Fishing with Bob, Kory, and David...9/20/25

[Capt Juls]

When I went to bed last night, the forecast for this morning was 15-20 out of the northeast, and when I got up, it had changed to 14-17mph. The plan was still the same.

Originally, Bob wanted to spend two days of fishing for walleye, and possibly some perch if time allowed. But, since the wind direction and speed were too strong for where I wanted to fish, over in Lorain. So, I had discussed it with Bob and told him that the only option was to try some perch fishing and use the islands as a windbreak. He was for that game plan.

I left the house at 4:30, so I could go gas up the Vexus and truck, grab some ice, and hit Hi-Way Bait for some minnows, before picking up my crew at 6:30.
Matt, over at Hi-Way, had said that he would have it open by 5:00am. I got there at 4:45, and he was already open. They had a nice selection of mostly Emeralds, but there were some Goldies and Alwifes in the mix too. A nice size, though.

I ran home to spend the last hour with the dogs, and take care of some chores before heading out.

I picked up Bob, Cody, and David from the Whitecaps Motel, and headed straight to Catawba, since I didn't have to stop for anything.
Sunrise was at 7:17 this morning, and it was beautiful. The sky was partly cloudy, with wispy clouds, the air temp was in the 60s, and the wind was blowing around 12-14mph.

I thought about staying on the west side of Catawba and searching the area around Clinton Reef, but decided to make a run up to the islands while the waves were still decent. We made it up to the west side of South Bass around 7:30, and when the Garmin marked a lasagna-looking set of marks on the bottom, I dropped the Ulterra down and hit "Spot-Lok". Once anchored, I handed out the rods, and told them, "I usually give a spot a 1/2 hour...it's 7:30 right now", and added, "Should we bet a dollar on the first keeper yellow in the boat?" Bob said, "Only a dollar?" Laughing, I said, "That's all I can afford." They laughed, and all agreed to it.

We stayed in the first spot for 1/2 hour and then left, and headed towards Middle Bass. We tried two spots there and stayed in the third spot. Bob would win the dollar bet. My fish was late by about 3 seconds. Ha! Bob and Kory used the rigs I tied up, and David and I were using Fishing Addiction Flies, because that's what was on the rods from the last trip out. I told them I had all kinds of rigs to use, along with spreaders, but they just kept what they had on and kept fishing.

We would only end up with 18 perch in the cooler, about 10 throwbacks, one 3-pound catfish, one baby white bass, and two itty-bitty baby walleye, but it was probably one of the most humorous and fun trips I've had. These guys are funny and keep a positive attitude. They're long-time friends, and came over from Iowa to fish together. David flew in from Florida to meet Bob and Kory here. I think he's originally from Iowa, too, though.

I have them tomorrow too, so I'm really looking forward to it. We are going to go fish for walleye in the morning, and will be launching out of Lorain, instead of my usual Vermilion launch. The wind forecast is for a south wind, and I figured going out of Lorain would save us a long, bumpy ride back in. I told them I would pick them up at 5:30, since it's an hour away from Port Clinton.

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls