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At 2AM this morning, the wind was pretty blustery out on my back deck. I checked iWindSurf, and it showed a forecast of 10-20mph SW for the early morning, with it diminishing a little as the morning went on.

I picked my Wisco crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5AM, and hit the gas station, and then Mazurik’s. I didn’t want to drive back over to Huron after seeing the fiasco the work crews were causing with the repaving/repainting of the lot, and being a weekend day, I figured it would be worse.


My plan was to launch from Mazurik’s…hug the shoreline over to the Huron…start in shallow, and head NE, over the dumping grounds. So, at 5:45, we were headed east. The water was pretty smooth, close to shore, and not bad as we crossed the open area in front of Sandusky Bay, and we made it to Huron in about 15-20 minutes.


We started in 30 feet of water, out in front of the “White Condos”, and set a speed of 2.4 (FishHawk reading) to the NE. That would take us right over the top of the dumping grounds, and to the area I was fishing two days ago.


There were a ton of marks in the shallower waters, and the action started immediately with smaller fish, some keepers, and Sheephead. The sheep weren’t bad though. I think we only caught 3 or 4 all morning.


The water temp at 20′ down was just under 69 degrees.


Spoons ran behind dipsies on the zero and three settings. The zero settings were 35 and 40 to begin with. Eventually, as we got deeper, they were running at 45 and 55 back.
The three settings were 65 and 71 the entire time.
BadMo Arrow spoons, Yeck spoons, and Scorpions spoons did the job. Color didn’t matter. They were always busy with fish on.


Two Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards on the port side at 97 and 67 back.
That blue/green one from Slim Shady Customs, that I can’t remember the name of ran at 97 back, and Purple Mist ran at 67 back. They both caught fish early on, in the shallower water. Then, as we went further out, they were lowered to 130 and 120 back, and again, both caught fish.


The starboard side ran Flicker Minnow 11s at 97 back and 57 back. Firetail Chrome Candy, and Slick Purple Bengal… both caught fish.


The lake wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be, with the forecast that was projected, so it was a beautiful morning on the water. It was definitely a lot cooler out there, than it was on land. I’m thinking that we might just run the 4 dipsies tomorrow, and take more time out there, because it’s freak’n HOT on shore, and tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer!


According to a source, the Huron parking lot is done now, so I think we will be launching over there in the morning. I was going to go to Vermilion, but I’d rather go out of Huron, and use the wind direction to our advantage.


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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For anyone that has been following my reports for the past 14 years, you know the name Chapman. Steve was my very first customer, way back when, and Jeremy started coming along later that same year.

Since then, they bought themselves a Ranger, to do what I have trained them to do, but when Jeremy wants to take his boy along, he hires me, so he doesn’t have to be in charge, and can concentrate on helping his boy learn to love fishing. 🙂

We had a later start, due to their drive up from Columbus (2 hour drive), and I met them in Huron. I was disappointed to see that the crews working on the repaving and repainting of parking lot lines, had not finished yet, had the place really restricted…making it hard to maneuver with a boat in tow. Hopefully, it’s done soon. I won’t be going back until it is.

The river was pure chocolate milk, and the current was super strong…with lots of debris floating around.

Anyway….

It was a beautiful morning to be on the water. The sky was clear, the waves were 1 foot or less, and the water temp was 68 degrees.

We got out to the Huron dump around 9AM, and set lines. Once again, the speed was set using the FishHawk for guidance, at 2.5mph, and the Vexus pointed to the north.

Dipsies were running on my usual program of a zero setting at 43 and 54, and the three settings at 65 and 71. BadMo, Yeck, and Scorpion spoons ran behind the dipsies….color didn’t seem to matter. They were checked often for itty-bitties, for which they were plentiful.

Bandits ran behind Off Shore boards on the port side at 130 and 120 back (unassisted). Blue Chrome and Purple Mist did the job.

Flicker Minnow 11s ran on the starboard side at 97 and 57 back. Colors were Firetail Chrome Candy, and Slick Purple Bengal.

We only ran two on each side to keep it simple, since we were entertaining a 6 year old, and didn’t need more chaos than we were already dealing with. The bite was non-stop, and we were busy, busy, busy, so Luke was never bored! He did a great job reeling, as his Dad held the rod for him. We all caught our limits, and ended with a 4-person limit in 4 hours, and headed back in.

They wanted their fish cleaned at Port Clinton Fish, Co, so they met me there. It took forever to get back, thanks to road construction on RT2, and added an extra 1/2 hour to the normally 20 minute drive….ugh. I’m sure my dogs were wondering where I was, because they needed to be fed, and when I got home it was very dramatic….needless to say, they were very happy to see me. lol

Jeremy had sent me a text on their way home to say how much fun they all had, and that Luke couldn’t stop talking about how he caught the biggest fish, and said that he wanted to be his Dad’s fishing partner, and that made Jeremy very happy…which makes me very happy! 🙂

I’m scheduled for the entire week, starting Sunday, so hopefully Mother Nature doesn’t cook us too bad with the heat and humidity that is forecast. Stay cool, everyone!

