We are headed up tomorrow morning from Cincinnati, and plan to do some afternoon fishing once we arrive. Going out of oak harbor area. Normally fish at first light. Anything we should do differently on an afternoon trip?
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Fishing Day 2 with Greg, Dave, and Jeff…April 13, 2023
Left the house at 5:15 and picked my crew up at the White Caps Motel at 5:20. We hit town and gassed up, bought ice, and headed to the ramp to launch.
The first stop was up by Greene island and Rattlesnake. Bandits ran on the starboard side and DHJ12s ran on the port side, behind Off Shore boards.
Bandits were set at 95, 75, 65, 55, and 45 back, and the Huskies were set at 80, 60, 50, 40, and 30 back. Speed was 1.6 on the Fish Hawk and 1.9 on the GPS. The water temp, early this morning, was 44.7 degrees.
We caught one relatively quick on a “FJ Spot” (DJ Custom Eye Lures color) at 65 back, and then one on the Khaki Bandit at 95 back. Then, nothing. The marks were gone already, as we trolled north. Maybe they were south. I don’t know…I didn’t check.
I wasn’t going to waste anymore time there, this time, so we picked up and went looking, but never found anything worth setting up on. There sure is a lot of water out there, and we covered a lot of it this morning…lol
After wasting a lot of gas, I called a friend who told me where he was, and that he was on a good bite, and said I should come there…so, we did. Thanks, friend…you know who you are. 🙂
I’m not going to name you, so you won’t get bombarded with texts.
I will not say where that is, because it’s not my information to give, and I hope you understand…that’s just how I do it. If I find the fish, I can share the info, if I want to, but if someone else gives me the info, I won’t share their info without their permission. I was asked not to share it this time, so I won’t. That’s all I can say about that. Sorry!
So, I guess this will be a short, pretty much non-report, since there’s nothing really to share.
Greg, Dave, and Jeff had a great time (definitely more fun than yesterday), and caught their 3-person limit today. We lost 4 fish that came unbuttoned before we got them to the boat, too. The fish were nice and healthy and a good quality size, so they have a good amount of fish to take back to Wisconsin for their family fish fries.
Tomorrow, I have another 3-person crew from Bismark, ND. They have fished with me in the fall for perch before, so I’m looking forward to doing some trolling with them. They are great guys and another fun, laid back, group to fish with.
The weather tomorrow should be very nice, with light winds out of the south, and more sunshine in the forecast.
PSA: Don’t forget to use your sunscreen and protect your skin! 🙂
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
The first stop was up by Greene island and Rattlesnake. Bandits ran on the starboard side and DHJ12s ran on the port side, behind Off Shore boards.
Bandits were set at 95, 75, 65, 55, and 45 back, and the Huskies were set at 80, 60, 50, 40, and 30 back. Speed was 1.6 on the Fish Hawk and 1.9 on the GPS. The water temp, early this morning, was 44.7 degrees.
We caught one relatively quick on a “FJ Spot” (DJ Custom Eye Lures color) at 65 back, and then one on the Khaki Bandit at 95 back. Then, nothing. The marks were gone already, as we trolled north. Maybe they were south. I don’t know…I didn’t check.
I wasn’t going to waste anymore time there, this time, so we picked up and went looking, but never found anything worth setting up on. There sure is a lot of water out there, and we covered a lot of it this morning…lol
After wasting a lot of gas, I called a friend who told me where he was, and that he was on a good bite, and said I should come there…so, we did. Thanks, friend…you know who you are. 🙂
I’m not going to name you, so you won’t get bombarded with texts.
I will not say where that is, because it’s not my information to give, and I hope you understand…that’s just how I do it. If I find the fish, I can share the info, if I want to, but if someone else gives me the info, I won’t share their info without their permission. I was asked not to share it this time, so I won’t. That’s all I can say about that. Sorry!
So, I guess this will be a short, pretty much non-report, since there’s nothing really to share.
Greg, Dave, and Jeff had a great time (definitely more fun than yesterday), and caught their 3-person limit today. We lost 4 fish that came unbuttoned before we got them to the boat, too. The fish were nice and healthy and a good quality size, so they have a good amount of fish to take back to Wisconsin for their family fish fries.
Tomorrow, I have another 3-person crew from Bismark, ND. They have fished with me in the fall for perch before, so I’m looking forward to doing some trolling with them. They are great guys and another fun, laid back, group to fish with.
The weather tomorrow should be very nice, with light winds out of the south, and more sunshine in the forecast.
