Juls on 04/04/26The wind is blowing hard out of the east this morning, but is forecast to diminish this morning between 8 and noon as it switches direction...it will start blowing hard out of the south late in the morning.
My older crew is local, and we decided we could wait for better conditions.
When we first talked, we rescheduled to the 10th. The forecast at the time I spoke to them was calling for less than 10mph. When I looked at the forecast again several hours later, it was showing gusts to 30mph on the 10th....smh. What? Come on! I know, I know....you can't look at a forecast more than a day out at this time of year, because it keeps changing on a hourly basis. It's so frustrating! Grrrr....
I originally thought that the lake would be a big mud hole after all the rain and wind we had, but we did get a satellite picture, yesterday, (not the best photo, but good enough), and it showed that the lake was not as destroyed as we all thought it would be.
I'm probably making a mistake by rescheduling this morning, because now that I have, it will probably mean that the window of opportunity will be longer than what it shown, and we could have had a good morning of catching.
But, on the flip side of that....the east wind might not die as soon as it is forecast to, and the window might be shorter than expected.
If my guys were not local, we would probably be going, but they are, so their comfort and fun level is my priority. The fish aren't going anywhere. :)
Reports from yesterday afternoon, when people we able to get on the lake and get to those cleaner water areas, showed the fish are still chomping, and they did well.
The wind forecast for all of next week looks like crap too. Mother Nature is not happy with us Humans it would seem.
The next scheduled trip is a two day adventure with two fellas from several states away, for Tuesday and Wednesday, and want to know on Monday morning, before they leave, if it's going to be fishable or not. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
The Wind and Rain Won't Quit...4/3/26
by Capt Juls on 04/03/26Here it is, already April 3rd, and we've been hit with gusty winds and 3-4 inches of rain over the past two days. Today, Friday, will be partly cloudy, so we have a reprieve for a little bit, before the next round of rain comes in, tonight.
I have a trip scheduled for tomorrow, with some local retirees, so we're watching it, but we'll probably move it to next Friday, where it looks like the winds finally decide to subside for a few days. The lake is muddy right now. The rivers are running high, and are dumping mud and debris into the lake as I type this.
All the downed trees and branches from winds over the past 5 months, or so, that are lining the rivers, didn't get washed away due to drought conditions, are making their way into the rivers now, and moving out into the lake. So, that means, everyone should take great caution when they are out there and driving around. Some logs can be right under the surface, and hard to see....until you hit them.
Looking at the forecast, for when we will have a sunny/bluebird sky kind of day, that will allow for a good satellite pic, doesn't look like it will happen for a couple weeks to come, so be patient. I do not have a crystal ball, and I can't see where the mud is any better than any of you without a picture, so all we can do is take advantage of the less windy days...head out, and drive around looking for good looking water. The only other option is to take a plane ride around the islands, and look down. ;)
When I do go, I like to look for the mixing water, where there is a stain, but not chocolate milk. I don't like it too clean this time of year, either (it's usually colder water). If you can see your cavitation plate, or make out your prop....you've found decent water to fish. If you're marking fish in that area..start fishing! You should be able to catch them.
The forecast is calling for gusty winds for the next week, but I'll be watching it, as I have a two day trip scheduled for mid-week. They are coming from a few states away, so I don't want them coming all this way, just to sit on shore. They can reschedule, if needed.
I'm thinking tomorrow's trip will be rescheduled to the 10th, due to water conditions, and a gusty morning east wind that will switch to the south during the morning and start blowing again. That "window of opportunity" is small, and it will take the lake a bit of time after an east wind to settle down.
So, that's where I'm at right now....just waiting for Mother Nature to settle her bitchy ass down! ;)
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
