Week of Fishing

Sunday May 26th –Tues May 28th

2 of us fished between just east of West Harbor on Kelleys Island in 30-35 FOW. We limited every trip trolling spoons of traditional 40 jets. Marks were higher in the water column with leads 45-60 back early on. As the morning progressed or after a late start, the marks would move deeper and we would lengthen our leads to 65-80 back to finish the trips. We waited the weather out Memorial Day, making an evening trip. Man was it rough!

Wed May 29th
Had five aboard starting at Gull Island Shoal producing 14 fish by noon from a 7am start. Pulled the boards and ran to the Canadian Line between Lucy’s Point and Middle Island. Our tickets were filled pulling spoons with 65 back being our most productive lead. Radio chatter had many of the charters in the area pulling fish with true trips 35’ back but didn’t change our leads due to the consistent strikes.

Thurs May 30-Fri May 31st
We continued to pound the Canadian line between Lucy’s and Middle Island. The further we moved away from the pack of boats towards Middle Island the more fish we produced. Leads from 55-75 back consistently pulled fish. Thursday the action was so good, we left at 6am from East Harbor and were back and fueled up by 11am. Friday we pulled 26 of our 30 fish limit before the storm blew us off the lake. The bonus Friday was a quad hook up, all of which were walleye. It made for an interesting show with the net.

Sat-Sun June 1-2nd
Bachelor Party on Put-N-Bay. There were tons of good looking Perch at the swim up bar lol.
Spoons-

We used many of the new UV spoons. Anything that had chartreuse and purple worked great with the top producer being the watermelon UV spoon. Poor Bear Purple/Chartreuse and Kevorkian took fish as well.

Speed-
Trolled anywhere from 1.8 to 2.5. Varied speed during lull’s in the action. If the action was slow, I would bump the boats throttle up or make a slight turn and a few times it would trigger a strike.

New Equipment for 2013
Purchased a set of planner boards off skipper 9. I’ve been trolling for quite some time and have always had difficulty tolling in rough weather. I had a set of triple boards that pull hard but still kick back, snapping the fishing lines off, even with bungees in rough seas. This issue was alleviated with the new boards. Skipper 9 boards with the angle fin makes trolling in rough seas and turning the boat over school of fish much more feasible.

Hope this helps someone out. Had a great week on the shores of Erie!
- Buc-Eye

Great fishing and report!

Greg

Great Report. Glad to hear that about the Skipper 9 boards. He is going to put me together a set next week and should have them by 6/15. Heard a lot of good reports about them. Keep the great reports coming. Sounds like you had a good time at Put-N-Bay. Should of went perch fishing!!

Great to hear you did well!!!! Jims boards are the best!!!

Hey skip I just recently tried a set of amish outfitter boards and had to return them for lack of performance. Are you making these to sell or just personal boards. I have been looking for a good set. What kind of wood do you use and how long and wide are they. I have a set now but they peter out with more than three lines on them with cranks. Looking to get a nice set? I am camping at east harbor starting the 23 of june for a week

Eye Tamer,
Your Big John Planner reels both electric and the manual come standard with 150lb test line. Those boards pull so hard that 3 times they snapped our 150lb planner line sending our clips to the bottom of the lake. You can lose a pile of clips in hurry and if you’re using the yellow Offshore 4 packs at 20$ a rip, it will make you sick! Amish Outfitters makes 500lb planner board line. We picked ours up at Fisherman’s Warf and haven’t had a problem since. I strongly suggest getting the heavy duty line if you’re planning to run Skipper9 Boards.

As for the Put-N-Bay… The perch where schooled up tight and they wouldn’t even nibble but if you wanted a carp, from what I saw that bite was on fire!

Thanks guys! Tight Lines!

I'm pretty sure you can catch those kind of carp with dough balls too!

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Originally Posted by ml1987

I'm pretty sure you can catch those kind of carp with dough balls too!

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Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! It was a bad day till I saw that!

Thanks Buc-Eye. I will pick up a spool at Fishermans Wharf this weekend. How far out are you running them? They pull that hard maybe I wont need my trolling bags out. Ha! Ha! Thanks for the info.

