Author: Admin 1

Hi All!

Came up this weekend with the in laws and stayed at KI. Me and FIL went out Saturday around 9 to see if we could find some perching action. I had heard good things about W and E of Kelleys and there was a small pack forming right between American Eagle and Catawba so we went and joined that area. Marked some here and there but nothing crazy but decided to just stop and drop anchor over a little grouping of decent marks. Moved once in the pack but the marks never really got better or stayed and we caught squat. It looked like no one else was pulling either so I regretted not making the run to the Cans where it sounds like everyone is crushing them.

We pulled anchor and just drifted 1 long drift from that perch pack back toward Kelleys looking for a walleye or 2 and ended up with 5 decent sized perch and 2 keeper walleye just pulling harnesses on bottom bouncers.

Now comes the question…….Tibbles and Hi-Way didn’t have any minnows Friday when we were on the mainland and KI General Store didnt have any frozen. What’s the best “non shiner” rig/bait when the stores are all out?? I have run into that a couple times over the years and I never seem to be able to get bites on crapie rigs/spreaders with crawlers, wax worms, curly tails, etc. Is it sort of “shiners or nothing” or am I just fishing in crappy spots without shiners and it wouldnt matter anyway?

As always, love any suggestions from this group! Everyone on here is super knowledgeable about the Big Lake and its a great resource to have for this old weekend warrior!!

Hi All!

Came up this weekend with the in laws and stayed at KI. Me and FIL went out Saturday around 9 to see if we could find some perching action. I had heard good things about W and E of Kelleys and there was a small pack forming right between American Eagle and Catawba so we went and joined that area. Marked some here and there but nothing crazy but decided to just stop and drop anchor over a little grouping of decent marks. Moved once in the pack but the marks never really got better or stayed and we caught squat. It looked like no one else was pulling either so I regretted not making the run to the Cans where it sounds like everyone is crushing them.

We pulled anchor and just drifted 1 long drift from that perch pack back toward Kelleys looking for a walleye or 2 and ended up with 5 decent sized perch and 2 keeper walleye just pulling harnesses on bottom bouncers.

Now comes the question…….Tibbles and Hi-Way didn’t have any minnows Friday when we were on the mainland and KI General Store didnt have any frozen. What’s the best “non shiner” rig/bait when the stores are all out?? I have run into that a couple times over the years and I never seem to be able to get bites on crapie rigs/spreaders with crawlers, wax worms, curly tails, etc. Is it sort of “shiners or nothing” or am I just fishing in crappy spots without shiners and it wouldnt matter anyway?

As always, love any suggestions from this group! Everyone on here is super knowledgeable about the Big Lake and its a great resource to have for this old weekend warrior!!

The rain that was forecast for the morning hours stayed to the south, so there was no rain up here on the shore of the lake. My back deck was dry when the dogs and I went out for our routine forecast check.

The sky was partly cloudy, the air temp was 70 degrees with 85% humidity, and the wind was light out of the SW. The wind forecast was calling for 10-20 out of the SW later in the morning. The wind forecast for the Huron Vermilion area was for the same but more SSE than SW. The plan was to launch out of Huron.

I decided to use up some of neighbor Jerry’s zucchini and whip up a batch of chocolate zucchini muffins for my guys this morning, since I had a couple of hours before I had to head out. They turned out really yummy.

My guys were staying at an Airbnb, so we met at the Walmart here in town at 5 a.m. so we could ride together over to Huron. RT 6 East exit is still closed even though it’s been 60 days (today), and their sign says it would be closed from June 8th “for 60 days”….so, it shouldn’t be long.

Take note, though, that coming home, I couldn’t get back on RT 2 from RT 6 West, and had to take a longer route back to Milan Rd to get back onto Rt 2….so, expect that little inconvenience if you go to Huron.

After they jumped in the truck, we hit Hi-Way Bait, because I had left my nightcrawlers at home, and wanted to have some in the boat in case we needed them, so I had to buy more. When we got there, there was a long line of fishermen waiting on minnows that hadn’t arrived yet. I went in the side door and grabbed some crawlers, so we could get back on the road.

I got in the truck and remembered I hadn’t gotten any ice yet, so we would need to stop at a gas station, too….deep sigh. I forget stuff when my routine gets interrupted, apparently. lol

We made it to Huron by 5:40 and were headed down the river by 6 a.m. Sunrise would be at 6:34. My plan was to start inside near Old Woman Creek and head NNE from there. There were good marks in the area, so we started there. The wind would be picking up in a little while.

