I always depended on weather buoy 45005 for real time wave height.. Is that gone?
Author: Admin 1
Is it worm time?
The weather has put this dog on the porch.
We all must have had this issue to some extent.
Some boat issues have been fixed, so this dog is ready…
Fishing with Gene, Nick, and Brian….5/10/25
Gene Piscitello, his son Nick, and Gene’s friend, Brian, drove in from Hudson, OH, this morning. They were to meet me at Mazurik’s at 6:15, so we could be launched by 6:30.
Much to the chagrin of my two dogs, I left the house at 5:15, and headed through town, and got some ice at the gas station, before heading to Mazurik’s, to set things up before they showed up.
It wasn’t too busy yet, but it would be. It’s Saturday, and one of the nicer days we have had lately.
The wind was forecast for 10-15 out of the WSW, the skies were clear, and the air temp at 6:30 was 50 degrees.
The water temp had dropped 4 degrees from three days ago, when I was last out, and went from 58 degrees to 54. The NE wind we had on Thursday and Friday blew the colder water in. The sunshine today should help warm it back up again pretty quickly, though.
My crew showed up right on time, and we launched by 6:30. While I was there waiting for them, I decided that we would be running crawler harnesses on the port side, and Bandits on the starboard side.
I had heard that a slow Bandit was still chewable, so I figured why not run both at 1.5mph.
I pointed the Vexus to the NE and went up the east side of Kelly’s, but ended up on the north side, due to wave direction, and where I wanted to start…using the waves to our advantage. The water clarity was the perfect “mix” of dirty and clean.
Well, a long story short…it worked. Both sides caught fish this morning, with crawlers taking the early lead. Just when I thought to myself, “Crawlers should be on both sides”…the outside Off Shore board, pulling a “Pooh Bear” Bandit sank back out of line. We left the Bandits running all morning, as they didn’t disappoint, from that moment on.
I should mention that the speed was determined by the FishHawk, which was often much lower than the surface speed….ie: SOG 2.0 ….undercurrent speed was 1.4-1.5. We often hit “ribbons” of currents that had the FishHawk going up and down all on its own, without help from the Ulterra, or the baby Merc. It’s kind of neat to watch what happens down there.
Colors and leads that worked for the Bandits were:
Pooh Bear at 120 back
Khaki at 97 back
Geneva at 80 back
We tried different colors on the inside board at 57-65 back, but none took a fish.
The BadMo spoon with a pink underside, and different colors on the back took a lot of fish with 2 oz at 40 back.
other leads that worked with 2oz inlines were 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, and 50 back.
It was a fun morning, with the guys learning how to run the Off Shore boards. “I’ve only run two boards before, not an 8 board spread before”, said Gene. But, they listened, and by the time we were done, they had done great! I know they would be able to duplicate what they learned today, on Gene’s boat, and run more than two boards.
They all said they had fun, learned a lot, and were happy to finally get this trip in, and that makes me happy!
Gene had been trying for a few years now. Mother Nature had a target on his back, because every time his trip was coming up, she would throw a tantrum and we would have to reschedule. They were supposed to come this past April, too, but we all know how pleasant April was. I’m just glad we were able to put 20 fish in the cooler this morning. I was expecting less, due to the bright moon that was out last night. Thankfully, they are hungry!
Tomorrow, was supposed to be the reschedule of Dave and Danielle’s trip, from this past Thursday, when it blew, but it appears from he forecast, that it is going to blow from the NE, again. Since they are my neighbors, we can just check the weather in the morning. Fingers crossed that we can get out, but 15-20 NE isn’t fun, so we will reschedule, if that’s the case.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Much to the chagrin of my two dogs, I left the house at 5:15, and headed through town, and got some ice at the gas station, before heading to Mazurik’s, to set things up before they showed up.
It wasn’t too busy yet, but it would be. It’s Saturday, and one of the nicer days we have had lately.
The wind was forecast for 10-15 out of the WSW, the skies were clear, and the air temp at 6:30 was 50 degrees.
The water temp had dropped 4 degrees from three days ago, when I was last out, and went from 58 degrees to 54. The NE wind we had on Thursday and Friday blew the colder water in. The sunshine today should help warm it back up again pretty quickly, though.
My crew showed up right on time, and we launched by 6:30. While I was there waiting for them, I decided that we would be running crawler harnesses on the port side, and Bandits on the starboard side.
I had heard that a slow Bandit was still chewable, so I figured why not run both at 1.5mph.
I pointed the Vexus to the NE and went up the east side of Kelly’s, but ended up on the north side, due to wave direction, and where I wanted to start…using the waves to our advantage. The water clarity was the perfect “mix” of dirty and clean.
Well, a long story short…it worked. Both sides caught fish this morning, with crawlers taking the early lead. Just when I thought to myself, “Crawlers should be on both sides”…the outside Off Shore board, pulling a “Pooh Bear” Bandit sank back out of line. We left the Bandits running all morning, as they didn’t disappoint, from that moment on.
