WB
Bandits were running anywhere from 117 to 57 back.
After passing the NW side of the reef, I saw the water getting dirtier, we turned and went from west to east over the same fish, but they didn’t really like that direction, and we only caught two or three going that way. As the sun got higher the bite slowed down for us, so we decided to move down towards Kelly’s. At that time we had two of their three limits in the cooler.
I decided to try going shallower in North Bay to see if there were any hiding up in there, like they are know to do from time to time. There were a lot of boats 1/2-1 mile off the outside of North Bay, but no one was in there, so we slid in and set up over 21′ of water. We started on the west side of the bay, and worked our way around to the east side of it. We didn’t catch any until we got to the east side of it…near those two humps just inside the bay. We now had 14 fish and needed two more in the next 45 minutes, before we ran out of time.
We trolled out of the bay and to the east…through the cut between the island and the shoal, and caught a few more in the cut. We needed one more fish to finish out their limit….had it on, and lost it at the back of the boat, so they only had 17.
We had thrown several shorts back and one that was 15 inches. I don’t keep them unless they are 15 1/2″, and only if the customer wants to keep it. (15 1/2″ because they shrink when they get on ice, and I don’t want one shrinking under 15 inches from the cold…that would cost ME a ticket!
They said they enjoyed the morning, learned a lot, and had a great time, and that makes me happy!
That night, the forecast was showing much stronger winds from the north for the next morning, and calm winds for Friday (today), so after discussing it with my guys, they decided to fish Friday instead of the next day.
Of course, it wasn’t the same forecast when I got up the next morning, and we could have fished, but they had made plans for the day, and were still good with going the next day.
That brings us to this morning….Day 2:
Initially, my plan was to drive over to Lorain (55 minutes from my house), and launch at Hot Waters, but that changed. I was given good reports from the island area, and decided to nix the two hour round trip that would go through miles of construction on RT 2, and stay closer to home. My guys were good with that decision.
Mick didn’t make the trip this morning, due to feeling sick, and stayed back, while Mark and Jeff headed to the truck. Same routine…hit the gas station for ice, and then head to the launch. This time, we used Catawba. At 5:30 we were on our way north to the west side of the islands.
As we approached the west side of Green the Garmin screen was showing a decent amount of fish over 31′ of water, so we set up there.
This time, we could only run 9 lines, so I only set up 8, to keep it simple. Two Off Shore boards on each side and two dipsies on each side.
Dipsies: zero setting at 27 and 30 back
Three settings at 50 and 60 back
Slim Shady’s “Psycho Killer” Bandit took the first three at 80 back on the port side, so I put another one out on the starboard side at 80 back, too, but it didn’t pull any….so weird.
Other colors that eventually worked were:
SunSpot at 50/45 w/2oz (stock)
Blue Shiner (stock) 107 back
Marvin (Domka, I think?) 97 back
And a “Slick Purple Bengel” Flicker Minnow 11 at 95 back
We worked from Green to the east side of Rattlesnake…the north side of Rattle to West Reef, and then back down in front of the west side of the islands….back to Green. We marked fish, but they weren’t that interested and most that did hit were not aggressively hitting, and were barely hooked.
We only ended with their two limits today, and I was kicking myself for not going all the way to Lorain this morning. But, I really had higher expectations for the area we fished this morning. Oh well….another wrong decision to put in the books. The road construction was my biggest deterrent in that travel plan.
We worked hard for them this morning (changed a lot of bait colors), and it was a grind to get the 12 we did (plus 4 throwbacks that went back). The day ended with a big sheephead that took both of them reeling it in. Jeff handed it off to Mark, who eventually got it in.
While they fought its roley-poley body in, I started pulling the dipsies, because it was time to head in, and that way I could cut the baby Merc off, and slow the boat down, so they could get it in the boat easier.
They both said they had a good time, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. There were no bugs out there today, either…yay!
I just received a text from Mick, who stayed on shore today, stating he was feeling much better…thanked me for everything and said, “See you next year”, and that makes me happy! 🙂
I’m off the next two days, an will be back at it on Monday with Steve Jeziorski and his friends. Right now, the forecast for Monday looks really nice. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned…
Capt Juls
Only saw occasional walleye caught on other boats. It appeared to be a slow day for most.
