Waukegan 6-12 thru 6-14

[Captain Rick Bentley]

Two weeks ago stiff North winds had us seeing our breathe on 3-5 waves, still battling some decent numbers of fish but wondering where the heck Spring was. However, the past weekend showed us the more beautiful side of the big water with mostly sunny conditions, little or no wind at all and a near glass-calm Lake Michigan.

Unfortunately we took the latter at the expense of some slower fishing and by bad luck, poor Joe G. has already been fishing twice and bookended a stretch of some really good fishing in between. However, his nephew Nicholas who is 7 years old, hauled in the first fish we had on Sunday afternoon - an 8lb Lake Trout - which will hopefully lead him to tell tales for many years of the one that didn't get away. But I hope Joe isn't done chasing something larger than his 15lb Chinook from last year but I told him we may have to sacrifice his 'lucky' Detroit Lions hat to the Lake the next time he comes! Can there really be a 'lucky' Lions hat?

Friday's and Saturday's charters saw good company, good times and more great weather and we took a handful of fish each afternoon. After polishing off some of Leno's finest subs (a Waukegan institution), JT and Brad both caught fish but I think 'Big Stine' may have caught the biggest again. We'll never hear the end of it. So not stellar as fishing goes but as we saw in May, fishing can change on a dime with one trip seeing us catch 5 fish and then the next morning witnessing 15 or more again. It's that possibility that honestly gets me excited to hit the water every time because you really never know what's in store. We are also entering the time of year in which we start to catch a larger variety of fish and bigger fish. The Coho are achieving weights of 6-8lbs now and we have also been taking more Lake Trout. And while we have already caught some large Chinook Salmon and Rainbow Trout (steelhead), we will continue see these types fish in greater numbers as Spring becomes Summer. This is the time of year when you won't know what's on the end of the line until it's in the boat!

The morning of Father's Day is booked this Sunday but the afternoon remains free if anybody needs or wants to give a fun and unique gift to their Dad.

Thanks for reading,

Capt Rick