# July 1 C.J.



## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

I'll start a new thread since it's a new month. 

Hit C.J. a little after six this morning. Eyeguy and son were already there. I pulled an 18 pretty quick and Eyeguy got one a little over 19. Then nothing for a long time. I left to look around - mistake. Eyeguy pulled 4 more and lost a 22 at the boat. I went back up beside him but didn't find anything more than a couple of shorties. We both left at about 11:30.

Water temp at about 77 degrees. Steady SW wind was pretty hard on the trolling motor batteries. I have to miss tomorrow but will be out early Sunday and Monday. See you out there.

BTW, Watercraft has been inspecting heavily at the C.J. ramp this year. I've seen them four times myself in the past 3 weeks. I saw a boat sent home today because he didn't pass. Make sure you've got all your required gear when you go out there.

MC


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## bmffishing247 (Apr 14, 2004)

I was testing out my new Merc 25. Your right dnr is really checking boats out there. while i was out there probaly close to 5 boats got turned away because of not having propper gear. i really enjoyed seeing a couple of guys in a ski boat get angry. maybe that is just wrong but sometimes i see these ski boats just blow past some fisherman in little boats just trying to enjoy some fishing. kinda gets my blood boiling.  

I was in the green and tan starcraft.

BMF


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Good day out there today. Surprisingly few fishing boats for a holiday weekend. It's fair to say that basically anyone that had a clue about C.J. Walleyes was taking some quality fish jigging the humps. Only a couple of trollers - don't know how they were doing. Most jiggers had about 3 or 4 keepers per man along with tons of short fish (be careful with those guys.) Also, very few Crappies, Bluegills, White Bass or Cats today. Although one 8 pound cat was pulled in. One had a limit when he left at about 10:00 including a 22 and a 23. I had four - 3 seventeens and a twenty. I left before 11:30 to avoid the nut jobs. I'll be back out early in the A.M.

MC


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## DZimmer_1 (Jul 3, 2005)

I am one of the few that had no clue lol, I was out there today trying my luck at walleye for the first time ever. I was in the little old green trihull and the day got off to a bad start from the get go. The ripcord on the motor broke at the launch ramp this morning forceing me to use just the trolling motor, My brother in law got a late start puting me out there at 9:30 rather than 6:30 and my first attempt at eyes came up a bust although I did enjoy watching you all reel them in quite often. I did get into alot of white bass right before I left. I had switched to a worm harness with a spinner and they took to that like candy but no walleye. I used pink, green and pumpkin jigs tipped with a nightcrawler all morning and got only one bite but I didn't join in the crowd right on the humps and was limited as to how much exploring I could do with the fish finder ... I was just worried about making it back to the ramp. I WILL be out there again though, possibly even tomorrow morning if I can fix the ripcord as i really don't have anything better to do till eavening. I had a great time and I am very excited about targeting walleye


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

DZimmer_1,

Most of us regulars will give you some tips if you observe and ask nicely. All of us have learned from a combination of years of trying and the advice of others. There's also a lot of practice involved in feeling the typical Walleye "tap" on the line. Many Walleye bites are much lighter than is expected for the size of the fish and a lot of bites are missed. 

Just don't be an uninvited "paylaker" like that white boat that came up on my marker and practically tied up to the guys next to me. Those guys do not get any help. He didn't catch any fish either.

