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After work quickie

Ran out for about three hours after work today from the Sandusky bay and headed to the dumping grounds SE of Kelly’s. Got one nice one and three eaters. Only one on a bandit, Rotten Fruit at 90 back. Everything else was on dipseys with perch MI Stingers ranging from 30 to 45 out. Marking a fair amount of fish but hard to find what they’re interested in. Only a couple other boats out tonight.

My wife an I went out Sunday morning (didn’t report) from about 8-1 and worked hard to get three keepers. Threw a few back, a schosh over 15 back for safety. Tried everything but the kitchen sink (my mother-in-law had that lure- RIP Doris from the Walleye Mamas) with only a little luck. A few sheeps and white perch and a dozen shorts. That was a frustrating day.

Most reports are about the same lately, for walleye anyway. Working hard and not catching many. Seems some people are getting perch. Saw Juls report.

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Fishing with My Friends, Jen and Matt…July 18, 2023

My dog, Alfie, woke me up at 2:30 this morning, so I got up and made some coffee. I sipped my cup of morning-joe, sitting on the swing by the fire pit, watching my dogs chew on their morning treat, when I got it in my head that I wanted to go perch fishing today. It was going to be a nice day, and I didn’t want to waste it, since I didn’t have a charter today.

I sent Jen a text at 4AM, asking if she wanted to go, and she replied shortly after, saying that she did…and, that Matt wanted to go too. So, they brought their 3 Goldens over to play with my dogs while we were gone. We hit the gas station for some ice and snacks…then, hit Hi Way Bait for some Emerald Shiners. They are selling a nice size shiner right now.

We launched out of Catawba at 7, and headed north. A half hour later, after searching a few areas with the Helix, we hit the Spot-Lock on the trolling motor, over 30-31 feet of water. We wouldn’t have to move again, because after a slow start, the bite picked up to a “steady bite”. But, it was not an up and down bite.

We caught our 90 and headed in at 9:45. The puppies would be happy to see us home so early. 🙂

Matt made a delicious lunch of fried perch, shrimp/veggie skewers, and a salad. There’s nothing better than fresh perch, that were caught only hours ago. Yummm!

I’m off tomorrow…morning golf…cleaning the boat…and getting ready for another walleye trip on Thursday.

Stay tuned…

Capt Juls

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SE of Kellys 7/18/23

Fished SE of Kellys from Marblehead lighthouse thru the Cedar Point Dump 31-35 ft of water. Then circled north into 41 ft of water and back. We fished 8:30-1pm. 2 fishermen 6 keeper walleye 19-20 inch. 12 throwbacks all in the 13 inch range. Keepers and throwbacks came from 20-25 ft of water on Chrome/blue and Chrome/gray bandits. A couple on blue/chrome spoons. Speed 2.2-2.4. LOTS of marks in entire area but we could not figure out how to catch more keepers.

Also caught 2 large catfish and several sheepshead. Walleyes were puking up minnows.

Baha299

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Fishing with the Franklin Family… 7/17/2023

I was supposed to meet my crew at Mazurik’s at 5:30. The Franklin family were driving in from Mansfield, OH. I left the house at 4:30, so I could stop, and top off the gas in the boat, get ice, and hit Hi-Way Bait for some crawlers (just in case). I wanted to get to Mazurik’s, with enough time to be by myself, for the last half hour, before they were to show up.

Mark had texted me at 4:45 and said their ETA was 5:10. I just smiled…oh, well…so much for the alone time. They were already there, when I arrived at 5:06. “It’s much better to be early, than late”, I reminded myself.


We waited to launch. The sky was cloudy, smokey, and dark. Sunrise isn’t until around 6:13, right now, so we had a lot of time.


I readied the rods with Bandits on the starboard side, and Reef Runner Mag 44s, on the port side.


I left the spoons on the dipsey rods, that I ended up using last, on the last walleye trip. A blue/chrome Stinger, a blue/silver-hammered Scorpion, an “Orange Crush” Yeck, and a green/black/silver BadMo Arrow spoons.


We started out in front of Cedar Point, in 35 feet of water, and trolled with the waves, in a zig-zag, to the Canadian border, kind of line. We were marking fish the entire way, but they were all very deep. We tried everywhere in the water column, and caught fish….just not all walleye, and not consistent enough for it to be a pattern.
The spoons outfished the cranks today, by a long shot.


Bandits ran behind the Off Shore boards, at 110, 85, and 60 back, to start. We caught a nice eater on the original “Blue Shiner”, at 60 back. But, that would be it for the Bandits, for the rest of the morning.


Speed was 2.1-2.3 on the Fish Hawk, and 2.4-2.6 GPS.


