Fishing with Dave, Danielle, and Keith...7/5/2026

I took my neighbors Dave and Danielle, and our friend Keith out as a "Thank you" for letting me use his truck this past week to tow the boat for my trips. My truck has an issue that should be fixed Monday morning. Fingers crossed!

Anyway...

We didn't go to Huron, and launched out of Catawba instead. There was rain in the forecast that would be showing up in about three hours, so we didn't want to waste any time driving and get that time on the water.

I had gotten a report of a large school of fish near the cans, so we went to check it out. The report was right. We didn't go far from the launch before I said, "We are marking fish...let's fish". So, we got the dipsies and Bill Lewis PWC Lites in the water and started catching right away.

Zero dipsies set at 20 and 25, and the three settings at 40 back started catching right away, so it took a few minutes before we got the cranks out behind the Off Shore boards.

The PWC's were set at a total of line out at 60 (2), 65, and 74 back. The 2oz snap weights were all put on at the 50 mark. Same colors I've been using in Huron..."Purple Tiger", "Green Tiger", and Red Tiger"....all caught fish.

We also caught some Sheephead, White Bass, and White Perch, along with some short walleye that we threw back. I was watching the radar the entire time, because the system that was moving in was expanding as it neared the lake, and the colors were going from green (just rain) to orange, yellow, and red (heavy rain). I was watching for lightning strikes on the Radar as it moved in, and when it showed some, I said, "It's time to head in".

We had 12 nice eaters in the cooler in about an hour and a half, but had caught a lot more than that with the junk fish and shorts, so it was a fun morning.

A funny tidbit was my favorite pair of pliers disappeared, and I thought they went overboard...we looked everywhere, but they were gone. I could only suspect that someone accidentally sent them overboard when a line that was being reset quickly got tangled in them. I know this can happen, because I did it myself earlier this year on a pair of pliers I didn't really like. lol
However, out of the 4 pairs I had on the boat, that is the one I used all the time, so it made me sad. I kept saying they went overboard, and Keith kept saying, "I don't think so, I think I would have heard them go in the water". I just shook my head.

After we got in, we decided to go to Casa Las Palmas for breakfast, and while were standing at the door waiting to be seated, Keith was digging in his pockets and then pulled out my favorite pair of pliers! He didn't realize he stuck them in the deep pocket and didn't feel them until then. Ha! I was so happy! :)

We were lucky we got off the water when we did, because it rained hard, and there was some lightning while we were eating breakfast.

It was a fun morning, and it felt good to just go "fun fishing" with friends...everyone had a good time, including me! :)

My next trip is scheduled for Wednesday, with a previous customer from years ago, whose dad would drive his twin boys to the launch, and send them off with me to go fishing, and then pick them up when we got back. Unfortunately, their Dad died of COVID a few years ago, and his twin can't make it, so his Mom is going to go fishing with him this time. They were mid to late teens when I first started taking them, and I fished with them 3 times, I think, so now he's got to be in his early 20s.
Tuesday is their preferred day to go, but it looks like the NNE wind will still be gusting on Tuesday, and Wednesday looks calm, so if Tuesday's forecast changes, we will go tomorrow; but if it doesn't, we will go Wednesday. I'm pretty positive it's going to be a Wednesday trip, though.

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls