Fishing with Dennis, Dan, and Dom 7/16/2022

I woke up before the alarm clock again, so I got up and took my coffee and animals outside to the back deck. The deck had been drizzled on, so I check the RadarScope app to see if there was rain in the area. It showed there was, and that it would be around until early to mid-morning. That did not make me happy...I had just cleaned the boat, yesterday....deep sigh.

I was meeting Dennis and his two sons Dan and Dominick at the local Walmart, since they were at a campsite, and it was the easiest place for me to meet them.
I left the house at 3:50, so I could drive through town and get the ice before meeting them, but didn't anticipate a train stopped on the train tracks down the road.


I pulled up to it, and waited, then, I started to panic a little, because if it didn't move, I was going to have to try and turn the truck and boat around in a very tight area, in the dark, while it's raining. My mirrors were hard to see out of because of the water on them. Sometimes, those trains can sit there for hours, blocking the intersection, and sometimes, they just wait for another train to go by, and then move. Well, another train did go by, but the stopped one didn't start moving after the other one was long gone. I had to try and turn around. Ugh!


I tried turning one way, and backing up, but nixed that idea before it was too late, when I realized I would get stuck in an awful position.
Once I was back on the road, I started just backing down the road, but I couldn't see well enough to do that for a 1/2 mile, to the RT2 on ramp, so I pulled up to the tracks again, and assessed the situation one more time.
This time, I turned it to the right, into a little driveway, that was blocked by a gate. I was hoping that it was long enough to let me get the boat straight enough, to allow me to back up in the gravel by the tracks, on the other side of the road, and not trap me. There was just enough driveway there, to allow me to do that....and, I just missed their mailbox by inches, but I got by it....whew!
I'm VERY good at backing a trailer, but that experience had my hands shaking when I was done. lol


So, once on RT2, I head to the gas station to get ice. I was still early, and had 20 minutes before I had to meet my crew. Oh, and before I forget, in yesterday's report, I mentioned that the two "boys" were teens, and would probably have a hard time getting up that early. Well, come to find out, they are 27 and 30 years old, so Dennis and the "boys" actually beat me to the store's parking lot this morning, and were there at 4:25. :)


They jumped in my truck, and we headed to Huron to launch. It was raining, and I asked them if they brought rain gear....none of them did, but they said it would be okay. I said it wouldn't be more than a drizzle, on and off, until mid-morning, so it shouldn't be too bad.


We launched, but it was too dark to head out on the lake. There's no sense going out there when you can't set up, so we sat at the courtesy dock for another 15 minutes. Other boats were launching too, but none had ventured out yet either. When the sky lightened a little, we got underway.


I wasn't going to make the run back to Lorain, so instead, we hit the Huron dumping grounds. We set up over 40 feet of water with the usual Bandits behind Off Shore boards, and dipsey program I've been running for the past 4 days.


Dipsies on the zero setting were started at 54 and 60 back. The two settings were set at 90 and 100 back.


Three Bandits per side, were run with 2oz Guppy weights at the 50 mark and run out to a total of 130, 125, and 120 on both sides. Colors were Blue Chrome, Green Lantern (2), Chrome Furmi-Nuff (3). All of these caught fish. At one point, one of my Chrome Furmi's got out of tune, so in a hurry, I just grabbed a Chrome Perch and swapped it out, since I had two others running out there. The Perch took the next fish.


The cranks took bigger fish, and the spoons took the most fish. But, I question that, because I think we dragged some fish on the cranks for a while, before suspecting something was up, and checked them. So, is it really fair to say the spoons did better? I think not. ;)


We had 17 of our 24 when I decided to pull everything and make a run back, to make another pass. By then, it was going on 9am, and the bite was slowing down for us. We had two hours to go, so I figured we could fill our limits in that time.
To make a long story shorter, I told them, "We go in when we get the last fish, or 11am, whichever comes first"...and, the last keeper came in at exactly 10:59! Ha! Yay!