I should mention that the speed was determined by the FishHawk, which was often much lower than the surface speed….ie: SOG 2.0 ….undercurrent speed was 1.4-1.5. We often hit “ribbons” of currents that had the FishHawk going up and down all on its own, without help from the Ulterra, or the baby Merc. It’s kind of neat to watch what happens down there.
Colors and leads that worked for the Bandits were:
Pooh Bear at 120 back
Khaki at 97 back
Geneva at 80 back
We tried different colors on the inside board at 57-65 back, but none took a fish.
The BadMo spoon with a pink underside, and different colors on the back took a lot of fish with 2 oz at 40 back.
other leads that worked with 2oz inlines were 20, 25, 30, 35, 45, and 50 back.
It was a fun morning, with the guys learning how to run the Off Shore boards. “I’ve only run two boards before, not an 8 board spread before”, said Gene. But, they listened, and by the time we were done, they had done great! I know they would be able to duplicate what they learned today, on Gene’s boat, and run more than two boards.
They all said they had fun, learned a lot, and were happy to finally get this trip in, and that makes me happy!
Gene had been trying for a few years now. Mother Nature had a target on his back, because every time his trip was coming up, she would throw a tantrum and we would have to reschedule. They were supposed to come this past April, too, but we all know how pleasant April was. I’m just glad we were able to put 20 fish in the cooler this morning. I was expecting less, due to the bright moon that was out last night. Thankfully, they are hungry!
Tomorrow, was supposed to be the reschedule of Dave and Danielle’s trip, from this past Thursday, when it blew, but it appears from he forecast, that it is going to blow from the NE, again. Since they are my neighbors, we can just check the weather in the morning. Fingers crossed that we can get out, but 15-20 NE isn’t fun, so we will reschedule, if that’s the case.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
“Fishable” Wind Speed / Direction Port Clinton Area
Thanks in advance for the advise. Trying to plan a trip later this week. Brother has a 20′ boat and wind speed and direction on Erie seem to change daily.
Is there a general feeling for “fishable” or “doable” wind direction and speed? As Erie runs from NW to SE, a 10+ mph wind out of the North or East seems to cause major waves in the Port Clinton area. We’ve seen some ridiculous waves in years past trying to get out of Turtle Creek – so not going to deal with that.
Also – general feeling for how long it takes the lake to settle after a big North or East wind?
Good luck and tight lines!
Good Lake Map
Can anyone tell me where to go online to find a good depth map for Erie? I used to use fish map but now after about 2 minutes, I can’t zoom in because it blocks everything out. Need a good map to look at so I can plan my fishing destinations according to wind, water clarity etc. Any help is appreciated, you guys have been very helpful in making my fishing trips successful. Thanks in advance for your help.
Need advice on Lowrance fishfinder/chartplotter
A friend of mine has a new in the box Lowrance Elite 9Ti fishfinder/chartplotter with all the accessories except it does not include the tranducer. He installed the transducer on his boat but then life intervened and he never installed the fishfinder. He wanted to give it to me but I don’t really have a use for it since I run a very similar Garmin unit on my boat. I believe the unit was purchased about 5 years ago.
Any idea what this unit might be worth? Where would he list it for sale?
Thanks for your help.
Any idea what this unit might be worth? Where would he list it for sale?
Thanks for your help.
Weekend Fishing
My wife and I will be going out Friday evening and then Saturday. We will probably jig Friday and troll Saturday. If anyone wants to share info while we are out let me know and we can exchange phone numbers and stay in touch while we are on the water. We will be going out from Wild Wings
Fun Fishing with Keith Scheuer…5//7/2025
Mother Nature has not been nice to me this season. When I have no one scheduled, it’s nice out, and when I have a trip scheduled, she turns the fans on “High”!
So, with that in mind, when I was invited to go fishing on a friend’s boat this morning, I said, “Yes”. I wasn’t going to let another nice day get away. The lake is nice only so many days of the year, so you have to take advantage of them when you can.
It looks like my trip tomorrow will be moved to Sunday, because Old Momma Nature wants to blow from the NE again tomorrow (17 to 23mph). Luckily, my customers are my neighbors, so it’s easy to reschedule with them. It’s neighbor, Dave’s, birthday tomorrow, so it would have been fun to go tomorrow, rather than Sunday, but hopefully, Sunday will be nicer…and, it’s still close enough to his birthday, to celebrate it. Should I make him a cake? Maybe, I will….we’ll see. 🙂
My friend, Keith Sheuer, runs a Ranger 620, and wanted to get it out and run it… so, we were fishing out of his boat today. We launched from Catawba at 7am.
I go through a real adjustment, mentally, when I’m not in control of the boat, but Keith did a fine job, and I learned to relax and have fun, but by the time I relaxed, it was time to go in…(it’s a big adjustment…lol)
We were fishing west of Green in 26 feet of water, and there was no one around us…that we could see, anyway, but that’s not saying much, since it was pretty foggy out there for many hours. Once it did lift, we could see boats a mile to two miles away.
