Fishing with Laurie, Jordyn, and Tim...8/15/2026

The "Back-Deck Forecast" this morning was calling for cloudy skies and light winds out of the east. The wind would die down around 9:00 or 10:00. The air temp was 76 degrees.

After my morning routine with the dogs, getting showered, and loading the boat with misc stuff, I was out the door at 4:30 a.m. I wasn't meeting the Spieth family (and a friend) until 6 a.m.

I left early, so I could find some live minnows... I remember how long it took me to do that the other day. I got to Hi-Way Bait, but they were out. Matt said the guy that was delivering the load this morning canceled the delivery, due to 80-90% of the Goldies being dead already. I stopped off at PC Party Mart, but by 5:55 he wasn't there yet, so I didn't think that they had any minnows....I left. I went to Herb's, but they were out, too.

I hit the Speedway to get some ice. Luckily, I made a trip to find minnows earlier this week, and froze about 15 scoops, so we had some to use today.

I had texted Laurie to tell her I might be a little late, due to the running around. I got there at 6:20. We loaded up and launched. Laurie, her daughter Jordyn, and their friend Tim were excited and in a really good mood. I heard Jordyn say she only got 3 hours of sleep last night, but she was wide awake now.

The 400 pushed the Vexus at a cruising speed of 25-30 mph. It was a little rough this morning, but not too bad. The east wind pushes against the natural current in the south passage and makes it rougher than other places on the lake.

Once we got to the north side of Kelly's, I headed towards Gull Island Shoal. I was watching the Garmin as we traveled, and when it marked something good, we stopped. The Ulterra was lowered. When I got the boat to stop completely, with its nose into the wind, I hit the Spot-Lock button... she held perfectly.

I got everyone set up with a rod, some bait, and towels to cover all the carpeting where they were sitting. Perch fishing is very messy, so towels make for an easy clean up. I still have to scrub the boat tomorrow, but it won't be as bad as it could have been after 3 trips. It's mostly the floor...it needs a good scrubbing.

Laurie and the young people said they had a great time, and so did I! They are very laid back and have optimistic/positive attitudes. They were a lot of fun to fish with. Laurie has already made plans to come back in October... to do either another perch trip, or...maybe, change it up to walleye. I'll be looking forward to it.

I was using my own homemade crappie rigs, and they were all using "Fishing Addiction Flies" (also Crappie Rigs). I add the 3rd "Hook On Clip" to the weight at the bottom of the "FA" rig, so that one is lying on the bottom when it's down below.

The minnows I froze in "Wintergreen Rubbing Alcohol" worked well enough, I guess, because the cooler held 60 fish that weighed 20 pounds at Bay's Edge Fish Cleaning. They were very happy with the catch today, and that makes me happy!

I'm not scheduled until the 19th and 20th this coming week, so it's time to clean the boat, clean the house, and weed the gardens. If I get anything for Tuesday, I'll be sure to post a report. :)

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls