The old saying "Wind from the South, hook right in the fishes mouth" was true to form on Thursday.
We took off a little after 6, with only two of the four out of the "Waukegan Wally " pack. One was sick, and the other (Not mentioning any names ) was too tired from work.
There were a few charters out and they set up in the 20`s and 30`s with nothing really hot and heavy. I took one for the team as I set up on the line and took it shallow, into the low teens. I didn`t have enough action to call them in, nor to stay there for myself. We were now around 42° 48`N and I pointed it out and found the coho were a little more abundant. The blue liz and a Stanley Stinger silver/black/red peanut flie on the boards 50` back, in 30 feet of water, were the hot combinations. It didn`t take long for us to reach our three man limit, and after shaking off a couple at the end, it was off to breakfast for Wally and his uncle.

As soon as I saw the way the morning bite was going, I called the afternoon trip and told them of the upcoming forecast of 25-35 MPH South winds that were due around 1. They obliged and were ready to head out around 10:30. The winds had picked up but it was still tolerable, there is no comparison between these and winds out of the North of the same intensity. I went back to the 30`s finding only a few fish willing to hit my presentation. Being the only boat out, and going by my previous afternoon trips, I pointed it East. The winds and waves were picking up, but so was the action. As I reached the 60`s we started to see doubles, and at 100` we had a quad go. I saw a few marks deep so I dropped two `riggers down 50` and 60`, as soon as the second one stopped, it took a hit. The guy who grabbed the rod had his first three fish take a shallow dipsey that was back 30` on the counter, this time it would be different. Rather than a few cranks of the handle bringing in a Coho, he had an 11 lb. King that didn`t want to show himself. After a few last ditch efforts to run, he was nestled next to some Coho in the cooler. I took it all the way out to 150` where the action had slowed, there I turned it back West and found a comfortable heading. We continued to see action, but as we reached that 100` mark, it picked up considerably. Another deep `rigger bite and guess who had on another King, talk about a horseshoe . They were near their 6 man limit and the rods were popping all over. After shaking off a couple and carefully freeing one with a pliers we had our fill, 25 Coho, 3 bo`s and the 2 Kings. Once we found the school, inspite of a few tangles, most of the action took place in a little over an hour. Even with the strong winds, the flies were out in force, my cabin looked like a commercial for insect repellent where a guy would sit in shorts .

Despite mother nature running the gauntlet with winds constantly changing, the fish are still very active right out of North Point. Hopefully everyone with holiday plans to head out will be able to get their fill as well. Good Luck!

"Wet Nets"
Captain Jim

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