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Fishing with Nick, Ethan, and Curt 6/7/19
Today, was the day I was supposed to go find "less fast fish", so my crew from Sandusky could learn the dipsies and Off Shore Boards a little more in depth. Well, that didn't quite happen.
I met my crew at Big B's, and while waiting on our breakfast to come out, I asked Nick, "So, how fast do you want them this morning?" He and his brother, Ethan, laughed, and said, "Fast would be good".
I told them, "If it's like yesterday, they will come every 3 minutes, and it's going to be controlled chaos". I wasn't sure how much they would learn working that fast, but I said, "Okay, we'll launch out of Catawba, since the wind is supposed to pick up out of the east... we can run up to the middle passage and cut over to where I have been fishing. Then, when we have all our walleye, we can run back over to the west side of the islands and find some perch. That way, if it gets rough, we can run the trough back to the ramp."
They all liked that plan, so we launched the Ranger and off we went. The lake was pretty flat, and only had a baby walleye chop on the surface, so I hit the throttle and kept her at a nice cruising speed until we reached our destination on the east side of the islands.
Before the chaos could begin, I explained that everyone needs to be aware of what's going on around them, and that the most important person in the boat at any given moment is the one with a fish on, and to do whatever is needed to make sure that fish makes it in the boat. Whether that be moving out of the way, getting the net, taking a board off, getting hooks out of the net, everyone is doing everything in my boat, and we can be like a well-oiled machine or a total wreck...it's up to them. ;)
We set lines at 6:43 and proceeded to pull in fish before the third rod was in the water...it didn't stop! At 7:32 we had 24 walleye in the cooler, and a boat full of very satisfied anglers. :)
It was the same program as the last week...
Big dipsies at 49 and 57 on the 3 setting and 33 and 41 on the 1 setting...with spoons. Bandits (blue/chrome and buck fever) at 42 and 51 back and the #11 Flicker Minnows (purple flash and huff daddy) were set at 55 and 65 back behind the Off Shores. Speed was again...2.3-2.4mph
Water temp today was 66.5 degrees.
Nick, Ethan, and Curt did a great job of learning the dipsey and board programs and were setting lines as fast as they could. Several times, we netted two fish at a time. But, even with all that distraction, the guys focused and we had very few missteps in our "boat waltz".
Today, it was a fish every 2 minutes instead of 3. That was fast!
After we put the walleye gear away, we left the area and went back to where I had been the previous three days, looking for more perch, but I didn't feel good about it, since yesterday's catch there was pretty poor compared to the two days prior. So, we hit several more spots with little success other than some sheepshead, white perch, and a couple of catfish. They did end up catching 6 or 7 perch out in front of Catawba, so at least they have enough for a couple of perch sammies.
They said they had a good time and Nick is planning another trip out with me in the fall with is Dad, who couldn't make it out with us today. I'll be looking forward to that. I told him they should register for the Fall Walleye Brawl, because you just never know what Lake Erie is going to give you. She may just give you a prize walleye worth a new boat and motor, when you least expect it.
We shall see...
I have rescheduled tomorrow to next weekend, because of the forecast for gusty east winds.
Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
