Author: Admin 1

Thank you dansdad for the info!
Your previous post put me on them again! Thank You!
6 more eyes NW of G can.
4 on the spreader with no bling and just a crawler!
spreader is fished straight down from the boat.
2 on the worm harness.
3 shorts ~ returned, lost one at the boat.
no eyes on the erie dearie , but the sheep head liked it.
5 sheep heads , returned.
6 white perch , returned.
no yellow gold ?

Back soon,
Be safe,

Water Dog

Hey all, looking to fish out of Lorain tomorrow 5/17 and wanted to see if anyone knows whether Hot Waters ramp has reopened? Thanks

Just a update, all the head boats have moved out, do not know know where.
The last 3 days I did not see any head boats working it from shore.
Back at it and let you know any info I can provide.

Be Safe, (life jacket included)

Water Dog

Hello all forgive me for asking a question in this thread but not a lot of online traffic in the general discussion.. I run 12 or 14 pound mono for trolling bandits..is it necessary to run a 8 pound 6 foot leader to the bait or can I connect right to the lure? Thanks ahead of time

I 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

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I?ve been out several times this year. I switched over to crawler harness last weekend. Last Saturday I limited east of north bass. Wind, and waves were rough, and getting worse by the time I got out. Started by the green can off of east point of middle bass. Ran to the north east stopping at the Canada line. Could only troll with the wind. As it got worse the bite slowed. 3 on the first run. 2 on the second. Last one on the last run. Mostly in 35?-40? at around 1.8 mph. They were down low, so 2oz snaps at 60?-70? back. They preferred red and chrome Colorado blades. 17?-24?

All,

Launching out of Vermilion this year.

5/12 I decided to take a buddy out for the first trip of the year.

Clearing the breakwater we headed East at a modest speed towards Lorain looking for marks. Wow, tons of marks from 13 feet to 45 feet on the Simrad.

Started trolling with Bandits at about 35 feet water depth. Quickly figured out the pattern that would get us both limits of fat 20 inch fish before noon.

They wanted those Bandits 100 back unassisted with planer boards well out from the boat, like 75 and 50 feet out after the 100. I’m thinking the sunny day and my wide 29 foot cruiser had something to do with that. Speed was 2 mph plus or minus a little with help from a large trolling bag.

Experimented with deeper and with a spoon but no dice, they wanted that specific pattern.

Favorite colors were purple back with white or yellow belly. And chrome. Blue chrome and yellow chrome.

Back at the marina, I had my first experience with a Rapala R12 electric fillet knife. I need to work a little on finesse but I will say the Rapala got thru those 12 walleye in good time.

Going back next week with a different buddy. Hope we have similar good weather. Pretty sure those post spawn males will still be hanging around.

Cheers

I’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

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I 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

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