Day 2 with our Gold Star Family! Got their limits near the Cedar Point dump. spoons on 40 Tru trips 60-100 back. Dipseys on the corners 0 setting 60…
Category: Uncategorized
Fishing with the Hubbard Family….6/6/2025
I was up earlier than usual, so I left the house a 1/2 hour earlier, and headed to the gas station at 4 AM. Bought my ice, and skipped the smokes, because they went up again. I’m going to have to be done with them now…it’s ridiculous to pay so much just to take years off of my life. Thanks, you greedy bastards, for making me quit!
Anyway…rant over…lol
I hit Mazurik’s at 4:30, so I had 45 minutes to get things ready before my crew showed up at 5:15. When I pulled in the park, it was completely empty, and very quiet…just how I like it. I readied the boat and the gear, and spent a little time on the internet.
Brian (Dad), Mitch, and Nick are from Wisconsin, and live not far from where I lived, when I lived there.
Even though they showed up right on time, we still had to wait a bit, for it to get lighter out, so I said to them, “I’ll go hit the bathroom, and get rid of the last bit of coffee, then we can go”. By the time I got back, more rigs were starting to pull into the park.
The air temp was 65 degrees, the sky was cloudy, and the wind was around 5-7mph out of the NE. I looked at the radar, and it showed scattered showers headed towards the lake, which surprised me, since my weather app was saying, “No precipitation” for the entire day. I guess that’s what happens when the NWS and NOAA lose funding for important weather tests needed for proper forecasts…..deep sigh.
We launched, and our destination was north to the line, and then, I would figure it out from there. The drizzle started about halfway, and made my visibility even worse, and I had to keep wiping my glasses off, so I could see. At one point, we almost ran over a Perch net that was set up on the NW side of Kelly’s….not far from the red buoy at American Eagle Shoal. It was on the port side, and the bow seat was blocking my vision at that angle, so I didn’t see it until we were almost on it. Luckily, it was the single flag end, and I only had to dodge the little floats that are on the outside of the flags, and didn’t have to worry about anything in the middle.
Once we got up to the line (west side of Middle Island), I turned the boat and headed to the east side of Gull Island Shoal…. and, north of Kelly Island Shoal. The plan was to hit the area I fished my last time out, and see if the fish were still in the area. The Garmin had marked fish here and there, but there wasn’t any big schools showing up. Reports from the days I wasn’t fishing told me that they should be there.
The FishHawk was deployed to 20 feet (showed a water temp of 63.6 degrees), and the Ulterra and baby Merc worked in unison, at a speed of 2.2-2.5mph on a southerly troll. The waves were set on the port stern, so speed control could be maintained. We were over 42 feet of water, and that would change here and there as we trolled south.
The dipsies went out first, with the zero settings on 35 and 54, and the three settings at 65 and 71. Yeck, Stinger, and BadMo spoons were on all of them.
Color didn’t seem to matter….they all caught fish.
I ran the same crank program I’ve been running the last several times out, and they all produced, too, but the spoons definitely out-fished the cranks this morning.
Bandits and Livingston Walleye Minnows ran behind the Off Shore boards. The Bandits ran on the port side at 120 back (outside board), 80, 67, and 50 (inside board).
The Walleye Minnows ran at 97 (outside), 80, 65, and 57 back (inside).
Colors were:
Bandits: 120 back was that one I don’t know the name of…it’s a custom color by Slim Shady Customs, and is like a green and blue fade, (maybe Mike Schlimgen will see this and tell me what it is, because I can’t find it on his site). 80 back was Buck Fever, by Domka Outdoors, 67 back was Pooh Bear, Domka Outdoors, and the 50 back was Green Lantern, by Slim Shady Customs.
Walleye Minnows:
97 back was LimeLight, 80 back was Sherbert, 65 back was Chrome XXX Shad, and 57 back was another Sherbert.
Everything above caught fish.
The dipsies had to be checked often, to make sure the itty-bitties were not being dragged around, and almost every time we checked, there they were….anywhere from 5 to 12 inches, just spinning around and around…poor little fishies. They were all returned unharmed. That’s why dispsies need to be check regularly. 🙂
They caught their three-man limit, and I reeled in mine, too. It’s been years since they had been to Lake Erie, so learning to troll was the game plan. They did a great job, and picked the routine up quick. I showed them how to attach the Off Shore boards, and set them back out into their original spots, without having to move other boards, to do it. We only had a couple of tangles due to the wind, but nothing bad, thankfully.
I have the same crew tomorrow, and told them I would like to visit Vermilion in the morning, so they will be meeting me at my house, and we will drive over there together. It’s a lot cheaper in gas, and a better ride, than riding across the lake with another NE wind. The winds should be the same tomorrow, which is forecast to be 8-10mph.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Anyway…rant over…lol
I hit Mazurik’s at 4:30, so I had 45 minutes to get things ready before my crew showed up at 5:15. When I pulled in the park, it was completely empty, and very quiet…just how I like it. I readied the boat and the gear, and spent a little time on the internet.