MC


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## DZimmer_1 (Jul 3, 2005)

I would never barge in on somones spot, I hate it when people do that to me while turkey or deer hunting therefore I don't do it to others. I have learned a good bit from just reading these posts over time alone and the humps were easy to find this morning with the combination of a map, depth finder and 6 boats siting in the same spot  Thats a start I guess but I am sure there are more of them out there yet to be found with the depth finder. BTW, I have lurked around here quite a bit over the last few months and the cj threads are what pushed me to try for walleyes. I am from Troy and CJ is pretty close by although i have only fished there a few times. It really reminds me of bigwater fishing on a small lake, after all it is hard to find a lake in our area that is more than 6 feet deep and after I made it 6 feet from the ramp my depth finder never went below 14


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## ketchabiggin (Mar 31, 2005)

In response to Blueboat's last post and addressed to all the Walleye 'regulars' at CJ.......What exactly is the 'right' way to approach the honey hole. For example, the regulars are fishing the humps and I as a novice want to fish the humps also. How do I approach the area and 'join in' without being branded a paylaker. I realize the lake belongs to us all but a certain amount of common sense is in order. I just want to do the right thing and cash in on those tips that Blueboat wrote about. 
I'll take this opportunity to thank Doc Lange for the catfishing tips he gave early this spring. As a result I was able to spend several enjoyable days catching channels because he took the time to spread the good word.

Jim


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

I don't want to set myself up as some big authority on C.J. Walleyes. I'm a fairly successful regular but I don't know beans compared to some of the real experts out there. I can sit right beside some of these guys and get murdered every time. After 9 years I still learn something almost every trip. Some of the best fishermen never show their faces on Saturday and Sunday. You have to do the weekdays to find them. At least a couple of them visit this site.

As far as sharing the humps, they cover a pretty big area, especially out in the middle near the creekbed. I've never seen a time when there wasn't a place for everyone. Sometimes the boats get pretty close just naturally and that's a good time to talk to folks. Just use common sense and stay clear of the direction he is fishing. Ask questions about color, size, presentation, direction, speed, whatever. Admit that you don't know what the H you are doing if that's the case. If you get snubbed, ask someone else. That really won't happen too often if you are being nice about it. You will also not learn everything in a couple of trips. Like I said, I've been doing this for 9 years and I still feel like a rookie sometimes.

DZimmer_1, I saw you near us. Would it surprise you to learn that we were in 12.5 feet of water? There are humps within the humps. Sometimes they hold fish, sometimes they don't. It's all a part of the fun.

See you out there.

MC


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## ketchabiggin (Mar 31, 2005)

Thanks for the heads-up Blueboat. I will try to make it out on the humps on Tues. morning. I plan on jiggiing 1/4 oz. white or chartruse jigs with half a crawler. If I don't do ant good I will troll Hot'n Tots for a while. If you are out there and see a green Lund it'l probably be me. Hope to meet up with you. Just don't throw any rocks at me.

Jim
P.S. 1/4 oz. too heavy??


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

Ketch,
Use as light a jig as possible, 1/16 is what I use 90% of the time. Anything with pink is good on cj. I am going to be on the sidelines for a week or two, I have a
newborn son in the house. I am going through withdrawals already, I am used to fishing M-F every week so it will be tough but it is worth it


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## DZimmer_1 (Jul 3, 2005)

I didn't get the recoil on the motor fixed so it looks like it might be next weekend before I get back out there, wish I could hit it on a weekday but my job prevents that from happening. I was useing 1/8th. jigs yesterday, I had some 1/16th. jigs that I never tried. come to think of it thats about all I didn't try lol. Do they bite at night on CJ? Thats about my only chance of weekday fishing and I saw firsthand what the place gets like after lunch on the weekends yesterday. I have a funny feeling it wasn't even that busy then compared to what it can get like


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## itroll2 (Jun 3, 2004)

congrats pete. hope all are doing fine. i have not been out for a little over a week. had knee surgury and didnt want to fall in.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

C.J. was a different story this morning. I only saw or heard of 5 keepers caught on the humps in three different boats with 6 guys. I'm sure there were more with as many boats as were there today. That was also not like yesterday. I got another 20" but it was while trolling from one spot to another. Big fish were marking all over the electronics just a foot or two off the bottom but simply would not hit. I tried various colors and sizes of jigs with crawlers and leeches plus a spinner that often provokes a hit. I skeedadled at 11:15 and still had to deal with launch ramp knuckleheads. To make things more complicated they even had little kids fishing in the "Derby" off the only halfway decent courtesy dock. 

