Ludington Fishing Report: Accidental Mid-Day Hammer Fest

5/16/20264 min read

This was kinda an important weekend. It was the 3rd of the four Ludington Run Club 5Ks, and with only one left in October, I really wanted to run in it. Problem is…Lake Michigan is currently doing Lake Michigan things. And by that I mean some of the best salmon fishing I’ve personally ever seen. So coming into the weekend, the plan was simple…Fish Saturday morning…Experience a mini shitstorm or two…Catch a bunch of hogs and hammers…Then mentally prepare for the Sunday 9am 5k.

Mother Nature looked at that plan and immediately threw it in the garbage. Coming into Friday, the wind forecast looked ugly enough that Saturday morning fishing seemed dead. So now I’m sitting there trying to decide: Do I fish Sunday? Or do I run Sunday?

Pretty much every person reading this probably knows the correct answer is fish.

But here’s the weird thing. Even though I hate the actual act of running, I really do enjoy completing these races. I’m slow. Like aggressively average. But there’s still something satisfying about dragging yourself across the finish line pretending you’re an athlete.

Still…missing a hot salmon bite hurts the soul…Surgeon Jenn chimed in with a very strong and convincing medical opinion: “We need to fish.” Case closed.

Friday pre-game prep was a weird adventure all by itself. Started by towing two elk mounts in a box trailer to Captain Chuck’s for Scott to hang up. The aerodynamic performance of this setup was perfect, if your goal was to get about 10 MPG. My dad shot one elk in 1987 and another in 1997. I’m pretty sure he may be the only person in Michigan with two bull elk.

After that came the traditional pre-5k haircut to improve aerodynamics. Unfortunately I got the new guy. Let’s just say Saturday morning included an emergency hair repair mission.

Then Surgeon Jenn and I made sourdough pizza and drove down to watch the sunset. It was one of those “should we ride bikes?” situations where it was probably too cold and definitely too late, so naturally we did neither and drove the truck!

With Saturday morning blown out by weather, we started the day with a jog to the mini pier and back before meeting Petunia Josh, Zac, Kate and Bob for petunia planting duties. Very adult stuff.

Then things got dangerous. Because at some point we all started looking at the lake. And the lake started looking back. The waves didn’t seem that bad. Could we sneak out for a quick 10am to 3pm trout trip? Surgeon Jenn’s 5k uncles were in town. Logan is basically always ready to fish. I’m mentally weak when fishing is involved. New plan activated.

The crew became me, Surgeon Jenn, Uncle Tim, Uncle Allen and Logan. We shoved off around 10:25am and headed south because apparently we enjoy doing the opposite of everybody else. Everyone had been running north, but we knew there were lake trout south of the projects in 50 to 60 feet of water. The setup was pretty aggressive: 6 lake trout rigs grinding bottom, 1 flasher/fly, 8 long lines.

The bite was steady basically the entire trip…BUT...Before I forget, this is important:

We lost a Church planer board. Bright orange. Huge red phone number on the side.
248-534-9202. If you find it floating somewhere between Ludington and Wisconsin, please return it to Municipal C1 or call me. There will absolutely be a reward. We searched forever for that thing. And somehow the lake was full of weird floating white trash sitting inches under the surface that was super easy to spot…yet the giant bright orange planer board was apparently invisible. Makes total sense.

By the end of the trip we boxed: 12 kings. 8 lake trout. We threw one little king back, so technically it was a full 4-man limit. Problem was there were actually 5 of us. And we probably would’ve boxed five more fish if somebody didn’t have to be back at the dock by 3pm. We ended up going 20 for 26. That’s a fantastic ratio for a chaotic mid-day troll.

Hot Bites (Basically if it was in the water long enough, it had a good chance):

Mini Streak Pink Panties on 3 color – 2 bites
Stinger RV Mixed Veggies on 5 color – 2 bites
Moonshine ½ moon mini Steelie Ranger on 200 copper
White slick Spin Doctor with Pickle Sunshine on high diver 25 back being deployed
Lake Trout candy special rig on low diver ticking bottom – 3 bites
Lake Trout Toosami Rig on out down on bottom
Hot Tamale on out down – 2 bites
Blue bubble Spin Doctor with blue bubble fly on chute rigger 75 back and 40 down
Trout Candy Wonderbread Whirly Gig on out down on bottom
Moonshine ½ moon mag JJ Mac free sliding on out down 40 down – 3 bites
Mr. Chrome Hulk with unknow green/blue fly on high dover 90 back
Wonderbread spin in glog special lake trout rig on high diver ticking bottom
Charlie Special Spin Doctor with Money Shot Fly on low diver 75 back
Yeck starburst on 3 color
Mr. Chrome mini new spoon on 5 color – 2 bites
Moonshine ½ moon mini JJ Mac on 7 color – 2 bites
Moonshine RV Agent Orange on 200 copper

A few important lessons were learned during this adventure:

If fishing addict Logan needs to be back at the dock by 3pm while the rods are firing and chaos is unfolding, he simply makes a phone call and negotiates an extension. That man is operating several levels above the rest of us.
Uncle Tim and Uncle Allen brought what can only be described as a decorative cooler. Like…adorable little thing. Apparently they thought all the giant fish pictures from the last few weeks were AI-generated. Reality hit hard when the fillets started piling up.
I was proud of Logan for showing up with an actual Shimano tackle bag instead of his traditional strategy of scattering fishing equipment throughout the boat like a yard sale… Personal development and maturity!
Finally, another elite performance from Salmon Surgeon Jenn. Cool as ice in the mini shitstorms. Precision line setting. Excellent net work. Calm under pressure. Fish cleaning machine. Basically the full package. Would be interested in hearing TIm and Allen comments on her back at the hotel room?

So where does this leave us? The fishing itch has officially been scratched. Which means…Nope. Still not running the 5k. Running for me is mental and my brain has fully transitioned into salmon mode.

Tomorrow’s plan sounds like another fishing trip, this time with Petunia Josh and crew. Same area. Earlier start. More fish. Only difference is we need to get back earlier because apparently after fishing all day I’m also making a trip to Cabela’s.

Ludington Fishing Report: Accidental Mid-Day Hammer Fest

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