Brian (Dad), Mitch, and Nick are from Wisconsin, and live not far from where I lived, when I lived there.
Even though they showed up right on time, we still had to wait a bit, for it to get lighter out, so I said to them, “I’ll go hit the bathroom, and get rid of the last bit of coffee, then we can go”. By the time I got back, more rigs were starting to pull into the park.
The air temp was 65 degrees, the sky was cloudy, and the wind was around 5-7mph out of the NE. I looked at the radar, and it showed scattered showers headed towards the lake, which surprised me, since my weather app was saying, “No precipitation” for the entire day. I guess that’s what happens when the NWS and NOAA lose funding for important weather tests needed for proper forecasts…..deep sigh.
We launched, and our destination was north to the line, and then, I would figure it out from there. The drizzle started about halfway, and made my visibility even worse, and I had to keep wiping my glasses off, so I could see. At one point, we almost ran over a Perch net that was set up on the NW side of Kelly’s….not far from the red buoy at American Eagle Shoal. It was on the port side, and the bow seat was blocking my vision at that angle, so I didn’t see it until we were almost on it. Luckily, it was the single flag end, and I only had to dodge the little floats that are on the outside of the flags, and didn’t have to worry about anything in the middle.
Once we got up to the line (west side of Middle Island), I turned the boat and headed to the east side of Gull Island Shoal…. and, north of Kelly Island Shoal. The plan was to hit the area I fished my last time out, and see if the fish were still in the area. The Garmin had marked fish here and there, but there wasn’t any big schools showing up. Reports from the days I wasn’t fishing told me that they should be there.
The FishHawk was deployed to 20 feet (showed a water temp of 63.6 degrees), and the Ulterra and baby Merc worked in unison, at a speed of 2.2-2.5mph on a southerly troll. The waves were set on the port stern, so speed control could be maintained. We were over 42 feet of water, and that would change here and there as we trolled south.
The dipsies went out first, with the zero settings on 35 and 54, and the three settings at 65 and 71. Yeck, Stinger, and BadMo spoons were on all of them.
Color didn’t seem to matter….they all caught fish.
I ran the same crank program I’ve been running the last several times out, and they all produced, too, but the spoons definitely out-fished the cranks this morning.
Bandits and Livingston Walleye Minnows ran behind the Off Shore boards. The Bandits ran on the port side at 120 back (outside board), 80, 67, and 50 (inside board).
The Walleye Minnows ran at 97 (outside), 80, 65, and 57 back (inside).
Colors were:
Bandits: 120 back was that one I don’t know the name of…it’s a custom color by Slim Shady Customs, and is like a green and blue fade, (maybe Mike Schlimgen will see this and tell me what it is, because I can’t find it on his site). 80 back was Buck Fever, by Domka Outdoors, 67 back was Pooh Bear, Domka Outdoors, and the 50 back was Green Lantern, by Slim Shady Customs.
Walleye Minnows:
97 back was LimeLight, 80 back was Sherbert, 65 back was Chrome XXX Shad, and 57 back was another Sherbert.
Everything above caught fish.
The dipsies had to be checked often, to make sure the itty-bitties were not being dragged around, and almost every time we checked, there they were….anywhere from 5 to 12 inches, just spinning around and around…poor little fishies. They were all returned unharmed. That’s why dispsies need to be check regularly. 🙂
They caught their three-man limit, and I reeled in mine, too. It’s been years since they had been to Lake Erie, so learning to troll was the game plan. They did a great job, and picked the routine up quick. I showed them how to attach the Off Shore boards, and set them back out into their original spots, without having to move other boards, to do it. We only had a couple of tangles due to the wind, but nothing bad, thankfully.
I have the same crew tomorrow, and told them I would like to visit Vermilion in the morning, so they will be meeting me at my house, and we will drive over there together. It’s a lot cheaper in gas, and a better ride, than riding across the lake with another NE wind. The winds should be the same tomorrow, which is forecast to be 8-10mph.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
6/5 Report
Day one fishing with our Gold Star Family for Walleye 4 Wounded Heros. Fished East of KI Shoal 41′. Spoons on 40 Tru trips 60-100 back and Dipseys set on 0 on the corners 65 back.
6/3-6/4 Huron report
We fished the past two days out of Huron 30-42’ of water fish were high in the water 10-15 feet down. Between the 2 boats we caught close to 180 fish for our customers keeping nice limits for all of them. Spoons and flicker minnow 11’s have been the lures we are running. A few on worm burners too. Color really didn’t matter the fish are eating. It took me two hours today to get all my lines in the water. It was literally fish after fish. Doesn’t get much better. Lots of shorts too the future looks good.
6/2 Report
Fishing is as good as it gets now! Fished KI Shoal spoons 40-60 back on 40 Tru trips. Speed 2.2-2.4 and 50 Tru trips on the corners.
6/2 Report
Had our 6 lines in the water before sunrise this morning, east of the south end of Kelly’s in 42 fow. Headed into the sunrise at about 2.7mph sog. …
Today was a first for me
Went out to cast for some walleye by myself this morning. I started on the south side of cone reef but the area was loaded with white perch so I moved to the north side of west sister island. I was probably a mile off the island. I fished about 3 hours and picked up 2 nice eyes and got two shorts. I said to myself at 11:30 one more cast. I was using an 18 count and I started my count. I don’t think I got to 4 and something grabbed my spinner and took off. I closed the bail on my reel and the line instantly came tight and a silver rocket flew out of the water. I eventually got it in and it turned out to be a steelhead about 20 inches long. I’ve heard of people catching them but I have never seen one in person. I can’t imagine catching a 20 pounder on a rod like I was using.
Report 6-1 and 6-2
June 1st trip
Was on the sportcraft. We left the dock just after 7 ran to the east side of KellyÂ’s.
we set rods 50 to 70 back With tru-trip 40Â’sand spoons ( pink was the best color) at 2.1 mph
We didnÂ’t even get on the rods set before they was firing. We put 7 in the box real quick then we went dead with all the boat traffic. The fish scattered and shut off. Once we got away from the boat traffic we started to pick at them again but had to move leads deeper. 70 to 90 back.
It wasnÂ’t long and we filled the cooler with nice 17 to 23 inch fish.
Was on the sportcraft. We left the dock just after 7 ran to the east side of KellyÂ’s.
we set rods 50 to 70 back With tru-trip 40Â’sand spoons ( pink was the best color) at 2.1 mph
We didnÂ’t even get on the rods set before they was firing. We put 7 in the box real quick then we went dead with all the boat traffic. The fish scattered and shut off. Once we got away from the boat traffic we started to pick at them again but had to move leads deeper. 70 to 90 back.
It wasnÂ’t long and we filled the cooler with nice 17 to 23 inch fish.
June 2nd
Today we was on the ranger
Started casting.we got a couple but as the wind died (there wasnÂ’t much to begin with ) that production did as well .
So we put we put the trolling gear out.
Using off shore boards in the same area we finished yesterday. Today we ran flicker 9Â’s on one side and flicker 11Â’s on the other. It wasnÂ’t long and the 9Â’s was producing way better and everything got changed over to the 9Â’s with 2oz weights we put the snap weights at 20 total of 70 to 90 back at 1.8.
Water temps was 60 degrees .
Fishing with David, Fred, and Craig….6/1/2025
My crew today, are friends with the Jay Prater group, from last week, and were supposed to go tomorrow, but the wind forecast for today was more favorable, and they were able to move it, so it all worked out.
I left the house at 4:30, but didn’t need to pick my crew up, since they were meeting me at Mazurik’s at 5:15. I stopped to get ice on the way to the ramp. I wanted to get there early, so I could get things ready before they showed up. But, Jay must have told them I like to be early, because they showed up at 5 AM.
It was still dark out, so I took my time. While it’s possible to drive in the dark out there…I do not like it, because I can’t see if there are floating logs, or perch nets, and it kind of freaks me out. Those nets are always moving….so, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
The sky was partly cloudy, the wind was less than 10 mph out of the south, and the air temp was a chilly 51 degrees. It’s the beginning of June, and I’m still wearing my BlackFish Gear out there, (it has a fuzzy fleece liner in both the jacket and the pants). This spring has been the worst I’ve ever experienced in my 62 years on this planet….deep sigh. On the bright side, though, it looks like it’s going to get hot by mid-week.
We left the dock at 5:25 and headed north to the line, near Gull Island Shoal, and set up on the west side of it. The Vexus was pointed to the east, with the Ulterra and baby Merc moving us along at 2.1-2.2 mph (FishHawk speed).
The water temp was 60 degrees.
The port side ran Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, and the starboard side ran the “Livingston” EBS Walleye Minnow 111s, with the same leads I used the last time out. 97 (outside boards), 80, 75, and 57 (inside boards). Eventually, the Bandit at 97 was set to 120 back, and started taking fish. That’s the “SlimShady” Custom, that I can’t remember the name of, and can’t find it on his site, but it’s a fade of blue and green with an orange belly.
Other Bandit colors that took fish were…”Domka Outdoors” Buck Fever at 80 back, and Red Headed Wonder Bread at 67 back. Sunspot didn’t catch this morning, and neither did an orange and sliver one, that I can’t remember the name of, either.
