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Late Fall Perch Report – Outer Light Shipping Channel

Long time reader, first time posting. My brother and I hit the water early yesterday morning out of Cullen Park after grabbing some shiners from Fisherman’s Cave up the street. Set anchor around 8:40AM just west of the second shipping channel buoy marker past the lighthouse in 21′ of water. It was pretty chilly that early in the morning, about 38 degrees. The first 30-45 mins was slow with only two fish, but as the temp started rising so did the bite. We steadily pulled 9-11″ perch with a few 12’s mixed in for 2 hours until the wind kicked up as it shifted from the west to the south. The fishing was not exactly up and down, but every 3-4 mins we had one on the line. Ended with 4 doubles during the trip, those are always fun – my brother fished spreader with bling and I fished crappie rig with a Canadian spreader on the bottom. The bite slowed down with the higher winds, but within 45 mins the breeze slowed down and we started hitting again. However, the size of fish was a little smaller, ranging more 7-9″. Finally the last hour we saw some more of the 10-11″ fish biting. Weather was great, we were the only boat west of the shipping channel, but there was a pack of about 15-20 boats directly across from us on the east side, could not really tell how well they were doing. We finished up with a 60 fish limit of really nice fish by 3:00PM. Threw back a dozen small perch, 8-10 white bass, one 24″ catfish, and a 5″ walleye. Hoping to get at least 1 more trip in before packing it up for the winter.
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Fishing with Frank and Ray….10/27/2024

Frank and Ray are staying at the Plantation Motel for the week, so I asked them to meet me at the Huron ramp at 7:30, so we could be launched by 7:45. However, I got there at 6:45, because I expected the get ready lanes to be jammed up, and I wanted to make it to the front of the line, before they got there. But, to my surprise, it really wasn’t that busy that early, and I was able to get one of the front spots right away. So, I sent Frank a text, and told him I was there, and that whenever they were ready, they should head over. They made it there by 7:15, and we were headed out of the river just as the sky started to paint itself with colors of oranges and yellows, at 7:30.

The wind forecast was predicted to be less than 10mph out of the SSE, which it was… when we left the harbor, and made it out to 40 feet of water, south of Vermilion.
As the morning progressed though, the wind picked up to around 10-15, making the waves go from 1 foot or less, to 1-3’s. We had trolled out to 43 feet of water, and caught 8 fish, before deciding to head over closer to Vermilion. Reason being, Frank and Ray would be using their boat for the rest of the week, and I wanted to see if we could find some fish closer to shore for them. They don’t like it rough, and the wind is supposed to be up the next several days…but, an offshore wind, so they should be able to fish closer to shore.


It was a good call, because I marked fish on the Helix all the way in from 42′ to 35 feet, where we shut down and turned the Vexus around to make a pass from east to west, over the fish I had marked on the way in. There were a lot of fish, but a slow bite. The fish we did catch in that area were a little fatter than the fish we caught earlier, too, so that made Frank and Ray happy.


We ran dipsies with spoons, and Bandits and baby Spros behind Off Shore boards, but the dipsies did most of the work today. We only caught two fish on the cranks (and, we changed them out a couple of times…with and without 2oz snap weights).


While the dipsey depths were changed often, the best leads were the zero setting at 54 and the three setting at 85.


We caught 18, but lost one at the boat, so we only put 17 in the cooler this morning. Frank and Ray said they had a great time, so that makes me happy!


I don’t have anything scheduled until November 3rd now, so it’s time to get some garden work and housework done, before it gets cold.


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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Fishing with Sherman and Nancy…10/25/2024

Nancy had bought this trip for her husband Sherman, for his birthday present. He is a follower on Walleye.com, and uses my info to help them when hey travel up from the Cincinnati area, to fish Lake Erie. 🙂

I had internet problems in the morning, so I didn’t get to watch the news, to see what the weather was supposed to be. Last I had heard, was that we were not supposed to get any rain. So, I had left the house, to go gas up the Vexus and the truck, and grab ice, before picking them up at the Holiday Inn Express, on the other side of town. I was sitting in the parking lot of the hotel, at 6:45, when I thought I would check the app RadarScope, to see if there was any rain coming for the morning. And, to my surprise, there was a big band of heavy rain headed right for us, and showing lightning in it.


I texted Nancy to let her know that I was there, but would be headed home to put the boat back under the carport, until it passed. Lighting was a no-go. It was moving fast, so I didn’t think it would delay us for too long. I was right…I was back at their hotel a little over an hour later, and we were driving to Huron in a light rain. (So much for my clean boat!)


We launched, and were headed out the river at 8:45…and the rain turned into just a drizzle. The wind forecast was calling for 10-20 out of the SSE, so the plan was to stay closer to shore, and work the area around “The Castle” and “Cranberry Creek”.


