Fishing Report: Tiki Bar Regrets & Big King Redemption

6/15/20253 min read

We knew going into this morning that the weather mojo was dialed in. Glass calm seas, — perfect conditions for a solid troll. And we did all the right prep the day before: Dinner at Ludington Bay Brewery, a classy detour to the Pere Marquette winery on Iris Road for some grape juice, and a quick nostalgia hike to show Mark and Christian the glory of Peter Pan Land. We even stopped by Pomorski’s because that’s just what you do to play pool. Then it was down to the boat for lineup selection and off to bed…

…well, some of us went to bed.

The Crew: Me, Riley, Mark, Christian. A tight squad. Strong on paper. But the morning? A little rough around the edges:

Riley? M.I.A. after a Tiki Bar visit. Never heard the alarm. Not even close.
Christian? Claims he only had “three drinks” — sure, buddy. He made it to the boat, but his energy level said “nap,” not “troll.”
Mark? Continued his tradition of trying to exit the truck without unbuckling his seatbelt. This man fights more restraints on land than fish at sea.

With Riley out, we were down to 3 people and 9 rods. Pain!

We followed a hot tip and headed north, setting up in 60 FOW just south of the state park bathhouse — classy Ludington location, strong bathhouse energy. Worked the 60–90 range and picked up a snack-sized king and 5 lake trout. The good news? The screen was loaded with fish marks. Like, more marks than when the Lowrance is in demo mode. It looked like we were doing something right.

Mark and I spent the morning playing lure DJ — swapping spoons, speed tweaking, making trolling turns... Christian manned port, Mark had starboard — and Mark was very ready to redeem himself after yesterday’s lackluster performance.

Early advantage went to Christian, who had both the Yeck Fireball and Yeck Chubster on his side. But then… the Fireball spoon fired, fish on… and no celebratory shot of Fireball was taken. Big jinx. Port side shut down harder than Christian’s energy levels — which eventually curled into a little Christian ball of defeat on the bench. Three drinks, huh? Suuuuure.

Then it happened — 3 miles north of the point, we made a deep-water turn, and the 300 copper lit up. Boom. A chunky king salmon took the Happy Meal and ran like it had weekend plans. Mark fought it like a champ and landed our biggest king of 2025 — just over 14 pounds! Off we went to Chuck’s for weigh-in like proud little derby nerds. Thanks to Randy for the scale assist and Gabe for teaching us how a boat ticket thingy works. (We’re still figuring this stuff out.)

Final tally in just 3.5 hours: 7 fish on 10 bites (2 kings & 5 lake trout) Honestly? One of our best days this season! What happened to those 2024 days!

Hot Bites of the Day:

Moonshine Happy Meal – 300 copper (1 bite + the big king)
Dreamweaver Mag Soda – 7-color (3 bites, soda-powered success)
Mr. Chrome Radioactive – 200 copper (2 bites, still hot)
Silver Streak Mag Caramel Dolphin – rigger at 64 down (2 bites)
Yeck Fireball – 5-color (1 bite, no celebratory shot = bad karma)
Yeck Chubster – 3-color (1 bite, still 2025 favorite)

What I Learned Today:

Sirius XM "The Blend" might be the secret sauce. Mark gagged at the soft rock, but the fish were vibing.
My Tekota drags are still perfect. That big king gave it a workout, and she held up just fine.
No shot after a Fireball hit? That’s just bad juju. Next time it happens, I’m pulling all the port rods and stacking them starboard out of spite.
14 lb kings feel great when you’ve been catching nothing but trout pancakes and minis for weeks.

Now it’s time to fly home, see Euge for Father’s Day, and rest up for next weekend when Morgan and the Ferris State crew come into town. Hoping for more calm seas, good NA beer, and a better ratio of Fireball-to-Fish. Until next time, Ludington – stay fishy.