This front may put them down even more for a couple of days. I won't be back out until this weekend.

MC


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## fishb8t (May 15, 2004)

i went out today from 6:30 to 9:30. my buddy got a 15" eye, that was his 1st walleye ever. a little later i got a small cat. a guy that set up really close to me got 3 eyes that where under 16".


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## EYEBUSTER (Mar 19, 2005)

I found the bluegill & small perch. Didn't even find the small walleyes sunday. Did see a few short ones caught. I left @ 9:00am to avoid the holiday "fun" at the CJ boat ramp. It is quite fun to watch as long as you are not in the lines waiting. Hopefully they will turn on again this week.


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## Hotntot (Jul 28, 2004)

Congrats fshman_165 !! I was out Sun am also but had to work a 3rd shift & didn't get there to the humps until around 8 or so. I think I was just a little farther down from you Blueboat, I was in the tan crestliner . I managed 3 keepers & met & talked w/ David1159 (?) while jigging. around 10:30 or so I decided to start trolling by the roadbed & gravel pits I didn't catch anything but huge WB so I trolled out by the humps & got 3 keepers & a few short fish. I heard the roadbed was real good that day too for jigging. I was out sat am but all I could get was short fish but I wasn't able to set up exactly where I wanted since there was already 2-3 boats on the spot @ 5:30 am ! Ketchabiggin, I agree with fshman I usually use 1/16th oz jigs unless it's real windy then I might use a 1/8 oz & I fish w/ 6 # test. I have a ? for you all how do I get the thread to start w/ the original or first post ? I must've changed a setting because when I click a post I get the last one instead of the first post so I have to scoll down to see the first one & I like it better the other way.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Hotntot,

I did see the tan Crestliner south of me. It was hard to miss the fish on Sunday. A great day.

To change your options you must be logged in and go to the "User CP" at the top left of the page. "Edit Options" is a choice on the pulldown. In the middle of the various options to change is a box called "Thread Display Options." I think that's what you're looking for.

I'll be out again on Saturday. Good luck if you get out this week.

MC


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## ketchabiggin (Mar 31, 2005)

I wanted to go this morning real baad! I had to do my civic duty instead. ....had jury duty. I think I'll try it this evening otherwise I can go till Sunday or Monday morning. Hope to see some of you this evening.


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## ketchabiggin (Mar 31, 2005)

.............so I went. Nothing doing for me. Trolled Hot'n Tots for a while, trolled crawler harnesses for a while, and jigged for a while. One little WB. I swear when I pulled him out of the the water he had a smile on his face!


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Well, I would have been out there too if I could have gotten away. I was in my backyard thinking how nice it would be on the water. Thanks for the report. This hot, stable weather may get them going again in a day or two.

MC


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## Buckeye Ron (Feb 3, 2005)

Fish Rookie, a real rookie and myself tried CJ today  , got there late in the morning. Found fish schooled in 14ft of water off the point. Used Blueboats' advice and were able to land several small eyes  . Caught crappie, catfish and a perch, I swear the perch was a little bigger then my jig head. But man they wanted nightcrawlers. White jigs worked the best today. They quit after maybe 2 hours and then we trolled :T with boards, just 1 nice crappie. But it was better than being at work for sure. First time for me putting out 4 boards :C , was quite interesting. But we will be back, not too bad of time getting off the lake during the week.
Ron


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## fshman_165 (May 26, 2004)

Thanks Hotntot and Itroll, kid has kept us busy  i hope to be out next week.