The water was 26′ deep there, so the dipsey leads weren’t going to be very long. The zero settings were set at 20 on the port side, and 25 on the starboard side.
The three settings were set at 40 on the port side and 50 on the starboard side.
A mixture of Yeck, BadMo, and Scorpion Stinger spoons was used.

The FishHawk speed was 2.5mph with the Ulterra on power level 5 and the Baby Merc pushing us along from behind and being dialed in with the iTroll.

Bill Lewis PWCs with 2oz snap-weights started out on the starboard side behind the Off Shore boards, and a new Walleye X bait called the “Paladin” was set on the port side. There isn’t any data in the “Precision Trolling Data” app for that one or the “Halieou” (another new Walleye x bait), but Justin Seiverding sent me a pic of a handwritten note stating the Paladin will dive 11′ with 25′ of line out, 16′ at 50 back, 20′ at 75 back, and 22′ at 100 back.
The “Halieou” will go 12′ at 25 back, 18′ at 50 back, 22′ at 75 back, and 25′ at 100 back.
So, the “Paladins” were set at 70, 50, and 25 back to start.

As we got out over deeper water, the leads were changed to 100, 75, and 50 back.

The PWCs were set at 50/25, 50/15, and 50/13 to start and would be changed up to run one of the “Halieou” lures on the outside at 100 back, and a couple of Bandits on the two inside boards. The Halieou caught one fish, but it was just under, so it went back. The cranks just were not working this morning. The dipsies did most of the work, but it was a continual removal of itty-bitty walleyes from 4-10 inches long that were just hanging on.

We did manage to get 10 nice eaters in the cooler by the end of the trip though, and the guys were happy with that. They had fished with Capt Pete Scheid yesterday, and got 17 casting for them. They are going out with Capt Pete again tomorrow, so they will have some more walleye to go in the freezer, I’m sure.

I did try using a crawler on a worm-burner, but it never got touched, so I didn’t bother with changing out all the cranks for harnesses. I just wasn’t feeling it, and you all know how much I like using crawlers. lol

We fished from Huron up to the inside Vermilion Dumping grounds, and covered water from 26′ to 42′.

Matt has fished with me previously, and brought Dan and Adam along this time. Dan is an avid fisherman, and is obviously a bass angler, because he had no balance issues when standing on the Livewell to do stuff. Not that I like people up there, but he seemed right at home up there, so I let him.
Adam has been fishing before, but he’s not an avid angler. He did really well though, and learned how to set the dipsies well enough that I didn’t have to keep watch the entire time. All did great, and it was a lot of fun for me, because they all had a positive attitude and there was no pressure put on me to make sure we got limits. It was just a fun morning, and I look forward to Matt coming again next August…who he brings changes. 🙂

Matt owns a restaurant called “Spanky’s Sports Bar and Grill”, and is known for the best pizza in Racine, WI. One of these times, I want to try it when I’m headed home for Christmas.

I’m off tomorrow, so I’m going fun fishing with my neighbors and our friend, Keith. We’ll be using Keith’s boat to go perch’n. I get to just be a passenger for the morning. Yay!

My next trip is a perch trip on Monday, so we will actually be scouting for that trip tomorrow.

Stay tuned…

Capt Juls

Attached Images

   

Fished this morning.Was able to avoid the rain this morning and started out by old C can again.The grass was gone and had perfect conditions to catch there.Unfortunately the fish didn’t get the memo and only caught 2 keepers in 2 hrs.Made the run east past the weather bouy and fished in 54-57 fow.Took us 3 hrs to finish our 12/30 lbs of fish.Funny thing is we only caught one fish on s spoon.They all wanted worms.A green spoon harness and a gold double Willow harness caught all the fish.Dipsey on 3 setting at 90 and 95 and one setting at 70 did the damage.John reeled in the triple crown today.Reeled in the biggest sheep of the season on a long lead off a board.Then reeled in a small keeper and a branch at the same time.Then reeled in a 90 lead dipsey that spun and prevented the dipsey from releasing and a 26″ walleye behind the dipsey to boot.

The rain that was forecast for the morning hours stayed to the south, so there was no rain up here on the shore of the lake. My back deck was dry when the dogs and I went out for our routine forecast check.

The sky was partly cloudy, the air temp was 70 degrees with 85% humidity, and the wind was light out of the SW. The wind forecast was calling for 10-20 out of the SW later in the morning. The wind forecast for the Huron Vermilion area was for the same but more SSE than SW. The plan was to launch out of Huron.

