Fishing with Marty and Zane...6/26/2025

I left the house at 4AM, because I was meeting my crew at the Huron ramp at 5AM, and I wanted some extra time there, so I could shine up the motors and clean the windshield, before they showed up. I hit the speedway in town, to get ice, and headed to Huron.

No one was there at 4:30, so I readied the boat, and started cleaning the motors. I jumped in and did the windshield, and when I turned around and saw the cooler, I realized I never grabbed the ice on my way out of the gas station. I threw my face up to the heavens and said, "F&#@* Me"! I looked at the clock and saw that I had 15 minutes before they would show up, and I HAD to have ice, so I strapped her back down and hit the gas station in Huron. Not the way I wanted to start the morning, but it is what it is, and tomorrow's ice is already paid for, so I guess that's the silver lining on that one.

I got back and unhooked the straps, and got things ready again. Marty and his grandson, Zane, had just pulled in, and hopped out of the truck. "Good morning", said Marty. "Good morning...ready to go fishing?", I asked. "We are", he said.

It was dark, but I knew that by the time we hit the mouth of the river, that the sky would have things light enough to see over the water. It was a repeat of yesterday's conditions...80 degrees, calm SW wind, and a 6" chop on the lake's surface, and a hope that the fish were still where I left them. They were. :)

I'm getting tired of sounding like a broken record, but the same programs I've used for weeks now, is still putting fish in the boat pretty fast.

Bandits behind Off Shore boards:
Port side:
Blue Chrome at 120 back
Green Lantern (Slim Shady Custom) at 70 back

Starboard side:
Remember that one I couldn't remember the name of? I finally asked Mike (Slim Shady Customs) and he said that one is called, "Whiskey and Water". It's the chrome blue/green one with the orange belly. That one ran at 97 back and took several nicer fish.
Purple Mist ran at 57 back

Dipsies produced the most with small spoons, because the fish are puking up tiny little minnows about an inch long. They also produced more shorts and 15-16" fish, but were constantly busy. We were throwing those all back. The fish that came on the crankbaits were typically larger.

The zero settings did best at 43 and 50-55 back
The three settings were set at 65 and 71 back

If you haven't noticed...I like odd numbers best. :)

Speed was set to the usual 2.4-2.5mph over 38 feet of water, to start. We trolled up to 43 feet of water, then turned back around when the fish marks disappeared on the Garmin. However, even though I wasn't marking anything...we were still catching fish.

We had our 3-person limit early again, and headed in before the heat arrived. It was a beautiful, fun, morning on Lake Erie, and both Marty and Zane had a good time.... and that makes me happy!

I have one more trip tomorrow, but then I'm off Saturday.

I have Sunday open if anyone is looking for a trip. The weather looks like it will be pretty great on Sunday. Contact me, if you're interested. Thanks!

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls