Day 2 Fishing with Kevin and John 6/2/2022

[Capt Juls]

The wind forecast for this morning was NNE 5-15mph. My plan was to take my crew up to the west side of the islands, so when it started blowing, we would be on the protected side, and the waves would be manageable.

Kevin and John met me at Catawba at 5am, but we waited until 5:15 to launch, because it was cloudy, and it wasn't getting light enough, fast enough. By the time we launched, and Kevin parked the truck, it was 5:30, and now light enough to see.


The wind hadn't really started blowing yet, so the ride north was pretty easy and uneventful. I think the wind was only blowing 5mph, at the time. We made it up to the islands and set up near Middle Bass. The Ulterra steered us towards Rattle Snake Island's rattles, where we made a left turn and headed back towards Catawba on the outside of Green Island. It was just one long troll back to the launch.


We started picking away at them as soon as we set up. It's the same program ...spoons behind dipsies, and Bandits behind the Off Shore boards.


Two dipsies on each back corner:
The zero settings started at 25 and 27' back, in 28-34' of water, and adjusted to 19 back, when we got to 26 feet of water.
The two settings were set at 35 and 37 to start, and dropped to 40 later in the morning.


The Bandits were the same colors I've been using.
Carrot Top (40 back)....caught 3
Blue Chrome (60 back)...caught 2
Green Lantern (60 back)...caught 2
SunSpot (35 back)...caught 2


Speed was not steady at 2.5mph, but rather, bounced around from 2.1 to 2.8, in the waves.
Water temp was 69.7 degrees


We caught our 3-person limit, but we had to go through a lot of throw backs, sheephead, catfish, and one white bass to get them.


My crew stayed busy, and when the wind picked up, the lake got a little "sporty", and my guys got their sea legs tested. They were a little rusty, and had a hard time standing up. When Kevin lost his sense of humor, I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well.
When I saw him stand up after tossing a fish in the cooler, but not turn around to come back...I knew then, that he was feeling pretty poorly. I asked, "Are you feeling okay?" "I'll be okay", he replied. And, we kept on fishing. I think, by then, we only needed three more fish, but I wasn't sure how long it would take, since it wasn't a fast and furious bite, and we had to go through so many little fish to get the nice eaters.


He finally called, "Uncle", when we had 17 in the cooler. But, while clearing lines, we got our last fish. Yay! He was happy to be going in. I told him, "It happens to everyone, from time to time. I can stand in my boat all day long, and have no issues at all, but put me on a bigger boat, and I have to take Dramamine... the Ferry is a killer to me". Northeast rollers are notorious for making people seasick.


We headed in. There was another boat at the dock when we got there, and they said they had come in early, because it was too rough, and one of their crew was seasick too. It happens a lot to people who are not used to fishing the Great Lakes. It's gotten me a few times, so I had empathy for Kevin, (and, the guy in the other boat), because there's no worse feeling than turning green.


John and Kevin, both, did a great job, these past two days, and they said they had a good time, and learned a lot... and, that makes me happy.


Tomorrow, I have a repeat customer, who has perch fished with me in the past. Tomorrow, he's bringing his wife and his son for a little walleye fishing. We will be going out of Mazurik's in the morning...wind permitting. The TV weatherman said NNW 10-20 (gusts to 30), for Friday, but I'm not seeing anything like that on iWindSurf or on the Windfinder apps. So, I told him we would meet at Mazurik's at 5:15 and see what's happening with the wind in the morning.


Stay tuned...


Capt Juls
P.S.... sorry, I didn't get any fish pics today...

[Lucky Duck]

I really love your reports. Did you by chance ever work as a writer in the past, because you are a very good writer as well as a captain!
Bruce

[Capt Juls]

I really love your reports. Did you by chance ever work as a writer in the past, because you are a very good writer as well as a captain!
Bruce

I've only done fishing reports, tournament coverage, and some articles for some magazines over the past 21 years. Never had a job as a writer.....but, thank you, for the kind words, and for reading them!