# Memorial Day on C.J.



## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Things are definitely picking up but still spotty out there on the humps. I was fishing by 6:00 A.M. and had three nice keepers and 4 or 5 short fish by 7:05. After that I didn't catch another keeper until I left just before 11:00. I did find some more hammer handles and a few of those "C.J. keeper Crappies" that are 6 inches long and so many people put on stringers or in buckets. (pardon the editorial comment.) Several other regulars were there but by no means the crowd that we have seen on other past holidays. Almost everyone I saw had at least one keeper Walleye but no one had a lot. The lake was flat calm so we used small 1/16 and even 1/32 jigs. Green was the color today but that could change tomorrow.

Here is a pic of the two 21" eyes that fell for that little jig. There's a bigger version in my gallery.

See you out there.

MC


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## Hotntot (Jul 28, 2004)

Way to go Blueboat we only got the one yesterday 17 3/4" with maybe 7-8 short ones funny thing was we seemed to do better when it was calm than when the wind kicked up ... go figure! It's very encouraging see all these short fish  Thanks for the report see ya out there!


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

Made it out "brownin" sat tryin 2 troll 4 some anything but really tryin for crappie. We launched and started trollin to the marina when we hit our first fish in the gravel pit... it was a stinkin WB but it was 14 1/2. we hit up 4 or 5 more then headed 2 the marina. picked up some small crappie and a largemouth. We ended our day at that with some stress (long story) in-between.:G


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## cjbrown (May 22, 2007)

We started out slow, jigging. Decided to troll, did pretty well. Picked up 8 in a short time with two nice 20 in. fish. Other six were just 15 in. fish. Go small and slow.


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## Chemlab187 (Apr 29, 2007)

NICE FISH! :B 

Couldn't convince my fishing buddy to go this morning, then he wants to go this afternoon. I tried to convince him mornings are better, he wasn't hearing it.

So we get there about 2pm and troll from ramp to the control tower at the dam. Catch one "keeper" Crappie 6" :B  

We then troll SLOWLY from control tower to the park there by the dam. Caught nothing

We then troll from there towards the marina, make note of where the ol' roadbed is, make a loop by the rocks outside the marina area and troll back to the ramp. It was about 6:30pm by then and had started to rain and look ugly. We then put the scanoe on the car and drive over to the marina to catch 6" "Keeper" Crappies. We caught a few. meh.

I think fishing partner is tired of getting skunked :S 

How much is electronics playing a part in finding some walleyes? I don't have a Fishfinder yet, but am thinking of getting one.


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## Stretch (Apr 5, 2004)

We fished CJ Monday morning from about 6:30 til 10. Not as much boat traffic as I thought there would be but there seemed to be a ton of shore fisher folks. 
We did not even get a bite as far as the fishing goes, but was still nice just to be out.
Did see a OGF sticker in the back of a truck window, I believe the truck was red, I know the boat trailer was red and it looked like the trailer was for a Ranger boat. Might be the one BlueBoat says he always see's catching fish.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Stretch,

I believe you saw cjbrown's rig. He has the big 21 foot Ranger. I saw him out on the lake jigging then trolling as he reports in his post. The other "Red Ranger" is a 19 footer and he wasn't out yesterday.

See you out there.

MC


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## cjbrown (May 22, 2007)

Stretch, there's an OGF sticker on my truck, gray GMC and red trailer. Also met eyeguy the other day after we came off, was nice chatting with him for a few. Went out this am, only a few hammer handles, and boy we got into a few nice slab crappie. They were loving the pink 200 rip shad.


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## Stretch (Apr 5, 2004)

It probably was you cjbrown. You have a few other stickers also, one is walleye central I believe. Wish I could have met you. I am usually wearing a shirt or hat with Team OGF on them and my truck and my buddy's both have stickers, if anyone ever sees me out there give me a shout...


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## cjbrown (May 22, 2007)

Yup that was me, holler next time if you see me out.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

eyeguy "persuaded" me to go out again last night. We started off with a few good bites and I even broke one off. eyeguy pulled a nice 19" at about 7:00. After that it was miscellaneous W.B.'s, Crappies and some monster Fish Ohio class Bluegills with a few short Walleyes mixed in. I finally found a 16" eyeball at about 8:50 then it got too dark to see the lines.

Chemlab, I just noticed that no one has answered your electronics question. The Walleyes on C.J. are greatly inclined to bunch up on tiny points of structure. You must have a GPS to find those spots and a finder to see them. Unless you are really good at triangulating off water towers and trees you are in trouble in my humble opinion.

See you out there.

MC


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## Chemlab187 (Apr 29, 2007)

Thanks! I bought an Eagle Cuda 250 S Map! I know it is cheap, but I didn't own a Fishfinder/GPS so I thought I would try this out. 

I'll be there every morning I can manage to wake up. Green Scanoe. Yell at me if you see me.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Pardon my ignorance, but what the heck is a "scanoe?"

MC


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## eyeguy (Jun 13, 2005)

Decided to give the eyes a shot last night again. Had 2 fish in the boat (21'&19') whithin the first 30 min along with 8-9 shorties. It was hot and heavy for the first hour, and thought I would hold out till the storms hit. The weather hit around 7:45 tried to hold-out, but not much you can do with 30-35 mph+ winds....I've caught some real hogs in the past just before a front rolls thru.. I'll be out again Fri. eve. gonna take a night off............We surely won't have to worry about our future eye population at CJ---catching shorties out the ying-yang


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## Chemlab187 (Apr 29, 2007)

Scanoe/Ganoe - basically a large square back canoe, I think Coleman came up with the "scanoe" name, not sure.

