Captain Rick Bentley
11-20-2014, 04:39 PM
Hello everybody,
Welcome to the Fall edition of the Windycitysalmon Newsletter. And the official end of the 2014 season, my 7th season as a captain. I just returned from a hiking trip in California where I visited Yosemite and Redwoods National Parks. I hiked in both parks five years ago as well, when I first began taking these trips in the fall. It was nice to be back there again. Right before I departed though, we had a significant weather event here as 50-55 knot winds out of the north, howled across the open water of Lake Michigan. At their peak, waves reached 22 feet as registered by the buoy, 40 miles off Racine. Most captains will tell that this buoy has a hard time measuring true peak-to-trough. Waukegan being another 25-30 miles south of this buoy, where the waves have built even larger, we usually add another 1/2 of the buoy value or more to get true wave height. Therefore it's safe to say there were easily 30 foot waves out there for this event. I thought you might find that interesting as those are very large waves and probably the kind of weather that sunk large ships out there before forecasting became so efficient.
I have a lot of other things to tell you about so thanks in advance if you stay with the letter to the end!
It's been some time since I have written and you may have noticed there was no summer edition this season. There were two reasons for this. An ever increasingly busy charter schedule keeps me away from the computer to write a letter the way I would like it to be written. As well as the summer king salmon season being pretty tough. There wasn't much to tell you about. But always in an effort to be as honest as possible with you, I am not shy about saying that this past summer's king salmon catch was very low. Some of you experienced this but we did our best with what we had.
Taken in aggregate however, the 2014 season out of Waukegan could still be described as decent because of our very strong, spring coho salmon fishery. And it was some of the best coho salmon fishing I have ever seen. Over here in this SW corner of Lake Michigan, we are really fortunate to have the phenomenal coho fishing that we do because most of the rest of the lake does not. Or only has a fraction of it. And therefore, most of the rest of the lake, suffered through a pretty poor season since it relies much more on chinook (king) salmon on a relative scale. It certainly wasn't only Waukegan that had a poor chinook salmon catch. Beyond that and unrelated or not, I read that the chinook fishing was very poor on parts of Lake Ontario as well and even in the famed Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. So, we need to remember that this is fishing and it can happen anywhere .. even in Alaska.
There are several theories as to why this was for us and rather than go on way too long here about them, we'll leave that discussion for the water. In the meantime, our spring coho salmon fishery is very reliable and when I can, in the right water, I will outfit ourselves to catch chinook then too. We'll hope that next summer is better for kings. Last year might have been an anomaly. Maybe it will take a couple years. We can't be certain but we learned this past season that larger coho can still be caught at times well into the summer in offshore waters. This surprised us and gives us further opportunity. And we will often encounter large steelhead out there too. Moral to the story is we often still have alternatives in the summer.
Moving past the 2014 fishing results, each season, a new media opportunity tends to come my way and I am always grateful for these. In 2013 I was able to appear on camera with Phil Schwarz of ABC Channel 7 and their morning show when they held their whole program from Waukegan one spring morning. Prior to that there were a series of promos on camera done through the Visit Lake County tourism branch. This remains an ongoing effort here. And this past season, I was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for a story and then had a reporter from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio ride-along on one of my charters. The subjects of both of these projects centered around how the previous winter's, harsh temperatures may or may not have affected the lake and the fishery. And as I write this, it is already unusually cold again here for mid-November. So it's feeling a little like last winter so far. Have a look and a listen at the Tribune and WBEZ segments if you have moment:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-brutal-winter-lives-on-in-icy-lake-water-temperatures-20140715-story.html
http://www.wbez.org/news/gone-fishing-harsh-winter-brings-lake-temps-down-not-long-110690
Looking forward to the 2015 season, I have been told by Springfield that the 24-hour fishing license/salmon stamp combination that I sell on the boat for $6 a person is being grandfathered in for another season. Further, Illinois Free Fishing Days will likely be held on June 5, 6, 7, 8 (Fri - Mon) where anyone (resident or non) can fish without a license. These dates are not yet confirmed but they've always been the first full weekend in June.
Reservations for next season are already in full-swing and most weekend slots in May have already been taken. If you are looking to fish with me in the spring (April/May/June) you should start to firm up a date very soon. My spring schedule has never been as pre-booked at the end of a season and going into winter, as it is right now. So please send me an email, give me a call or even text me if next season is on your mind. Gift certificate sales have already begun as well and are usually brisk in December too.
In the meantime as always in offseason, I have a garage full of gear that needs to be thoroughly taken care of; line stripped off of all the reels that will then be washed and wiped down, cleaned, re-oiled and re-spooled. I know a couple reels need some minor repairs as well. Rods will all be cleaned and wiped down and I will begin tying a huge quantity of coho flies for the outfits we run in the spring as well as sell to other fishermen. I tied about 500 flies last year and I'm looking to double that number this offseason to meet sales demand as well as for my own use. They work very well and to my knowledge they have been fished on every Great Lake with the exception of Lake Erie where there isn't much of a coho salmon fishery.
Thanksgiving will be here soon and I hope very much that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday. And lastly I'd just like to thank everyone very much for their ongoing support, your business and good company on the water. Next year will be my 8th year as a captain and it's hard for me to believe how fast that has gone by. Being captain and running the business is more work than I ever thought it would be. But it's also the most enjoyable and satisfying means of making a living that I ever have done. I still can't imagine doing anything else! Thanks sincerely, for helping me become a success at this.
Please go have a look on the Windycitysalmon Facebook page at some of the hiking photos from California. It is a public page and you do not have to be 'on Facebook' to see them. As always, if you are on Facebook and not yet following Windycitysalmon there, please do. I update it almost daily or more during the season and still frequently in the offseason.
