Fishing with the Memmen Family 4/12/15

I was supposed to meet my crew at Catawba State Park this morning at 9am, because they were driving in from the Cleveland area, but I got there early (8am) and found that the parking lot was already full. There was still a line of boats coming out of the parking lot when I drove up. Ugh!


I called Tom and his kids, and let them know they should meet me at the McDonald's, so they could follow me to another launch. We hit Mazurik's at around 9am and were on the water a few minutes later.


I wanted to try the area around Mouse Island since I launced out of M's, because last year around this time we hammered the big spawned out females that were making their way east again. It didn't disappoint, and we had their three person limit within 3 hours. I can't remember if it was Kate or Phil that caught the biggest fish of the day, but either way, it was a nice spawned out 30" female.


The Lemon Lime Crush Perfect 10, run 30/30 behind a 1oz snap weight was the ticket this morning. We only had 4 boards out, even though there were 4 of us on board, because keeping it simple with novice trollers was more organized and was less likely to lose fish due to chaos. lol


However, speaking of losing fish.....I hate to have to admit this one, but I did lose a fish for them while netting it. It was at my furthest reach and its tail was out of the net just enough to use the rim as leverage while it flipped and flopped on the surface. On about the 5th or 6th flop, I thought I had it in the net well enough to lift it, but I was wrong. It did one last ditch effort to free itself, and this time was successful. I felt bad, but they didn't seem to care, and said to me, "that's fishing". I guess when you have 10 giant walleye in the well at the time it happens, it does take that sting away. lol


After we loaded out of the water, they followed me over to Bay's Edge where I dropped off their fish for them...the scale said they had 90 pounds for their 12 fish. They said they had a great time fishing, and everyone was all smiles. I like that. :)


Anyway, it was a fun day, and if the weather allows, which I think it will...I'll be out again tomorrow trying the same area again with a Father and son crew.


Stay tuned...


Capt JulsAttachment 2926Attachment 2927Attachment 2928Attachment 2929Attachment 2930

Jul's thanks for the great post and great pics..


Gene

Awesome. I was in that line of boats when you pulled up. There was a state water officer handing out citations for those who were not equipped with proper safety equipment. That and a few that had no idea how to use a launch ramp properly had things moving slow. Oh well gave us time to drink a coffee and laugh.

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Originally Posted by Motor Mouth

Awesome. I was in that line of boats when you pulled up. There was a state water officer handing out citations for those who were not equipped with proper safety equipment. That and a few that had no idea how to use a launch ramp properly had things moving slow. Oh well gave us time to drink a coffee and laugh.

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Pretty sure he wasn't giving out citations. They give you a sticker to put in your window if your safety equipment is all in order for fishing on Lake Erie. If not, you don't get the sticker. That yellow piece of paper is the checklist. they give that to you, so that may have looked like a citation.

If you don't pass, you can catch them next time they are at the launch and have them do the check again. It's good to get the sticker, because they will usually not board your boat to do the checks while out on the water, if you have it on your boat's window.

I was hoping they would have someone at Mazurik's too, but they didn't. I'll call them tomorrow to see when and where they will be next, so I can get my sticker. :)

I agree...catawba is probably the most fun to watch, because of the approach. Most don't know the easy way to do it, and inevitably do it the hard way. ;)

If you are missing any safety equipment BEFORE you launch, they don't give you a citation. I had expired flares last year when checked at Mazuriks. They just told me to get new flares. I went to HiWay and bought some new flares and returned. The officer remembered me and gave me the sticker when I showed him the flares.