We started in 28′ of water with dipsies set on the zero setting at 30 and 40 back, and the three setting at 55 and 60 back.


The Off Shore boards were pulling Bill Lewis PWC Lites on the starboard side with 2oz snap weights at 50/50 and 50/24 back. On the port side we ran two Bandits at 100 and 65 back.


As we moved out to deeper water, when the wind diminished a bit, the settings on the dipsies were run a little deeper.


The dipsies with spoons caught most of the fish, as only three fish came on the crank baits. Two fish came on the black/gold Ripplin Red Fin on the zero setting dipsies at 54 back, but the orange Yeck spoon caught the majority of our fish.


We didn’t catch any big fish, but the fish we did catch were nice eaters, and would make for some great fish fries. We managed their two limits and two of my fish, before we had to head in.


Talking with friends out there that were fishing, too, said it was a slow bite for them, too, but Sherman and Nancy said they enjoyed the trip, even though it was a little slow, and that makes me happy.


I changed my Monday trip to Sunday, because Sunday is going to be a nice day, wind-wise, and should be waves that will be 1′ or less. Monday is going to be 1-3s. My crew is older, and I thought it would be better to go on the nicer day. Luckily, they can switch days. So, fingers crossed, that the forecast holds.


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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Fall Boat cleaning

Pulled the boat this week and washed it for the winter. I have a fiberglass hard top and there’s lots of seagull poop on top. It is tough to get off. Anyone have any tips on how to clean it? They leave a thick scaly blob behind that is not soluble as best I can tell. I tried soap and scrubbing but too much left behind.
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Fishing with Dick and Brad….10/22/2024

Dick and Brad are two of my regulars, that I have been fishing with for many years now. They have their own boats, but like to hire me to get a refresher course, on how to run boards and dipsies, from time to time. So, today, we were going after some walleye.

They drove in from Maumee, and met me at my house at 7:15. We drove to the gas station…filled up, got ice, and my usual…powdered donuts, and headed over to Mazurik’s to launch.


My plan was to hit the area around Cedar Point, since I had marked some walleye in that area the last time I was out perch’n. We set up there first, and went for about 20 minutes, with nothing, before I decided that the wind forecast was favorable for a ride out to deeper water to the east. “You guys want to make a run?”, I asked. “How far you thinking, Captain?” Dick asked. “From here it’s about 12 more miles”, I replied. “I’m game”, he said. Brad nodded his head in agreement. So, we packed it all up, and took a ride out to the NE.


Once we were in 45 feet of water, and started seeing some good walleye marks on the Helix, we stopped, and I deployed the Terrova and the baby Merc. The course was set, to continue to the NE, at a speed of 2.3mph, on the FishHawk.


The dipsies went out first, and were set as follows (I use the size 1 with ring):
Zero setting….63 back on the port side and 55 back on the starboard side. (Both would eventually be set at 65 back).
Three setting started at 85 back and remained at 85.
The two setting was eventually set to a three setting, and also running at 85 back.


Spoons were the Yeck D-11s, BadMo Arrows, and Scorpions.


Bill Lewis PWC Lites ran on the starboard side with 2 oz snap weights behind the Off Shore boards at 97 and 81 back (weights put on at the 50 mark).
Purple Tiger and Black Headed Wonder Bread both caught fish.


On the port side, we ran two Bandits at 120 back and 90 back. Colors were RC Crush and that white one with the black dot, that I can never remember the name of…I’ve reported it before. It’s a custom color….sorry…some names just don’t stick with me. lol
Both of those caught a fish, too, but the spoons did 80% of the work this morning.


While clearing lines, Dick brought a fish in without a net, and ended up getting a hook in his finger, but he was able to push it through, and I cut the tip and barb off, so he could pull it back out. Luckily, it was a PWC bait, so the hooks were smaller than what are used on the Bandits….whew!


We had a pretty steady bite, while trolling to the NE, but when we turned to go back the other way…..nada. So, we turned and went NE again, and started catching again. There was a pretty strong under-current out there today. The FishHawk read 2.2, while the SOG was reading 2.6-2.7mph.


Our biggest fish, came, while I was trying to get out of someone’s way, and sped up to 3.5mph, for about 3 minutes. So, don’t think you have to stay slower to catch these fish. Do “S-Turns”, or just bump your speed up with the bow mount controller every now and then, to see what happens. 🙂


Dick and Brad said they had a good time, and will be back again next season, and that makes me happy!


I’m off tomorrow….and watching the wind forecast for Thursday and Friday…hoping to get my Friday trip in either Thursday or Friday. Right now, Saturday looks like crap….again.


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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10/21 Perch

Last fishing trip of the year today. Went out with my son. We got anchored around 1. We were about 3/4 of a mile west of Niagara reef. We went through stretches where we caught decent fish and then a lot of short fish. Ended up with 45 keepers in under 3 hours. Threw back more than we kept. One sheepshead, one white bass, two small white perch and two small walleye.

