Fishing with Paul and Donna...10/11/2024

[Capt Juls]

Paul's son and daughter had bought him an adventure for Father's Day, and he chose a perch trip.

I left the house 45 minutes early, even though they were staying a mile down the road from me. Now, that the sun is coming up at 7:40-7:45, I didn't have to pick them up until 7am, but I knew that Wozniak's Sunoco, was just down the road from the Whitecaps Motel, and opens at 6. They have their own "Minnow Boat", which means, on the nights the conditions allow, they go out and catch their own Emerald Shiners. Several other places in town do that also....Jeanette's Bait, A-N-J Bait, annnnnd...(I can't think of anymore off the top of my head at the moment...sorry).


Anyway, I stopped to get 20 bucks worth of minnows, before heading back to the Whitecaps to pick up Paul and Donna. The shiners were around 2 1/2-3 inch minnows. The perfect size for splitting in two, to use on the hooks.
They were ready to go at 7, so we headed to town for gas and ice.


We launched out of Mazurik's. The wind forecast was for a southwest wind at 10-20mph. The air temp was around 54 degrees, but was expected to get to 77 by the afternoon. The sky was clear, and the sun was just kissing the horizon as we headed out.
The water temp at the launch was 59 degrees, but the water temp on the lake was a touch over 63.


We headed to the Marblehead Lighthouse area, and tried a spot in the rocks in 23-24 feet of water, but only caught Gobies, White Perch, and Sheephead, so we moved.


It would be a total of two moves before we would stay in one spot, for the rest of the trip. The electronics were showing decent marks moving in and out of the area, over 28' of water, so we patiently waited for them to find us. We were the only boat east of the pack, and had around 3/4 mile between us.


It started out slow, but every time I would think about moving again, we would catch another one, so we stayed put. (The bottom was on the softer side...it wasn't a hard bottom, but it wasn't too squishy, either.)


It paid off...the bite picked up, and the Paul and Donna were enjoying themselves.
We were using some two hook crappie rigs I make, with white beads or chartreuse beads, and using split shiners.
We managed to catch 60, before we had to head in. Those 60 perch went 20 pounds at Port Clinton Fish Co. (So, an average of 3 to a pound).


My Saturday trip has been rescheduled...and, so has Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, thanks to the weather. I hope to be back out for trips, Wednesday through Sunday, though....fingers crossed!


Stay tuned...


Capt Juls