Fish of the Week: Chinook caught by a kayak angler out of Waukegan earns honors

“Both in the 20-pound range and one of them peeled out almost 400 feet of line and almost got caught in a boat’s trolling motor.”

By Dale Bowman

Isaac Biggerstaff with one of his big Chinook caught off Waukegan while kayak fishing.

Kayak angler Isaac Biggerstaff messaged on Instagram Sunday, “Waukegan kings on fire. That cold water Wednesday got them fired up.”

He backed that up with photos of two big Chinook on a Reef Runner.

“Both in the 20-pound range and one of them peeled out almost 400 feet of line and almost got caught in a boat’s trolling motor,” he messaged.

His was one of many stories of near-shore salmon caught around the Labor Day weekend. It has been refreshing.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at chicago.suntimes.com/outdoorsgoes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on in the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

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Chinook caught by a kayak angler out of Waukegan earns Fish of the Week honors

“Both in the 20-pound range and one of them peeled out almost 400 feet of line and almost got caught in a boat’s trolling motor.”