Fishing with Jason and Warren 7/28/2022

After a restless night, resulting in only 5 hours of sleep, I got up and made some coffee, to start my engine. Stepping out on my back deck, for the usual forecast information gathering session, I saw that the deck was wet. It had just rained, so I looked at the radar first, to see if it was going to rain on us this morning, but it was clear behind the system that had just gone through. It wouldn't be raining on us today.

The air was saturated with water, and felt heavy. There was a light breeze out of the SW, and the air temp was in the low 60s. The sky was mostly cloudy.


The plan was to meet my crew at 4:45. I thought I would go over to their hotel early, and go down the TIk-Tok rabbit hole for 10 minutes, while I waited for them, and see them when they got there.
But, there they were, ready to go at 4:30! I was really surprised to see a 10-year-old that awake at 4:30 in the morning, but Jason said that Warren likes to fish, and will get up early to go.


It would just be Jason and his stepson Warren this morning. We headed to Huron to launch, but I knew we would get there too early, since the sun isn't rising until almost 6:25 now, it would be too dark out yet.
So, we waited until 5:30 to launch and slowly idled out of the river.
By the time we reached the mouth of the river, the sky was clearing enough to the east, to let the lighted horizon brighten things up a bit.


We didn't travel far, and we were only on plane for two minutes, tops. We set down in 30 feet of water, and the Solix was marking fish, so the Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed and set on a course to the east...holding course on the 30-31 foot contours.


We started out with Bandits behind the Off Shore boards, and spoons behind dipsies, but took the Bandits out of the equation, because the dipsies were keeping us too busy, and I wanted to keep it simple for the boy, and it worked.


We narrowed down our dipsey program to 65 back on the 2 setting and 40 back on the zero setting, with mostly silver spoons. Silver/blue, Silver/green, and Silver/purple...and my tried and true Red Headed Wonderbread with a silver back.


Speed was 2.5 up to 3.0mph this morning. The faster we went, the less junk fish we had, and the bigger the walleye we caught.


We had our 18 fish limit by 8:30am, and then went to find some perch. I had my perch rods on board, and had the where with all to put some frozen minnows in the cooler before I left the house, this morning, so if the walleye came fast, we could look for perch.


I have never fished for perch over in the Huron area, this early in the year, so I didn't know where to look, really.


It was getting windy, and by the time we finished our trolling pass near Vermilion, the lake was getting rough. I told them I would take them back inside, where it was a bit calmer, and try and find some perch. I found some good marks out in front of "The Castle", in 31 feet of water, that looked kind of perchy, so we set up there.
Again, the Ulterra was deployed, but this time, with a push of a button, it anchored us on that spot, using the Spot-Lock function. And, in my head, I thank that little button every time I don't have to fight with an old-fashioned anchor, when we're "anchoring" on a spot. :)


With the one small Tupperware of frozen minnows available, we only caught 5 nice perch and about 15 to 20 sheephead. lol Warren, who's only 10, had a blast and wore himself out, reeling in all those big sheephead by himself. lol


Jason was a pleasure to fish with, too. He's a fisherman, and has used Off Shore boards and dipsies before, but it's been a while since he's been fishing, so he wanted to take his boy on a fishing adventure with me, so he could just relax and have fun, instead of being in charge. It worked. He did relax, and he did have fun!


I'm off tomorrow, and need to clean my boat, and cut the grass, and clean the house.


I have a trip on Saturday with a nice couple, who want to go walleye fishing.


And, then on Sunday, I have another walleye trip with two fellas from MN.


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

What a good day! Another young fisherman for the future! We need a lot more! :)

Thanks for post Juls.Hoping to fish there on Saturday.Will use your post for a good starting point

Awesome picture and day. Gotta love that mix bag. The smile on the kids face is what it's all about. I'll be trying around mouse or green island Saturday for perch with my wife and grand daughter it will be her first trip this year before school starts. Hope the fishing gods are with us Thanks for the post.

Are your minnows just froze in water or is something else added also to the water?

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Originally Posted by Moldman

Are your minnows just froze in water or is something else added also to the water?

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Definitely not frozen in water. That'll turn em into mush. The key is getting the moisture OUT of them so when you thaw them, they're tougher and will stay on your hook. Freezing em in alcohol helps extract the moisture. I've also heard of letting them dry a bit, then covering em in salt before freezing. The salt helps pull out the moisture as well

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Moldman

Are your minnows just froze in water or is something else added also to the water?

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I freeze them in Wintergreen rubbing alcohol (no water). A trick I learned from other Captains. I thought that it sounded ridiculous, and the fish wouldn't eat a minnow soaked in it, but they do!! :)

It keeps the minnow from getting mushy when thawed and they stay on the hook longer than a salted minnow, in my experience.