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Made the mistake of leaving fish to go find fish. Initial stop was just east of Marblehead lighthouse and had great marks but nothing in an hour so we went in search of better spot. Trolled for another hour in 30FOW on the eastern fringes of that big pack of boats between SBI & KI (despite the fish finder showing nothing but a few stragglers hanging out at the bottom). Targeted all levels of water column. Nothing. So did an entire lap around KI, stopping at various points wherever there was a small pack of boats, but the fish finder never showed anything promising. So went back to our original spot east of Marblehead light house and put a quick 6 in the box before we had to call it a day. We were running all our cranks (bandits & FMs) at about 12-15 feet down in 23-27FOW. South to North troll is the only direction that produced, weirdly. Color didnÂ’t matter. Speed 2.2-2.4mph.

My question for the veterans in this community: why was there such a large pack of boats fishing over an area not showing good marks on the fish Finder? We were even right by a head boat. Like I said, we stopped & checked several areas. Is it possible that the fish were super high up in the water column and therefore donÂ’t show up on fish Finder bc they scatter away from the boat shadow? Maybe if we would have went towards the center of the pack we would have started marking fish? Just trying to understand so I can improve my ability to find fishÂ…thanks in advance for any feedback in terms of relying on a pack of boats to locate fish.

Took the women and children out for a boat ride and ended up sliding 3 times just SE of Middle Island….state side in 35′. Fished from 10-3 with gold blade worm harnesses and got 14. Biggest was 24 and threw back 2 shorties. Casting bite was fun and a great first Erie experience for the boys (6,9,12 and 15) and my sister. 7 of the 14 we picked up on bottom bouncers, 3 cranks up. Foggy return trip….

Sunday, wind was null, midges were thick. Fished for 2 hours and got 2 walleyes and 3 perch before everyone had had enough of the swarm. Same spot……just no drift 😡

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Wife and I went out around 2 this afternoon. Not the best time to be out but get it when you can. We headed to the east side of crib reef where we picked up a dozen yesterday with another couple. Looked around some and it was looking pretty bleak. Tried a drift and didn’t get any eyes. I rode around for a half hour looking for fish in the general area but no luck.

Moved to west of Niagara and headed slowly west looking for fish. Started marking some as we got closer to little pickerel so we set up to make a drift. My wife picked up a keeper soon after that. We both started with red and white beaded harness fishing the bottom. After the first drift, I changed to white and chartreuse beaded harness with a copper fish scale blade. I noticed quite a few fish up in the water so on the next drift I fished higher and started picking them up right away. I caught 6 in the next hour. The fish were at about 20 feet down in 27 to 30 feet of water. At that point we decided it was time to go clean them and us. All in all, a good day.

After the fog the last couple days it was great to be able to see…anything. Yesterday was so bad I couldn’t get out of the marina until about 10:00. Picked up a couple here, and there. Started casting then trolled spoons. Saw the wall of fog coming in at about 4:00. That was it for the day. This morning I was up, and pulling out of the marina before sunrise. Went up NW of Kelly’s for a little early casting. I was the first boat there. By 6:30 there were 10 or so boats moving in, so I put my spoon troll together, and headed west. Somewhere about 8:30 I hadn’t got 1 bite. Broke down everything, and set up for crawler harnesses right north of sugar island. Running 2oz weights 45-55’ behind the boards. 1.75 mph. Blade color didn’t matter as long as there was meat. Most fun I’ve had in a long time. It didn’t matter what direction I went, or where I was. As long as I kept at leas 30’ of water under me I caught fish. Circled between sugar, and north bass a couple times then headed south. Ended up between middle and rattlesnake. Started at 9:00 ended at 10:30. In 1 1/2 hours I caught mylimit of mostly nice fish 1 just over, but he swallowed everything, so had to keep him, and 1 getting close to my cutoff on size. I usually toss anything over 24. 2 shorts. 3 farm (1hog that was fun) 3 decent catfish, a decent smallie, and a white bass. To say I was busy by myself is an understatement! I’m glad I didn’t fall overboard while I was running around. I thank God for the blessing, and opportunity to get to do this! Sorry I ran on, but it was so much fun I had to share.