I decided to use up some of neighbor Jerry’s zucchini and whip up a batch of chocolate zucchini muffins for my guys this morning, since I had a couple of hours before I had to head out. They turned out really yummy.

My guys were staying at an Airbnb, so we met at the Walmart here in town at 5 a.m. so we could ride together over to Huron. RT 6 East exit is still closed even though it’s been 60 days (today), and their sign says it would be closed from June 8th “for 60 days”….so, it shouldn’t be long.

Take note, though, that coming home, I couldn’t get back on RT 2 from RT 6 West, and had to take a longer route back to Milan Rd to get back onto Rt 2….so, expect that little inconvenience if you go to Huron.

After they jumped in the truck, we hit Hi-Way Bait, because I had left my nightcrawlers at home, and wanted to have some in the boat in case we needed them, so I had to buy more. When we got there, there was a long line of fishermen waiting on minnows that hadn’t arrived yet. I went in the side door and grabbed some crawlers, so we could get back on the road.

I got in the truck and remembered I hadn’t gotten any ice yet, so we would need to stop at a gas station, too….deep sigh. I forget stuff when my routine gets interrupted, apparently. lol

We made it to Huron by 5:40 and were headed down the river by 6 a.m. Sunrise would be at 6:34. My plan was to start inside near Old Woman Creek and head NNE from there. There were good marks in the area, so we started there. The wind would be picking up in a little while.

The water was 26′ deep there, so the dipsey leads weren’t going to be very long. The zero settings were set at 20 on the port side, and 25 on the starboard side.
The three settings were set at 40 on the port side and 50 on the starboard side.
A mixture of Yeck, BadMo, and Scorpion Stinger spoons was used.

The FishHawk speed was 2.5mph with the Ulterra on power level 5 and the Baby Merc pushing us along from behind and being dialed in with the iTroll.

Bill Lewis PWCs with 2oz snap-weights started out on the starboard side behind the Off Shore boards, and a new Walleye X bait called the “Paladin” was set on the port side. There isn’t any data in the “Precision Trolling Data” app for that one or the “Halieou” (another new Walleye x bait), but Justin Seiverding sent me a pic of a handwritten note stating the Paladin will dive 11′ with 25′ of line out, 16′ at 50 back, 20′ at 75 back, and 22′ at 100 back.
The “Halieou” will go 12′ at 25 back, 18′ at 50 back, 22′ at 75 back, and 25′ at 100 back.
So, the “Paladins” were set at 70, 50, and 25 back to start.

As we got out over deeper water, the leads were changed to 100, 75, and 50 back.

The PWCs were set at 50/25, 50/15, and 50/13 to start and would be changed up to run one of the “Halieou” lures on the outside at 100 back, and a couple of Bandits on the two inside boards. The Halieou caught one fish, but it was just under, so it went back. The cranks just were not working this morning. The dipsies did most of the work, but it was a continual removal of itty-bitty walleyes from 4-10 inches long that were just hanging on.

We did manage to get 10 nice eaters in the cooler by the end of the trip though, and the guys were happy with that. They had fished with Capt Pete Scheid yesterday, and got 17 casting for them. They are going out with Capt Pete again tomorrow, so they will have some more walleye to go in the freezer, I’m sure.

I did try using a crawler on a worm-burner, but it never got touched, so I didn’t bother with changing out all the cranks for harnesses. I just wasn’t feeling it, and you all know how much I like using crawlers. lol

We fished from Huron up to the inside Vermilion Dumping grounds, and covered water from 26′ to 42′.

Matt has fished with me previously, and brought Dan and Adam along this time. Dan is an avid fisherman, and is obviously a bass angler, because he had no balance issues when standing on the Livewell to do stuff. Not that I like people up there, but he seemed right at home up there, so I let him.
Adam has been fishing before, but he’s not an avid angler. He did really well though, and learned how to set the dipsies well enough that I didn’t have to keep watch the entire time. All did great, and it was a lot of fun for me, because they all had a positive attitude and there was no pressure put on me to make sure we got limits. It was just a fun morning, and I look forward to Matt coming again next August…who he brings changes. 🙂

Matt owns a restaurant called “Spanky’s Sports Bar and Grill”, and is known for the best pizza in Racine, WI. One of these times, I want to try it when I’m headed home for Christmas.

I’m off tomorrow, so I’m going fun fishing with my neighbors and our friend, Keith. We’ll be using Keith’s boat to go perch’n. I get to just be a passenger for the morning. Yay!

