| The lake is the third largest of all the North American | | | | line on my reel when he took off again. |
| Great Lakes, and the sixth largest lake in the entire | | | | My uncle had to turn the boat around once again. |
| world. Because of the lake's depth, salmon thrive in | | | | The third time the fish came out of the water and |
| its waters. On average the lake runs about 279 feet | | | | danced along the top of the water on his tail for |
| deep and, almost reaches 1000 feet in the deepest | | | | what seemed like one hundred feet. It was amazing |
| parts! | | | | to see, and even a bit intimidating, the darn thing was |
| Last year my great uncle passed away from cancer. | | | | just about as tall as I was! |
| I went to visit him before he died, and we | | | | After over an hour of this back and forth I finally |
| remembered back to all the times that he had taken | | | | landed the monster. It was huge, the largest fish I've |
| me salmon fishing on his boat. Going out on his boat | | | | ever caught still to this day. |
| is one of the most clear and happy memories that I | | | | Storms on the Great Lakes |
| have of childhood. Fishing is like that. | | | | Lake Michigan is a lot like the ocean when a storm |
| My uncle had a large V-bottom boat with a below | | | | comes up. I remember several times when we had |
| deck kitchen, sleeping area, and a small bathroom. I | | | | to hurriedly pack up the fishing equipment and |
| can't remember the make or anything like that, but it | | | | high-tail it back home. |
| sure was a blast to sail! | | | | It was amazing how fast things could change on the |
| Types of Salmon | | | | lake. It could be nice and calm one minute, and then a |
| Our primary purpose was to bag some keeper fish, | | | | few moments later you would feel a cold wind, and |
| namely the various types of Salmon that thrive in the | | | | then all of a sudden, whitecaps would be slapping |
| deep cold waters of Lake Michigan. We would set | | | | hard against the boat. |
| out from Burns Harbor in quest of the big salmon. | | | | Fishing Equipment |
| Coho were one of the smaller species of salmon that | | | | We would use down-riggers to bring our lures to the |
| we would catch, with the mature adults averaging 28 | | | | depth necessary to catch fish. Most of the time the |
| inches long and 7 to 15 pounds. They still fight well, | | | | fish would run deep, except in the spring when you |
| but there are bigger fish! | | | | could find fish at about 15 feet. J-plug lures were the |
| We would also catch rainbow trout, or what we | | | | standard. Orange and green were the best colors to |
| called Steelhead, which from what I understand are | | | | use. |
| the ocean going form, and are thus called Steelhead. | | | | We also would use heavy fishing rod and reel |
| Without a doubt the biggest prize that we were | | | | combos. The average rod would just simply snap if |
| after was the Chinook Salmon, also known as the | | | | you hooked a good one - and chances were, you |
| King salmon. The Chinook "King" Salmon is the largest | | | | most likely would. The fish finder was a must. It's a |
| species of fish in the salmon family. | | | | big lake, and without this piece of equipment, I don't |
| These bad boys are no joke, with the adult fish | | | | think that we would have caught so many fish. |
| ranging in size from 30 to 45 inches in length, and | | | | The Chicago Skyline |
| weighing in between 15 to 60 pounds, with some fish | | | | On time we sailed across the southern tip of the lake |
| exceeding 100 pounds. That's a lot of fight let me tell | | | | from Burns Harbor in Indiana all the way to Chicago. |
| you! | | | | We arrived at twilight just when the sun was setting |
| My Most Memorable Salmon Catch | | | | behind the buildings. |
| One time I hooked into a monster King Salmon. It hit | | | | The lights after dark were incredible. I had been |
| hard and ran like the wind. The reel was screaming | | | | downtown many times, but the view from the lake |
| and I was getting down to the knot. | | | | was quite impressive, even to a seasoned Chicagoan. |
| My uncle had to turn the boat around so that I could | | | | If you come to Chicago, be sure to do some Salmon |
| recover some line. No sooner had I regained some | | | | fishing on the lake! |