Vacation During COVID-19
Note: All pictures within this blog are click-able. Simply click on the photo to enlarge it if you’d like to see a larger view
When’s the last time you did something for the first time? It’s my favorite saying on vacation but is something like that even possible during a pandemic? Since I’ve never been salmon fishing before, the answer is YES!
In February, before COVID-19 had a foothold and we had no idea of what was coming, we put a deposit down on a salmon fishing charter on Lake Michigan for late May. I’m not sure any of us realized how long lasting the effects of the outbreak would really reach. As the months dragged on in seclusion, we quickly realized this was a grueling marathon and not a sprint.
Our fishing charter is on the Diamond Ghost
It seemed unlikely but not improbable that our fishing charter would still happen. After all, what is the one vacation where social distancing is not only possible but actually encouraged? Fishing! In fact, it’s considered rude etiquette to fish on top of someone (we call them “pinchers”). In this case, we had chartered a fishing excursion for my husband and myself along with our captain. So sharing the boat with a group of people was never a concern.
Our launch point is out of Zion, Illinois and the Coronavirus has hit Illinois especially hard. Therefore, their restrictions were a bit more stringent than ours in Iowa. It was short notice when we received confirmation from our captain that restrictions were being relaxed and we’d be able to take our fishing charter after all!
We had the choice of a few hotels near the marina in Zion but settled on a boutique hotel called The Inn on Sheridan. This hotel partners with the Cancer Treatment Center just down the street. They specialize in catering to patients with compromised immune systems. This means they maintain the highest criteria of cleanliness. Their standards were already well documented before COVID-19 and since the virus outbreak, they’ve stepped up their rigorous cleaning efforts even more. We also opted not to have maid service during our stay to eliminate additional people coming into our room. This felt like a safe alternative to being in quarantine at home.
We stayed at the Inn on Sheridan in an Extended Stay Suite
We chose a room with a full kitchen that would allow us to freeze our salmon and also let us cook food eating in the room as needed. Restrictions in Illinois are relaxed but not eliminated. Therefore, at the time of this charter, restaurants were not allowing dine-in but take-out/delivery options only. The hotel has an onsite restaurant but due to the virus, it was closed.
The full kitchen in our hotel room came in quite handy for freezing our fish before coming home
As advertised, the hotel was very clean and we appreciated its modern features. The hotel also has a 24-hour fitness center and a nice recreational room with board games, jigsaw puzzles, and an extensive library of reading books. Hand sanitizer was found throughout the hotel as well as disinfecting wipes in the fitness center.
The hotel has a nice game room and library
After we got settled, we drove to the marina to make sure we knew where we needed to go and found it was only 6 minutes from the hotel. Then we headed to Walmart to get our out-of-state fishing licenses and pick up a few groceries. At the time of our trip, only stores deemed as “essential” businesses were open and still required patrons to wear masks. I felt like Zion was taking great care to follow the restrictions based on the few places we actually stopped.
Our supper was an easy decision when I read the best local pizza comes from The Pizza House. And they deliver! Normally when we travel, we make a point to try to find the local culinary gems of any town. Typically, we’ll eat way too much and I’ll take amazing photos of the dishes we try. But given the circumstances of the virus, we are content with whatever take-out, drive-thru or delivery options that we can find.
We ordered the Pizza House Special from The Pizza House
Day 1 – Fishing
Day 1 of our salmon fishing charter came before dawn as we had to meet the captain at 5am in North Point Marina. We’re taking advantage of our kitchen and eating all our breakfasts in the room even if it’s just a quick meal.
Cloudy skies, 51 degrees and no wind provided optimal conditions although our captain would later say he prefers a bit of a chop which gives the lures a bit more action as they spin through the water. Attire for a trip like this requires layers of clothing and soft-soled shoes. It wasn’t warm enough today to wear Teva’s so we wore tennis shoes. Since it can feel a lot colder on the water, Joe had bought us quality fishing apparel (waterproof pants and jackets). While I did layer my clothes, I never had to remove any. Despite no wind, it stayed pretty cool while we were out. Wearing a thick pair of socks turned out to be a surprising but very necessary piece of clothing as well. Luckily it did not rain on us on either day!
Following responsible COVID-19 rules, Captain Tony asked us to bring gloves and masks. It was more convenient to wear a “neck gaiter/scarf” that you can pull up over your nose/mouth for this type of fishing. A disposable mask would likely just get wet. We wore our masks most of the time although yes, there were times when we would remove them (for the sake of pictures).