It was a learning trip for this family of fishermen, who wanted to learn what they were doing wrong when pulling inline planer boards. They had only used dipsies once before, so I showed them how I do everything, and then had them doing everything, and talking them through things, and in no time at all, they were working like a well oiled machine.


They were amazed at how fast we were catching, too. And, I figured out that they didn't have the Precision Trolling Data app, to help them know where their baits were. I told them, "That's the troller's bible. If you don't know where your baits are in the water column, you're fishing blind, and wishing fish to your baits". I showed them the app, and how it works...so, Dan downloaded it right then, and there, so they have it the next time they go fishing. I think it will make all the difference in their results.


I had a lot of fun fishing with them, because they caught on fast, and were pretty laid back, and that makes me happy!


I'm off tomorrow, and watching Monday's forecast. Looks like some more rain and wind for Monday. I hope it changes! Fingers crossed!


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

Another great report Capt!.... quick question if you don't mind. When we come over to Lake Erie from Indiana, we like to drift cast over trolling. However, the past few times we've been out, wind has died, so we toss out our trolling spread, which consist of bandits off of boards at various lengths, and dipseys. We troll salmon on Lake Michigan so very familiar with that spread. I've been reading your post about the 2oz guppy weights, so I purchased some to get the bait down to the target zone. We attached the weight at 50 out, then ran them to a total of 110, 90, 70 on one side and 120, 100, 80 on the other with the longest run being furthest from the boat (outside board)... couldn't keep them from tangling. Tried several time but with the same results. Got frustrated and took the weights off. Any Advise as to what I was doing wrong? Thanks - enjoy your posts.

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Originally Posted by Klev6

I've been reading your post about the 2oz guppy weights, so I purchased some to get the bait down to the target zone. We attached the weight at 50 out, then ran them to a total of 110, 90, 70 on one side and 120, 100, 80 on the other with the longest run being furthest from the boat (outside board)... couldn't keep them from tangling. Tried several time but with the same results. Got frustrated and took the weights off. Any Advise as to what I was doing wrong? Thanks - enjoy your posts.

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Let me ask you....when you get a fish on that outside board, do you just pick up the rod and start reeling it in? That won't work, and you'll tangle more times, than not.

If you're like me, and don't have your boards set up to release from the front clip, you can do the following....

Read the situation....is it a big fish that is pulling it way back out of line? If not, freespool some line out slowly, to get it further back out of line, and turn the boat the opposite direction from the side of the boat the fish is coming in on....which sends it further back out of line, and will more easily clear the inside lines.

Then, point the rod tip all the way to the opposite side of the boat that the fish is coming in on. So, if it's on the port side, take that rod tip and bend it in half towards the starboard side, and vise-versa. Rods are made to bend...;)

That forces the board to stay back as it's coming in, rather than riding up over the other lines.

Try that, and tell me how many tangles you end up with your next time out.

Does it work every single time? Usually....depends on the fish. Some fish just say, "Hold my beer....watch this!" ;)

Also, make sure all your baits are running true, and in tune. An out of tune lure can cause all kinds of trouble.

Appreciate for the advice and tips! I'm not sure if we will make it back over again this year, but will keep this in mind the next time we troll. Thanks again and good fishing!
Chris

Amen on the Precision Trolling App! I still have the old laminated spiral bound version that they used to sell in my glove box. I use that for some of the items that I haven't purchased yet. Mark Romanack and Steve Holt are partners in that company. I purchased my previous boat (Champion Fishunter) from Steve and Mark owned it before Steve did. Nice guys...

Good to see that Chrome Fermi & Green Lantern produced again and Chrome Perch too! Awesome.

I have my middle and outside boards set to release (black OR clips on the front, with the red ones in the back). The inside ones don't release, but they don't need to. When a fish hits, I just give the rod a good "buggy whip" and the release pops and the board will fall back nicely. Big fish will usually pop it without any assistance.