Fishing with Mike, Bob, and Tom 4/17-18/2021

[Capt Juls]

Yesterday, we fished on the east side of the bass islands and north of Kelly's, but had a tough bite. We only went 9 for 12 out of a 24 fish limit. Though, it didn't seem to bother my crew who said they were just happy to be out on the lake and fishing on such a nice day, it always bothers me a little when I can't get the fish going. It can be very frustrating to say the least. That was yesterday, and as they say, "There's always tomorrow"...and, in this case, it was true, since I had the same crew for this morning too.

This morning:
I hit the gas station, and topped the gas tank off in the boat and put some ice in the cooler. Polished the windshield, topped off the oil, and headed off to the launch, where I was meeting my crew at 6am. I got there at 5:30 which gave me time to ready things before they came.


They showed up at 5:45, and we hit the water at 5:50am. It was dark, but the sky was beginning to lighten up on the horizon. A dark thick band of clouds rimmed the lake's horizon, and a clear center with glistening stars offered hope of a nice day ahead.


The forecast was calling for mostly cloudy conditions all day, so the clear sky was a nice surprise, and created a beautiful sunrise.


We hit the cans and started with a setup of Bandits, Spro Madeye 120's, and a couple Jointed DHJ12's. Blue/Chrome and Buck Fever Bandits were running between 40 and 50 back, the Golden Perch and Marvin Spro's were running 50-60 back, and the blue/orange belly and clown jointed Rapalas were running at 65 back. Our speed was between 1.6 and 1.8mph.


We stayed on one path, gong from SW to NE, doing "S" turns... constantly...and picking away at the walleye willing to bite. We had 10 fish on the first pass, when I decided to turn it around and see if the bite was better in the other direction. It wasn't. We didn't get anything in the first 15 minutes, so I told them to "Pick them up, were going to run back up and set up again. They like the other direction better."


I know there were fish out there if we had kept going, but I wasn't sure the setup would work over deeper water too, so we made the move back.


The wind changed direction three times while we were out there. When we launched it was out of the south. Midway between our first pass it started to come out of the SW, and then by the time we picked up to move, it was out of the west.


I adjusted our starting point, due to the wind, and got lucky. There were hungry fish in the area, and we were alone. It didn't take long to start picking away at them again. My crew was having a good time, and trading off reeling theirs in. But, when we hit an area where the bite picked up, it became controlled chaos with lots of laughs. Doubles and a couple triples made their day.


Bob said to me, "I'm going to be calling you, I want to bring my boy over here for a trip soon too"....and, that makes me happy.


We caught our 4 person limit this morning and the guys were impressed with the grade of the fish too. They were mostly in that 3-5 pound range, which in any other state would be awesome fish. But, to those of us who live and work on this lake, we call those "good eaters". lol


I'll be out again tomorrow with another crew that is here for two days. But, it looks like we're only going to get tomorrow's trip in, because Tuesday's forecast is looking nasty with 15-18mph NE winds right now. So, unless that changes drastically, Tuesday will be a no-go.


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls