Fishing with Casey and Ryan 8/13/2021

[Capt Juls]

I didn't do a report on my August 4th trip, because I was heading to Wisconsin to visit family early the next morning, and I don't like to announce on social media that I will not be home for a week....know what I mean? And, there was a lot of stuff to do before I left, like cleaning the house, cutting grass, and packing the car.

Anyway, I got back in town Tuesday morning, and I was supposed to fish Wednesday and Thursday, but my client had to reschedule at the last minute, due to work, so we'll see him in September instead. There were storms and wind anyway, so it all worked out, and I got a short, needed vacation from my vacation. lol


I was supposed to do a fly in this past week, up at Meta Lake Lodge, but the border didn't open on time, (two days late...grrrr!), so I went up to visit with my family instead. It was a nice visit, but I'm glad to be back home. And, you're welcome....I leave, and Momma Nature doesn't blow...I come back, and she's all pissed off again.


Today's wind wasn't bad. The forecast was for SW winds with gusts up to 15mph. Down inside, it was really nice...and, up by the line, it was only 1-3s.


I had Casey and his son, Ryan. They have fished with me before, so only a refresher course was needed for them to be helpful setting the lines this morning.


We started with 4 Spro Madeye 120s behind the Off Shore inline boards, all weighted with 2oz Guppie Weights (same as a snap weight...the name of the weight, produced by Off Shore Tackle is, "Guppy", because it looks like a little fish with a smile on it), but it does the same job as a teardrop shaped clip on weight. So, if I say, "Guppy"...that's what that is. (I just try to clear up any confusion, before I get emails asking what I meant.)


Colors we started with were the Golden Perch and the Purple Glass Perch. The Golden Perch took one I think from the moment it was set, but because of the rougher conditions this morning, and the lack of anything to gauge it against...I let it ride for a while. That one was set 50/85 (total line out was 135...the weight was put on at 50').


Purple Perch did nothing today, even though my last few times out it was a hot color. The port side Spros were changed out to Yaleye Mooneye Minnows at 30/80 back with 2oz. They didn't catch anything today either, even though that set up was pretty good last week. So, those were changed out one more time to Bandits and put out 50/75 and 50/70 with 2 oz Guppies behind the OST boards. This last set up, along with the original sets on the starboard side, would end up pulling short fish around for a while, because we never could tell they were there.


I need to loosen up the springs on the Tattle Flags, because I have them set pretty tight for larger fish. But, since we're in the middle of summer and the smaller fish, I need to be able to detect those little suckers better. Who knows how long we grumbled about the slow bite, but you can't get bit if a little walleye is hanging on it.....deep sigh.


The dipsey rods were running two on each back corner, and set on the zero and three settings. The inside, shorter rods, were set on zero...and, run back 40-65 back. The port side ran the Red Headed Wonderbread Yeck spoon and the starboard side was a silver/black Ripplin Redfin.


The longer rods, which were set on the three settings, ran at 75 and 91 back.


Speed was 2.3-2.6 mph


We fished out east of Kelly's...just off the reef in 43' of water, but the fish were scattered around there. We took that contour, north... close to the line, and then headed back inside, where we did a little better. We only ended up with 8 keepers and the rest were throw backs, or junk fish.


I will see Casey and Ryan this fall, and again, in April 2022, so that makes me happy, and we will hopefully get a better cooler full than what we had today. They are a lot of fun to fish with, so I'll be looking forward to fishing with them again.


Tomorrow's trip has been rescheduled, due to strong NE winds in the forecast. My customer, Mike Smith, of Michigan, has already moved that trip to April of 2022 too. He's looking to test drive the Ranger 621 FS Pro, to test its "Fishability", so he can decide if he wants to purchase one in the near future, or if he would prefer to buy something else. That's a really smart way to buy a boat, I think.
Fish out of it first, and spend enough time in it, so you know if it would fit your style of fishing too.


I had Sunday down as a scheduled day off, so I guess I won't be out again until Monday, unless Sunday's weather is looking good. Then, we may go fun fishing for some perch. I finally have another perch trip on Tuesday, so I'm really looking forward to that, and need to find some...woot! woot!


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

[MRJ]

A fly in fishing trip in Canada is on my bucket list. Hopefully someday soon. I looked up that lodge you mentioned. Looks like a really nice operation there.