Author: Nick Nied

The Salmon are Massive in Chicago’s Southern Basin of Lake Michigan – Why? A Charter Captains Perspective. 2024 marks the best salmon fishing we’ve seen as charter boat captains in Chicago’s southern basin in decades. Both the quantity and a size of the fish are increased trip after trip with no apparent end in sight.…

Fishing the Lake Michigan Transition – Chicago Fishing the Lake Michigan transition in Chicago area waters is simply based on an understanding of water temperatures and what the this fish are doing. Patterns of the fish given the time of day and movements based on prevailing winds can be tricky to understand. However, once we…

Salmon fishing in Chicagoland can provide for some excellent salmon catches and plenty of fish for multiple recipes. Now that we’ve been filling the freezers with fresh Lake Michigan salmon, we thought we’d share a few of our favorite recipes with you.  Some recipes are smoked so if you don’t have access to a smoker;…

Kayak Fishing Lake Michigan – Illinois Waters Kayak Fishing Lake Michigan can be an excellent adventure and provide for bountiful catches. The Illinois waters of Lake Michigan are some of the best multi species fishing waters of the lake. We have a great fishery for salmon, trout, perch, pike, bass, and panfish. However, there are…

Shore Fishing Lake Michigan Near Me To start out, Spring is the perfect time of year for anglers without a boat to capitalize on shore fishing Lake Michigan anywhere near them. Shore fishing can come in the form of fishing from structures, such as; harbors, piers, and break walls. The second form resembles surf fishing…

Coho Salmon Fishing We know a lot of anglers, especially kayak anglers, like pulling crank baits for coho salmon fishing. They certainly have a place in cold water coho salmon fishing. However, once the surface temperature of the water reaches 42 degrees, dodger/fly combos will yield higher catch numbers. Insects start to hatch which closer…

Working On A Charter Boat So you are thinking about working on a charter boat. It’s not the glamorous, fun-filled life, as it would seem from the perspective of a charter boat guest. In fact, it is far from such a life. Now don’t get me wrong, if you meet certain qualities you might be…

Chicagoland’s Premier Fishing Charter Welcome aboard Spendthrift Charters – Chicagoland’s Premier Fishing Charter. Hello and Happy Holidays. With the holidays upon us, we’d like to thank all of our previous guests. From our family to yours, we hope that your holidays are great.  May the New Year bring you all health and prosperity. Did you…

Hey all, sorry we’ve been not posting reports in a while. We were away on a family trip and didn’t want to leak anything during Salmon-O-Rama, but we are back! Here is the report for this past week. Fishing is consistent with an number of King Salmon every trip along with Coho, Steelhead, and Lake…

July 7th Fishing Report Waukegan and Winthrop Harbors Hey ya’ all, school is out and its time to take the kids fishing. Don’t forget that girls (women fish too). Our heaviest hauls (one is pictured here) of the season so far came on the 3rd of July with both kids and women aboard. Yesterday was…