PSA: Don’t forget to use your sunscreen and protect your skin! 🙂
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Attached Images
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4/13 jigging
My son and I went out this morning. We started at 7:15 and had our limit by 8:30. We were about a quarter mile off shore about a quarter mile east of the green cove marina entrance in 11 to 12 feet of water. Water clarity was perfect. Purple 3/4 ounce jigs plain. I forgot to check the water temp. Quite a few boats in the area. The next couple days are going to be very good if we have enough wind to move the boat.
Fishing Day 1 with Greg, Dave, and Jeff…April 12, 2023
Well, I hate to even post this one, but a good day fishing, but not a good day catching, is worth reporting, too. My Wisco crew was very laid back, and fun to fish with today.
We left Mazurik’s at 6:30 and headed north. When we set up, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. The wind was out of the SW at around 13mph, with gusts to 20. Waves were 1-3s. Water temp was 44.3 degrees on the east of Ballast Island. We set a course to the NE at a speed of 1.3-1.6mph, on the Fish Hawk. Speed on the GPS was 1.7-2.0mph.
Marks on the sonar were good closer to Ballast, but as we ventured further out away from the islands, and towards the Canadian line, the marks were few and far between.
We set up with Bandits on both sides first, but after a dismal start, we changed up the port side to WNC Reapers. The blue chrome with groovy stripes on it took one at 57 back. Then, nothing. We decided to move closer to Kelly’s north side.
We set up again with the Bandits on the starboard side at 100, 70, 60, 50, and 40 back behind the Off Shore boards, and the Reapers set at 97, 77, 67, 57, and 47.
Fish came on the Reaper at 97, 67, and 57 back closer to Kelly’s. The Bandits only caught a plastic bag today.
We made one more move, after that pass from west to east, and when we hit the east side of the island, we moved back to the NW corner of it. This time, I decided to try the 38-40′ of water contour lines, headed north, towards Gull Island Shoal.
We changed out the Reapers to Flicker Minnow 11s, and caught a walleye at 67 back on the purple chrome/foil color. Nothing more on that pass up to the shoal and across the bottom of it, headed east.
We had good marks everywhere in that area, so it’s just a matter of time before they become hungry and active again. I hate this time of the spawn, when they are recovering…deep sigh.
We changed up colors so often, I can’t remember what caught, and what we had out. We ended up with 6 fish though, and that’s it. Not a great day of catching, but it was a great day fishing. My Wisco crew is a lot of fun, and very patient, so they made my job less stressful on a tough day.
We will try again tomorrow, but this time headed out of Catawba, and headed to the west side of the islands. The satellite picture is looking better and better every day, the water temps are coming up, the air temps are going up, the full moon is diminishing, and the winds are going to lay down a little bit again. The bite is sure to get hot here pretty soon.
Yes, some people are in the right spot at the right time, and will do very well, and catch their limits….but, for the rest of us that are over fish that do not want to participate, this blog is for them.
Keep the faith, and never give up. Don’t lose your confidence, which I know can happen. Right now, I feel like I have forgotten how to fish! But, we’re just in the right spot at the wrong time, so just keep plugging away. The lake is huge, and there is no way to cover it all, so just remember, the easy days are just around the corner.
But, this Monday, and Tuesday are going to blow again….and, Monday is a big cold front, again. Wednesday is a NW wind forecast, making for rough seas. Welcome to Lake Erie…be smart and be safe.
Tomorrow, I have the same crew, and we will try our best…that’s all we can do.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
We left Mazurik’s at 6:30 and headed north. When we set up, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. The wind was out of the SW at around 13mph, with gusts to 20. Waves were 1-3s. Water temp was 44.3 degrees on the east of Ballast Island. We set a course to the NE at a speed of 1.3-1.6mph, on the Fish Hawk. Speed on the GPS was 1.7-2.0mph.
Marks on the sonar were good closer to Ballast, but as we ventured further out away from the islands, and towards the Canadian line, the marks were few and far between.
We set up with Bandits on both sides first, but after a dismal start, we changed up the port side to WNC Reapers. The blue chrome with groovy stripes on it took one at 57 back. Then, nothing. We decided to move closer to Kelly’s north side.
We set up again with the Bandits on the starboard side at 100, 70, 60, 50, and 40 back behind the Off Shore boards, and the Reapers set at 97, 77, 67, 57, and 47.
Fish came on the Reaper at 97, 67, and 57 back closer to Kelly’s. The Bandits only caught a plastic bag today.
We made one more move, after that pass from west to east, and when we hit the east side of the island, we moved back to the NW corner of it. This time, I decided to try the 38-40′ of water contour lines, headed north, towards Gull Island Shoal.
We changed out the Reapers to Flicker Minnow 11s, and caught a walleye at 67 back on the purple chrome/foil color. Nothing more on that pass up to the shoal and across the bottom of it, headed east.
We had good marks everywhere in that area, so it’s just a matter of time before they become hungry and active again. I hate this time of the spawn, when they are recovering…deep sigh.
We changed up colors so often, I can’t remember what caught, and what we had out. We ended up with 6 fish though, and that’s it. Not a great day of catching, but it was a great day fishing. My Wisco crew is a lot of fun, and very patient, so they made my job less stressful on a tough day.
We will try again tomorrow, but this time headed out of Catawba, and headed to the west side of the islands. The satellite picture is looking better and better every day, the water temps are coming up, the air temps are going up, the full moon is diminishing, and the winds are going to lay down a little bit again. The bite is sure to get hot here pretty soon.
Yes, some people are in the right spot at the right time, and will do very well, and catch their limits….but, for the rest of us that are over fish that do not want to participate, this blog is for them.
Keep the faith, and never give up. Don’t lose your confidence, which I know can happen. Right now, I feel like I have forgotten how to fish! But, we’re just in the right spot at the wrong time, so just keep plugging away. The lake is huge, and there is no way to cover it all, so just remember, the easy days are just around the corner.
But, this Monday, and Tuesday are going to blow again….and, Monday is a big cold front, again. Wednesday is a NW wind forecast, making for rough seas. Welcome to Lake Erie…be smart and be safe.
Tomorrow, I have the same crew, and we will try our best…that’s all we can do.
Stay tuned….
Capt Juls
Attached Images
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Trolling 4/12- 4/13
Good Morning All,
Bringing the boat up today and Staying on Port Clinton. Looking for good starting point to begin the hunt! I can trailer to anywhere on the lake. Don’t want your honey hole (LOL) just a decent starting point. Thank you all in advance for any help.
Bringing the boat up today and Staying on Port Clinton. Looking for good starting point to begin the hunt! I can trailer to anywhere on the lake. Don’t want your honey hole (LOL) just a decent starting point. Thank you all in advance for any help.
Tight Lines,
Tom
cleaning station
any updates on the cleaning house at Mazurik park?
6/6-6/8
With the weather and water changing so much now, my reports don’t mean much but thought I would share anyway We struggled with 2-4 footers in my 18 foot boat and had chocolate milk water most of our trip. Went out of 3 launches and put in a lot of miles. Best two spots were straight out of Huron(west of where Coho was getting them) on day 3 and around North Bass on day 1. Two days were really only half days due to weather.
Cool part is that we did get about a 5# steelhead out of Huron in 47 FOW.
Thanks Coho for sharing info. Hope we can do it again. I’ll be out there 4-5 more times and hopefully soon.
4/10 report
We took yesterdays idea of letting the water warm to the extreme today. We did not leave the dock until 3:00 this afternoon. We ran out to where we were catching yesterday North West of Kellys. No luck, the water had cleared too much and we were not marking. We made one pass but did not touch a fish. We pulled the spread and went looking for stained water.
We found some good stained water further west just off North Bass in 37 ft of water at about 4:30. We had our limit by 7:00 and headed back to Mazurek’s.
We had to pick up our speed today and were trolling at 1.7. S turns did not work today so we straight lined it.
Best bait today was once again Red Headed Bandit at 75 back naked. Second was an old favorite from the past, Kaki Brown that took 3 fish at 55 back naked. We only took 2 today on the Blue Chrome Super rogue at 17 down, but once again they were big fish.
Today was the first day we picked up some post spawners. The pre spawners were still 3 to 1 over post spawners.
It was a beautiful afternoon/evening on the lake and we had 12 really nice fish.
I will be off the water until next week so good luck to all and I hope to back next week.
Calm Water Fishing Advice, Not The Big Lake
I have a friend, newly retired, who just wants to catch fish. I took her and her husband out on Erie for walleye last year but she gets very sea sick. We later went into East Harbor and got some small bass. She was happy.
Do you have suggestions for calm water spots? Blue Gill, Crappie, Bass. It doesn’t matter. Just want to catch fish.
I can be discreet. If you give me good tips we won’t “ruin” your “secret hole”.
Catch and release is OK with us.
I used to like Rest Haven but the bite there has gotten tough. Or so I have heard. They took out the dam at Fremont so the white bass are not stacked up there anymore.
If you don’t want to post publicly, email me at ToussaintsWorth@gmail.com
Thank you, in advance.
4/10 jigging
Wife and I went out this morning. Started a half mile north of turtle creek. Picked up a couple but too many boats. Moved to a quarter mile southwest of locust reef and finished two limits there. We fished about 3 hours. All fish were caught on purple hair jigs 3/4 ounce. Water is 45 degrees there and clean enough.