Our speed was 1.8-2.0mph
Water temp was 58.3 degrees
We first set up in the dirty stuff and pointed the boat in the direction of the cleaner water, so we would pass through several shades of water clarity. The fish were holding mostly in the kind where you can just make out your cavitation plate.
We went 10 for 13 before heading in.
The tally was:
Flicker Minnow 11s in “Flashy Chartreuse”, “Firetail Hot Perch”, and “Firetail Chrome Candy” caught at 47 (3), 72 (1), and 74 (2) back.
**(#) depicts how many fish were caught at that distance back.
Bandits caught at 37 (1), and 57 (2) back. “Fruit Dots” at 37 back caught one, and had a hard pull back, but it came off.
“Bumblebee” at 57 back caught two, and had a pull back/lost fish, too.
A baby “Spro” caught one at 85 back. I don’t know the name of it…sorry. It’s the goldfish color with the red head and painted dots all over the sides.
We had one more pull back on bandit at 90 back, but it came off.
We got off the lake at 12:30, and headed back through town, so the fish could be dropped off at Port Clinton Fish Co., to be cleaned. It was only going to take them 15 minutes, so we hung out until they were done. I bought a chest freezer last month, so now I can keep a fish or two from time to time. My kitchen freezer is very small, so I couldn’t fit any, if I tried. Now, I can, and that makes me happy…:)
I invited Keith to stay, when he brought me home, and fried up some of that fresh walleye for lunch. It was delicious!
I have a trip scheduled for Saturday, with Gene Piscatillo, and it’s looking decent right now, with winds forecast for 10-15 out of the west. That’s doable. 🙂
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
So, with that in mind, when I was invited to go fishing on a friend’s boat this morning, I said, “Yes”. I wasn’t going to let another nice day get away. The lake is nice only so many days of the year, so you have to take advantage of them when you can.
It looks like my trip tomorrow will be moved to Sunday, because Old Momma Nature wants to blow from the NE again tomorrow (17 to 23mph). Luckily, my customers are my neighbors, so it’s easy to reschedule with them. It’s neighbor, Dave’s, birthday tomorrow, so it would have been fun to go tomorrow, rather than Sunday, but hopefully, Sunday will be nicer…and, it’s still close enough to his birthday, to celebrate it. Should I make him a cake? Maybe, I will….we’ll see. 🙂
My friend, Keith Sheuer, runs a Ranger 620, and wanted to get it out and run it… so, we were fishing out of his boat today. We launched from Catawba at 7am.
I go through a real adjustment, mentally, when I’m not in control of the boat, but Keith did a fine job, and I learned to relax and have fun, but by the time I relaxed, it was time to go in…(it’s a big adjustment…lol)
We were fishing west of Green in 26 feet of water, and there was no one around us…that we could see, anyway, but that’s not saying much, since it was pretty foggy out there for many hours. Once it did lift, we could see boats a mile to two miles away.
Our speed was 1.8-2.0mph
Water temp was 58.3 degrees
We first set up in the dirty stuff and pointed the boat in the direction of the cleaner water, so we would pass through several shades of water clarity. The fish were holding mostly in the kind where you can just make out your cavitation plate.
We went 10 for 13 before heading in.
The tally was:
Flicker Minnow 11s in “Flashy Chartreuse”, “Firetail Hot Perch”, and “Firetail Chrome Candy” caught at 47 (3), 72 (1), and 74 (2) back.
**(#) depicts how many fish were caught at that distance back.
Bandits caught at 37 (1), and 57 (2) back. “Fruit Dots” at 37 back caught one, and had a hard pull back, but it came off.
“Bumblebee” at 57 back caught two, and had a pull back/lost fish, too.
A baby “Spro” caught one at 85 back. I don’t know the name of it…sorry. It’s the goldfish color with the red head and painted dots all over the sides.
We had one more pull back on bandit at 90 back, but it came off.
We got off the lake at 12:30, and headed back through town, so the fish could be dropped off at Port Clinton Fish Co., to be cleaned. It was only going to take them 15 minutes, so we hung out until they were done. I bought a chest freezer last month, so now I can keep a fish or two from time to time. My kitchen freezer is very small, so I couldn’t fit any, if I tried. Now, I can, and that makes me happy…:)
I invited Keith to stay, when he brought me home, and fried up some of that fresh walleye for lunch. It was delicious!
I have a trip scheduled for Saturday, with Gene Piscatillo, and it’s looking decent right now, with winds forecast for 10-15 out of the west. That’s doable. 🙂
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Wednesday Walleye Trip
I was out with my son this morning. We fished about 3 hours and got 4 decent fish. We started with crawlers on harnesses and got 1. This was at Locust. We started working our way north and switched to jigging and picked up the rest. The fish are still hanging close to the bottom. Two of them were still milking. The change is coming.
Water temperature was 53 where we were.
Water temp
Hey all, what is the water temp out around the islands? Heading out tomorrow and trying to decide whether to stop and grab some nightcrawlers. Buoy’s aren’t in yet or at least not reporting.
Thanks!