Ludington Fishing Report – Boats n' Hoes, and Kings, and Steelhead

8/23/20253 min read

We’re back in Ludington, people! And let me tell you—it’s go time. This is the final weekend of the Ultimate Salmon Derby (a.k.a. last chance to win that big Happy Gilmore check for $15k). Problem is, Mother Nature scheduled a nasty doubleheader for Saturday and Sunday, so we called an audible: Friday afternoon troll. Yep, I know, another afternoon troll…my body is still recovering from last Thursday’s post-fishing “social lag” with Andy and Justy’s crew. But hey, when the hogs are calling, you answer.

In preparation for the fish, I hit Planet Fitness during the week (arm curls, baby—gotta be ready to hoist the big kings). Then rolled straight into town Thursday afternoon. Did I hit the condo to unpack? Nope. Did I gas up the truck? Nope. First stop? Captain Chuck’s, obviously. I needed some fresh mojo. I looked for a mag Rhinestone Cowboy and a standard Yeh Mon. Of course, both were sold out (apparently this blog doubles as Chuck’s weekly sales ad). Ended up with a couple mag Yecks and a backup standard size Rhinestone Cowboy (Note to self: play Glenn Campbell on the boat next time).

I assembled a squad built for hog domination. Me (duh), Jenn (a.k.a. The Salmon Surgeon—her first trip ever she turned rods into a full-blown ER ward), Alison (Ladies Tourney money winner and rubber-boot fashion icon), and Nick (yes, this is THE Nick, like THE Ohio State University). Bonus points: they rolled in with Sportsman Pizza. The dinner troll is ready to roll!

We left the dock at 4:30pm, set up in 120 FOW north of the blinky nets on north troll, lines in by 5pm. Standard afternoon troll plan: set rods, wait forever, maybe eat pizza, maybe get one sunset flurry. Not today, man…First salmon smacked a rigger while we only had six rods out. A few minutes later, the ol’ Chubster on 3 color went off with a steelhead. Two fish before the pizza cooled? I’ll take that trade every time.

After we made the turn north of Big Point to head south, it turned into full chaos mode. We were forced to slide out into 170-190 FOW and my dipsys were firing so fast I thought the rods were possessed (Zac prayer drop?). Nick and Alison turned into a netting machine—Nick going for full-hoop rattles, Alison swooshing fish like Jordan in ’96. Jenn? She still thinks 12-bite-per-hour fishing is normal. (Sorry, Jenn, but real trolling usually looks more like butterfly with expensive rods.)

Our final tally was 19 fish on 27 bites. Three steelhead, four coho (aka “hoes”—cue Alison belting out Boats n’ Hoes), and a pile of kings up to 18 lbs. Could we have pushed for the 20-fish limit? Sure. But: 1) We had to pull all lines to chase Nick’s last fish, would have to completely reset. 2) Both fish boxes were already packed tight so we would need a mini and only catch hogs! 3) It was 10:15pm, I was 5 miles out, and my bedtime is 9pm sharp. Priorities, people.

Hot baits:

Mr. Chrome Bluefin Mag Glow on 10 color – 4 bites
Yeck Chubster 3 color – 1 bite
Mag JJ Mac RV 48 down – 2 bites
Red tail meat, high diver 150 back – 5 bites
Charlie Special + Money Shot fly, low diver 100 back – 5 bites
Showtime meat, high diver 150 back – 3 bites
Blue Slice meat, low diver 100 back – 2 bites
DW Paddle Vegan rig (because even salmon like kale), chute 69 down – 2 bites
Chrome Fin Frog, 7 color – 1 bite
Yeck Fireball 5 color – 1 bite (much needed shot break. Ged, we need those shirts man!)
Moonshine JJ Mac Plug, rigger 61 down – 1 bite

Lessons learned:

Classic Vinyl keeps the rods popping…until Alison switches to Boats n’ Hoes dance karaoke—then it’s game over (in a good way).
Night bite = angry drunk fish cleaners in line at the fish cleaning station. Pass.
Alison strangely is obsessed with…you guessed it, having Nick open the fishbox in the floor so she can use her rubber boots to kick the fish in the box. (softly people, she’s not bruising the meat).
Jenn’s now addicted to rod-popping chaos. She’s basically a Chevelle SS 454 on full throttle. Someone should probably warn her about what “normal” trolling looks like.

Anyway, apologies to my one loyal reader for posting late. My circadian rhythm is wrecked, but worth it. Next stop: Labor Day weekend—hog city, 30-mile bike ride, and a Ted Nugent concert. May sound weird, but Zac, please pray for my legs and ass!