We’ll Sea Charters 2012 Newsletter From Captain Andy Carraro 1-17-2012

We’LL Sea Charters
2012 NewsletterWe hope everyone had a great Holiday season. Now that the Holidays are behind us, it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming fishing season. First, a look back to 2011.
Bad weather, along with some health issues combined to make 2011 the most difficult season we have had. Weather wise, it was the second wettest year on record. Over 55 inches of precipitation fell in our area. Much of this rain came in strong storms with damaging winds. Twice the Kenosha harbors sustained damage and unfortunately a fatality when a tree fell on a motorist. On both occasions, wave heights measured up to 25 feet. These storms roiled up the water sending the fish to the deeper clean water beyond 10 miles out. It took several days for the water to settle out and the fish to return to more reasonable depths.

Spring came late last season. Although we were ready to go on May 1st, the cold and dirty water delayed the start of Coho fishing. Once the weather cleared and we were able to get out, the Coho fishing was no less than fantastic. More and larger Coho were caught last season than any time in recent memory. From mid May to mid July, limits were caught on more than 2/3 of our trips. We again caught a 5 person, 25 fish limit in less than 3 hours dock to dock. We set a new boat record when 7 lines went off at one time! Better yet, the Coho stayed in our area until mid August when the second major storm hit our area. Limit catches were common up into July.

Speaking of July, let’s forget about it. I personally just want to thank the other Captains for filling in for me. No one was left on the dock. The fishing report from July remained excellent. A mixed bag of Kings, Cohos, and Rainbows made for excellent catches.

We finally got back to fishing in August. Coho fishing remained strong with mature Kings plentiful. Catches of 15-20 fish and total weights well over 100 pounds were common. Acrobatic Rainbows from 8 to 12 pounds and big Lake Trout also added to the catches. Congratulations go to Brian Mascari who landed a huge 26.5 pound Lake Trout and takes big fish honors for 2011.

After another severe storm, fishing in late August and September moved offshore to depths of 250 feet plus. The fish were deep, most bites coming between 120 and 175 feet down. When fishing this deep, the rule is to cut down on the amount lines. Even with only 5 lines in the water, doubles and triples were common. We even managed a few limit catches. The down side is that with the dirty warm water on shore, we did not see the return of mature Kings along shore and in the river.

In December, Brad Eggolt, Wisconsin Department of Great Lakes Fisheries spoke at one of our meetings, Brad gave an overview of the fishing forecast for the Kenosha area. In his words, the Kenosha area is “lucky to have such a great fishery”. The baitfish population continues to grow, fish stocking is continuing and a good return of wild fish from other areas of Lake Michigan add to our fishery. “The Kenosha area should have great fishing for many more years.” 2012 should be another great season.

With the mild winter we have had so far, look for Coho fishing to start a few weeks earlier this year. If all goes well, we should be seeing the critters in early May. With the continued abundance of alewives, these fish should again be larger than average seeing 4 to 5 pounds by Fathers Day. The state of Wisconsin is continuing to stock huge numbers of Coho, King, Rainbow and Brown Trout in our area. This, along with the return of wild salmon from northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron should make for a great summer season of big fish.

2012 Sport Show Schedule:

February 11 & 12: Tinley Park Fishing and Outdoor Show
Tinley Park High School, Tinley Park, IL

February 24 &25; Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Spring Fishing Classic,
Gurnee Mills (with Capt. Mark)

March 3rd: Wilderness Fish and Game Spring Fishing Classic
Sauk City, Wisconsin

March 3 & 4: Great Outdoors Expo (Capt. Mark on the 3rd)
Woodstock High School, Woodstock, IL

March 24 & 25: Cabela’s Spring Fishing Show
Hoffman Estates, IL

We are also planning on doing the Du Page and Kane County Sportsman Shows. Watch for upcoming dates.

Thank you for your continued support of We’LL Sea Charters. We look forward to seeing you this season.

Capt. Andy

We’LL Sea Charters
Capt. Andy Carraro
(847)740-1382 / Cell (847)921-6906
C6906@msn.com 

www.wellseacharters.com