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