2 of us made the drive up on Friday to stay at turtle point marina. Was all we needed it had a trailer to sleep in and dock. We had talked to the nice guys next to us that said the big blow Thursday muddied the water bad and we would have to make a long run out to catch fish. So sat morning we ran about 3 miles north east of west sister island allot of boats out there so we had to be in the right spot. Had bandits running unassisted at 140, 120, and 100 on planner boards. Ended up getting a limit by about 10. Since we were up to fish for a few days we kept fishing for fun and to try and learn a few things. The bite was pretty steady all day a little slow from 11 to 3 but we were having fun. Sunday was the same. Then Monday morning we went out for a couple hours and picked up 9 before 9:30 and we called it a trip. Colors didn’t seem to matter much, we tried about all of them. The fish all were about 18-22 inches and caught a hand full 25-27. Thanks to everyone for posting on this site to give us a little confidence making the trip up and the nice guys that stayed next to us for the info.
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5/28 Drifter report
Sorry I’m a day late. Coming out of Channel Grove, we fished Sunday, drifting with the NE wind and casting harnesses. Found a spot with a decently active pod, very good size fish, down on the bottom, SW of Middle Island. 34-36 FOW was the magic depth.
A slow but reliable bite. Limited out before noon and headed to West Bay for lunch and beer(s) that tasted particularly good with a cooler full.
Same day a buddy went to Canadian waters a few miles North of Middle Island after receiving a “hot bite” tip and was done in an hour. He also drifts and casts harnesses. Gorgeous weekend.
A slow but reliable bite. Limited out before noon and headed to West Bay for lunch and beer(s) that tasted particularly good with a cooler full.
Same day a buddy went to Canadian waters a few miles North of Middle Island after receiving a “hot bite” tip and was done in an hour. He also drifts and casts harnesses. Gorgeous weekend.
May 24- Survived the winds
Wind is supposed to get nasty today but early morning was nice and calm. Got on the water around 7am. Started trolling cranks by A can and headed towards Niagra reef. Trolled all the way to Niagra reef picking up fish here and there. By the time we turned around at the reef, winds were starting to pick up. Got turned around and trolling with the wind now. Wind keeps getting stronger and harder to control boat. We capitalized early but still needed 6 more to limit out. Waves getting bigger and starting to get harry out here but still trying to get our limit. Finally got our 18 at 1230. Pulled cranks over 25-30 FOW 14-20 ft down. The darker colors were working due to the muddier water. Also caught 3 on a spoon with 3oz snap weight 40ft back. Once we got our limit we hurried to get everything brought in, so we could get the heck out of there. Waves were probably 6-8 ft high and wind hadn’t hit peek yet. It was kind of harry in my 18ft Lund but the boat handled it like at champ. Took a while to get back to ramp, but made it safely. Supposed to be just as windy tomorrow all day. Think we’ll stay in and rest up so we can try on Friday.
5/29 report
I was supposed to be off until after the holiday. But 3 nice guys were up in their boat and were strugling to catch fish. So Captain Christy committed us to take them out to catch some fish and show them our techniques so they could fish on their own.
We went out around noon to an area off Taco Bell where we had been catching before the blow. There were still fish there but not in the numbers from before, but we kept circling through the pod and ended up with a full box. We set up inline boards on the port, a large board starboard, and set up 2 downriggers. We ran Reapers stbd. and Bandits port, and spoons, a Stinger on one rigor and a scorpion on the other. The scorpion kept catching small fish so we changed it for another Stinger. Remember the goal was to show them different techniques. All caught multiple fish. We ended up with 35 keepers of which we kept 30 (5 person limit). Most were in the low 20 ish range but we had a 27 3/4 just missing a fish Ohio. Also maybe 10 shorts, mostly on the spoons. 3 sheepsheads, 2 big.
Water was low 60s top and bottom on the fish hawk witch is blue toothed to both Solix’s and to the optima down rigors. The fish hawk is the heart of our trolling network. Best speed was 2.0 mph once again on hawk.
Best colors on Bandits was Blue Chartreus, Nascar, and Gold Perch. Best color on reaper was Fire Tiger and Humble Bee (I don’t know their real names but that is my best description). Best Stinger colors were Perch and Nascar. Bandits caught from 70 to 100 back unassisted, reapers were 90 back unassisted on big board, Stingers were oscillating from 20 to 25 and 30 to 35, most fish came at 25.
Our Tuesday and Wednesday had to reschedule so hopefully I’ll have some time to give Fishing Tiger some TLC before the Thursday-Sunday trips.
Draggin’ the Line with John on the Wheel
Was initially going to stay home this memorial day weekend,but John text me his daughter wanted to go out fishing.Was not optimistic with the NE blow followed by continuous East wind but, told John if he got Lauren a one day Canadian license I would join them.So got up early yesterday May 28th and we made the run north to the west side of Pelee.Was going to start at some old icons I had on an ancient hand held GPS,but those were gone.
