Fishing with Brian and Mandy....8/4/2024

Brian and Mandy were driving in from near Dayton, this morning, so I told them to meet me at the Huron ramp at 5:30. (Note...It's not getting light until 5:45 now, so I'll be changing my meeting time to 5:45 instead of 5:30, so we can be launched by 6am.)


Sunrise this morning was at 6:28.

I left the house at 4am, so I could hit the gas station, before heading to Huron. I wanted to get there early, so I could clean the boat, before they got there. I was going to clean it yesterday, but it just go too darn hot out, and I figured the morning dew would come in handy for wiping it down.


I was in the get ready lanes by 5am, and they showed up at 5:05. It was still very dark out, so I told them we were waiting for it to get light enough, to see the Off Shore boards out there. We were headed out of the mouth of the river at 6am.



As the sky lightened, a partly cloudy sky revealed itself. The air temp was in the 70s, and the wind was light out of the SSW, and below 5mph.


The lake had residual NNW rollers from last night's wind, so we just took our time going out. We didn't have to go far, before we were marking good fish out in 36 feet of water. It's right where I left off 3 days ago, so I was happy to see them still in the area.


Brian had set up this trip as a learning trip, so he and Mandy could get more proficient using both the dipsies and the Off Shore boards, on their own boat.


Their board's releases were set up differently than mine, so I explained why I run them with the orange OR-19 on the front arm, and the Snapper (OR-18), on the back. I showed them the loop trick, so the line will release from the front arm, and turn the board around, so it comes in backwards, attached to the Snapper. Brian saw the advantages of that, right away.


We ran Bill Lewis Lites on the port side, with 2oz snap-weights, at 50/70 and 50/43 back. Colors were Purple Tiger and Chrome Perch.
(For those that are new to reading my "fish speak" language...this means the snap-weight is attached at the 50 mark, and then another 70 or 43 feet of line is let out, before the board is attached... I run the longer leads on the outside, and the shorter leads on the inside).


The starboard side ran the baby Spros (85s), with 2oz...colors were Blue/Chrome, and Pink Lemonade. The outside bait was set at 50/67 back, and the inside bait was set at 50/27 back.


The early morning bite was the best for us. It slowed way down, from what it was earlier, at around 9am. We had our 18 by 10am(ish), I'm not sure...I didn't look at the clock.


Mandy managed to catch her personal best, with a "Fish Ohio", that went a little over 28 1/2 inches. I couldn't weigh it, because I had stolen my 9V battery out of the scale, to use in the voltage meter the other week, and I never put it back. My bad....but, I'm guessing she was in the high 8 pound range.


Both said they had a good time, and they learned a lot. I feel confident, from watching them work the dipsies and boards, that they will be able to easily do this on their boat, too. Mission accomplished...:)


Tomorrow, I have a perch trip with a father and his two grown sons. The weather is looking good for a perch trip, so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the bait shops have some Emerald Shiners in the morning, but if they only have Goldies... I have some frozen Emeralds in the freezer, I can take.


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls