Fishing Report: Budweisers and Bibs on Babes

6/29/20252 min read

After last weekend’s wind-fest and 5K, it felt so good to finally be back on the big water this morning. The day started strong. Alarm at 3:30am (gross, but necessary). I even cranked out a 1.5 mile run before the boat. It would’ve been two miles, but, well… there was a situation. Then came breakfast - We’re talking farm fresh eggs from the local farmer dude and a slice of my first ever homemade sourdough bread. Not to brag, but Justy from @it.matters.because might want to offer me a job…Justy?

Today’s Crew = good vibes. We had the always-expert Riley (my daughter, my 22-year-old living Google), two of her MSU friends Brendan and Dani, and newcomer Jake – who had never caught a salmon before (potential prime boat entertainment). And of course, Nick – veteran local salmon dude and official Pull Hard Budweiser inventory manager. (He brought 9 Buds…9?)

Now, remember when the water all spring was “too cold”? Everyone whining about “can’t find warm water”? Well, guess what – this weekend? “Too Warm! There’s no cold water!”. WTF? I called it weeks ago! Still, we heard of some fish to the north, and rumor had it warm water was layering up nice. So, we headed north like 35 other boats with the same rumor. We set up in 125 FOW south of the bathhouse and started a slow troll.

Nick and I almost had all 17 rods set when we had a diver bite on meat rig to start. We lost that one but then came a nice little flurry. At one point we had 3 fish on. For about an hour it felt like there was always a fish doing something chaotic back there. 8 or 9 legit bites.

Around then, Ludington legend Adam called and asked if he could swing behind me. I told him yes, of course – after we landed a fish we had on. We were like 2 miles north of Big Point Sable and still getting bit. Every instinct said keep going north.

But then…ugh…peer pressure. Adam turned back south. Sorry Kids turned south. Hambone? Also turned. So I turned south…big mistake! The flurry dried up faster than a Nick’s 9th and final Bud! Plus, we got pinched in on the bank by another boat, but it had a woman in bibs onboard, which was pretty badass – watched them catch nothing just like us for a long, long time!

Eventually, we turned back north and managed to scrape out two more bites before pulling lines. Final tally: 6 kings and 1 laker on 11 total bites

Hot Bites:

Dream Weaver mag "A-Bomb looking" spoon – 85' on out-down (3 bites)
John King green bubble BTI – high diver 175' back (2 bites)
Silver Streak mag caramel dolphin – 75' down on out-down (1 bite)
Mr. Chrome Radioactive – 200 copper (1 bite)
ITO Meat Rig – low diver 150' back (1 bite)
10” Spin Doctor BLM Meat Rig – low diver 150' (1 bite)
John King blue bubble BTI – high diver 175' (1 bite)
Yeck Chubster – 3 color (1 bite) — the streak is back!

What I Learned Today:

If you’re getting bites… don’t follow the cool kids. Stay on your line, dude.
XM’s best fishing music today? Lithium. Best bite-inducing song? 4 Non Blondes – “What’s Up”. Not my choice at all!
Riley = Queen of Rods as usual…Jake = Newest graduate of the Polish Shuffle School…Passed with honors!
New dating app filter idea: “Must own bibs. Preferably Grundéns.”

Phenomenal morning with a crew I’d fish with any day of the week. Hoping for a repeat performance tomorrow—more salmon, more chaos, maybe even a few more Budweisers and chicks with bibs!