Started off on Thursday morning with a long time customer and his brother who came up for a visit. The fish were scattered, and there was no early bite to speak of. I took it North of the line and worked the area between 60` and 135`, from the line to 2 miles North. Marks were spotty but there was plenty of bait. The fish we did manage to entice had full bellies. We ended up 4/8 with 2 coho and 2 kings.
The group was up from Missouri, they didn`t care about some of the 8`-10` swells we were about to encounter. It was an afternoon trip followed by a morning and we fished in Illinois waters. We held back the start time to 2 O`clock hoping the winds would die down. There were other charter boats out and they were all working different levels from 70`- 110`. I went past them and set up right on the line in 120, hoping someone would eventually find the fish. I took an angle going with the strong Northwest winds. When we reached the 140`s blown all the way down to 42* 26` we finally found some fish. It was very "Fish-able" going with it or into it, but the turns were brutal. I was able to run 4 dipseys after tightening the release`s, until we were hit by an honest 10 footer where they all popped. Needless to say we were out of the program for a while. The Stinger Kevorkian, and neon blue dolphin were the studs on the `riggers down 60` and 72`. The rest of the hits were various spoons and dodger flie combo`s. We ended up 8/15 loosing many fish to the relentless action of the waves. I did all I could to keep the speed at 1.9 mph at the ball which had the GPS anywhere from 1.3-2.6 kts. depending on direction, North or South, and whether we were climbing or descending a wave.
On Saturday morning the Lake settled down a bit and I returned to the 130` depth right on the line pointing it South. I had the first rod fire 4 times, (Stinger Kevorkian down 52`) landing one, before I could get the second rod set. That laid the foundation for the way our day was going to go, we ended up 16 for 35 :shock: , and yes they were counting, with a few break-offs. It didn`t seem to matter what was down, direction or anything else. We found a hungry school, that was hanging around in a cold pocket of water. I utilized my "Depth Raider" and as soon as I saw the temp go up, I turned back and stayed in the 5* cooler water. After the initial flurry the action slowed a bit but we still had pokes for the length of the trip. Speed was 2.0 to 2.2 , `riggers down 45` to 80` again with the smaller Stinger spoons seemed to work best.
On the afternoon I took it right back to where I ended up, the pocket of cold water was gone and so was the action. It was slow for all the Charters I spoke with and my group was camping at the State Park,and they were beat from sitting around the campfire the night before. The rain started and that reminded them that they left their belongings unprotected from the elements at the campsite. They decided to come in early, and as I was pulling rods the fish seemed to turn on as we took 2 hits in quick succession. I heard other Charters mention the bite had turned on for them as well. The last rod out was the Kevorkian on the lead which I left for last, as it had 3 hits already. This was the stud bait taking 9 out of 10 hits, I had one on the lead and 2 on the `riggers. I put two turns of the handle to retrieve the spoon and it was slammed. They all thought I was goofing around when I yelled that someone needed to take over, they thought I was just trying to pass off "Bringing in the lead". Then they saw the bent rod and the fight was on. Since all the lines were in I was able to pop the boat in and out of neutral (just to maintain direction) and were able to gain on the fish. This turned a possible 30 minute battle down to a 15. The first time we made it to the leader, it made a run and took 3 colors out, we went back and forth a few times, but in the end managed to land a King just under 21 pounds.
On Sunday morning there were too many boats to contend with fishing on the hill. I took it out to 120` and headed South, it was really tough to fish with all the maneuvering required to avoid snagging another boats lines. I took it out of the pack loosing my prized Kevorkian on the lead as the lead couldn`t handle the load on the other end. That was it for a good hour, I missed the morning bite. By 8 many of the boats had left and I took it out to 130`. I took a mixed bag of coho, Kings, and Steelies, going 13 for 20 something. I worked an area of marks from the line to a mile South between 120` and 140`. The Luhr Jensen dodger/flie combos seemed to work best. Lil boy blue/ smoke, banana rig, white behind mystery, aqua behind orange took the bulk of the hits. Baits were down 48` -72`.
The afternoon trip the bite had slowed, and there were a few other boats working the area. No one had the answer to get the fish to bite, I went 8 for 13 with 3 smaller ones that were unable to pop the release. I caught my first brown of the year, they sure are pretty fish.
On Monday Morning there was a good early bite if you were able to get to the pocket of fish in 80`- 100`. I was surprised with the amount of boat traffic for a weekday and I missed out on all the hot action as I was driving rather than fishing. It was blowing pretty good from the Southwest and my first `rigger up broke off the weight as it came out of the water just as a wave hit the boat. This was how my day was going to be. We ended up 9 for 15 or so, with some boats bringing in 15 plus fish. I couldn`t find the mojo the fish wanted.
On Monday afternoon I took out a group from Ed Shirlies in Palatine. The wind was really honking now, and despite it coming from the West/Southwest we had white caps in 70`. I had to have both engines going to maintain course when heading into it, and it seemed that I was doing 10 Kts. when the GPS read 2.0. The first and biggest fish was once again caught by the woman of the group
They brought me some whole herring and it took 3 fish off a `rigger, the stud by far were the dipseys with green behind white and green behind green 150` back on a # 3 wire. Early on the Silver Streak "Purple Tiger" was going strong,the lead with the Stinger Kevorkian took a few fish as well. We ended up 16 for 20 something.
On Tuesday morning I was able to find a spot for the early morning bite and went 4/7 in the first 45 minutes. The first fish on, taking a Silver Streak Green Dolphin (Glow Back) broke the swivel, and we manage to box the next few. The lil` guy on the boat, Dustin,took the next hit and this time it bit off the fly. Not getting off to a good start. There was an extremely strong current, it only took a few minutes to make it to the North and forever to get back South. Guess what I set up right on the line and was fishing Illinois. I zig-zagged to get away from the line and took the bulk of the hits heading Southwest, but once I pointed it North we had really good action. The problem was wasting time trying to get South to troll in the preferred direction of the fish. I had the engine running at a speed that would put me at 5 kts. without any current, and when I was with it I the throttle was all the way back and it felt as if we were standing still, yet the "Depth Raider" read 2.4 mph at the ball. Any way we ended up 13 for 20 something taking 12 Kings and a Steelie. Stinger sized spoons were on the lead, and they were either on fire or dead. We wouldn`t have any hits on them or they would both go.
With the winds we`ve been having the surface temp was 60* at the harbor mouth. I saw marks in 30` on the way out but wasn`t brave enough to stop. Had I`ve been "Fun Fishing" it would have been different. There was both bait and fish, or were they perch?
If you`re headin` out it might be worth checking out the really shallow water.
"Wet Nets"
Captain Jim
North Point 7/20-7/25
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