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Fishing with Russell and Marcus 10/30/15
We got a late start to the morning, due to a train that had stopped in the middle of the tracks over in the middle of Oak Harbor, and trapped my MI crew for a 1/2 hour, before someone gave them directions around it, in order to get to my house.
We loaded up and headed to Mazurik's to launch at 11am. We headed straight for Kelly Shoal, where the plan was to troll the top of it in 15-20 foot of water with stick baits. With a dwindling northwest wind, the lake was laying down nicely, so it was a decent ride out there.
We set up on the NW side of the shoal and aimed for the green can on the west side of the shoal, staying to the inside of it as we headed to the NE corner of Kelly's Island. The Onix was showing nice marks in the 38'-36' of water, but as we came up into the shallower stuff, the marks disappeared. I kept the line though, thinking maybe the boat was scaring them to the sides where our baits were.
My crew, which was a grandfather and his 14 year old grandson, had never run Off Shore boards before, so after a quick lesson for each one, they were setting the lines by themselves. We ran Bandits, Deep Husky Jerk 12's, and a Perfect 10 with a 1oz weight off the boards, and one 4 oz bottom bouncer off the deeper corner.
We only caught two 19" walleye in a pass and a half, and they wanted to go perch fishing, since the walleye fishing was slow. Heck, I was happier than heck to see those two walleye...lol But, we went perch'n instead. The 14year old has never done a lot of fishing, and was getting bored, so I thought the perch fishing might be more entertaining. However.....
Our first spot was up on the NE corner of Gull Island Shoal, and we were getting bites, but not fast bites. The boy never brought up a fish, but the Grand Pops and I were starting to get them going.
I made the mistake of paying attention to a big white boat that was anchored off the NE buoy on Kelly Shoal, and thought, "If they have been there that long, then they must be catching over there". So, in an effort to get a better bite, so the boy could possibly catch some too, I made the move over there.
Then, I got a text from Capt Mike Sawyer which said, "Did you just pass me on Kelly Shoal? The perch fishing is BRUTAL". ....ugh...oh no. I think I made a mistake. lol After getting Mike on the phone, he said that they had dropped the hook four times in that same area, because they weren't getting them going. I told him that I was going to go try over by the stone dock on the NW corner of Kelly's, if it's no good here....so, we left.
The Stone dock was void of perch, but had a lot of gobies....deep sigh. I told Gramps that we should have stayed in the first spot, because I think the bite was just getting better and better, and we had only been there for a 1/2 hour before giving that spot up. (I tend to have less patience when someone in the boat is bored and not catching fish)....lesson learned. Set a timer, and give more time!!
The guys decided that they had had enough and would cut the trip to 4 hours instead of the 6 hours we had scheduled, because of the less than stellar fishing, and the late start to the day....they wanted to get back on the road to Detroit. So, we went in after 4 hours.
They had a good time, despite the fishing, and would like to try it in the spring or early summer. This fall bite is off whack during the day, but I'm guessing that the night bite might be getting pretty good from what I'm hearing. Don't ask me about it though, because I'm not night fishing, and don't have any details...sorry!
This is my last fishing report of the season....out of my boat anyway. My Ranger goes buh bye on Monday...which is sad. But, the new Ranger/G2 combo has been ordered and will be ready to fish in the Spring!
I'm perch'n off a big boat tomorrow, with a bunch of other captains, so now I get to relax and be the customer for a change. :)
I'll post a perch report tomorrow....
Stay tuned...
Capt Juls