Thanks for reading,
Capt Rick
Welcome to the Fall edition of the Windycitysalmon Newsletter. And the official end of the 2014 season, my 7th season as a captain. I just returned from a hiking trip in California where I visited Yosemite and Redwoods National Parks. I hiked in both parks five years ago as well, when I first began taking these trips in the fall. It was nice to be back there again. Right before I departed though, we had a significant weather event here as 50-55 knot winds out of the north, howled across the open water of Lake Michigan. At their peak, waves reached 22 feet as registered by the buoy, 40 miles off Racine. Most captains will tell that this buoy has a hard time measuring true peak-to-trough. Waukegan being another 25-30 miles south of this buoy, where the waves have built even larger, we usually add another 1/2 of the buoy value or more to get true wave height. Therefore it's safe to say there were easily 30 foot waves out there for this event. I thought you might find that interesting as those are very large waves and probably the kind of weather that sunk large ships out there before forecasting became so efficient.
I have a lot of other things to tell you about so thanks in advance if you stay with the letter to the end!
It's been some time since I have written and you may have noticed there was no summer edition this season. There were two reasons for this. An ever increasingly busy charter schedule keeps me away from the computer to write a letter the way I would like it to be written. As well as the summer king salmon season being pretty tough. There wasn't much to tell you about. But always in an effort to be as honest as possible with you, I am not shy about saying that this past summer's king salmon catch was very low. Some of you experienced this but we did our best with what we had.
Taken in aggregate however, the 2014 season out of Waukegan could still be described as decent because of our very strong, spring coho salmon fishery. And it was some of the best coho salmon fishing I have ever seen. Over here in this SW corner of Lake Michigan, we are really fortunate to have the phenomenal coho fishing that we do because most of the rest of the lake does not. Or only has a fraction of it. And therefore, most of the rest of the lake, suffered through a pretty poor season since it relies much more on chinook (king) salmon on a relative scale. It certainly wasn't only Waukegan that had a poor chinook salmon catch. Beyond that and unrelated or not, I read that the chinook fishing was very poor on parts of Lake Ontario as well and even in the famed Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. So, we need to remember that this is fishing and it can happen anywhere .. even in Alaska.
There are several theories as to why this was for us and rather than go on way too long here about them, we'll leave that discussion for the water. In the meantime, our spring coho salmon fishery is very reliable and when I can, in the right water, I will outfit ourselves to catch chinook then too. We'll hope that next summer is better for kings. Last year might have been an anomaly. Maybe it will take a couple years. We can't be certain but we learned this past season that larger coho can still be caught at times well into the summer in offshore waters. This surprised us and gives us further opportunity. And we will often encounter large steelhead out there too. Moral to the story is we often still have alternatives in the summer.
Moving past the 2014 fishing results, each season, a new media opportunity tends to come my way and I am always grateful for these. In 2013 I was able to appear on camera with Phil Schwarz of ABC Channel 7 and their morning show when they held their whole program from Waukegan one spring morning. Prior to that there were a series of promos on camera done through the Visit Lake County tourism branch. This remains an ongoing effort here. And this past season, I was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune for a story and then had a reporter from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio ride-along on one of my charters. The subjects of both of these projects centered around how the previous winter's, harsh temperatures may or may not have affected the lake and the fishery. And as I write this, it is already unusually cold again here for mid-November. So it's feeling a little like last winter so far. Have a look and a listen at the Tribune and WBEZ segments if you have moment:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-brutal-winter-lives-on-in-icy-lake-water-temperatures-20140715-story.html
http://www.wbez.org/news/gone-fishing-harsh-winter-brings-lake-temps-down-not-long-110690
Looking forward to the 2015 season, I have been told by Springfield that the 24-hour fishing license/salmon stamp combination that I sell on the boat for $6 a person is being grandfathered in for another season. Further, Illinois Free Fishing Days will likely be held on June 5, 6, 7, 8 (Fri - Mon) where anyone (resident or non) can fish without a license. These dates are not yet confirmed but they've always been the first full weekend in June.
Reservations for next season are already in full-swing and most weekend slots in May have already been taken. If you are looking to fish with me in the spring (April/May/June) you should start to firm up a date very soon. My spring schedule has never been as pre-booked at the end of a season and going into winter, as it is right now. So please send me an email, give me a call or even text me if next season is on your mind. Gift certificate sales have already begun as well and are usually brisk in December too.
In the meantime as always in offseason, I have a garage full of gear that needs to be thoroughly taken care of; line stripped off of all the reels that will then be washed and wiped down, cleaned, re-oiled and re-spooled. I know a couple reels need some minor repairs as well. Rods will all be cleaned and wiped down and I will begin tying a huge quantity of coho flies for the outfits we run in the spring as well as sell to other fishermen. I tied about 500 flies last year and I'm looking to double that number this offseason to meet sales demand as well as for my own use. They work very well and to my knowledge they have been fished on every Great Lake with the exception of Lake Erie where there isn't much of a coho salmon fishery.
Thanksgiving will be here soon and I hope very much that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday. And lastly I'd just like to thank everyone very much for their ongoing support, your business and good company on the water. Next year will be my 8th year as a captain and it's hard for me to believe how fast that has gone by. Being captain and running the business is more work than I ever thought it would be. But it's also the most enjoyable and satisfying means of making a living that I ever have done. I still can't imagine doing anything else! Thanks sincerely, for helping me become a success at this.
Please go have a look on the Windycitysalmon Facebook page at some of the hiking photos from California. It is a public page and you do not have to be 'on Facebook' to see them. As always, if you are on Facebook and not yet following Windycitysalmon there, please do. I update it almost daily or more during the season and still frequently in the offseason.
Thanks for reading,
Capt Rick