I have noticed several reports saying middle island... Were is this is there another name ????? Thanks....

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Originally Posted by always trolling

I have noticed several reports saying middle island... Were is this is there another name ????? Thanks....

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Middle island is due north of kellys just across Canadian line

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Originally Posted by always trolling

I have noticed several reports saying middle island... Were is this is there another name ????? Thanks....

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As stated by jsh62, it is in Canada just across the boarder, it was the center of Al Capone's bootlegging operation in this area back in the day, there was a mansion on that Island for years but it has most likely rotted away by now. If you decide to go up near the line to try for eyes be extremely careful around the Gull Island reef/Shoals area which is south of the Island and is in American waters. Gull shoals is much larger than you would think and there are several shallow spots with the shallowest where the Island used to be. That area can and will spoil your whole day for those who are unaware. We used to call it playing baseball while fishing there as a charter Captain running out of Channel Grove Marina in the late 70's early 80's.

for no one who has been there, re read post # 12!
that area is treacherous and the water around the red nun is especially sinister
i know a lot of guys troll around between the island and shoal but not for the inexperienced
many a prop, out drive and sailboat keel have been destroyed and the tow back is a long one
in the 80's my 23' lyman only drew a foot and half so we would fish between the red nun and reef and see the rocks just below the boat
many times other boats would try to come up to us, but no matter how much we yelled at them they just kept getting closer until there was a loud crash.....we stopped fishing there due to us pulling the dumb azzes off the reef
the first of june the water was on fire with jumbo white bass and some walleye, they would drive the minnows up from the weeds and spawn also
since the zebra's have really hit, i doubt any weeds are there anymore ......jmo....

What areas around the red can should a guy be extra cautious with on the gull island shoal?

Oh and one more thing...were is Lucy's Point ?

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Originally Posted by H Dawg

What areas around the red can should a guy be extra cautious with on the gull island shoal?

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My best advice to you would be to get a chart if you don't have GPS, there is to much going on there to be explained in a simple post. You would have to see the danger spots for yourself on a map/chart and then determine if you were going to go into the shoals.There are a lot of danger zones in Gull Shoals.

Lucy's point is the long out cropping and under water finger of rock that runs from the NE corner of Middle bass to the green can that is well away from the island. The ledge runs in a ENE direction toward middle island an gull shoals area. At times you can see water birds standing on the rocks which are just under the surface.

You funny1

Lucy’s Point extends off the NE corner of Middle Bass Island. It is marked with a green buoy that has a bell that rings in the waves (Its annoying on a windy day while perching.) There is a step in the water off the bell that drops from 20 feet down to around 45 FOW that is a popular spot for perch, walleye and smallmouth. On the map listed below, Lucy’s Point is at the location 3E.

The red bell on gull island shoal would be situated around the number 9 on the map. The water SW of the red can drops rapidly into 50 FOW. Wakina hit the nail on the head about Gull… It’s a rocky area that has many shallow spots that’s difficult to explain in a post.

Thanks for the info guys...looks like it's time for an electronics upgrade before i spend to much time out there.

You can get the 500# test line for the boards at Hi-Way bait... If you are really nice and promise to return them, you are welcome to borrow my boards (Skipper 9 boards) for an afternoon to try out. Although, I can tell you that you need to be ready to buy a set as soon as you bring mine back because you won't be able to go back to your older boards.

-Matt

It seems like a few members have these boards could someone post a picture???? Would like to see what they look like.... Thanks....

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Originally Posted by always trolling

It seems like a few members have these boards could someone post a picture???? Would like to see what they look like.... Thanks....

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They are made of two planks of wood that are parallel to each other, range in color from Yellow - Red, and have an eye bolt sticking out one side.

Many times they have a custom made flag and mast out the top.

If you google "Outrigger Planer Boards" you will get a general idea.



-Matt

Here is my new set I made this spring. I kinda took 3 designs I saw and combined what I liked of each. After playing with the eye position for half hour, I I got them running right. These can pull more than I imagined. I have no problem 6 tru trip 40's off each one and am convinced they can pull a lot more.