The Walleye Minnow colors that took fish were the LimeLight at 97 back, and Sherbert at 80 and 67 back.
Most fish came on the dipsies using BadMo Arrow Spoons and Yeck Spoons.
Two dipsies off each corner ran with the zero and three settings. The zero setting was changed often and settled on 40 and 54 back, while the three settings were catching at 65 and 71 back. We did catch one fish with a black and gold Ripplin RedFin off the three setting at 71 back, but that was it for that one, so we swapped it out for another BadMo spoon. Colors didn’t seem to matter….we had the whole spectrum, out there.
David, Fred, and Craig were on a learning trip, to up their skills in their boat, when they are here, so after a little training, (and, me chirping in their ears for hours) they practiced setting lines all morning, and did a great job. I have no doubt they will be able to take what they learned and apply it…giving them the confidence to duplicate what we did today. 🙂
We fished the Canadian line, and were mostly all alone, except for an occasional boat here and there, but it wasn’t a crowd, and made it a very nice morning. The south wind stayed below 10 mph, and the waves up on the line were 2 foot or less.
The crew all said that they had a good time, and learned a ton, and that makes me happy. David and Jay have scheduled to come back in October, to fish together, so I’m really looking forward to that.
My next trip is Wednesday, with John Ackerman. The forecast looks bumpy, but fishable. Hopefully, the winds do not get any stronger in that forecast. Right now, it’s showing 17-20 out of the SSW.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
I left the house at 4:30, but didn’t need to pick my crew up, since they were meeting me at Mazurik’s at 5:15. I stopped to get ice on the way to the ramp. I wanted to get there early, so I could get things ready before they showed up. But, Jay must have told them I like to be early, because they showed up at 5 AM.
It was still dark out, so I took my time. While it’s possible to drive in the dark out there…I do not like it, because I can’t see if there are floating logs, or perch nets, and it kind of freaks me out. Those nets are always moving….so, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
The sky was partly cloudy, the wind was less than 10 mph out of the south, and the air temp was a chilly 51 degrees. It’s the beginning of June, and I’m still wearing my BlackFish Gear out there, (it has a fuzzy fleece liner in both the jacket and the pants). This spring has been the worst I’ve ever experienced in my 62 years on this planet….deep sigh. On the bright side, though, it looks like it’s going to get hot by mid-week.
We left the dock at 5:25 and headed north to the line, near Gull Island Shoal, and set up on the west side of it. The Vexus was pointed to the east, with the Ulterra and baby Merc moving us along at 2.1-2.2 mph (FishHawk speed).
The water temp was 60 degrees.
The port side ran Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, and the starboard side ran the “Livingston” EBS Walleye Minnow 111s, with the same leads I used the last time out. 97 (outside boards), 80, 75, and 57 (inside boards). Eventually, the Bandit at 97 was set to 120 back, and started taking fish. That’s the “SlimShady” Custom, that I can’t remember the name of, and can’t find it on his site, but it’s a fade of blue and green with an orange belly.
Other Bandit colors that took fish were…”Domka Outdoors” Buck Fever at 80 back, and Red Headed Wonder Bread at 67 back. Sunspot didn’t catch this morning, and neither did an orange and sliver one, that I can’t remember the name of, either.
The Walleye Minnow colors that took fish were the LimeLight at 97 back, and Sherbert at 80 and 67 back.
Most fish came on the dipsies using BadMo Arrow Spoons and Yeck Spoons.
Two dipsies off each corner ran with the zero and three settings. The zero setting was changed often and settled on 40 and 54 back, while the three settings were catching at 65 and 71 back. We did catch one fish with a black and gold Ripplin RedFin off the three setting at 71 back, but that was it for that one, so we swapped it out for another BadMo spoon. Colors didn’t seem to matter….we had the whole spectrum, out there.
David, Fred, and Craig were on a learning trip, to up their skills in their boat, when they are here, so after a little training, (and, me chirping in their ears for hours) they practiced setting lines all morning, and did a great job. I have no doubt they will be able to take what they learned and apply it…giving them the confidence to duplicate what we did today. 🙂
We fished the Canadian line, and were mostly all alone, except for an occasional boat here and there, but it wasn’t a crowd, and made it a very nice morning. The south wind stayed below 10 mph, and the waves up on the line were 2 foot or less.
The crew all said that they had a good time, and learned a ton, and that makes me happy. David and Jay have scheduled to come back in October, to fish together, so I’m really looking forward to that.
My next trip is Wednesday, with John Ackerman. The forecast looks bumpy, but fishable. Hopefully, the winds do not get any stronger in that forecast. Right now, it’s showing 17-20 out of the SSW.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Freshwater Drum Chowder recipe (with Pretzel bowls)
*Freshwater Drum (Sheepshead) Chowder*
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 large onion, diced small
2 cups Water
2…