Great morning fishing with Captain Doug! We caught steel head, coho, and lake trout! So excited…read moreto enjoy fresh fish on the grill. Captain Doug is very knowledgeable, helpful, and made our excursion a lot

Captain Doug met us at the bait shop on time and ready to go. Once under way, he worked very hard…read moreto make sure we had many lines out, while teaching us all about the different lures and methodologies. He knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Rough seas caused a lot of tangles and missed bites but Captain Doug keep working every minute. A couple of us were barely functioning due to seasickness, so Capt Doug had extra work! He was responsive and helpful to my very inquisitive nephew. At the end of the trip, he trimmed up the fish for us while showing us all the details. Capt. Doug is is an experienced seaman with lots of stories. The real deal.

Four of us (2 adults, 17 year old, & 11 year old) went on the early 7 hour charter on Friday, July…read more8th. Captain Mel & the 1st Mate, Jared did a great job. They were serious about the fishing and worked hard getting everything set up, so that we could start pulling in the fish. Captain Mel is very knowledgable about Lake Michigan, boating, and fishing. He is also very personable. We caught 8 Lake Trout, 1 King Salmon, & 1 Steelhead. The 11 year old caught the biggest fish of the day, which was an 18 lb. Lake Trout. At the end of the day, the crew cleaned our catch, which was also nice. A great first charter experience. If I go again, it will be with Captain Mel.

Absolutely amazing captain. Great time and plenty of fish. We had such a a great time we booked…read morefor next year.

Terrific fishing charter! Very experienced young captain. Chris really knows the waters of Lake…read moreMichigan and his way around a boat. If the fish are biting, he will get you to their home.

great experience!! he's super friendly and boat was great. He's very helpful too. Highly recommend!read more

Amazing time. Well maintained boat, and the owner was top notch awesome. We had fun on the lake…read moreand smallmouth fishing down the St Joe river. We will book again soon, and highly recommend booking here.

Nice place to fish, discovered it in the fall. Use heavy line and not your expensive lures unless…read moreyou have waders. There is a lot of line draped across waiting to snag your $10 lures or $50 swim baits. Maybe the county can clean it up. We lost 9 lures one day! Steelhead pictured was caught on a white grub jig.

Good fishing, caught four carp and a smallmouth. Then they let more water out of the dam and the…read morebite stopped

We rented a cruiser pontoon for a day...took our laptops out and worked from the boat! Well worth…read morethe money and great service!

The boat and rental itself were fine. The older woman who owns the shop was rude and has zero…read morecustomer service skills. They also only take cash or check. That part seems shady, like they are trying to keep a portion of rentals off the books. I just don't enjoy the experience of going in there and having to rent from them. Wish there were other options on the lake. On a positive note, Steve was much more pleasant to talk to and gives good fishing tips, so try to deal with him if possible.

This is the worst thing I have ever experienced. If I could have given 0 stars I would have. The…read moreconoes were teaming with spiders and everyone was freaking out. Plus they looked like they had not been cleaned out in eons. If this was free it would still cost way too much. If you are thinking about doing this please go and do something sensible with your life.

Our group of four did the 4 hour 11:00 AM in 2 two-person kayak on a beautiful sunny day. We all…read morehave kayaked many times over the years, but never the Dowajiac River. Contrary to the first review, The guys working there were friendly and offered good advice (even when we asked about some other kayak venues around the state) The business site is rustic but loaded with fine river worthy kayaks (and canoes). We drove our truck out to the 4 hour destination and they happily drove us back (for a reasonable fee). We took a cooler full of drinks and granola bars. and I brought my phone to take photos. The river was moving a day after some heavy rain, but the sun was shining. The river is narrow and somewhat winding and offered plenty of overturned trees and obstacles made the ride fun to navigate, but no rapids or danger. I recommend kayaks, the guys we saw in canoes were struggling to maneuver at times, but it's totally fine either way. This would not be a fun river to go tubing as you'd be stuck in branches, muck, spiderwebs constantly. The trees overhang the river with sun bleeding through to provide a beautiful aesthetic. The ride was shady enough that I didn't require sunscreen. I didn't have any issues with mosquitoes either. The banks were very mucky and almost always too steep to get out and walk, plus I think most of the river was off privately owned farm land.. It made for some advanced impromptu riverbank bathroom breaks due to the beverages, but that's all part of the fun, right? There was a nice grassy spot on the final quarter of the ride near an overpass that we saw people having a picnic. We saw a muskrat, king fisher, large river frogs, and several species of turtles. We passed a few friendly people on our ride (it was Sunday of labor day weekend), but it was mostly desolate and quiet. Our moment of excitement came when we approached a nearly impassable part with a couple of fallen trees. Our kayak was temporarily hung up but our friends didn't have time to avoid us and they tipped/submerged their boat and ours tipped and sunk in the reaction. It was about 3 feet of water, the current was strong but not overpowering. I somehow miraculously kept my phone above water while the rest of my body was dumped in. We also somehow recovered the life jackets/paddles/boats/cooler/car keys. All we lost was a coozie, pair of sunglasses, a t-shirt, and our pride. After our refreshing dip, we tipped the water out of the boats and were back on the river in no time. Our exit location was easy to find by a well marked overpass. We had a great time, a very nice afternoon well spent.

Captain Jerry is very knowledgeable and always gets fish. I charter Jerry at least two times a…read moreyear!! He runs a very clean and comfortable boat. Every time I have been out we either catch our limit or get very close!!! I highly recommend Originator Charters for both summer fishing and winter Steelhead fishing on the river!!!

best charter Captn in st joseph no doubt, Cptn link is very friendly and welcoming beautiful boat…read moresuper clean and heated, pure pleasure fishing, you'll have more fish than you could imagine 100% go with captain link !!!