We are on a Sportcraft 33-foot Caprice fishing boat with top of the line electronics (fish depth finder and radar) as well as fishing tackle. Down below in the cabin is a sitting area and room to keep your belongings/cooler. The cabin area also contains a bathroom with hand sanitizer (clearly a must-have during COVID-19).
Captain Tony can accommodate up to 6 people. Honestly, I wouldn’t take more than 4 people. It would be too crowded to maneuver. Things can get a little hectic when you land a big fish and Captain Tony is trying to step in and help net the fish as it comes to the boat. Space was not an issue today since it was just Joe and myself.
Captain Tony does recommend Dramamine especially if you get seasick. Lake Michigan isn’t the ocean but it still can be very choppy depending on weather conditions. We didn’t want our excursion cut short for any reason so we didn’t take any chances and took some before going out today.
Below deck allowed plenty of storage room for our belongings/cooler and most importantly a bathroom!
Captain Tony used to own a Beagle named Diamond as well as a Weimaraner; a German dog breed known as the “gray ghost”. And that’s how he named his business Diamond Ghost Charters. He’s been doing fishing charters for the last 26 years and his experience really showed throughout the trip.
There are different times of the year that are good to fish. Captain Tony said that May and early June were good for catching silver salmon (often referred to as Coho) which are migrating from Michigan to the southern part of the lake. While we are taking advantage of their peak migrating pattern, Captain Tony also indicated that end of June thru August is a good time to catch King Salmon (a MUCH bigger fish).
For catching salmon, you do not bottom fish. Meaning, you don’t drop a line in the water and let it sit on the bottom. To catch salmon, you troll at a very slow speed. Our captain put out 12 lines and those 12 rods sat in their respective rod holders. You don’t need to hold the rods until something hits the line. That is the only time that having extra people on the boat might be beneficial. Most salmon swim in schools. So if one salmon hits a line, there is a good chance another rod might go off as well. I can’t imagine what we would have done if all 12 rods had fish on them. But luckily, that dilemma never occurred.
12 rods were put out and sat in their respective rod holders on each side of the boat as well as the back
We left the marina at 5am sharp and didn’t have to travel far; we were fishing by 5:15am. No sooner than he had put the rods in, we got a hit immediately and I caught my first fish.
It’s not really fair to say I out-fished Joe or he out-fished me because it doesn’t really work that way. When something hits your line, you immediately have to grab the rod and start reeling. There isn’t time to decide who is going to take it, as we quickly found out. We were trying to be nice and rotate opportunities but the first time we did this, “You go ahead and take this one.” “No, you go ahead and get it”. Well, we lost a fish this way and that was the last of these pleasantries. After that, Joe watched the rods on the right side of the boat and I managed the rods on the left side.
This seemed like a fair way to do it. And if either of us ducked down into the cabin to use the bathroom or grab a snack/drink, whoever was left up top would have to temporarily handle both sides of the boat. Captain Tony was also there to help as well if it came to that.
Joe was in his element
Joe missed two fish early in the morning and we quickly learned another important lesson: forget what you know about “normal” fishing. You don’t set the hook for these fish. When you set the hook, you jerk up on the rod. When you’re trolling and a fish, whether it’s a trout or a salmon, grabs the hook in its mouth, it will turn and try to run and thereby, it sets the hook itself. If you try to set the hook at this point by jerking the rod up, this can actually dislodge the hook from the fish’s mouth. So we had to break that habit.
Captain Tony was a great coach and instructed us well!
You can easily watch for the rod to bend to the back of the boat as they sit in the rod holders. Although while we are trolling, the inertia automatically causes a bend in the rod already so that can be a bit deceiving assuming that a fish is on based off that.
The fishing line is attached to something called a planer board which looks like a small rectangular board. This tool helps get the fishing line out away from the boat and keep the lines separated especially while trolling. Watching the planer boards is a better way to tell if you have a fish on the line. Sometimes if it’s a big fish, you will hear the drag on the line as the line starts to go out….zzzzzz……. When you hear that sound, you know a fish is on and usually it’s a big one!
As for fishing tackle, Captain Tony had a vast assortment of colorful jigs and spoons that we used for lures; no bait needed.
Here is an example of a planer board. He used yellow ones on the right side of the boat and white ones on the left side. You can see here the white planer boards designed to help get the lines out away from the boat and each other while we troll.