Set lines around 7 and had about 4 foot of visibility.Set out a bandit and flicker #11 on inline boards,two harnesses/tadpoles on inside boards and spoons harness on two dipseys.Got 5 eater walleye and a 3 & 4lb bass on the cranks and dipseys in the first hour.But John commented that he thought we would be catching bigger fish in Canada.I said could try the East side of the island but after those NE waves hitting that side of island may be not productive.So we made the short run to the East side.Not another boat in sight and around 18″ visibility.Took off the harnesses for cranks.About a half hour in without a fish, John commented that we had to be back by noon for other family commitments.Im like….what? I would not have left catching fish if we didn’t have time to find fish in other side.We did snag one eater,but after an hour went back to the west side.We fished at noon and ended with 17/42lbs with biggest 25″. Program that we finished with was 2.0-2.2 mph with dipsey@3 setting at 35 lead with a white spoon harness.Cranks caught from 45-80.Taco salad at 80 caught well again and a custom with mostly gold with some orange and silver in it got hot at 60 lead near the end.Flicker blue chrome caught some too.Had a pack of around 40 casters nearby but we trolled outside their pack.
Set lines around 7 and had about 4 foot of visibility.Set out a bandit and flicker #11 on inline boards,two harnesses/tadpoles on inside boards and spoons harness on two dipseys.Got 5 eater walleye and a 3 & 4lb bass on the cranks and dipseys in the first hour.But John commented that he thought we would be catching bigger fish in Canada.I said could try the East side of the island but after those NE waves hitting that side of island may be not productive.So we made the short run to the East side.Not another boat in sight and around 18″ visibility.Took off the harnesses for cranks.About a half hour in without a fish, John commented that we had to be back by noon for other family commitments.Im like….what? I would not have left catching fish if we didn’t have time to find fish in other side.We did snag one eater,but after an hour went back to the west side.We fished at noon and ended with 17/42lbs with biggest 25″. Program that we finished with was 2.0-2.2 mph with dipsey@3 setting at 35 lead with a white spoon harness.Cranks caught from 45-80.Taco salad at 80 caught well again and a custom with mostly gold with some orange and silver in it got hot at 60 lead near the end.Flicker blue chrome caught some too.Had a pack of around 40 casters nearby but we trolled outside their pack.
5-23 2nd day on the water
Launched out of Catawba. Met my new friend DW72 who happened to be launching at the same time. It’s nice to have someone to text back and forth with when on the big lake, it makes it more enjoyable and gives you that extra sense of security. Started off just west of green island then trolled west towards D can. A lot of boats anchored up in that area so stayed north of the boats trying to avoid congestion. Caught half a dozen there then headed back east toward green island. Got back over by green island and finished our 18 limit over there about 3:30. DW72 had finished his limit as well so we met back at the Catawba ramp and visited a bit before he had to head home and we headed back to our rental. Caught fish on several different colors trolling cranks 14-19 foot deep over 30 FOW. Had a great day, tomorrow supposed to get windy so hoping to get out early and catch limit before winds get bad.
Fishing with John Willams… May 29th, 2023
I left the house at 4:30, and drove over to Catawba to meet up with my customer, John Williams, who was going to be there by 5:30. He was driving in from the Cleveland area, so I didn’t expect him to beat me there, but he did.
It was still dark at 5:15, but we launched anyway. I figured by the time the 400 warmed up to temp, we would be able to go.
The sky was clear, and just starting to lighten on the eastern horizon. The reflection of the sky on the water west of the islands made it bright enough to head out.
The air temp was mid 50s, and the flag on the pier at Catawba wasn’t moving at all. The lake had some light residual rollers from the previous night’s light NE winds.
We headed north to the last place I fished last week, which was off the west side of North Bass. The Helix wasn’t showing as many fish marks as last week before the blow, but there were still enough to make me want to set up on them.
The Fish Hawk was showing a depth temp of 61.1 degrees and the surface temp was showing 62.3 on the Helix. Speed was set at 2.2 GPS, which was 1.9mph with a WSW trolling pass.
Since I only had one person today, we could only run 6 lines, so 4 dipsies hit the line-up, and two Off Shore boards. The boards started with two Flicker Minnow 11s behind them…one at 55 back, unassisted, and the other with a 2oz snap weight at 50/69 (total line out 119). Neither took a fish, so they were changed out to Bandits.
“Carrot Top” was set at 75 back on the port side. It caught a nice eater. Then, I had John pick out a color to use on the starboard side, and he chose “Electric Zebra”. I also had him pick a number, and he chose 68, so we ran that one at 68 back. It didn’t catch anything. The sun was getting higher, and it was hard to see the board on the port side, due to the sparkling reflection on the water, so I reeled it in and put it on the starboard side, too.
The Carrot Top stayed at 75 back, and was moved to the outside. The Electric Zebra came in and was changed out to “Buck Fever” (silver chrome with a purple back…a Domka Outdoors Custom color). That one was set to 57 back… it would catch two nice eaters…while the Carrot Top would tally 2 fish also.
The Yeck spoons, however, were the star of the morning. They caught 9 of the 12 fish. 6 came early, and were in the box before 6:30.
