Captain Dan serves as ‘local superstar’ for over 40 years

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Dan Chimelak, known locally as “Captain Dan,” worked at Lakeside Fishing Shop and as a charter captain for over 40 years. He enjoyed helping people fish.

Chimelak started working at Lakeside, on Jefferson Avenue at 10 Mile Road, in 1978 as a minnow dipper. He retired from the fishing shop in 2023 due to health issues.

He said his father taught him how to fish when he was around 7 years old. His father used to fish using a method called handlining.

“He’d use a pound sinker and 20- and 30-foot leaders, and he’d always troll against the current in (the) Detroit River or up in (the) St. Clair River, and it’s a very productive way to catch walleyes,” Chimelak said. “It’s no rod and reel involved, though, and that’s the kind of fishing I really enjoy.”

When he was with his father in the shop one day, he asked the owner if he needed anyone to dip minnows and was hired at age 17. When he first took on the role, he never expected to become the owner of the fishing shop. When he was 21, he became a charter captain and he’s been a captain for around 40 years.

The name of his charter service is the “Four Seas.” Its logo includes four “Cs,” representing his wife and children.

Chimelak taught people how to fish and took them to the best fishing spots. He even participated in a once-a-year event where he taught kids with disabilities how to fish.

“Just the sense of pride my dad had in that, doing that for those kids was amazing to see and I would go out and first mate for him,” said Christine Glinski, Chimelak’s daughter.

Charter captains have to renew their licenses every five years and Chimelak said this might be his last year as his license expires.

Chimelak said when the Lakeside Fishing Shop owner wanted to get out of the business, he closed it and sold everything.

“Six of us started over again,” Chimelak said. “We built it back up to where it was.”

The number of owners dwindled due to a loss of interest and other reasons until it was just Chimelak and the current owner, Julie Beltowski, who was working as the head cashier at the time. When Chimelak retired, Beltowski bought him out.

“She’s doing a fine job keeping the store up,” Chimelak said.

Chimelak also said he started the longest-running recorded fishing report in the history of Lake St. Clair.

“It was always about Lake St. Clair primarily and I told everybody where to go catch the fish,” Chimelak said. “It was always honest and always (as) current as I could make it.”

The fishing report tells anglers where to go to catch fish, what bait to use and even where the fish weren’t biting.

“It helped the guys just as much knowing where not to go as where to go because they’d be wasting their time if they go to the spots where there’s no action at all,” Chimelak said. “That was a real big thing, that fishing report, that was hot for years.”

In its heyday, the fishing shop received nearly 500 or 600 calls on their 14 or 15 lines during the weekend. This service was free, but Chimelak said it cost 10 cents to make the call.

“Friday night primarily was a hot night because everybody wanted to know where to go fishing for the weekend,” Chimelak said.

Chimelak said he’s seen kids grow up coming into Lakeside throughout the years. Sometimes they come back to the shop and tell him stories about their visits there.

“Guys come in all the time and say, ‘My dad brought me in here 35 years ago. You were the one that used to dip the minnows for us, and I used to go over and play in the minnow tanks,’” Chimelak said.

“Every other day somebody would come in and say that,” he said.

The shop had a lot of lifetime employees. Glinski said her father had many employees who started out as kids working for him. Some of them started out as ninth graders and when they went off to college, they’d come back and tell stories about their lives, Chimelak said.

Glinski and her sister worked in the shop when they were younger as well. She said students at school knew her dad and many other people recognized him.

“I was in the medical field, and people would be like, ‘That’s your dad that does the fishing report?’” Glinski said. “Just like he’s like the local superstar. The fishing report was his thing.”

Glinski said she’s never met a person who likes to hunt and fish as much as her dad.

“You know how they say, ‘Have a job that makes you happy?’ My dad’s job made him happy. He lived and breathed the fishing shop,” Glinski said.

Chimelak’s catch phrases at the shop were “See ya at Lakeside,” and “Keep smiling,” Glinski said.

“Dad’s a guy’s guy. If he doesn’t remember your name, you’re ‘buddy’ or ‘pal’ or ‘See ya later,’” Glinski said. “But his catchphrase is, ‘See ya at Lakeside.’ It’s always been, ‘See ya at Lakeside.’”

Chimelak said he liked the fact that he could get people to leave the technology behind and learn something new.

“Get them to learn how to do it, and they’ve got a whole life ahead of them,” Chimelak said. “Fresh air. Fresh fish. Can’t beat fresh fish.”