Stay tuned….

Capt Juls

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Anyone started catching Perch yet ? My family prefers eating the Erie gold over the wallies so waiting for them to start biting.

Im using OR 39 sams pro release clips
with my OR 12 plainers because I use braid.
I now see Zams pro release for sale as Sams with zams red barrel
Anyone have experience with the Zam product?

So I thought I would try Launching out of Huron for the first time. I had gotten some information from Capt. Juls about the launch and she was spot on. They do still have half the parking lot to Paint with black tar, but, I got in and out o.k. Will say, I dont like the time it takes to get in/out of the river and the river did have lots of wood and dead fish floating in it. Will probably stick with Mazuriks.
Anyway, I was by myself in my 19ft Lund just fishing out the side with no planer boards. I fished in an area 8miles nw of Huron and 6 miles se of Cedar Pt. along the west shore west of the dumping grounds in about 32.5ft of water. The water clarity was really good, but as you went east, it got darker, so I stayed in one spot the whole time. I did not have one boat within sight the whole 4 hrs I was out there.
I had gotten to my spot at about 5:45 am and marked tons of fish. In the next three and 1/2 hours I caught 22 walleye, with only 6 making the 15″ and above criteria. Lots and lots of 12 inchers.
So, I used two poles. First pole was a worm harness 120ft out. Second was a Frog colored Bandit (tried 3 different colors) 150 ft out. My boat speed was 2.0 mph. The worm harness caught 90 percent of the fish while the Bandit only 3-fish. Oddly, No Sheephead/drum. Biggest fish was 21.5 inches and Smallest I kept was 16 inch. Water chop was perfect (sw 5-6mph), sunrise – Beautiful. Oh, AND not bugs. Thanks to everyone that posts on this page. I have learned a lot and feel like I can come up and catch fish everytime. Love Lake Erie. Fish Yeah – Prinzeye.

Anyone had a problem with plastic spools side bust out and lock up the reel? I’ve had 2 in the last couple of weeks.

Picked my crew up from the White Caps Motel at 5AM. Bill, Pete, and Marv drove in from Iowa last night, and were a little tired, but awake and ready to go.

We launched at Mazurik’s at 5:30, while the sun was just peeking up over the horizon, to the east. The plan was to head to the SE side of Kelly’s and troll the east side of the island.


The speed was set using the FishHawk, and when it hit 2.5 mph, I began the set up. My crew is older, so I didn’t bother showing them how to set boards and dipsies, and instead, just did all the work myself, while we rotated, taking turns reeling in fish.


I was exhausted by the end of the trip, due to so many hungry little fish in the system, hitting our offerings, and having no help resetting lines. It was basically non-stop action all morning.


Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards at 120 (outside board), 80, 67, and 47 back (inside board). Colors that did best were the Purple Mist (47), blue/chrome (67), Sunspot (80), and that blue/green one (120) that I can’t remember the name of.


The starboard side started out with the Livingston Walleye Minnow 111s, and caught a few. Then, I changed them out, and ran Flicker Minnow 11s at the same distances back as the Bandits, and they were catching more frequently.


Dipsies were best on the zero settings at 43 and 54 back. The three settings were the usual 65 and 71 back. Yeck, Scorpion, and BadMo Arrow spoons were a continuous exercise. I would just keep rotating my checks, because I think as soon as they went down, they picked up an itty-bitty. We caught some legals on them too, but those were very noticeable when they hit, of course. But, if you don’t keep checking for itty-bitties, you’re just going to drag them around forever, and never catch anything bigger.


Our 5 hour troll started in 34 feet of water as we headed NNE, and then when we got even with Airport Reef, we headed east, out to 44 feet of water. Then, when we were a little NE of Cedar Point, I pointed the Vexus back south, until we hit 41 feet of water, and turned her back to the west towards the dumping grounds.


The plan for tomorrow, was to head to Huron, for a change of scenery, and maybe some bigger walleye, but after I got home, I received a text asking if we could perch fish tomorrow, instead of going after walleye, because they felt they had enough walleye going home with them already. I said, “Sure, but I can’t make any promises on how we’ll do, because I haven’t chased any perch yet, this season”. They’re okay with that. Yay! I love perch’n and am excited to go look for some.


So, if anyone has been fishing for perch out of Mazurik’s and can help me out…that would be greatly appreciated! 🙂


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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Fished SE side of Pelee in 38-40 fow. 4-man limit casting with single blade gold worm harnesses by 11. Fast and furious from 7-8 AM. Bottom bouncers with 4 oz bullets got 50% of the fish. Casted 1 oz inline sinkers and fish were hugging the bottom. Probably a dozen shorts and only 1 drum