Went out with another couple for a couple hours. Fished just east of crib reef where there was a pack of boats. Looked around a little and marked fish all over so set up for a drift away from the pack. We picked up a dozen nice fish casting worm harness with white and red beads and gold hammered blades and 1/2 or 3/4 ounce slip sinkers. The fish were not very aggressive. Everything was on or close to the bottom. We had to slow our retrieve down to get them. Picked up two shorts that went back and a few white perch and sheepshead that also went back.

Got 18 yesterday straight west of mouse over to F Can. Bandits 55-100 back. Baits with orange and pink bellies with chrome sides were best. All eaters, no big fish. Several shorts. 2.0-2.3 SOG. Headed towards Huron today to try and find a bigger grade of fish.

Tight lines ya’ll

Jason, his bride Cindy, and his father, John, joined me again for another round of walleye fishing. This morning, was really foggy…and, we launched at 5:40, out of Catawba, so it was still a little dark out, too. It was too misty to wear any eyewear on the ride out, because it would just make it impossible to see, without wiping the lenses every 5 seconds, soooooo ….that was fun. (Negatively shaking my head).

We went slow, because of the fog, even though there were only a couple of boats out ahead of us, and the chances of meeting them were slim….but, the fact remained…there was a chance. So, slow and steady…with the navigation lights ON…was the decision.

It took much longer to get to our spot from yesterday, but we got there. We started out with the same set up that caught yesterday, but the bite wasn’t the same as yesterday. It was much slower. We were marking good fish on the ride up there, but as soon as we set up and turned back on them, they were gone.

Spoons didn’t do as well as they did yesterday, either. Bandits behind Off Shore Tackle Company boards from 60 to 97 back…”Barbie at 60 and 70 back was very good, again), Khaki Bandits assisted with 2oz snap weights run 50/18 (weight is put on at the 50 mark, and another 18 feet of line is let out, before the board is attached), and a “Pooh Bear” custom painted color, (by DJ) Flicker Minnow 11s at 120 back, took several, bigger fish, too.

Dipsies were two to a corner…
the inside rod ran on the zero setting anywhere from 25 to 40 back. The outside rod ran on the two setting anywhere from 45 to 60 back. Yeck Spoon, Scorpion Spoons, and BadMo Arrowhead Spoons were run. I tried some shallow diving “Yaleyes” for a bit, but they didn’t pull anything, so I went back to the spoons. The spoons started to light up as our trip was ending late this morning.

Speed was 2.0-2.3 mph on the FishHawk
Water temp was 62.4 degrees

We managed their three limits, and I caught 5 of mine. Like everyone else fishing right now, we had to go through a lot of little fish, to get our keepers. Those little fish are fast, and hungry! But, I’m still happy to see them, kiss their boo-boo, and set them free.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for even thicker fog in the morning, and clearing out mid-morning. I’ll see what it is in the morning….we may hold off on going out until later. The forecast shows it clearing at 10am.

Stay tuned….

Capt Juls

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My buddy says I’m fishing too deep if I’m catching a lot of sheepshead.
I think “sheepshead” are are actually freshwater drum since real sheepshead are a saltwater species.
Well I’m not ashamed to say I love them. They put up a better fight than walleye, and they seem to yield more meat.
We fillet them, sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary, and bake at 350. We bake them a little more well done than we would other species. They have almost no fish taste so my wife doesn’t mind them, and they don’t have the bottom-feeder dirt taste like a catfish. The flesh is firm. If you close your eyes, you think you’re chewing on a chicken breast.

Are Freshwater Drum Good To Eat? You May Be Surprised! • Panfish Nation

About a 7.5 mile ride NNE out of Fenwick to 29 fow. A little misty but it was the first time I’ve seen the lake smooth. It was nice to be able to go full speed out and back. Counted 47 boats within sight.
We tried nothing but bandits behind inline planers, 70-120 feet back. Every depth worked. The fish liked all speeds between 1.6 and 2.3. We caught fish while trolling in every direction.
The hot lure early was dark purple with pink stripes and green head. As the sun started to burn through the clouds, the chartreuse back with red throat and white belly did well. Also caught several on a chrome with blue back, as well as copper greasy chicken wing. The black-headed wonderbreads didn’t work at all, nor any of the other spotted patterns.
Biggest was only 22″. We lost a few, threw back a couple shorts, and kept several that were barely legal. Yet I was thrilled to get our boat limit of 18 for my first time ever – and before 2pm.
I don’t know if it’s because planer boards have more drag than a jig, or if it’s because the fish are a little more awake now than in April, but they seemed to put up a little better fight than what I’m used to.