Spendthrift Charters

We had a great experience fishing with Nick on one of the Spendthrift charter boats over the weekend! We had 3 people on the boat and had a great time. Nick found spots with huge salmon and lake trout, was personable and knowledgeable. We look forward to our next trip with Spendthrift!

Zero stars! Period. «No fish no pay» policy advertised on their website is bullshit. I was charged $ 390 for 3 hrs ride while we caught nothing. Captain made no effort to find good fishing spot. He just trolled ½ miles off the coast between Waukegan and Zion and that was it. Boat was dirty, full of small annoying biting flies, no working head, no place to sit in the cabin, which was full of old fishing gear and other crap. I guess if you don’t know them personally or somehow connected they’ll just give you a «ride» and won’t make any effort to make it worthwhile. You’re much better off taking sunset tour off the Chicago downtonw harbor. This is not fishing, this is crap.

Been on two charters w Jerry and his son. First was awesome. Had a blast and was treated right. Second was miserable and showed the true nature of Spendtrhift charters. The bugs were aweful. So much so that even Jerrys son (alleged captain) said he’d never seen them so bad. I am not exagerating when I say that my arms and legs were literally covered with these flies and insects. I asked the cptn to take the 4 of us back in and cut the charter short. His son got on the radio and I overheard Jerry say to keep us on the boat for the full charter. When we got back to the dock, I questioned him why he forced us to stay in a miserable situation. My dad, my Great grandfather and my uncle were not having fun and at 98 years old, my great grandfather doesnt have too many fishing trips left. I would not ever go again with this charter based on my experience with him and his son, who was clearly not at the time proficient enough to handle the business and/​or his own boat.

Just returned from an awesome 2-​day sport-​fishing adventure on Lake Michigan. While the name «Spendthift» might conjure images of «cheap» or «low budget», there was nothing missing from this company’s service. Three generations of fishing captains bring all the knowledge and expertise you will ever need to catch some of Lake Michigan’s best fish. The three 39 ft boats are in beautiful condition with all the right tackle and gear and their experience, (and high-​tech equipment) wastes no time in getting you right to the fish. We caught some nice 5 – 9 lb King Salmon and some slightly smaller Lake Trout. These were all cleaned and prepped to our specs and ready to go on the grill or smoker when I got home. We looked at other charters near Chicago that were more expensive and wasted a couple of hours travel time, (up & back) to get you near Waukegon to fish, (the farther north, the colder the water, the more fish) while the Spendthrift boats leave from Waukegon Harbor and have you on site in 15 – 20 minutes. We’ll go earlier next year, (May is best for the salmon run near shore) but anytime during the season is gonna be a good time with these guys. Thanks Jerry and Kyle!