Reel Addiction Charters

What a great fall season it has been!  Although I have not been fishing Lake Michigan, I have been targeting muskie on the waters of Northern Wisconsin and deer in the woods. 
My wife and I boated several muskie during the Greater Wisconsin Muskie Tournament this year but nothing big enough to register.  My brother and his fishing buddy ended up winning with a 48 inch fish.
Deer hunting went well for me this year despite the low deer numbers around the state.  I saw a lot of activity while bow hunting and harvested a large doe in October to fill the freezer.  During the 1st and 2nd weekends in November I had 11 different bucks in my area that I saw while hunting or had on my camera.  Passed up many shots, looking for a big boy to hang on the wall...no such luck this year.  Gun hunting went the same way.  Saw deer but wanted a big one!  All those little bucks will grow up for next year!  Overall it was a satisfying season for me.
We are finally getting some ice forming on area lakes and I am hoping to get out fishing walleye this weekend or next.   I will keep you posted!
Hope everyone out there had as enjoyable a fall as I have.   

We ran our last trip of the year on Saturday morning with a group from Camping World RV Sales out of Illinois.  The lake was very calm, we had a beautiful sunrise, and managed to catch 8 kings and a crazy mutant steelhead seen below.  All fish came on deep riggers down 120 ft+ in 200 FOW.  Water temp off of Rowleys Bay is still 65 degrees at 95 feet.  Its like a giant bathtub out there! 
After the trip we pulled the Reel Addiction, cleaned, winterize, and hauled it to winter storage.  I will be compiling a list of totals for the season in my fall newsletter so stay tuned for all the details.
Thank you everyone for such a great first year.  I hope to see many of you back next year to battle more big salmon!

Due to a surprise party for a family member I was unable to be in Door County over the Labor Day Weekend.  I closed, to the disappointment of many, but had 1 trip scheduled with a group from Lodi, WI this morning.  Capt. Denny agreed to take them out and they landed 5 salmon on a 3 hour trip.  Capt. Denny told me that this is the calmest stretch of weather he has seen on Michigan in many years.  The water was like glass all weekend.
I did manage to make it out musky fishing with my brother after the surprise party.  We saw 3 fish and my brother boated one nice 39 incher.  As the salmon season comes to an end I target musky in northern Wisconsin.  The cool nights are beginning to turn on the fish around the area.  Although I love chasing musky, it is sure hard to beat a 20lb king screaming line off a reel! 

After my Saturday morning clients cancelled on Friday night, a couple of friends and I went on a personal trip to put a few salmon in the freezer for the winter.  The winds from the NW were at about 15kts and there was a light rain but we fished from 5:30-8:30am and landed 6 fish.  All fish came on flasher flies on deep riggers in 130+ FOW.  The water is still 60 degrees at 100 feet and no thermocline to speak of until you get out to 150+FOW.  If you are going to fish, go deep right away.
School started for me on Friday so it is back to teaching for another year.  I will be up for 1 more run on the 12th of September and then we will put the boat away for the winter.  Capt. Denny will be taking a few clients out over the next 2 weeks.  I will be sure to keep in touch with him and give everyone an update.

The termocline continues to get deeper with few pockets of cooler water to be found off of Rowley's Bay.  The Hagen family from Rhinelander, WI fished one of those cool pockets yesterday evening and did fairly well landing 7 for 10 fish, including a nice 15lb. king.  Fishing was a little slow but the weather and seas were nice and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  I am going to miss those Door County sunrises and sunsets as I head back to teaching in northern Wisconsin next week.  I will be out again this Saturday and then on the 12th of September for the last run of the year.  

Because of yet another invasion of warm water, 60 degrees at 100 feet, off Rowleys Bay the fish have moved way out.  Yesterday morning a group from the Twin Cities area fished but we only caught 2.  We targeted waters as deep as 150 feet with no luck.
In the afternoon, fishing with 2 great friends, I moved out to water almost 200 feet deep and found a thermocline down 130 feet.  Using only 4 riggers with flasher flies, the manager of Spang's Italian Restaurant in St. Germain, WI, Joe Reid and his son, the top pizza cook at the restaurant (sorry Danny!) Joey Reid, landed 13 fish in about 4 hours.  All fish came from 125 feet to 170 feet down.  Here is a great picture for the braggin' board in the kitchen at Spang's!   It was great fishing with you guys!

The fishing continues to be slow off of Rowley's Bay.  Yesterday morning the Christensen family landed 5 fish in 3 hours and this morning a husband and wife from western Illinois landed 4 nice kings on a 4 hour trip.  Warm water and a lack of a thermocline seemed to have moved the fish out of the area and those that are around are deep.  3 of the 4 fish we landed this morning came on a rigger 80 feet down with a magnum glo guppy warrior spoon.  The 4th came on a rigger 65 feet down with a rainbow smelt savant lady slipper.  The dipsy and board rods with flies have gone silent as they just don't seem to get deep enough.  With only 1 week left in our official season I am still waiting for that strong west wind to blow the water out.

The fishing continues to be inconsistent.  There are strong early morning and late evening bites but few fish coming between those times. 
Yesterday my brother-in-law, Todd and his wife, Daisy from Las Vegas fished in the morning.  We landed 7 fish in the first hour on the water but then their Vegas luck ran out as the Lake Michigan flu forced us to head back to shore by 6:30am.  They were very happy with their catch.  Check out their picture on our photos link.
In the evening my wife's uncle Ron and his grandchildren from the Wild Rose, WI area fished aboard the Reel Addiction.  After a nice boat ride for the first 3 hours, the fish started to hit during the last hour.  They landed 6 kings including the 17lb. fish landed by Jacob, seen below!  He did a great job battling the biggest fish of his life.