The Mag 44s were set at 90, 70, and 50 back. The Mags didn’t produce anything, so they were changed up to Flicker Minnow 11s. The first one out was, “Pooh Bear” at 90 back. Before I could get the board on the second one, that first one loaded up with a nice fish. I thought to myself, “Well….maybe they wanted Flicker Minnows. Fingers crossed!” We set all three boards out, and watched them get washed for a while, before I would decide to put some crawler harnesses on.
We had one hit on the harnesses, using three oz inlines, at a speed of 1.9mph. That fish hit on it at 62 back. We lost it.
The crawler harnesses would be replaced with Spro Madeye 120’s, and the speed turned up again. The port side was changed up a lot this morning. The Bandits on the starboard side, would just be changed out for different colors, and depths. 2oz snap weights were used at 50/60, 50/30, and 50/20….nothing.


Dipsies, with the zero setting, were set at 30 and 40 back. The three settings were at 45 and 65, to start. Eventually, they were dialed in to 40 and 50, on the zero setting, and the three settings at 70 back.
Spoons caught a lot of fish to keep them busy, but unfortunately, there were a lot of Sheephead, small walleye, and a white bass in the mix.


We only put 8 eater walleye in the cooler this morning. It was a tough walleye bite for us, today.
If all of the Sheephead had been walleye, we would have been done early.


My crew did great. Alyssa, had never caught a walleye before, and now she can cross that off the “To Do Yet” list. She caught on to the procedures of setting and retrieving dipsies, and perfectly bringing in the fish with the “Lift and Back Up” technique. She told her Dad, that they should get some dipsies and spoons for their boat, and he agreed.
He’s not a troller, but I think we may have given him the itch to go shopping for some trolling gear. Ha!


Anyway….everyone had a fun, even though it got rough up there from time to time, and it was hard for them to move around the boat. Claudia was smart. She hopped in a seat and stayed there…perfectly content, until it would be required of her, to reel in her own fish. It got easier for Mark, when I told him to take his shoes off, because he would have better balance. “Don’t worry”, I said, smiling…”I don’t have any hooks on this floor”. He removed them, and was able to move around the boat easier. Alyssa is a natural. She has good balance, common sense, and can easily remember directions…giving her the honorary title of, “First Mate”, for the morning. 🙂


I’m off tomorrow and Wednesday, unless I book a perch trip….otherwise, I will be back out again on Thursday, for another try at walleye, with one of my regulars, Mike Shepperson, and his crew….weather permitting. 🙂


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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Old school baits

Fished north east of kellys island today out in front of cedar point. Best bite we found was in 42 ft of water. Marked fish down 25-30 ft. Pulled out some old Storm Rattle tots today. 2 oz snap weights at 50/50 and 50/70 these baits caught the most keeper fish today with gold and black being the best. Caught the rest of our 3 man limit with dipseys and spoons. No real color pattern for us there. If I had to pick two I’d say pink panties and silver blue did the best. Off the water by 1230. We kept 16-20 inch fish threw back anything below 16.
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Draggin’ the Line with John 7/14

Fished with John Friday.Beautiful conditions on the lake.The midges were bad at sunrise but the south wind picked up and blew them away.Fished NE cedar point in 44fow.Started with 2 bandits and 2 harnesses on our inline boards and spoons harness on our 2 dipseys.Got 7 from 6-8am but as sun rose over cloudless sky slowed way down.Took the harnesses off the boards and replaced them with green Yazuri cranks.Caught on 60 and 65 in dipsey 3setting initially then later on 75 and 80.The cranks were out from 75-120.Later in day added a 2oz to cranks to see if help catch deeper but caught same as unassisted.Had at least 6 drive by that didn’t hook up either.Caught no shorts and one 5″ bait stealing white perch.Finished at 11am with 12/25lbs with biggest 22″ speed from 1.9-2.5.
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Fishing with the Chapman Family… July14, 2023

Sorry, this is late. I forgot to post it here…it’s not much of a report, but it was a fun day this past Friday. 🙂

This morning (7/14), I took long time customers out for some perch’n. Luke, is 4 years old, and it’s the first time on Lake Erie. Thankfully, the lake was behaving, and it was a beautiful calm day.



We got on the perch in the first spot, but it started slow…then, picked up to a steady bite. Luke was the absolute best boy on the boat, and didn’t fuss or whine, and was focused on the activities. He also like to touch the fish as they came in.


We caught 95 perch before calling it quits to go in and get something to eat, before they headed home to Columbus. (cooler pic was taken when the count was at 60). 🙂


He lasted 4 hours, which is three hours longer than I thought he would last. lol


It was an awesome morning!


Sorry for the short report, but I have lots to do.


Next trip is a walleye trip scheduled for Monday…I’m off this weekend.


Stay tuned….


Capt Juls

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