Fishing with Rick Rensch...8/4/2026

[Capt Juls]

2 a.m. back deck forecast for the morning was clear skies, 64 degrees, and an absent wind. iWindSurf said the wind forecast west of the islands would be 5mph out of the south....in other words, a beautiful day to go perch fishing.

Rick Rensch was driving in from Indiana this morning, and was meeting me at Catawba at 5:45, so we could be launched by 6 a.m.

I left the house at 4:45 and took the slow way through town, out to Hi-Way Bait to pick up some ice and some Emerald Shiners. Their shiners this morning were nice ones. The perfect size to cut in half. I like to use the tail on one hook and the head on another hook instead of whole minnows. I tend to think that the smell of the innards draws them in to check it out.

I got down to Catawba at 5:15 and readied the boat. Rick showed up at 5:30, but since it was still pretty dark out, we waited... and launched at 5:45.

I didn't have any intel on where to go after this two-day blow, so I simply headed NW out of the launch and started searching. I was headed towards D-Can, but kept an eye on the Garmin for any tell-tale signs of perch down below.

We stopped once between F and E Cans and gave it 20 minutes. There were good marks when I hit the Spot-Lock on the Ulterra, but they wouldn't bite. The bottom was a little softer than I like to sit over, too, so we continued on up towards D-Can.
The bottom wasn't rock, but it was harder than the first spot, and there were marks, so I was going to give it more time than just 20 minutes.

There was a pack of boats starting to congregate on the west side of the cans, and only a handful of us on the east side of the Can. We fished over 26 feet of water.

The bite started slow, with some little ones, but eventually got steadier with some keepers coming in over the side. It was about a 3:1 ratio of little ones to keepers, so it took us from about 7a.m to 10:30 to get our 2-person limit of keepers.

Rick was happy with the size, and wants me to keep him informed on the bite, because he wants to come back for more...and that makes me happy!

My next trip will be Friday with Jack Scott and his two friends. We will be launching out of Huron or Vermilion and chasing walleye over in Lorain again. If the wind forecast is anything like it was last Saturday, we'll launch out of Huron. But, if it's stronger, we'll launch out of Vermilion and save 10 miles on the boat ride.

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls

[gb1234]

Captain Juls, this may be a trade secret - and I respect that - but you're so generous with info I thought I'd ask...
Would you share screen shots from your Garmin showing what these tell-tale signs of perch look like? And do you like the Garmin better than the Humminbird you used to run? On my Humminbird, I don't really see anything even when I do catch some. I would love to waste less time on unproductive spots.

[fishfinder]

Thanks for sharing, I always enjoy your post and love all the information you share, good luck Friday

[Capt Juls]

Captain Juls, this may be a trade secret - and I respect that - but you're so generous with info I thought I'd ask...
Would you share screen shots from your Garmin showing what these tell-tale signs of perch look like? And do you like the Garmin better than the Humminbird you used to run? On my Humminbird, I don't really see anything even when I do catch some. I would love to waste less time on unproductive spots.

I don't have any pictures saved on my phone of screenshots, so I'll try to remember to take some next week when I'm perch fishing again.

When I'm on plane, the marks show up as little red dots and when I come off plane to check them, they look like regular marks. The best kind is when they look like a pan of lasagna on the bottom.

I'll set up over that and they will come and go, so when they disappear off the screen...don't panic...they are in the area and will be back....usually.

I was with Humminbird for many many years....when they discontinued the Helix, and after having issues with the last two Helix's....I opted to have the Garmins installed which were recommended by my dealer, Fisherman's Central, and have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like them. They are pretty user friendly and have been issue-free...(knock on wood!)

[Capt Juls]

I found one pic on my phone that might show you what the lasagna looks like...

[rkfet]

Here's what I consider good perch marks to look like.

[gb1234]

Thanks for the pics. Last time I saw all that red down there, I thought they must be walleyes scaring away the perch. Oops!
Meanwhile, I think I'll have Italian for dinner tonight.