A patron of Top 40 Charters fishes during sunset on Lake Michigan from the back of the catamaran named "Top 40." (Courtesy photo)

ESCANABA — An avid angler based in Ford River operates charter boats on the Great Lakes.

“Top 40” and “Salmon Ella” are the two boats operated by Captain Sager, licensed by the United States Coast Guard and authorized to carry passengers and fish in Michigan and Wisconsin waters. The captain prefers to go just by Steve.

Cruising and fishing Lakes Superior and Michigan are a major part of Steve’s life now, and he got to know Lake Huron in his youth when growing up in Bay City. The cumulative decades spent on the water provide him with passion and knowledge he utilizes and builds on a nearly daily basis.

“Some of my very first memories (are of) fishing with my dad and grandpa when I was a very little kid,” Steve said. “Always loved it. …It’s always been just a huge part of my life, growing up, all through adulthood.”

Today, clients who hire Top 40 Charters do so not just for sport fishing. Some are interested in sightseeing, others may be duck hunters, and yet others may just be hitching a ride to Door County.

Stannard Rock on Lake Superior is one destination available for clients of Top 40 Charters to visit. (Photo via top40charters.com)

Steve moved to Delta County with his family in 2014 and launched his business, Top 40 Charters, in 2016. In the beginning, he started with a single 26-foot Scout.

In those early days, Steve said, the trickiest part of running a charter business was figuring out what people were looking for.

“It was a bit of a learning process, finding out what people wanted to do, what … conditions they wanted to go in, when they didn’t want to go — kind of learning the market, learning how to reach customers. The fishing was the easiest part of all of it, I would say,” Steve told the Press.

After operating with the Scout for a few years, Top 40 Charters was ready to upgrade. In 2019, the fleet expanded with the addition of a 32-foot World Cat catamaran, which was named “Top 40” and makes port in Escanaba. In 2020, Steve bought “Salmon Ella,” a 23-foot center console Pacific Boat “that lets us access some of the more remote areas of the Upper Peninsula without sacrificing safety or capability,” as the business website puts it.

“The WorldCat stays in Escanaba. We run all of our trips out of the Escanaba Marina because it’s too big to reasonably trailer anywhere,” Steve explained. “The smaller boat we trailer.”

A 32-foot World Cat bobs in the harbor at Fayette loaded with fishing gear. (Photo courtesy of Top 40 Charters)

That flexibility allows people to book cruises along various destinations, including the Keweenaw Peninsula and tourist staple Munising.

Though customers of Top 40 Charters are primarily anglers, Steve has been surprised by the uptick of interest in lighthouse an sunset tours.

“There are a bunch of lighthouses in our area that you can only view from a boat or the air,” he said. “I have had people fly here from Montana to take a trip out to see three lighthouses.”

Those adventures can take anywhere from about three to six hours, he reported.

Some people enjoy a relaxed sunset cruise out to Minneapolis Shoal and back with a bottle of wine, while others may want to sightsee around Door County or book Top 40 as a one-way ferry to Washington Island.

“We’re up for pretty much anything having to do with the boat, as long as I can make it work with the schedule,” Steve said.

For sportfishing and duck hunting, there’s a number of destinations. Out from Escanaba, a lot of people target salmon, but Steve said he always asks what they’re after.

The captain has built 12 years of experience fishing local waters with a home base in Little Bay de Noc, but “prior to moving here, I fished on Saginaw Bay. I fished Lake Huron out of Rogers City, Oscoda, Alpena, and then on Lake Michigan out of Ludington and Manistee,” he said.

He still serves customers in those areas. The eastern Upper Peninsula and Saginaw Bay are popular for duck hunting.

As far as the available season, Steve explained that the 32-footer stays in the water until the Escanaba Marina closes in September. Salmon Ella will make trips so long as the lakes aren’t frozen.

Charters on the Great Lakes are highly sought, and Steve said that this July — the busiest month — is already fully booked except for one day. He recommended that people plan trips and book their charter at least six months in advance, preferably a year in advance if planning for July.

“Outside of, say, July and early August, it opens up a little bit more, but July is prime time,” Steve remarked.

He hopes to expand more out of the typical season, and offer tours to leaf peepers in autumn. From the water is a fantastic way to see the changing colors, he said.

“Around Rock Island, around Washington Island, we can get really close up to shore and see those colors, and they last a lot longer out there, because the water keeps everything warm,” Steve said.

Between the captain and his wife, Casey, who manages advertising and the social media side of things, Top 40 is certainly a small family business. Word-of-mouth and referrals have gained the operation a healthy number of customers, including several who return time and again.

Though some people warned him that making a passion a business could take the joy out of a hobby, Steve said he’s found the opposite to be true:

“I can honestly say now, 10 years in, I still am excited every day that I get to go fishing to charter or for fun. I still — I love it. I absolutely love it.”

To find out more about Top 40 Charters or make an inquiry, people may visit top40charters.com, find the business on Facebook or call 906-914-4951.