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Fishing with Jeff, Greg, and Ryan Whithered 6/1/19
As I write this, a storm is brewing outside my window....again. The sky is darkening, and cracks of thunder can be heard rolling underneath the thick gray clouds to the west in a constant rumble. A lightning bolt flashes and I wonder who is still out on the lake at this moment. The treetops are bending....giving me that telltale sign that the lake can become dangerous in very short order. I hope everyone makes it off the lake safely this afternoon.
My morning started very early again, and I did my usual routine of coffee, deck time with the 5 animals that live here, and a shower before heading over to Big Bopper's for some breakfast. I was meeting my crew at Mazurik's, because they were in town camping overnight at East Harbor, and would make themselves breakfast in the camper.
After some chit chat with the other Capt's that frequent the Big B, I headed over to the launch to ready things before they showed up. They were right on time, and we were in the water by 5:30.
With today's gusty SW wind forecast, I decided to stick closer to the mainland and chase the golden critters that are hanging out in the South Passage right now.
We set up a mile off of Lakeside Pier and set a course to the SE corner of Kelly's Island.
The water temp was 62/63 degrees.
We set up with the same program I ran yesterday with my last crew, which was (2) Off Shore boards on each side of the boat running Bandits on one side at 61/65 back, and #11 Flicker Minnows on the other side at 55/75 back.
The Bandit colors were blue/chrome and Khaki to start, but eventually, old Mr. Buck Fever went back out to do his dirty deeds of hooking some fish.
The Flicker colors were the Purple Flash and Slick Sunset.
The dipsies were set at the same as yesterday to start too....3 setting at 49 and the 1 setting at 33. But, evenutally, we changed up one side and ran them at 3/55 and 1/41. The bite was best for us when the speed was at 2.3 mph.
Once we got near the SE corner of Kelly's, I looked at the wind forecast again and it was showing higher gusts coming, so I thought it would be a better idea to go back down inside and run the line closer to shore, like I did last this past Tuesday.
We set up just east of the Ferry dock on Marblehead and headed to the lighthouse.
There were tons of marks there, but they are not all walleye. We caught some Sheepshead and some white bass there too. At this time we had 9 walleye in the cooler.
After checking the wind forecast one last time, I said to Jeff, "They changed the wind forecast again, want to go for a ride with me?" I wanted to go to the north side of Kelly's to check it out and find some better fish. They were agreeable, so we brought everything in and put it away to make the slow ride up. I went around the east side of the island, because we would be on the lee side and could go a little faster than if I went around the west side. Sure, it may add miles, but sometimes the shortest distance between two points isn't always the smartest choice. ;)
We eventually made it back to where I fished yesterday, and I was glad that my trolling newbies had the morning to learn how to use the boards and dipsies, because it was non stop walleye action! It took longer to get to the spot than it did to put another 15 fish in the box.
The wind forecast was actually correct this time, and the winds that were forecast to diminish were indeed diminishing. That area of the lake went from solid 2-4's to 1-3's on the way back in, so it was a nice ride back. We just took our time and savored the sunshine Mother Nature was bestowing upon us, and enjoyed the ride and scenic views of the islands around us.
They all said they had a great time and would be back next year...and, that makes me happy! :)
Tomorrow will be a 9am launch out of Mazurik's as a NW wind will blow in the morning and settle down enough by then (fingers crossed) that we can get out.
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