I got there this morning about 7am, 3 boats already there. Caught 3 small walleye 10-13", and a bunch of small channel cat near/around the humps. Water was 75F and smooth as glass.

I saw 1 keeper caught, and heard of two others. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.


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## Hotntot (Jul 28, 2004)

I was out thursday am got one keeper ( 17 3/4") caught a few short ones along with a couple big crappie & bluegill. Water was dirty couldn't see prop in the water & alot of debris floating around. Tried trolling but only got 2 short ones. Talked to one regular who only trolls he said he has caught one keeper all year but I also talked to a guy in a Lowe boat who said they lost a nice fish ,I'm not sure how they ended up doing. I noticed the thermocline is setting up around 18 ft. in 24 FOW.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

I just got in from Lake Erie and boy are my arms tired. Three of us handled over 60 Walleyes (limits plus C & R) in two days of trolling. The biggest was an F.O. 28 1/2". In addition many large Sheephead in the 5 to 8 pound range made things even more interesting.

That place spoils you for anyplace else but I'll rest up and mow the grass tomorrow and be back on C.J. Sunday morning, weather permitting. I still like that finesse jigging better than anything.

See you out there.

MC


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

Lake erie is deffenitly the best. My opinion better than finesse jigging also but... sounds as if u guys did great. Those sheeps and walleyes sure do put up a fite.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

I was planning on trollin with bottom bouncers for walleye this weekend. Does any1 hav any fresh reports on wats goin on out there on cjb? thanks... sry 2 bring up an old thread :B


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## Chemlab187 (Apr 29, 2007)

Do you think trolling is better than jigging? I went there last week and caught a few non keepers. Did manage a couple good size white bass, a nice crappie, and a couple lil channels... Drifting crawler harnesses and jigs over the roadbed... Didn't have any luck at the humps, but could just be me.

I might try again tomorrow morning if I can wake up.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

As a general rule you will catch somewhat more Walleyes jigging, once you know what you are doing, but bigger ones trolling. I have, however, seen 9 pound Walleyes caught on jigs on the humps. Of course with trolling, you are using heavier tackle and sometimes planer boards or dipsey divers. To me those get in the way of the whole experience. I greatly prefer using medium to light tackle with the smallest jig I can get away with. It's more fun to actually feel the bite and set the hook than to just basically reel in a fish that hooks itself on a treble hook attached to a heavy rod. There is also the whole social thing with a bunch of us talking and busting each other's chops out there. You just can't shoot the bull with someone while you are trolling by.

That's my opinion and preference. Other guys can make an equally good argument for trolling.

See you out there.

MC


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

i think the jigging time is over and now its best 2 troll. jus my opinion and thats wat i heard also but idc if they hook themselves or not i wanna catch em' lol thanks guys


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## eyeguy (Jun 13, 2005)

The Jig bite hasnt even started yet---was out this eve.caught 20-25 shorties only 1 keeper --15 1/4 The weekend looks great, and the cooler temp seems to have helped get them going


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## socdad (Jul 25, 2005)

Going to give cj a try tomorrow am, last day of work today / first day of RETIREMENT tomorrow! Weather calls for bit of wind; any hints on jigging vs. drifting worm harness off a bottom bouncer / lead core line? I have a drift sock if it blows a bit too hard. Any suggestions will help this novice eye hunter.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

thanks 4 the updates. I always thought and once again thats wat i heard is the jgging is 4 the spring but i gess the colder temps may have brought it back into play?


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

congrats on the retirment... my dad loves it. anyway there are posts on this thread that describe what u want jus check around. and that 15 shorties sounds like a good population is coming up but we're only gettin 190,000 this year but the # could raise.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Unlike the Erie reefs, the jig bite at C.J. doesn't usually start up until AT LEAST mid to late May. It usually goes strong into mid-July and sometimes after that.

I can't imagine ever needing lead core line on C.J. If you look at the water temp/O2 content http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/wc/wq/cbr.html you will see that the thermocline is already setting up. There is relatively little oxygen in the deep water so those fish are likely to be shallow. If you are drifting across the humps with a jig make sure you are going slow enough to tick the bottom occasionally. A bottom bouncer harness should be out at about a 45 degree angle. The drift sock might be necessary but I think they get in the way if not really needed. BTW, you will lose some tackle drifting across there.

190,000 Walleye fingerlings is probably plenty. I've read a study that indicates that 40,000 per year might be enough for a lake the size of C.J. In over ten years out there I've never noticed a direct relationship between the number of little ones stocked and the fishing 3 - 4 years later. There are just too many other variables that affect their survival.

See you out there.

MC


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## Chemlab187 (Apr 29, 2007)

Thanks for keeping the info flowing in this thread. 

I went out this morning from ~6:30-10:30am. Caught 2 smallish White Bass, no Eyes 

I was drifting a crawler harness and a white/green jig. Probably try again over the weekend.

When you say "shallow" I assume you mean 10-15ft deep, not shallower correct?


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

The most consistent depth is around 9 - 12 feet. HOWEVER, I have caught Walleyes as shallow as 6 feet and I know guys who get them even shallower on occasion. There are places where they will spread out on shallow flats. This is especially true at night.

MC


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