Fishing with Brad and Karen....7/27/2025

[Capt Juls]

Brad and Karen are here from St Louis for several days. They booked a trip with me for this morning and will fish out of their own boat the rest of their stay.

The forecast was calling for scattered showers and thunderstorms, but my RadarScope app was showing the system staying to the south of us, so fishing was a "Go".

I asked them to meet me at Mazurik's at 5:45, since launch time wouldn't be until 6:00am. The sunrise this morning was expected at 6:23am. I did my usual, on the way to the park...and stopped at the gas station for gas and ice. It sure is nice that the Vexus's gas tank doesn't get diminished as much as when I ran the old 400 Verado. I'm pretty impressed with this new V-10 version. The gas bill is half of what I used the last two years, and I can use regular instead of premium in it, too. (I do use a Mercury additive in the gas tank, which I get from Dubbert's here in town.).

Of course, I arrived at the launch early (5:30), and started readying the boat. They pulled in a few minutes later, and after parking, came over and introduced themselves. Brad said, "I tried to beat you here, because I know you're always early, but that didn't happen", he said, laughing. I just giggled.

We launched at 6:00am, and took a right turn out in front....driving past the lighthouse, and the Cedar Point channel.

The Garmin started marking fish when we were over 34 feet of water, so I set the DVX22 down and checked to see what kind of marks they might be. The size was right for walleye, and the location in the water column seemed good, so I decided to start there...and crossed my fingers!

The big motor was shut off, the Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed, and the FishHawk was sent down to check the speed and temp of the current below us. While the Ulterra guided us in an easterly direction, (towards Huron), the baby Merc pushed us at a speed of 2.5mph.

Neither Brad nor Karen has ever used dipsies before, but after showing them how to set them, and trip them, they caught on quick.
The zero setting was anywhere from 35 to 54, and anywhere in between...they all caught.
The three settings were typically set to 60-70 back...but, towards the end, one of them was running at 97 back.
BadMo, Yeck, and Scorpion spoons were used again today.

Cranks behind the Off Shore boards only caught 3 or 4 of the 18, but they were the larger fish in the cooler, too. The Bill Lewis PWC lite at 57 back, in "Purple Tiger", did best for the cranks.

The weather out there was perfect. Just enough wind to keep it at 2' or less, and keep the bugs off. The cloud coverage was mostly cloudy, with some peeks of sunshine from time to time. The kind of coverage that lets the sun create a picturesque "God Sky", with rays of sunshine shining through the clouds. My favorite looking sky.

Anyway...they both said they had fun, and that makes me happy!

I'm off until Friday, when I will start the first of a three-day perch trip with Tim McGlothlin. A name you might recognize from over the years, in my blogs. He's a long-time customer, and friend, and loves to perch fish as much as I do!

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls

[Capt Juls]

Unfortunately, Tim couldn't make it this weekend, due to a tragic accident on the job site where he is contracted.

Fortunately, it didn't happen to Tim, but to two of his workers.


Two men were on their way to the job site when a man driving a cement truck had a medical emergency and crossed the line into oncoming traffic. The two workers were hit head on. One died instantly, and the other was in critical condition, when he was taken to the hospital. Sadly, he didn't make it either.


Tim had to let me know he couldn't leave, and would have to miss his three day perch trip with me.


So, if you're looking for perch info here...I don't have any yet.


I will be getting out tomorrow (Sunday)....to take my neighbors, Dave, Danielle, and Cliff perch'n, to see if we can find any.


I have a walleye trip on Monday and a perch trip on Wednesday.


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

[Swartztastic]

For those of you who are interested, the lake freighter shown in the last of Captain Juls’s pictures is the motor vessel Lee A Tregurtha. It was originally built as a Navy Oiler during World War Two. It was converted to a lake freighter many years later and obviously still operates today.