Talked to guy at fish cleaning table in marina. He fished the same area between the islands and got his limit trolling off the bottom, but it took him 6 hours.
Big blow on Thursday followed by diminishing winds overnight with clear skies and a near full moon and the big insect hatch all probably attributed to the slow day.
Also hope to live stream from my buddy’s boat tomorrow (Friday) if we get out walleye fishing in the morning.
Working on getting the Lyman launched hopefully sometime next week. Have to replace an in-hull transducer and do some before launch maintenance. Once I get it launched, I’ll be live streaming every time I’m out fishing. Looking to have the location and success listed on the camera.
Lake Erie Live Webcam Webcams Web Cam
You may have to click the stream more than once to get it to start.
Friday and Sunday looking good wind and weather wise. Saturday forecast is another NE blow.
Hope everyone has a good weekend, enjoying the nice weather, even if you aren’t fishing.
WB
Casting worms has been productive!
Before the blow we was casting a few different location up the middle between the islands was productive. Just south of Niagara reef was the best bit we found!
After the blow Sunday casting was tough. The fish was not liking the presentation. But we did get a few.
Today the bit did get a little better but not great. As the water improves so will the bit casting.
We are throwing 3/4 oz weapons. In gold color.
Can?t catch them setting on shore! Get out a catch some fish!
The lake was only a little rough from all the boat wakes…not the wind. The north wind was less than 5mph at 6am. A fog threatened to come in, but never really did, so that was a relief. I hate fishing in the fog.
Danny wasn’t able to stand up, so Randy helped set lines after I showed him how to attach the Off Shore boards and set dipsies.
Two dipsies ran off each stern corner. I use a 6′ rod and an 8.6′ rod on each side. The shorter one is the “inside,” and the longer is the “outside”.
The inside run on the zero setting, and the outside run on the three settings.
The zero settings were set at 25 and 27 back. The three settings were at 35 and 37 back. Yeck and BadMo Arrow spoons were used. I didn’t even bother with the worm-burners this morning.
We had 8 in the cooler in no time at all, and then we had a major mishap happen…it was no one’s fault, but it was disastrous.
Here’s what happened….
Since Danny can’t stand very well, when a fish was on a dipsey, he would heave himself off the driver’s seat and sit on the starboard compartment, so he could reel in a fish. Well, this time, he sat on the Ulterra remote that I had set down, and the remote freaked out.
The trolling motor lost it’s paring to the remote, so I couldn’t do anything with it, and it had gone berserk….speed was at power 10…it was turned to the right…and not responding to commands to turn the prop off. By the time I was able to put the kicker motor in neutral and get up to the motor itself to turn it off, the boat had done 1 1/2 circles and had board lines under the boat, and eventually had three lines wrapped around the kicker’s prop. I was at least able to use the net to get the Off Shore board that was hanging off the end of the kicker back in the boat.
The line wasn’t budging, though, so we would have to go back to the dock to free it. I wasn’t about to go swimming at this time of year to fix it. Maybe when the water is 80 degrees, but not when it’s 58! lol
Three lines had tangled in the kicker prop, and one even found itself around the trolling motor shaft. Two Bandits were still floating out back, and when I got the boat on plane, one of them came flying into the boat. A “Buck Fever” Bandit was lost, and it is floating out there somewhere.
We made it back to the dock around 7:30, and it was busy, so we pulled up to the courtesy dock and were able to free the kicker prop of line. However, since I have the day off, I have three reels that will need to be respooled tomorrow. Too much line was removed to keep them in calibration.
We went back out, but this time we only set the dipsies, because the crankbaits did nothing in that first hour, and the spoons were catching. We only fished four lines, but were able to get our limits before we ran out of time. Whew! Nothing big…just good eaters today.
Some days aren’t perfect, but they can be interesting. 😉
Randy has his own boat, and it will be launched for the season tomorrow. He’s got a nice 1988 Tiara.
Danny will be back next week for a two-day trip with a friend who is coming in from Utah.
I’m off tomorrow, but will be back out for a two-day trip with Mick Jandl and two of his friends. They are coming down from Wisconsin. 🙂
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
