by David Dickinson
"Going to be lotta chum in the water today."
So spoke a grizzled charter boat captain early on a July morning as he scanned the overcast sky and wind-buffeted boats rocking in the harbor. Chum? I thought to myself. I didn't know you used chum to catch salmon - I thought that was only saltwater fishing. But I was here to learn, and was chomping at the bit to get out on the water to start the day's adventure.
I love to fish. I grew up in a small town in northeastern Wisconsin, surrounded by prime fishing waters. There was a small creek by our house, where as a child I'd spend hours dunking worms for perch. When I grew older, my parents would drop me off at the local breakwater or river for most of the day. Over the years, I've netted plenty of northern, walleye, and trout. I've caught bass that were largemouth, smallmouth, rock, and white. But while I've boated panfish the size of your palm and muskies as long as your leg, I've never landed a salmon before. When the opportunity to fish out of a Racine charter boat came up, I was thrilled.
Our group of six was ready to hit the water shortly after 7 a.m. It was the start of Salmon-A-Rama, the large Racine fishing festival. And it was indeed a festive atmosphere. Plenty of Racine Kringle and coffee provided sustenance for the morning. The air felt charged with anticipation - there were many others today embarking on their first charter, and I'm sure more than a few were wondering as I was just what the trip would be like.
There was a small-craft advisory for the lake that day, so we were glad to be fishing out of the 38-foot Kari Joy III, skippered by Ken Mandy. I've fished 16-foot aluminum boats on 90,000-acre fly-in lakes, but fishing Lake Michigan is something completely different. It was nice to have the big, stable Chris Craft beneath us.
As Ken motored us out of the harbor, the swells increased and the wind picked up. Once we cleared the breakwater, we were hit with the brunt of the 6-ft. swells. This was definitely like no fishing I'd ever tried, but it was a hoot! Thankfully I was wearing my raingear, so spray from the Kari Joy's bow chopping through the waves wasn't a problem as I stood on the back deck. There's a large enclosed cabin as well, but I wanted to really see what it was like to be on the big water, so I remained outside.
While the rest of the Fishing Charters of Racine fleet headed north, we plowed our way east. After a short ride from the mouth of the harbor, Ken saw something on the graph that he liked, and Josh the first mate started setting up lines. It seemed we weren't trolling for more than 15 minutes when Ken yelled, "Fish! Fish on!!" While our party looked around quizzically, Josh rushed to the rod with the fish and handed it off. After a brief fight, Josh scooped a fat brown trout into the net.
Just a few minutes later, Ken's excited shrieking alerted us to another strike. It was now my turn, and I grabbed the rod and tried to keep the basics of fighting fish in mind - keep the rod tip up, don't give the fish any slack line. As I cranked the reel handle, another rod went off, and someone else in our party jumped up to grab the rod from Josh. By the time I was able to land my fish, yet a third rod started throbbing. The doubleheader-now-tripleheader turned the boat into barely contained chaos. Ken yelled encouragement to all of us from the flying deck while Josh cleared lines, helped people fight fish and also landed the fish. Meanwhile, three of us were fighting fish and trying to stay out of each other's way, while the other three were whooping and cheering and taking pictures.
Over the next four hours, this scene would be repeated as we trolled through schools of hungry fish. We ended up boating 10 fish total, including my first-ever coho and chinook salmon. They weren't the biggest fish of the trip (in fact, they were the smallest) but it was a blast nonetheless. Josh ran flags up the pole whenever we landed a new species of fish - we ended up with brown and steelhead trout, as well as coho and chinook salmon. The largest fish was a chinook that was over 18 lbs. The fish flags just added to the fun atmosphere of the day.
So what did I learn? The Fishing Charters of Racine sail with first mates, and that seems to make a big difference. You've got someone to unhook fish, net fish, and hand rods off, while the captain can focus on driving the boat and watching the other rods.
It was also interesting how these charter captains share information. Normally, fisherman guard their spots like a momma grizzly guards her cubs, but the Fishing Charter boats readily alert other boats in their network to active fish. Since there are so many fish willing to bite, this gives everyone a chance at the best possible action. Shortly after we'd boated our fourth fish of the morning, Ken let the other boats know about our success, and we soon had several other Fishing Charter boats in the area.
Experience seems to help. Ken and Josh have over 50 years of charter fishing experience between them. Ken's enthusiasm was impossible to hide, and I think this was also part of our success. He really cared about catching and landing those fish. I've been out with guides in the past who seemed to be content if the day was nothing more than a long boat ride, so you can tell when a guide really wants you to land a fish and works for it.
What should you bring with you? A camera, sunscreen, food and drinks, and a cooler to bring the fish home in (you can buy ice at the marina.) Dramamine if you think you might get seasick. It turns out that the people "chumming" the water are the people who didn't take Dramamine beforehand. Motion sickness is hereditary, and nothing you can control. While I didn't get sick, it didn't look like much fun. Normal conditions on the lake are much calmer than what we experienced, so chances are you won't need it, but better safe than sorry.
In a word, the Racine Charter experience was easy. It was easy to get to, the fishing was fast and furious with the mate handling all the unhooking and rigging details, and once we returned to port Ken and Josh cleaned the fish and handed us bagged fillets. It would be a great, unique gift for anyone who loves to fish. I had a wonderful time, and am eagerly looking forward to heading back out in search of the big one.
Fishing Charters of Racine