Fishing with Tom and Stan 4/10/2021

[Capt Juls]

Brad, Brian, Stan, and Tom drove in from Red Wing, MN yesterday, and are here for the next week. Brad Brought his boat along, and hired me to help them get a program down to use for the rest of the week.

I don't take four people in my boat (only up to 3), so two went with me this morning and one went with Brad in his boat.


I had warned them prior to this morning, that if my second vaccine shot gave me a fever like it has for so many others, that I would not be running today, and would move their second day to Monday, since I had scheduled it off. Brad said, "Okay, just let me know". I told him, "I'll let you know by 4:30, so you have time to get ready if we do go".


Well, I woke up at 3:30, and other than a bunch of soreness in my left arm, I felt pretty good. So, I texted them and told them to meet me at Mazurik's at 6:15. However, I arrived there at 5:35, so I could be at the front of the get ready lanes while I waited on them and futzed with stuff in the boat.


I got to talk to several others who had pulled in to get ready and hit the water early too. Then, after thinking about it, and remembering that it was a Saturday (every day is Saturday to me), I texted Brad and told him I was there early, and that they should try to get there sooner than later too, since it was going to get very busy by 6:15. He said they were on their way. They showed up at 6:15, but luckily, the ramp wasn't that crazy yet.


We both got launched and idled out of the break wall to let the motors warm up, before taking off for the north side of Kellys. It looked like that's where everyone was heading to, when they left Mazurik's this morning. I hate fishing in packs, so I told my guys we would make one pass, and then it was going to get crowded, so we'll go find another area to fish.


Brad set up behind us with the program I gave him, which was the same as yesterday's Bandit program.
Bandits 42-65 back and the Spro Golden Perch at 80-100 back. He didn't have a Spro, so I let him use one of mine. He would tell me later, that it didn't catch anything for them. However, it caught 4 or 5 in our boat (in another spot we had moved to) Brad and Brian had stayed where we started and boated their limit and some they caught and released.


After a one fish pass on the north Side of Kelly's, I moved north some more and let the Helix tell me where I should fish. Once we found some marks again, we set up with the same program. All of the following took fish at a speed of 1.4-1.6 going against the current and 1.7-1.9 going with the current, or cross-current.


Blue Chrome at 55, 65, and 75 back, Buck Fever at 42-45 back, A green chrome back with an orange belly and a spot on the side took a few too at 57 back (I don't know the name of that one...I think I'll call it Green Sunspot)....and, of course, the Spro Golden Perch at 80 and 100 back.


We ran three Off Shore boards per side until Stan and Tom became more comfortable with working with them, and then we put a 4th one out on each side. Longer leads were run on the outside boards and the shorter leads were run on the inside boards.


Both guys were dumbfounded by the average size of our Lake Erie fish, and even more excited when larger fish (25-27 inches) came in the boat, since neither had ever fished here before. They were having a very good time this morning, and that makes me happy!


I'm cancelling tomorrow, due to the forecast of gusts to 30mph out of the south, and swapping my Monday "Off day" with it, so they can get their second trip in with me. Monday, I will be taking Brad and Brian with me, and Stan and Tom will be taking Brad's boat out and putting to use the lessons they learned with me today. Good luck guys! You'll do great!


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

[Lucky Duck]

Another great report Capt Juls! THat is really neat thing you do having the other boat with the other two anglers near you while you are teaching them from a distance.

[350Industrial]

What a great idea to pay a guide to show you the ropes before trying (and probably being frustrated) on your own- really shortens the learning curve. This is a great business model for you Captain. Thanks again for the detailed report.