The zero setting at 30 and 35 back were the most successful, while the three settings at 47 and 50 back caught a few, too.
It wasn’t fast and furious, but it was a steady enough bite to keep us entertained for a couple of hours until we limited out.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water, and the company was great, too, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I’ll be fishing with Dave Dunn and his friends.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
It was still dark at 5:15, but we launched anyway. I figured by the time the 400 warmed up to temp, we would be able to go.
The sky was clear, and just starting to lighten on the eastern horizon. The reflection of the sky on the water west of the islands made it bright enough to head out.
The air temp was mid 50s, and the flag on the pier at Catawba wasn’t moving at all. The lake had some light residual rollers from the previous night’s light NE winds.
We headed north to the last place I fished last week, which was off the west side of North Bass. The Helix wasn’t showing as many fish marks as last week before the blow, but there were still enough to make me want to set up on them.
The Fish Hawk was showing a depth temp of 61.1 degrees and the surface temp was showing 62.3 on the Helix. Speed was set at 2.2 GPS, which was 1.9mph with a WSW trolling pass.
Since I only had one person today, we could only run 6 lines, so 4 dipsies hit the line-up, and two Off Shore boards. The boards started with two Flicker Minnow 11s behind them…one at 55 back, unassisted, and the other with a 2oz snap weight at 50/69 (total line out 119). Neither took a fish, so they were changed out to Bandits.
“Carrot Top” was set at 75 back on the port side. It caught a nice eater. Then, I had John pick out a color to use on the starboard side, and he chose “Electric Zebra”. I also had him pick a number, and he chose 68, so we ran that one at 68 back. It didn’t catch anything. The sun was getting higher, and it was hard to see the board on the port side, due to the sparkling reflection on the water, so I reeled it in and put it on the starboard side, too.
The Carrot Top stayed at 75 back, and was moved to the outside. The Electric Zebra came in and was changed out to “Buck Fever” (silver chrome with a purple back…a Domka Outdoors Custom color). That one was set to 57 back… it would catch two nice eaters…while the Carrot Top would tally 2 fish also.
The Yeck spoons, however, were the star of the morning. They caught 9 of the 12 fish. 6 came early, and were in the box before 6:30.
The zero setting at 30 and 35 back were the most successful, while the three settings at 47 and 50 back caught a few, too.
It wasn’t fast and furious, but it was a steady enough bite to keep us entertained for a couple of hours until we limited out.
It was a beautiful morning to be on the water, and the company was great, too, and that makes me happy!
Tomorrow, I’ll be fishing with Dave Dunn and his friends.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Attached Images
5-27 Report
We left Port Clinton around 8:30 am and headed toward Middle Bass. Started trolling with the wind toward Middle Sister. Not many boats out. We put out 6 rods, 2 outside with planer boards, middle rods with dipseys at the 3 setting (50 ft. out worked best) and two dragging behind the boat. The dipseys and boards caught our fish, using #7 + #11 flickers (70 back) and bandits 80 back and a mix of small/large stinger spoons. We were in 28 to 31 ft. of water. Speed was 2.0 SOG. Best colors were perch, blue chrome crank baits, purple with black dot spoons. They usually bit two at a time. We got 15 of our 18 limit. Best time for us was from 1 to 3 pm. Looking forward to next weekend!
Inaugural Trip
Worked 12 hour shift Sunday night, got off work 4 am went home threw stuff in truck, hooked up boat and picked up my buddy and headed towards the lake. Got to vrbo at 1030, threw luggage in cabin and headed to Catawba launch. got on the water around noon, by the time we got to destination and setup around 100. We only ran out 4 lines so we didn’t have to mess with boards. First time for me with my own boat on Erie. We fished just west of green Island and trolled in north and south direction. We ended up catching 9 walleye by 6:30 and stopped because other buddy made it over and was at the house. We trolled lengths of 65, 80, 90, 100 back. our most productive baits were a smithwick Rouge in dark purple striped at 65 back early in the trip and smithwick rouge in chartruse and orange 100 ft back towards the evening. First time out went ok, but would not have been near that good if it hadn’t been for this forum. Met a now new friend DW72 and he helped us out a lot. Gave us a direction to go and start and it was a great help. Going to be fishing a few more days and so is he, so we are keeping in touch and texting each other our progress. Next couple of days should be good ….Thanks to Don’s help next couple of days should be fun. Thanks to everyones reports and suggestions from this forum, inaugural trip with my boat should be a success. I’ll try to post more when I can.
3rd day on 5/23
Same program as previous report from afternoon if 5/21 and then 5/22 Fished from 30 FOW down to 26. A couple miles west of Green towards the power plant. Center of the action was D Can. Stayed just outside of huge pack of boats and a couple headboats. Most were casting. Green clown and pink/yellow were best at 100 feet back. Other colors were good too including taco salad, Fermi-Gold from Slimshady and an IB Frozen. Speed 1.9-2.2. Hope to be back in 2-3 weeks.