Captain Tony had a wide assortment of colorful jigs and spoons for fishing lures – no live bait needed
We started out in 30-40 feet of water but by the end of the charter, we were fishing in 85 feet. Around 7am, a thick fog started to roll in. For the rest of the morning, we fished under a dense fog advisory. This was fine as fish don’t care about fog; they just want to eat. It felt somewhat eerie fishing surrounded by a wall of fog like something out of a poem from Edgar Allen Poe. Captain Tony heavily depended on the radar to avoid other fishing boats as well as honking our horn to alert them of our presence. Boats would quietly skirt by us and we might barely catch a glimpse of them as they slipped by in the fog.
Joe’s first fish was a nice sized Lake Trout
Fishing was already going well and we caught several Lake Trout as well as Coho (silver salmon). Around 7:30am, a huge fish hit my line. The captain thought it might be a King Salmon. Joe had bought me a “fighting belt”. It is, in fact, a belt with Velcro that sits at your waist with a round piece of plastic in the middle that the end of the rod goes in. You can see what this looks like in the video clip included later in my blog.
This belt came in quite handy for large fish because it gives you leverage while reeling them in. Unfortunately, it was still sitting in our dry bag we brought onto the boat as Joe scurried below deck to dig it out. I reeled as hard as I could but try as I might, I quickly got tired. Whatever this fish was, it was a monster! My right arm is the dominant one – that’s not the arm that got tired. My left arm is the one you hold the rod with and the weight of the fish continued to pull the rod down; it’s important to keep your rod tip up! My left arm felt like spaghetti after about 10 minutes fighting with this unknown leviathan.
It was at that point that I let up tension on the line and he got off. Typically, a salmon will zigzag back and forth. However, this was constant dead weight the entire time that I was reeling him in which tired me quickly. Captain Tony was sure that I side hooked him and that was why he was coming in so heavy.
We fished in a dense fog advisory while boats slipped past us quietly
After losing such a monumental prize, we finally got the belt on me so I wouldn’t lose another. Yes, I would have another chance!
Most of the fish we caught today were at varying lake depths ranging from 55 feet to 72 feet. We are allowed to keep 2 trout per person (6 total since Captain Tony said we could count his). Regulations also allow us to take 5 salmon per person (10 total) per day.
These are the first 6 fish we caught on Day 1 – We caught 2 more after we took this photo!
I finally got a crack at another big fish. There are a lot of Lake Trout in Lake Michigan. The enormous one I caught today weighed 12 pounds. Thank goodness I had the belt on this time – it felt like it weighed a ton! That was a lot of fun and Joe got a great movie of it: Video of Lake Trout
This is the 12-pound Lake Trout I caught on Day 1 – he was a monster to reel in!
Around 10am, it was time to head back to the marina slowly. Captain Tony got out his fish cleaning board to clean our fish while we trolled back. During that last hour, we continued to get a lot of action and Joe managed to reel in a 13-pound King Salmon! Now we each landed a “big fish”. Captain Tony said he was too “green” to hold for a picture initially. That means, he was a young fish and he would have flopped all over for a picture. For as much as he weighed, Joe wouldn’t have been able to hold onto him if he was flopping around. But after 10-15 minutes in the cooler, he calmed down (a.k.a…died) and Joe was able to get an impressive pose with him.
Captain Tony cleaned our fish on the back of the boat as we trolled back
The thick fog remained throughout the entire morning even as we pulled into the marina. But luckily it never rained on us on either day we were on the water. In total, we got 8 fish and 16 enormous filets for our first haul. It was a lot of meat as was apparent by our filet bag!
Joe’s 13-pound King Salmon!
By the time we got back to the room and cleaned up, we ordered from Droopy’s Gyros. Another local hot spot for lunch that delivers. We thought gyros sounded great for lunch. They really piled on the meat and I thought their gyros were just as good as the Iowa State Fair. That’s pretty high praise. I also got some fried mushrooms to go with mine while Joe opted for their fresh-cut French fries.
Droopy’s Gyros delivered our lunch today – giant gyros loaded with Greek meat and fried mushrooms
With the Dramamine effects and early departure time, we were exhausted and slept for the rest of the afternoon. There are other local areas of interest that I have included at the end of my blog. If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic right now, we would have explored them. We used that time instead to tend to the fish. Our vacuum sealer we brought along worked well to package the fish for freezing and the trip home.
The filet bag we carried home from the first day was heavy – quite the haul!
