Fishing with the Chapman's 3/15/16

[Capt Juls]

Steve and Jeremy Chapman drove up from Columbus, and met me at the Catawba ramp at 8am. They were only an hour late (as usual)...lol But, I love these guys, and they fish with me a lot, so I'm used to waiting on them. Jeremy and I even joke about it. He told me before, "Tell my dad that you want us there an hour earlier than the time you actually want to go, and we'll be on time"!
Well, we tried that, and it still didn't work. Had they not had to stop at Walmart and McDonald's when they hit town, they would have been right on time. lol

Anyway, it was a foggy morning, and we headed out at a safe speed to the area SE of F can. We marked some good fish, so we set lines. We started out running 2 Perfect 10's, 2 DHJ12's, and 2 Bandits. The P-10s were run at 20/20 and 30/30 with a 1oz snap weight. The Bandits were back 45-55, and the DHJ's were back 65-85.
For those that don't understand the P-10 program, it goes like this....I let 20' or 30' of line out...attach a snap weight...let out another 20-30', and attach my Off Shore planer board.
Our most productive speed was at 1.2mph. And, we dialed in the Bandits at 45 back, and the DHJ's at 65 back. We ended up taking the P-10's off, because the fish wanted the other two more.
The best colors were:
Bandits: Black headed Wonderbread, and a custom color that is purple with chartreuse dots on the side.
Huskies: A custom color that was also purple with chartreuse dots on the side.
(Sorry, but there are too many color names for this gal to remember!)

After catching 11 fish in that area, we headed over to the Mouse Island area, where we set lines and immediately caught three more fish. Then, the east wind kicked up a little bit, and brought in colder air. My guys got chilly and we decided to call it a day.

We ended the day with 14 nice fish, with the largest going a hefty 31 inches. Steve and Jeremy kept 5 males for the frying pan, and released all the females.

On a side note, we did have one fish that sunk a board and ended up biting off my expensive custom colored Bandit. (sad face) I told Jeremy that it was either a state record walleye, or one of those elusive Muskies that have been showing up in the Western Basin the past few years. He said, "With my record, it was probably a state record Sheephead". lol

They told me they had a great time, and loved the brownies...then, headed home. They are looking forward to their April trip, and can't wait to come back up, and that made me happy.

My next trip is this coming Saturday...hopefully, the forecast doesn't change, because these guys are driving in Friday afternoon from the Sioux Falls area. I'll check the weather forecast tomorrow, so if it changes, I can stop them before they drive all the way out here. They are planning on fishing one day with me to learn the areas, and then fish out of their own boat for a couple days after. I would hate to see them come all this way, and not be able to get out, due to weather.

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls

[Fishonphil]

A great detailed report, well done Capt Juls

Ahhhh brownies

[weekendwarrior]

Great report jules

[branhamautomotive]

On the p10 program. About what depth does 20/20 and 30/30 target. I know speed becomes a major factor as well.

[Capt Juls]

On the p10 program. About what depth does 20/20 and 30/30 target. I know speed becomes a major factor as well.

Example...with the 1oz snap weight...

The Perfect 10 runs at 9 foot with 60' of line out....

The 1oz weight at 30/30 will make it run at 12'...

Reason being...for every 10' of line, you can figure it adds 1 foot of depth, so if you put it on at 30 feet...30+3=3 feet

So, 9 plus 3 equals 12 foot.

That's what I was taught anyway...

Make sense?

[branhamautomotive]

Kind of. Lol. Just as a try to apply it backwards to the 20/20 I don't understand why you would do that when you could flat line and get the same depth with a reasonable amount of line out. Cause if I follow 20/20 would be about 9 ft down and 60 ft out gives the same apron depth. What's Tha advantage or disadvantages.

Thanks for the info.

[Capt Juls]

Kind of. Lol. Just as a try to apply it backwards to the 20/20 I don't understand why you would do that when you could flat line and get the same depth with a reasonable amount of line out. Cause if I follow 20/20 would be about 9 ft down and 60 ft out gives the same apron depth. What's Tha advantage or disadvantages.

Thanks for the info.

The less line you can run behind inline planer boards, the better. Reason being...less work and less potential tangles when bringing outside boards in over the inside boards.

[branhamautomotive]

Makes sense there.

So if I follow correctly 20/20 should be 9 to 10 ft, and following example 40/40 would be approx 14 to 15ft? If I am correct then I follow. If not correct then I don't know. Lol. Maybe I will reread in the morning after some sleep.

Thanks again to all that share info to help others out.

[Capt Juls]

Makes sense there.

So if I follow correctly 20/20 should be 9 to 10 ft, and following example 40/40 would be approx 14 to 15ft? If I am correct then I follow. If not correct then I don't know. Lol. Maybe I will reread in the morning after some sleep.

Thanks again to all that share info to help others out.

P-10 back 80' w/no weight = 10'
40/40 with 1oz = 14' (If the formula is correct)

Just remember that speed will effect the depth too. I forgot to mention that these are based on a speed of 1.0mph. The faster you go the higher the baits will rise in the water column.

[jdff21]

juls am i correct with this thinking of the 40/40 planer board then weight 40' back. then stick bait 40' back from weight

P-10 back 80' w/no weight = 10'
40/40 with 1oz = 14' (If the formula is correct)

Just remember that speed will effect the depth too. I forgot to mention that these are based on a speed of 1.0mph. The faster you go the higher the baits will rise in the water column.