Ludington Fishing Report: Cousin Pat Saved El Rancho!
Today was a special day for a whole bunch of reasons…First, it was Monday and I was in Ludington instead of sitting at work. Second, the weather was at least fishable. And third...today marks exactly one year since I met Salmon Surgeon Jenn. Hard to believe it's already been a year…awe…
Lately I feel like we've slipped into one of those fishing valleys, and it's time to start climbing back toward another peak. The entire conversation during the 1/16-mile drive from the condo to the marina went something like this...
"If we don't catch at least 12 fish today, we need to turn everything upside down." I'm not talking about putting the port divers on the starboard side or anything crazy. I'm talking mojo stuff. Maybe Ozzy Osbourne instead of Taylor Swift on the drive to the marina. Maybe trying the new Mexican restaurant instead of El Rancho (I can't believe I even typed those words.)
So apparently the future of El Rancho was riding on today's trip…No pressure.
Today's mini dream team consisted of me, Surgeon Jenn (of course), Charlie Daniels, Kaedin and, you guessed it...Cousin Pat. We made one last attempt to recruit Parker, but we'll get to that story later.
The plan was actually pretty simple...weather permitting. Run straight out. Set up in 55 FOW. Work our way out to 100. If it looked fishy, stay there. If not, either head for yesterday's deep-water drop or make a run north.
Believe it or not...We actually followed the plan. We set up in 55 FOW on a west troll and picked up one nice king, one mini and two lake trout while working our way out to 110 FOW. Nothing spectacular. Nothing that made us think we'd solved anything. So we pulled lines and made a run north, setting back up in 220 FOW just north of the bathhouse.
There weren't many boats around, but the Lowrance looked the best it had since last weekend. Only problem...The lake was doing lake things. The waves were just big enough to keep me crabbing around instead of trolling straight, so we only ran two divers, three riggers and six long lines. Sometimes you just play the hand you're dealt.
Somehow...That four-for-five morning quietly turned into twelve fish on fifteen bites. Eight kings. Four lake trout. Cousin Pat reeled in the last hog off the chute rigger – old number 12! Mission accomplished. El Rancho lives to fight another day.
Hot Bites:
Prototype 8" flasher paired with a Howie Gold & Green fly on a high diver 200 back – 4 bites
Silver Streak Standard Chubster Imitation on 3 colors of lead core – 2 bites
Dreamweaver 8" Charlie Special paddle paired with a Rapture Sweet Pea fly on the chute rigger 139 down – 2 bites
Dreamweaver 4" Green Glow spoon on the out-down rigger 43 down – 1 bite
Moonshine Mini Green Slice (non-glow) on the out-down rigger 56 down – 1 bite
Prototype 8" flasher paired with a Howie Gold & Green fly on a high diver 100 back – 1 bite
Dreamweaver 11" Black Slick paddle paired with a Rapture Sweet Pea fly on the chute rigger 120 down – 1 bite
Michigan Stinger Standard Modified Carmel Dolphin on 7 colors of lead core – 1 bite
Prototype 8" flasher paired with a Howie Blue Crinkle fly on the high diver 200 back – 1 bite
Michigan Stinger Standard Modified Coyote on 7 colors of lead core – 1 bite
What I Learned Today:
Is this just Kaedin, or is it his entire generation? My board rod holders require two hands. Right hand pulls the pin. Left hand lowers the holder. Right hand puts the pin back in. Pretty straightforward. Kaedin's method? Pull the pin...drop the pin in the water...then ask, "Hey Jeff...isn't there supposed to be a wire attached to that?"
Someday, if Pull Hard ever gets famous enough, I picture walking out of the condo at 3:45am for my pre-fishing run and having fifty fishermen waiting outside to join me...kind of like Forrest Gump. Leading the pack? Logan, of course. Not that he actually needs any more fishing mojo, but I would follow him.
Parker...remember Parker? Last year he called in sick a couple times and we haven't seen hide nor hair of him this season. Apparently he wrecked his scooter (yes...a scooter) on the way to one of his honey holes and broke his arm. The rumor is he brushed himself off, caught a few hogs anyway and only then went to get a cast. Today he couldn't fish because he had driver's education. For cars...I think.
Expiration dates...Kaedin, "I didn't realize bottled water had expiration dates..." Me: "Dude, don't pay attention to that...sales gimmick!" Cousin Pat then proudly showed us a picture on his phone of a bag of sugar he still uses with a 2011 expiration date. Silence...I didn't know to say "See Kaedin, marketing gimmick" or "WTF Cousin Pat!"
Big Fish Brad may be moonlighting. He once told me he'd only ever fish with me. Then I saw a tournament picture with a guy who looked suspiciously like Brad. I'm watching you, buddy.
Huge thank you to Scott for donating twenty extra fish at the cleaning station. It felt good calling my old boat neighbor Bob and paying it forward. We miss you, Bob.
Kaedin's eyebrows remain creepy. He knows they're creepy. I think he actually likes that they're creepy.
Cousin Pat doesn't own a cooler. Doesn't need one. His fish transportation system consists of stuffing fillets into a heavy-duty garbage bag and carrying them home in a blue fishing net. I guess it's nice seeing the net finally get used for something.
Kaedin's wardrobe continues to confuse me. Mid-July. Eighty degrees. Black hoodie. No shirt underneath. I have no explanation.
Apparently my quote of the day was, "Why are these lake trout up so high?" Surgeon Jenn got tired of hearing it and typed it into her phone because I kept saying it.
Tomorrow kicks off the Big Boys Tournament. We'll be fishing with Petunia Josh and a few of his people. Based solely on that last sentence, I probably don't even need to say this...But we will not be donating money to this year's Big Boys winner again.
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