Pulled the boat when we got in. On the way home, got a leak in the transmission cooler a mile and a half from home and my truck stopped. Had to get help from my son in law. He pulled the boat home and my son brought his truck back and towed my truck home.

Can’t wait until April!

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Fishing with Logan and Danielle…10/19/2024

I wanted to sleep until 4am this morning, but Ella, my little piggy Pit Bull, decided that 2:30 was a better time for me to get up, and was relentless, so I gave in, and got up. We headed out to the back deck with dog treats and my much needed coffee, and was greeted with a warmer morning than the past two previous mornings.

The air temp was in the low 40s, the sky was clear, and the wind was calm. The plan today was to put the perch rods away, and head out of Huron for some Walleye. It’s been over a month since I had chased the toothy critters, and thought it best to head to Huron, for the best chance at finding some willing to eat.


I picked Logan and Danielle up at the Whitecaps Motel at 6:45, and we headed into town, to hit the gas station for the usual staples, and then headed over to Huron to launch. We were on the water by 7:30. The ramp was pretty busy, but not crazy busy, so it was easy.


My plan was to use the last program I used when I was in Huron last, and just go out and find some marks on the Helix…set up…and start trolling. It worked…lol


Dipsies set on the zero setting started out at 40 back on the port side, and 50 on the starboard side, but eventually were dialed in at 43 on both sides. The two setting was set at 65 initially, but dialed in at 57, and the three setting was at 70 back the entire time.


We were fishing over 42 feet of water to start, and we were headed north, but the marks dried up as we went north, so we turned around and headed back south. Then, when I had to change course for another boat, and headed west, and we started catching pretty fast, so we stayed on that course, over 40 feet of water….until, we were forced to change direction again…and, headed east over the same line. The fish liked the other direction better though, so when we were able, we turned around and did that line again.


The Bill Lewis PWC Lites, behind the Off Shore boards, did the job.
The PWCs were running with 2 oz snap weights (weights on at the 50 mark) at 74, 80, 97, and 100 back.


Speed was 2.3-2.7mph on the FishHawk.


Logan and Danielle had never trolled with planer boards or dipsies before, so after a quick tutorial, Logan was helping set lines like he’s done it before. I was pretty impressed with his level of common sense. I thought to myself, “This young man will go far in life”. 🙂


We had one that broke the line at the tip of the rod, but luckily I had my hand on the line, to take the board off, when it happened, so we were able to handline it into the net. I think it was the biggest fish of the morning, too. I have to replace that rod, because I think there is a knick in the tip’s eye, that caused that. That happens when people don’t stop reeling and reel the snap, and bait up, tight into the eye….usually done out of excitement.


We managed to circle around that area, and stay out of the pack to the west of us, and had our 18 nice eaters by 10:21. Logan and Danielle said they had fun, and learned a lot, and that makes me happy!


Tomorrow, I have a father and his young boy wanting walleye, so we will be meeting at Huron, in the morning.


Stay tuned…


Capt Juls

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10/19/24 Walleye

Make that 10/18/24.
Well the Mazurik ramp wasn’t crowded at all today.
We started on the Cedar Point dump at daybreak. Marked a few on the east side of it so we put down our lines. 2 bandits, 2 spoons, 2 salmos. We headed NNW toward Kelly Island Shoal. We kept marking them, so we kept going in the same direction. It stayed at about 44 fow. After a couple hours of trying various colors, lure depths and speeds, we had marked about 100 big suspended fish but hadn’t had a single bite. Maybe they weren’t hungry after eating all night under the full moon?
By 10am, we reached a position about 2 miles due south of the eastern-most green buoy of Kelly’s Island Shoal. And we started marking a lot more. Kicked it off with a nice 26″ at 10am. It hit on a blue and chrome bandit, 60′ back unassisted in 44 fow going 2mph. We spent the rest of the day going back and forth from south of the shoal to east of it. There are nets to the east so watch out for those.
The hot spot seemed to be a 3/4 mile stretch from 1 mile SE of that buoy to 1.75 miles of that buoy in 44 fow. We marked even more in 43 fow but caught more in 44 fow. We only caught on bandits, and they definitely preferred 60′ back to all other depths. They bit at 2mph and they bit at 3mph and everything inbetween. Almost every color got bit although the blue/chromes and the black-headed wonder bread caught multiple fish. Ended up landing 8 walleye. 2 more got away. And we got 1 white bass. Thye hit there all day long, although a little too far and few between. We did notice one other boat netting one in the same area. There were a dozen boats nearby for most of the day so they must have been having some success.
Back at the cleaning station, a guy said he spent the whole day at the Cedar Point dump and got 11 eyes, 2 white bass, and 1 catfish that looked to me to be 30 pounds.