Our Friday night supper is Chinese take-out from Whey Chai Chinese restaurant one block down from the hotel. Their beef with oyster sauce and crab rangoon were excellent. Everyone knows I’ve been cooking elaborate recipes at home for my Coronavirus cookbook that’s currently in the making (so far, I have 26 recipes accumulated). Therefore, we haven’t been eating take-out during quarantine until now. So this little treat of take-out food is part of my personal vacation from cooking!
Supper was take-out from Whey Chai Chinese restaurant next door to our hotel
Day 2 – Fishing
Temps remain at 50 degrees, a light wind at 5 mph and a dense fog advisory is still in effect although we can see further today than yesterday. I really would have enjoyed getting some sunrise photos on the water which just isn’t possible with the fog. Beggars can’t be choosers. I’m beyond thrilled to enjoy some vacation time that is anywhere other than the confines of my own home.
Another foggy day although not quite as thick as yesterday
We had the same departure time of 5am from the marina and by 6am, I had my first Lake Trout on the hook. Fishing depths where we caught today’s fish ranged between 50 feet and 65 feet. But from one day to the next, it’s hard to know where the salmon are at. You just have to take your best guess. Captain Tony also chatted on his radio with his buddies to help gauge where the fish were or weren’t based on how they were doing.
I caught a 5-pound Coho (silver salmon) today!
We have cut down on the learning curve now that we know not to set the hook but it’s still not a given you’re going to get the fish in the boat just because you get them on the line. Sometimes they can simply flip the wrong way and come off. At times, they will charge the boat which produces a lot of slack on the line and without that tension, a fish can easily come off. In that case when they charge, you wind the line as fast as you can to keep the tension on the line.
Joe’s worst bad habit to overcome was his tendency to want to set the hook. My biggest challenge was keeping my rod tip up because these are some very powerful fish that pull the rod down as they try to escape.
Then there are times when I grabbed the rod out of the holder and they suddenly came off for no reason – luck of the draw. Captain Tony has two lines of beads that hang on the side of his boat. One line contains green beads and for each fish you catch, you slide a green bead down. An orange bead marks every 5th fish in the string that is caught. Next to the green beads are a string of black beads. As you may have guessed, for every missed fish, you pull a black bead down. It does not matter if the fish got off all by itself or if you lose them reeling them in. Captain Tony said a miss is a miss where “fish action” is concerned. The goal is to have more green beads pulled down than black. Now that we know what we are doing a little better today, we kept ourselves “out of the black” as Captain Tony called it.
Captain Tony used the “bead system” to keep track of misses vs fish caught
As we caught the fish, Captain Tony would clip them or “bleed them”. This is where he took a pair of scissors and cut the gill so the fish would bleed out and die faster so they don’t suffer. He had me clip a few as well.
Today we had several colorful black/orange/yellow warblers land on our fishing poles and sometimes up in the cabin on the steering wheel. Captain Tony called them his trained birds because he could get them to land on his finger and even stroke them! Joe and I both tried but we were unsuccessful in getting them on our finger. They would fly off if we got too close. It’s true, they are trained to come to Captain Tony!
Colorful little warblers came to rest on Captain Tony’s boat this morning
Captain Tony has them trained to sit on his finger – He is the bird whisperer!
Joe had what Captain Tony estimated to be a 20-pound King Salmon on the line. He got a pretty good look at his tail as the fish was only 10 feet from the boat when he suddenly flipped off the line. It wasn’t anything that Joe did wrong as he was following Captain Tony’s instructions perfectly. Captain Tony is a great coach. He knows what a fish is doing and how to adjust for most of the fish’s maneuvers. But sometimes that’s just how it goes. He said the King Salmon that Joe had on would have filled the entire cooler. Darn!
Foil balloons go to Lake Michigan to “die” – we saw many out on the water as their helium finally gave out
Today’s fish count was again lucky number 8 which amounted to another 16 sizeable filets: 3 Lake Trout and 5 Coho. Today I caught my biggest fish of the trip which was another Lake Trout that weighed 14 pounds. That fighting belt Joe bought sure came in handy although Captain Tony said he had one I could have also used. I also managed to catch a decent Coho that weighed 5 pounds.
Saving the best for last! My biggest fish of the entire trip was this 14-pound Lake Trout!
I thought we did very well for our 2-day total and Captain Tony complimented us as well. If you listen to him and do what he says, you’re going to catch fish. If you ignore him and think you already know how to fish, you may not do very well. Sadly, Tony said he will get people who fish all their lives that think they know more than he does and ignore him. I have, in fact, been fishing my entire life but I am smart enough to listen to my captain. I would definitely recommend Diamond Ghost Charters if you want to bring home some fish!