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## kingfisher (Nov 29, 2004)

you guys have me interested in fishing these "humps" now for walleye. Ill be sure to bring my canoe and smartcast up there sometime next week. I do have a couple of easy questions though. 
Since i have a canoe, what is the closest put in area to the humps (if there are multiple put in areas)?
Where is the nearest bait shop to C.J.?
have you guys found there is a certain time of day the walleye bight best?
Thanks a ton
kingfisher


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## DZimmer_1 (Jul 3, 2005)

kingfisher said:


> you guys have me interested in fishing these "humps" now for walleye. Ill be sure to bring my canoe and smartcast up there sometime next week. I do have a couple of easy questions though.
> Since i have a canoe, what is the closest put in area to the humps (if there are multiple put in areas)?
> Where is the nearest bait shop to C.J.?
> have you guys found there is a certain time of day the walleye bight best?
> ...


I have heard early morning and early eavening are both great. the humps I fished were pretty close to the boat launch and I WOULD NOT want to be out there in a canoe when the power boats were on the run. I swear the 1 time I was out there they tried to see how close they could get to us. On one occasion a large boat went by at probably 40 and couldn't have been 75 feet away from the two of us sitting there fishing. i am sure there are some areas you could fish from a canoe though. I am heading back out in the morning early i hope, still have to fix the recoil on my motor but i might hit it again with the trolling motor if i dont


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

There is only one boat ramp at C.J. and it's over a mile from the most popular humps out by the creekbed. You can easily get to the roadbed that DZimmer was on last week. It's straight out from the ramp only 1/4 mile or so. If you find yourself in water 25 - 30 feet deep head west until it comes up to around 14. The power boats are not bad early in the morning but get progressively worse as the day goes on. Tomorrow may be bad by about 11:00 since it will be a beautiful, warm Saturday.

The nearest Bait Shop depends upon which way you are coming in. From the east stop at Marine Works at the corner of US 40 and Bird Rd. From the west the Bait House is on Croft Rd just before the turnoff to the lake. There are others on Rt. 4 further north but at least two of them aren't open until long after I go by there.

Generally early morning and near sunset are good times but we have caught nice Walleyes on hot, still days with the sun beating down at noon. It doesn't say that in the books but it's true.

I'll be out early tomorrow and Sunday. Perhaps I'll see you there.

MC


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Things started out great this morning as Eyeguy boated a 24.5 inch five-plus pound fish before 6:30. There were only three boats out there to witness it. He released it because he feels like I do about some fish being too big to keep. After that nothing happened for a really long time. I went north and caught a couple of short fish and trolled back down after a while. Did not find anyone with keepers. Sat near Eyeguy and a ton of other boats for a while and only found a few more shorties. I did meet Buckeye Ron and Crappies4ever for the first time. I went in to the roadbed and finally caught a 16" Walleye. Three different boats in there had one keeper per man. One was trolling harnesses and two were jigging. I went back out with Eyeguy for a while and he had 3 keepers when I left at noon. All were from a very narrow spot on a specific hump in a specific direction. That's the way it works out there sometimes.

Remarkably few pleasure boats out today for a beautiful Saturday and no trouble on the ramp. I'll be back out in the morning.

MC


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## ReRobb (Feb 13, 2005)

I'll be out in the a.m. as well, with my buddy Aarron.

Been out there once last year, and my motor died about 20 min into the fish, so had to come back home.

I've been reading, worm harnessess, and 1/8 oz jigs tipped with worms or minnows, but nobody ever says what colors.

P.s. will be driving a '03 Ford Ranger, green with a white tonneau cover in a green 14' Sears gamefisher trihul, white motor. say hey.

RE


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

ReRobb,

The "go-to" color for almost everyone is pink. Others that often work are red, chartreuse, gold, or firetiger. Less common but sometimes good are white, orange, and black. Go with 1/16 oz if the water is calm enough to maintain contact and tip with 1/3 to 1/2 crawler or a whole leech. No minnows this time of year.

