Fishign with Steve, Denny, and "Ollie" (Mark)...4/11/2026

My guys are locals, so I was able to just meet them at the launch this morning, instead of picking them up. The original plan was to meet at Mazurik's, but I think the LEWT tournament anglers were all launching there this morning, so the line was backed up out into the road by a 1/4 mile when I arrived. The line was slowly making its way, so I took that opportunity to call my guys to tell them to meet me over at Dempsey's instead. There were only about a 1/2 dozen trailers at Dempsey's, so it was a good call. :)
Normally, when you get to the launch before sunup, even on the weekends, it's never that crowded.

My crew are all fishermen, and wanted to learn how to use the Off Shore boards better, so that was our goal....besides catching fish, that is.
We launched and headed to the lake via Bayside Marina, and then headed north, towards clean water. It was pretty muddy inside.

It was a NNE wind at 8mph at 7:15, and the waves were maybe 1-2s, with a 3 thrown in every now and then, so it wasn't bad at all. By the time we were northeast of Airport Reef, the water clarity was looking pretty good. I said, "I'm going to just keep going until the marks run out, and then we'll turn around and go back over them". About another mile further, I turned the Vexus around and shut down the big motor, dropped the baby Merc, started it up, so it could warm up, and then deployed the Ulterra to keep us on course.
Once the FishHawk was sent down, the baby Merc was put in gear, and a speed of 1.2-1.3 was the target speed I wanted. SOG was showing 1.6-1.7 while the FishHawk showed 1.2-1.3mph.

The water temp on the surface was 42.3, and at 18 feet down, it was 43.6.

I usually start with the program that last worked for me on the last trip, and then make adjustments from there. So, Bandits were used again, on both sides.

On the starboard side, we ran them unassisted, and on the port side, we ran them with 2oz weights at 30/30 and 30/40.

Both sides would do just as well as the other side, so there was no clear winner as far as the program went.

Early on, we hit a pocket of some very actively feeding fish and put 5 in the box in no time at all, so I thought it was going to be a fast, chaotic morning, but then it wasn't. The bites would come more slowly after that, but steady enough to keep them entertained. Steve and Denny did a great job learning how to use the Off Shore boards efficiently, and didn't encounter any tangles. :)

Steve was ecstatic to have caught his personal best walleye to date, which was a nice 28" fish. We didn't weigh it, though, so I don't have a weight on it. It's the longest one he's ever caught. It appeared to be a spawned-out female, though.

(4) Bandits unassisted at 117, 97, and 85 did best on the one side. I never did get the inside bait to hit at 77 and changed it up a few times....nothing. I changed the color three times...nothing.

(4) The assisted baits had two baits at 30/30 and two at 30/40...they all caught fish.

SlimShadyCustom "Gender Reveal" was a hot color again. That one ran at 97 back. (I'm going to have to order a couple more of that one, because I only have one right now).
Taco Salad at 117 back
Chrome Barbie (I think that's a DJCustomEyeLure color) 30/40 2oz
Fruit Dots 30/30 2oz
Blue/Chrome 30/40 2oz
RC Crush (another DJ color) 30/30 2oz

We turned and went into the waves for a bit, but the bite was definitely better going from north to south, so we turned around again and just kept going south.
The further south we went, the dirtier the water got, but I could still see the prop, so we kept going.
It was in the dirtier water that Steve caught his 28 incher. That was after losing a big fish at the back of the boat, which we never saw, because it stayed down. He was so disappointed. As he whined about losing it, I chuckled and said, "That fish is probably really happy right now". I added, "Sometimes they just come off...it's nothing you did. There's more out there". And, it wasn't long after that that he got his PB. :)

We still had an hour of fishing time to go when I asked them if they wanted to pick up and head back north to cleaner water, because it was getting pretty muddy in 36 feet of water off Cedar Point. They asked, "Would you be okay with us just going back in?" I said, "That's up to you guys...my dogs would be very happy with that decision though". They were happy with their catch and wanted to get some other things done today, so we went in.

I met them over at Bay's Edge Fish Cleaning, so I could drop off their fish for them. No need to get another cooler all slimy if we didn't have to. I told them I was going to stop at Casa Las Palmas for lunch, and asked if they wanted to join me while they waited for their fish. They wanted to, so we went to lunch and had some great conversation, before I headed home to take care of the critters.
They all said they had a great time, and they are booking another trip in May or June...I just reminded myself that I have to send them the open dates.

Tomorrow, I will finally get Vito out on the water. It's supposed to be a 15-20mph south wind, so we'll start inside and troll north, I think.

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls