Captain Jim and his wife run a great charter.  Don’t be alarmed by the location.  The boat docks at a boat yard and Jim comes out and unlocks the gate and you drive to the boat.  Translated…its not a yacht harbor where other charters would be.  You motor out and are fishing right out of the harbor.  While we only caught one fish, it was an experience to see Milwaukee from the water.  I would recommend this charter in a heartbeat.

There were small communication issues with fishingbooker.com regarding remaining payment options to Captain, but after speaking to Captain Jim, everything was fine.  I am so glad we made this charter.

Awesome trip. The 6 of us caught 8 fish. Crew was very knowledgeable pleasant.  Can’t wait to do it again

Our family of 4 really enjoyed our early morning fishing trip with blue max charters! Caught some salmon, lake trout and rainbow trout. Very satisfied with the fish we’re taking home and the whole fishing experience. Would recommend for a lake fishing adventure!

We’d saved up for something special throughout our year of lockdown, knowing we wanted to celebrate 3 missed birthdays with friends. It was a beautiful overcast day, not too bright, and the waters were calm enough to enjoy the ride.  We did our homework and brought plenty of water, some subs, and Dramamine before boarding…so no motion problems for any of us. It was a slow day for the fishing, but at the end of the day we did bring back 4 silver salmon to share among us.  As rank amateurs it was a thrill.
Capt. Jim confirmed with us before our trip and answered any questions we had. He and first mate, Anita, were VERY experienced and we felt both safe, and in good hands, at all times.  No one could have worked harder than he did to get us to the fish. 
The problem was both our inexperience and his style of teaching.  His focus was on getting set up rather than confirming we understood. In addition, Instructions were given as we were heading out and it was impossible to hear over the engines. 
A quiet tutorial before leaving could have done wonders for our confidence and understanding. It also would have been nice to have held the rods even once before trolling and to have learned the names of the equipment he would be directing us to handle. 
Although I mentioned none of us had ever been on “big” waters, he could not have known there were 2 bad backs, 4 bum knees and a hip reconstruction between us. Which is to say speediness in no longer a talent for us . Nor were we certain the rods weren’t too heavy to hold fast to with a large fish attached.
So we spent a good deal of the trip sitting, watching the ends of the rods bobbing in the drink and waiting to hear the hum of the line for a catch. Even now, after 5 hours of fishing, we couldn’t tell you the difference between a small catch that doesn’t pull the line hard enough to make noise and an empty line pulled by the trolling. 
Capt. Jim knew his business, he set lines at different depths, and tried different lures, while Anita directed the boat over anything she could see on the finder.  For our part, being grown-ups, we all knew the day might end with no catch and had agreed beforehand—no whining. 
It didn’t get ugly until about 4 hours in when the Capt. started snapping at us to “Move it.  Faster. Grab that pole, reel it NOW!  Well, now you’ve lost it.  Do I have to do all the fishing myself.”  Variations of those words on 3 different occasions.  Escalating each time.  Seriously?  Aghast is too small a word to remember it by. 
        Imagine your father berating you for NOT accomplishing something
                      you have NO IDEA how to perform. 
It sucked all the joy out of what had been a lovely day for gathering friends.  The boat went dead silent the last time it happened.  Then Capt. Jim apologized and in our embarrassment FOR him, in that nervous way one is so quick to reassure the offender, we told him it was fine.  It wasn’t.  We lied.  And we couldn’t get off that boat fast enough.
(Although I had tipped him $70. with the payment, before we even left the pier, our ‘guests’ chose to forego any gratuity what so ever.) 
I was now more than $500. lighter, mildly humiliated for having chosen this guy, and wondering how I was going to resuscitate 3 peoples birthday celebration before they all headed home.  It took a steak dinner to save the day. 
So my take on Blue Max is this…we all get frustrated and snarky at times -  ONCE is a pass with me. Twice is pushing your charm. The third time?  Well, now you’re just being a bully. 
If you’re exhausted from dealing with the public, take some time off or find a less aggravating occupation.  And if YOU feel like you’re doing all the fishing, so do your customers!  Ask what they need.  Maybe ask Q.s to see what they don’t understand.
The group recently gathered at a party and the one memory I heard them speak of the charter day?  Getting blasted for inexperience.  Pass.