Fishing Day Two with Marion and Ruth Baker....6/11/2025

[Capt Juls]

I picked Marion and Ruth up 15 minutes earlier than yesterday. After picking up some ice for the coolers, we were headed to Huron a little before 5am. The parking lot at Huron was empty, except for one rig that was backing down the ramp, as we drove in.

PUBLIC NOTICE INFO....They are resurfacing the roads, and lot, with that tar spray stuff.


They started on it yesterday, and have the get ready lanes blocked off...so, you'll have to go left, and the wrong way, in order to get in the "second lot", by the cleaning station. That's the only way you'll be able to access the ramps.


I hope they have it done by the weekend, because when it gets busy, and if they are still blocking access, there are going to be problems. There is only one lane to get in and out, so what are you going to do when someone is coming in, and you want to get out?


I had that happen yesterday, but I was able to pull off on the grass, where the curb hadn't started yet. I let them pass, and they were grateful....But, if I had been any further, on my way out, I couldn't have done that. That's a big curb, and I wouldn't want to take my trailer over it. So, there are going to be problems.


When I left Huron, this morning at 9 AM, they hadn't arrived to start working on it yet.
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As we approached the mouth of the river at 5:30, the sky was clear, the air temperature was around 60 degrees, and the wind was out of the SW at around 11 mph.



We weren't going to go far, and would start in the area that we finished up at, yesterday. In fact, I burned a whopping 1.5 gallons of gas today. lol The 400 purred, quietly, as we made our way out, (1 mile), to 34 feet of water. We fished 36 feet, yesterday, but the fish were showing up on the Garmin at 34, so I figured we would start there.


The Ulterra and baby Merc were deployed, and adjusted so that the kicker would do most of the work, while the Ulterra would use just enough power to keep us on course, and use minimal battery. The speed was set to 2.4mph to start. It would fluctuate between 2.0 and 2.7, as I played with speed. 2.5 seemed to be most liked by the walleye, this morning.


The program was the same as yesterday, with Bandit and Walleye Minnow 111s running behind Off Shore boards.


Bandits did best at 80, 67, and 47 back, and the Walleye Minnows worked best at 80 and 47 back.


Dipsies caught a ton of shorts, and a few keepers, and had to be checked every spare moment, when we weren't bringing fish in, or setting lines out again. There was usually an itty-bitty hanging on, and I didn't want them to have to hang on too long. All were unhooked carefully, so as not to rip their tiny lips...and given a kiss for good luck, before swimming back down.


The zero setting ran a Yeck spoon at 50, and a BadMo Arrow Spoon at 35-43 back.
The three settings ran a Yeck spoon at 65, and a Stinger spoon at 60 back.


All caught fish. It was pretty much non-stop action, even if they weren't all keepers.


Marion and Ruth are farmers. The farm they are on, is where Ruth spent her entire life. They do hay, corn, soybeans, pigs (lots of piggies), and something else, that I don't want to say without being sure. It could have been chickens, but I don't know. I know it's not cattle/cows, because I know they said they used to have them, but don't anymore.


They did even better today, since they had already had some training, yesterday. And, they already knew me, so that nervousness strangers have when meeting new people was gone. It was like getting in the boat with family, instead of strangers....you know....comfortable.


We had a successful morning, but Ruth was still kind of upset for losing the biggest fish that we had seen, in the two mornings of fishing. It got caught in the whirlpool suction in that corner by the motor and stern, and was flopping around, while I was trying to get it in the net....then, it spit the hook, and was heading back down, before I could get it.


I told her, "At least you saw it", to which she replied, "I did, but I'm still not happy about losing it." I said, "I'm sure the fish is happy"....she laughed...understanding. It was maybe a 5 pound fish...so, to me, that's just a "good eater", but to her it was a wall-hanger.


We will give it another go in the morning, and maybe she'll get an even bigger one. Fingers crossed!


Stay tuned...


Capt Juls