Fish on!
Salmon and trout fishing on Lake Michigan is a game of hide and seek, a search greatly helped with the aid of an experienced charter boat captain. So far this season, the lake has produced a bounty of fish.

Herald & Review

WAUKEGAN -- For the most part, all was calm aboard Dell V. Off the coast of northeastern Illinois near the Wisconsin state line, seagulls soared overhead and sailboats drifted by.

A miniature Chicago skyline appeared about 40 miles to the south.

But every so often, a loud raspy voice interrupted the serenity aboard the 33-foot Chris-Craft boat.

``Fish in the center!'' Or ``Left yellow bird!'' Or ``Lead line! Lead line!''

After each of his startling announcements, Captain Ed Urban jumped down a ladder from the upper deck, landing in one loud stomp upon the main deck.

But passengers welcomed the clamor. It meant a fish -- most likely salmon or trout -- had snatched one of the lures whirling through the water behind the boat.

Like other charter boat operators along the coast of Lake Michigan, sportfishing is Urban's life during the spring and summer months. Most take out four or six customers at a time and although they can't promise perfect weather, they can just about guarantee great fishing.

While mid-April through mid-June bring the best limit catches of coho salmon that weigh a few pounds -- as well as many larger chinook salmon -- late June through August produce the largest fish, including coho and chinook salmon, and rainbow, lake and brown trout. In February, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources raised the salmon limit from three to five per license.

In August, September and October, chinook salmon head inland to spawn, leaving trophy size fish easily caught in shallow water.

Urban's T-shirt, pulled over skin almost leathery in appearance due to daily sun lashings, reads: ``Record World Rainbow Trout. 31.42 lbs. Caught by Kyle Johnson. 10 July 1993. Aboard Dell V.''

Today, the record broken by one of Urban's passengers still stands. Yet others have since been broken. Two record brown trout caught recently demonstrate the great fishing opportunities for Lake Michigan anglers, said Brett Manning, director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

``Brown trout and coho salmon have been providing tremendous fishing on the lake,'' he said.

According to the Illinois Natural History Survey, in this season's first two months (April and May), the 4,011 brown trout caught surpassed the 2,644 caught for all six months (April through September) last year. The coho catch for the first two months was only 2,000 fish short of last year's season total of 50,000.

Lake Michigan's four contiguous states -- Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana -- began stocking the lake in 1966. Today, the states stock the lake with 14 million fish annually.

While many Lake Michigan charter boat owners work privately, Urban belongs to the 22-member Waukegan Charter Boat Association. The association is the oldest and largest charter fleet on the lake. Each captain is licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard.

``We have a $14,000 advertising budget, which means we can reach a lot more people,'' said Urban, 52.

Trips booked through the association cost from $260 for four people for a five-hour trip to $528 for six people for an eight-hour trip.

The ship's log aboard Dell V, a boat Urban bought for $65,000 about 10 years ago, reveals that a variety of customers, from California to North Carolina, travel to Illinois to sample Lake Michigan's fishing.

While the lake's peak fishing season runs through October, Urban stops fishing in September. The Chicago native, who now lives in Wadsworth, said he won't miss bow-hunting season, even for fishing. Urban is also a tool and dye maker in the off season.

``You really can't make a living at this,'' he said of sportfishing.

But Urban looks forward to the fishing season, and the variety of people he knows he'll meet, including children.

``They just have a ball, even four- and five-year-olds,'' Urban said. ``They can race up the holder and reel.''

Each rod (boats are allowed three per passenger) rests in a separate holder at the back of the boat. Urban's goal when he takes passengers on five-, eight- and 10-hours trips is to help them catch as many fish as possible.

``Sometimes it drives you crazy when the fish don't bite,'' Urban said. ``You'll get days where it's very tough fishing.''

Still, Urban has had just one bad trip this year, one that brought in three fish.

``Other times, you'll have 10 fish on at once, kind of like a Chinese fire drill,'' he said.

On a recent four-hour trip -- a fairly slow fishing day, Urban said -- we caught about 40 pounds of salmon and trout. The first catch of the day was a small king salmon, taken with a white fly lure.

``We want that same guy's mother,'' Urban said.

Near the end of the trip, we caught our largest fish, a 12-pound rainbow trout, taken with a black fly.

Back at the dock in Waukegan's North Harbor, Urban quickly filleted our fish and gave us

``What's Cookin','' the Waukegan Charter Boat Association's booklet of salmon and trout recipes.

As the sun began to set, passengers admired their fish, captains cleaned off their boats and plopped down in lounge chairs to chat what catch Lake Michigan might bring tomorrow.

Sidebar: The right dessert goes a long way

``Hey Craigie, how deep is your action?'' Captain Ed Urban asked another captain over his radio.

When the captain responded that he'd caught a few salmon in shallow water, Urban reeled in his own lines a bit.

About an hour later, after few fish had taken bait, Urban tried again: ``Hey Red, you on there? How deep was that action?''

Urban waited for an answer, then offered some advice in return: ``My white fly went with a coho.''

The CB chat -- captains helping captains -- can be heard on any slow fishing day on Lake Michigan.

On most days, however, the right poles and lures will tempt nearly any fish in the well-populated lake.

Urban, like most captains, has his own ritual.

On a recent trip, he baited 10 8 1/2-foot poles -- four yellow birds, two dipsey divers, three downriggers and a lead core. The rods covered about a 120-foot span around the back of the boat.

Urban's ritual includes placing each rod in a specific holder. Each time Marv Bell, another captain aboard Urban's boat that day, rebaited a pole, he set it in a different holder. And each time, Urban immediately jumped up and moved the rod back to where it had been -- and jokingly chastised his friend.

``I'm a little superstitious,'' Urban said.

Urban let the lead line drag about 140 yards behind the boat.

``Sometimes the fish get spooked, so it's good to have one back farther,'' Urban said.

``That seagull wants your yellow bird,'' said Bell as he eyed a gull scoping the water.

``You catch (seagulls) once in a while,'' Urban said. ``That sure is a squawk.''

Urban set the downriggers, lines attached to a steel cable with an 8-pound weight, at various depths -- 40, 23 and 17 feet. Downrigger lines can be set as deep as 200 feet.

Urban then periodically checked out the sonar, hoping to spot orange clouds of bait fish and cooler water -- hot spots for big fish.

Most captains use a variety of artificial lures, including dare devil spoons, rattle spoons, pro shiners and tinsel flies of all colors.

``It's all sight, color and presentation,'' Urban said. ``You'll catch everything on all kinds of lures. If a black fly isn't working, switch to a white fly and they might bite all day.''

Nearly all of the lures are small.

``These fish have so much to eat, we're just trying to get them to eat some dessert,'' Urban said.