Fishing with Laura, Denny, and Tim 6/16/18

I showed up there at 4:20, and was starving, so I went ahead and ordered without my crew, because I wanted to hit the bait shop and Mazurik's ahead of them, so I could get the rods ready before they showed up.

They showed up right on time, we chatted, and they ordered. When their food arrived, I said, "Im going to go hit the bait shop for some ice, and I'll meet you at Mazurik's when you're done...no hurry!"  I wasn't sure if I was going to start with crawlers or Flicker Minnows and spoons, and would decide when I got in the boat. The crawler rods were on the top of the rod locker....so hey...that's what I chose. lol

It was a strange weather morning...I was watching the RadarScope app to keep an eye on a thunderstorm that was approaching. I wasn't sure how much time we would have on the water if its direction and strength stayed on course for us.  

The morning was otherwise, nice. It was warm, mostly coudy, and a light breeze was blowing out of the SSW. Water temps were at 66.8-67.2 degrees.

We launched at 5:30 and headed out of the channel at 5:37, and headed to the SE corner of Kelly's. I didn't want to go far, in case we needed to dart back in if there was any lightning, or the radar showed me something unsafe was closing in on us.   That and the fact that there are lots of fish in the area, I figured we couldn't go wrong.

They were celebrating Denny Young's birthday (Laura bought this trip as his gift), and Denny wanted to learn how to run the Off Shore boards, so he could run the ones he bought recenly, out of his boat.  When he told me that at breakfast, I said, "I will have you all running the Off Shores like a well oiled machine by mid morning".  I didn't lie...by mid morning they were doing great, and had the routine down pretty well.

As we watched the sky darken to the west of the Bass Islands, and witnessed a few lightning bolts, we noticed that the sky to the south was not so bad. Checking the radar app again, I found that the storms would stay to the north and to the south of us, and that we were right in line for some pretty decent weather, if we stayed where we were.  

I had made a pass from the SE corner of Kelly's to the east end of American Eagle Shoal with only 4 fish to show for it. Crawler harness with 1oz inlines were run at 30 and 40 and the 2oz inlines were run at 23 and 27, while the 4 oz bottom bouncer bounced off the port side corner.  Unlike yesterday, the bottom bouncer didn't take any fish this morning.

We decided to move....I looked at the app one more time...then, the sky. I determined that it was best to take them west to the Mouse Island area, and maybe try trolling Flicker Minnows around Scott Point Shoal....on over to Starve. But, when I got there, I didn't mark what I wanted to see on the Helix, so I kept going SW to Catawba Point.  I drove on to just about in front of Catawba State Park and decided the water was a little muddy and I was only marking a fish here and there.

The funny thing was....on the east side of Mouse (all over) the wind was out of the SE, but on the west side of Mouse, the wind and waves were out of the SW. I decided to turn the boat and head NW towards E can, but when I got between F and E cans the Helix was marking some good fish. I figured it was a good place to start.

Down went the Ulterra, and I set a course towards Green Island, which was about 1 1/2 miles off in the distance.  This time we ran Flicker Minnow at 45/57/65/80 back, and Tru-Trip Jets at 35 and 39 back...at a speed of 2.1-2.3 mph.  It was a steady pick at them, but nothing really fast. The fish were mostly in the 16-17 inch size, but there were a few bigger ones too.  It gave Denny and his crew a chance to practice retrieving and setting the Off Shores, but I have to confess, the Stinger and Yeck Spoons were outnumbering the catch rate over the Flickers'.

They had mentioned that they wanted to do some perch fishing too, so I had gotten some Emerald Shiners at Hi Way Bait this morning too. I told them that after they hit their limit of walleye, we could go look for some perch. I wanted to try a spot out there in the triangle between American Eagle, Starve Island, and Scott Point Shoal. I had marked a lot of fish on the bottom on yesterday's trip, and marked it on the GPS.

After they got their limits of walleye we cleaned up and got ready to perch fish. We went and found that spot I had mentioned, and set up on the spot using the Minn Kota Ulterra's Spot Lock option. (I never stop being amazed by how nice it is not to have to use an anchor anymore).

The perch bite was slow, but we managed to put 20 nice specimens in the cooler. The conversation was enjoyable and there were good tunes on the Bose, so only an up and down bite would have made it better! It was a good time! :)

My crew expressed how much fun they had, and their plans to come back again next season....and, that makes me happy! :)  

I had a great time with Laura, Denny, and Tim today. They had a great attitude, sense of humor, and learned quickly, and I can't ask for more than that!

Tomorrow and Monday are scheduled off. The heat index tomorrow sucks, so I'm glad I didn't schedule anything. Monday, I have business to take care of, so that's scheduled off too. I'll be back at it on Tuesday.

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls