We went out for an afternoon chartered trip earlier this week and had an absolute blast! Between the three of us, we caught almost twenty really nice smallmouth bass and had a really great time.
I booked pretty last-minute - a couple months ago when we made plans to visit Door County, I tried using an online service to locate a guide service and book a trip, but was unable to find anyone without spending a ridiculous amount of money, so I decided to opt out. As we got closer and closer to our departure from home, my daughter was really wanting to do some fishing, so I tried the online booking services again, hoping someone would have a last-minute cancellation, but everyone was booked. So I went online and just started calling each company (I should have done this from the very beginning, but my google search put a bunch of third-party companies at the top of the search and I should have scrolled down past the ads (I know, I know, but I'm old - sorry!) Silver Strike is one of the only charter companies I called that actually has a person who answers the phone, which is very refreshing. I booked a trip about a week in advance for the middle of the day. I was worried the fishing wouldn't be very good at that time because I normally only fish for bass early in the morning or later in the afternoon/evening, but I was told that we should have pretty good fishing no matter when we went out. I received an email shortly after I got off the phone with the rates, details and cancellation/weather policy. The day before the trip, I received a text on my phone telling me exactly where and when to meet up (in Sister Bay).
The weather was great on the day of the trip and we were excited to be headed out on the water. Sid met us at the boat loading ramp right on time and we headed out. Before we even turned the engine on, he offered us life jackets and went over all necessary safety procedures, including where to find a fire extinguisher, which was something most guides typically skip over. I was worried that my thirteen-year-old daughter wouldn't be completely comfortable (she's never been on a body of water as large as this, and certainly not on a 300hp boat!). But Sid was very friendly and made her feel very welcome from the start. We took off and spent about ten minutes getting to the first of three spots. Of the three people in our party, only one of us had fished before, and Sid was very good about showing the two novices casting techniques, as well as some jigging later in the day. I know bringing kids on a guided fishing trip can go either way if the guide doesn't feel like teaching people how to fish - this happened once before and I made a point of telling them on the phone that I planned on bring one of my kids. But within just a few minutes, she had the technique down and managed to catch a few of the larger fish that day. All together, we caught about twenty bass (all smallmouth). Most were in the two pound range, and a few were smaller, but we also caught several around four pounds. We released them all after taking quick pictures of the nicer ones. Sid offered to take group pictures as we were catching them and I plan on framing a few shortly.
The boat is really top-of-the-line with some pretty amazing electronics. This was the first time I've ever seen a trolling motor that automatically deploys/retracts. And even after being on probably thirty fishing trips like this, I've never been on a guided fishing trip with a boat so clean - and he literally came in with a group as we arrived and only took maybe five minutes before heading back out. The boat itself is extremely organized and easy to get around.
As far as guided trips, go, if I'm ever in the area, I can't imagine using anyone else. Just be sure to book directly with them and not a third party company. read more