MC


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## Buckeye Ron (Feb 3, 2005)

Blueboat you did a lot better then we did today. No Eyes, white bass & cats only today. Caught everything on worm harness. One set up as a bottom bouncer and the rest trolling :T . One on the hump at the camp ground and another on front of the land mass that juts out from the dam area close to the beach. 
Talked with a gentleman who had the canvas color Lund. He said that the had caught two keepers and a bunch of shorts around the gravel pit area. Said that they had limited out last weekend.
I am headed down to Deer Creek in the AM, see if I can get into the saugeyes.
Pleasure meeting you today Blueboat.  
Ron


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## ReRobb (Feb 13, 2005)

Thanks for the info BlueBoat, much appreciated. Maybe we'll be seein ya in the am?


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## DZimmer_1 (Jul 3, 2005)

Well this eavening was a learning expierience. I went out on the roadbed from the ramp for an hour and a half and got nothing. Sometime around 5 i headed on out to the creekbed and fished there amongst a few others till I left at 11:30 p.m. ... I was geting discouraged as all I got into where a few crappie and 3 catfish BUT persistence pays off I guess. I moved around and fished anything that looked good on the depth finder till I finally caught 3 walleye right before dark. they were all small, the largest was 13 inches but I was just glad to catch a few. After dark I headed back in the direction of the launch ramp stoping to fish the rest of the eavening on the roadbed out there and lucked into 2 more small walleye and 4 more catfish. I watched some fireworks in the distance as I fished, I have to say it was very relaxing as the water was so calm and the boats were all moving slow rather than flying by making a 2 foot wake. I was also surprised how many trailers were still there when I left, there were even a few boats launching. Oh and 1 more thing I learned today, I just recently started useing electronics to fish as all i ever did was crappie fish now and then. A throw out marker is a must have lol. i tried to stay on the area I caught the first 3 at useing the depth finder and the first boat that came along wrecked that plan. I spent the next 20 miniutes trying to find that spot again with no luck at all. I WILL be buying a few of those next week


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

One of the cool things about C.J. is that you almost never get skunked even if you don't catch what you are after. Several of us were unable to find any keeper Walleyes this morning. The short fish were hitting pretty dependably on small jigs. In addition to Walleye 14" and shorter this morning I caught respectable specimens of ALL of the following: White Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Perch (not all that respectable), Carp (5 lbs) and a 16.5 inch maybe 2.5 pound Smallmouth Bass. It was fun and I didn't really need anymore fillets, anyway. All of the above were returned to the water to grow some more.

On the way in eyeguy stopped and asked one of the Sunday regulars how he was doing. Set up on a hump that is not on the normal tour for most of us, he and his partner had 9 keepers! His partner is the guy in the Canvas Green Lund that Buckeye Ron talked to yesterday. Some guys are just magical when it comes to finding those fish.

I'll be sitting out the rain this week and back on the water Saturday or Sunday.

MC


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## ReRobb (Feb 13, 2005)

Was that you on the north end of the humps that caught the 20" carp?

We were in the Green sears trihull, out from 6:45am till 9:00pm.

Had an eventful day, caught 4 walleye,only one was keeper, and a bunch of catfish, and whitebass.

also helped a capsized boat back to shore, helped them bail it out then towed him back to the ramp. I'll tell you, them speed boaters show absolutly NO COURTESY whatsoever  We were :T on the west bank, minding our own, and it seemed like we were a target or somthin. Instead of speeding around in the middle of the WIDE OPEN (nobody out there) lake, the all had to be buzzin around the edges where we were trying to fish, and literally come within 20yds from us.What a bunch of crap.

Oh well, we still had a good day of fishing.

Thanks again for all your help on location, lures, and colors.


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## BlueBoat98 (Nov 5, 2004)

Yup, I sat there pulling up one shortie after another but couldn't find a big'un. The Carp was the second most fun I had all day - the Smallie was #1. 

The "pleasure" boats are the reason a lot of us regulars don't stay past late morning on the weekends. Of course, a few of the big-bore fishing boats aren't much better as they go blasting through in a hurry to get to another spot.

Say hi if you're out there again.

MC


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