My next trip is a perch trip on Monday, so we will actually be scouting for that trip tomorrow.

Stay tuned…

Capt Juls

Attached Images

   

Fished this morning.Was able to avoid the rain this morning and started out by old C can again.The grass was gone and had perfect conditions to catch there.Unfortunately the fish didn’t get the memo and only caught 2 keepers in 2 hrs.Made the run east past the weather bouy and fished in 54-57 fow.Took us 3 hrs to finish our 12/30 lbs of fish.Funny thing is we only caught one fish on s spoon.They all wanted worms.A green spoon harness and a gold double Willow harness caught all the fish.Dipsey on 3 setting at 90 and 95 and one setting at 70 did the damage.John reeled in the triple crown today.Reeled in the biggest sheep of the season on a long lead off a board.Then reeled in a small keeper and a branch at the same time.Then reeled in a 90 lead dipsey that spun and prevented the dipsey from releasing and a 26″ walleye behind the dipsey to boot.

did the most damage making passes in line with the nuclear plant and the middle of the “gap” between S.B. and Catawba. Running 2.5 in 27 to 31 fow, running cranks mostly Bill Lewis lites 109 back with 2 oz. inline. Once we found ’em, it didn’t take long.

Attached Images

 

did the most damage making passes in line with the nuclear plant and the middle of the “gap” between S.B. and Catawba. Running 2.5 in 27 to 31 fow, running cranks mostly Bill Lewis lites 109 back with 2 oz. inline. Once we found ’em, it didn’t take long.

Attached Images

 

Late start today , not much breeze so not much of the swing, spreaders (no Bling), shiners.
dozen yellow gold returns today, 3 sheep head, and a young walleye not much bigger than a big shiner. (returned unharmed)
did keep 10 yellow gold 8 inches.
There were boats way west of me, 6 or so, they didn’t move much so maybe they were sorting also.
This was a surprise , some of my shiners were 3/4 of the walleye’s size. Thats a #2 true turn hook.

(my honey hole gps#’s are posted on About Water Dog)

Well, back on Wednesday, weather permitting. May try the Reefs or South of Green, just never know.
Enjoyed being back on the water, land chores are up to date for now.

Be safe and use the life jacket and engine kill switch , safety first.
~ Water Dog

Attached Images

 

2 a.m. back deck forecast for the morning was clear skies, 64 degrees, and an absent wind. iWindSurf said the wind forecast west of the islands would be 5mph out of the south….in other words, a beautiful day to go perch fishing.

Rick Rensch was driving in from Indiana this morning, and was meeting me at Catawba at 5:45, so we could be launched by 6 a.m.

I left the house at 4:45 and took the slow way through town, out to Hi-Way Bait to pick up some ice and some Emerald Shiners. Their shiners this morning were nice ones. The perfect size to cut in half. I like to use the tail on one hook and the head on another hook instead of whole minnows. I tend to think that the smell of the innards draws them in to check it out.

I got down to Catawba at 5:15 and readied the boat. Rick showed up at 5:30, but since it was still pretty dark out, we waited… and launched at 5:45.

I didn’t have any intel on where to go after this two-day blow, so I simply headed NW out of the launch and started searching. I was headed towards D-Can, but kept an eye on the Garmin for any tell-tale signs of perch down below.

We stopped once between F and E Cans and gave it 20 minutes. There were good marks when I hit the Spot-Lock on the Ulterra, but they wouldn’t bite. The bottom was a little softer than I like to sit over, too, so we continued on up towards D-Can.
The bottom wasn’t rock, but it was harder than the first spot, and there were marks, so I was going to give it more time than just 20 minutes.

There was a pack of boats starting to congregate on the west side of the cans, and only a handful of us on the east side of the Can. We fished over 26 feet of water.

The bite started slow, with some little ones, but eventually got steadier with some keepers coming in over the side. It was about a 3:1 ratio of little ones to keepers, so it took us from about 7a.m to 10:30 to get our 2-person limit of keepers.

Rick was happy with the size, and wants me to keep him informed on the bite, because he wants to come back for more…and that makes me happy! 🙂

My next trip will be Friday with Jack Scott and his two friends. We will be launching out of Huron or Vermilion and chasing walleye over in Lorain again. If the wind forecast is anything like it was last Saturday, we’ll launch out of Huron. But, if it’s stronger, we’ll launch out of Vermilion and save 10 miles on the boat ride.

Stay tuned….

Capt Juls

Attached Images