Ludington Fishing Report: Almost The Lightest 3-Man Limit in Lake Michigan History!
We were joking around yesterday in between bites asking: “If you could run as many lines as you wanted but only pick 3 baits…which 3 would you pick?” Yeah…like that would ever happen. Wait. Today it’s only me, Tim and Tony. Nine rods. That’s basically three baits each. WTF? Did you SEE the hot bite list picture from yesterday?
Fishing was extremely productive yesterday. Other life items…not so much. Little to no homework got done. Little to no anything got done unless it directly involved salmon.
Five of us cleaned and bagged 29 fish in 19 minutes flat. Got back to the condo and whipped up a batch of lentil tacos. Respectable…but not even remotely close to El Rancho level. Looked down at my watch and realized I was about to miss the blessing of the boats, so I rushed down there.
Well…apparently I misunderstood the assignment. I got blessed…not the boat. Turns out you were supposed to bring something from the boat to toss into the holy water. I really didn’t want to mess with the current blessing level of the boat anyway. It’s performing at an extremely high level right now. I’m doing very good too…but I’ll always accept a little extra blessing.
After that we grabbed some of that jenky bagged Wesco ice and headed for the boat to finalize the official 9-rod opening lineup.
Ran into Jim Rice and his wife at the dock. No, not the baseball player. Jim just got himself a salmon boat and was heading out on a charter with Jackpot. I don’t think he fully realizes what he’s getting himself into. Excited for them and terrified for them but will absolutely help where needed.
Today’s game plan is basically copy and paste yesterday. Set up on the bank at the bath house. Pluck 15 hogs. Be back at the dock by 9am. Easy peasy. Then I want to hit the road by noon, stop in Muskegon for lunch with Surgeon Jenn, then get home and finish my final UWGB assignment for the week. Simple…which probably means absolutely none of that is going to happen.
Left the pierheads at 5:02am and set the autopilot to a 333 heading…some of you will appreciate that number. We set up in the exact same spot as yesterday and there were marks absolutely everywhere. The three of us deployed 11 lures in record time and…nothing.
The lake was dead calm with a perfect sunrise. We kept plucking mini kings while waiting for a hog to show itself…Never happened.
We pulled lines right on schedule at 9am with 14 kings on 14 bites. Perfect average.
We tried hard to get one more fish because it probably would’ve been the lightest 3-man limit in Lake Michigan history. Every fish was small.
I really do try throwing those little buggers back, but almost every one was hooked in a way that they weren’t surviving…Bittersweet.
Combined total for the two mornings ended up 48 fish on 64 bites. Smaller fish for sure, but I’ll absolutely take it.
Hot Bites:
Lead Core 10 Colors – Spoon – Moonshine Standard JJ Mac RV – 3 bites
Lead Core 5 Colors – Spoon – Michigan Stinger Standard Glow Circus Freak – 3 bites
Lead Core 3 Colors – Spoon – Yeck Standard Chubster – 2 bites
Lead Core 7 Colors – Spoon – Michigan Stinger Standard UV Granny Smith – 1 bite
High Diver 100 – Flasher/Fly – Dreamweaver 8” Blue Bubble with Blue Bubble Fly – 1 bite
Out Down 56 Back – Spoon – Mr. Chrome Magnum New with Red Head – 1 bite
Slider 56 Back – Spoon – Warrior Standard Fludder Red Head Blue Dolphin – 1 bite
Slider 75 Back – Spoon – Moonshine Standard Blue Knight RV – 1 bite
Lead Core 3 Colors – Spoon – Michigan Stinger Standard Naked Jordo – 1 bite
What I Learned Today:
A fishing goal this year was figuring out the next level of bites. I got my favorite compliment yet in the form of a Facebook comment. Sorry Joe, yours was nice too, but Alic Cohlic saying “Looks like AI pics, u don’t expect people to believe this” absolutely made my day. Thank you Alic, it’s nice to know my effort is truly unbelievable!
Speaking of AI, Tim and Tony figured out the elevator hook is the perfect spot to hang their backpack cooler. I will sleep better now.
Sorry to disappoint, but Logan is claiming that he will NOT be dressing up as an Oompa Loompa. Stay position though people, I never know if he's being serious or just kidding!
When you only have 9 lines and marks are everywhere, we cycle through a TON of lures. Still not sure whether that’s smart or completely insane.
Learned while typing this that Logan found the fish again at like 11:25am. I knew he’d figure it out. Wrong boat though buddy!
Alright…time to re-enter the real world. South to Muskegon for lunch with Surgeon Jenn, then home for school work before another exciting week of work work. We’ll definitely be back next weekend…either to fish or run a 5K. Mother Nature will make the decision for us.
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