Our group photo of today’s catch – although once again, we caught 1 more fish after this picture was taken
It was the same drill as yesterday. We got back to the room, cleaned up and ordered from Droopy’s Gyros again as we were pretty tired and didn’t feel like driving to get take-out. The rest of the afternoon we napped and caught up on our rest. I got a cardio workout in the fitness center which was deserted. Although no upper body workout was needed. Goodness no! My arms are quite sore from battling those fish!
Captain Tony showed us what the Coho were eating – the contents of their stomachs were these black bugs
Meanwhile, Joe packaged and froze the rest of our fish. If we were to come back for future fishing trips, we’d book this same hotel again since they offer rooms with a full kitchen. Regardless if there is a pandemic going on or not, that freezer was essential for freezing the fish overnight and made transporting them home so easy! Once we got home, Joe spent an entire afternoon cutting up some of the filets because they are just too much meat to eat in one sitting for only the two of us. Our deep freeze at home is now stocked full of salmon and trout!
I took advantage of the fitness center at the hotel which was completely deserted while we were there
Tonight, we ate in the room and took advantage of our full kitchen. This evening’s menu is Italian sausage and mozzarella ravioli with cheese bread. No, it’s nothing fancy. I can work on my Coronavirus cookbook recipes when I get home. Simplicity is what I’m looking for while we relax on vacation as well as safety during the virus outbreak.
Tonight’s in-room meal was made in our kitchen: ravioli and cheese bread!
Maybe during another year when we aren’t in the middle of a pandemic, we’ll get the opportunity to enjoy the area attractions and try a sit-down restaurant. It was still a fantastic trip and so nice to get away as much as we possibly could during these difficult times. Yes, we were limited in what we could do and eat but it was more than enough to get us out of our quarantine rut while still maintaining safety.
Our freezer at the hotel was full and then Joe re-cut/re-packaged the fish into manageable portions once we got home and our stack grew even more!
REFERENCE
Fishing:
Diamond Ghost Charters
Half Day Charter: 5am-11am or Noon-6pm. Full day charters also available.
Price varies depending on what day of the week you book (you’ll get a discount if you book on a weekday)
Contact: Capt. Tony Bovenzo
Website: http://www.diamondghostcharters.com/index.html
Email: dmdghost@att.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiamondGhostCharters
Office Phone: 847-838-2037
**Must have valid fishing license – it is your responsibility to purchase one
Fishing License: Walmart in Zion, Lake Michigan Angler on Sheridan Ave, or online (make sure you get a salmon stamp)
Hotel:
The Inn on Sheridan (2723 Sheridan, Zion, IL)
Website: https://theinnonsheridan.com/
Addt’l Amenities: Onsite restaurant, 24-hour fitness center, gift shop, guest laundry, and ATM. The game room contains board games, jigsaw puzzles, and an extensive library of books to borrow.
Their Extended Stay Suite offers a full kitchen frig/freezer, stove/oven/sink (pots/pans, dishes, silverware)
Partnering with the Cancer Treatment Center down the street, they cater to those with compromised immune systems maintaining the highest standards in cleanliness. Located about 6 min from the marina.
Food:
Droopy’s Gyros
Phone: 847-872-2200
Website: https://www.droopysgyros.com/menu.html
Great for lunch and currently during COVID-19 they will deliver.
The Other Place at the Lighthouse: http://www.opslighthouse.com/
The Pizza House:
Phone: 847-872-4868
Website: https://www.pizzahousezion.com/
Whey Chai
Phone: 847-746-3003
Located 1 block from the Inn on Sheridan
Other options for take-out or drive-thru during COVID-19 located on Sheridan Ave:
Wendy’s, Culvers, McDonalds, KFC, El Lago, Applebees, Taco Bell, Chang Jiang Chinese Kitchen
Area Attractions:
Jelly Belly Factory Tour and Store – 15 min north on Greenbay Road
Six Flags Theme and Water Park – 20 min west in Gurnee
Vigneto del Bino Winery Tours and Tasting – Antioch 25 min west
The daily Metra Train provides service to downtown Kenosha, WI or Chicago and is 5 blocks east in Edina Park. Visit www.metra.com for schedules.
- Downtown Kenosha museums and lakefront shops/café
- Kenosha Trolley Rides by the Lake
- Train to Chicago (Cubs or White Sox games, Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium)
Broiled salmon in herb marinade – I made this shortly after we got home!
