Ludington Fishing Report: Goldie Locks Goes Wild on Blue Fairways
Here’s the plan for fishing this weekend…Fish On For Freedom Friday, Saturday troll with vets and Tim’s buds, then Sunday quick limit troll. We’ve all been watching the Friday forecast all week and, let’s just say, we may find out what happens if they cancel the event.
Rewind to yesterday. Me and Euge hauling butt to Ludington so I could pick up my faulty reel that Mascot Reel Service got back into business. Made it there with about three minutes to spare.
Then off to El Rancho…Met Logan there for what can only be described as a top-secret fishing summit. Logan slipped me some custom sticky eyes specifically designed for one exact spoon. Felt less like a normal conversation and more like some kind of underground fishing drug deal. And before anybody asks…nope…Not sharing details…Euge gave me the full lecture on the drive up about how foolish it is posting these reports online, so apparently we’re becoming secretive now.
Anyway… Turns out Logan’s uncle might be looking for a couple extra guys for a late morning troll…Ahhh…we’re in. Never pass up a chance to fish on Blue Fairways. Never.
I think Uncle Greg first took me out in either 2015 or 2016. Can’t remember exactly. What I DO remember is some random guy pulling up in a white pickup while I was buttoning up the soft top on our 1987 Islander. He asks: “You going fishing?” I’m thinking the guy just wanted to catch a quick troll on old Hawkeye. Nope. Turns out he was looking for people to fish on a 50-foot Tiara. Couldn’t have been more wrong.
So now I’ve got Logan secretly slipping me spoon stickers at El Rancho and Uncle Greg casually recruiting random fishermen from parking lots. I like this fishy family.
I sprinted back to the condo, grabbed every beer in the fridge and basically ran over to Harbor View Marina for what turned into one of the greatest afternoon trolls ever.
Things I remember from the trip:
Greg likes Captain and Coke.
When you finish with a rod, put it back in the exact same rod holder it came from. I may have taken this rule to unhealthy levels now.
How NOT to backlash a Big Jon downrigger with the non-self-centering switch.
Keep your thighs against the back of the boat when fish get close so you can control it.
It felt like Greg cared more about teaching fishing than actually catching fish.
Don’t stay up all night drinking Captain and Coke with Greg or you forget the other 30 lessons.
Now for Round 2. This time on a 43-foot Hatteras. Current plan is leave the condo at 5:30am and be at Greg’s dock, two slips down from mine, by 5:45am.
We were early…Logan was already aboard prepping the port side like some kind of fishy pit crew chief. The crew was me, Euge, Logan, Steve, Charlie (not Daniels) and our host Uncle Greg.
It’s mentally relaxing for me when I’m not captaining the board or running the whole program. My benefit…your loss! I don’t know exactly when we left the dock, but I do know the sun came up while we were running north.
I also don’t know exactly where we started because the boat was so big I kinda got lost wandering around it. I do know we started somewhere bath house-y on the bank. We trolled north for a while, then swung northwest around Big Point. I think we had a couple fish before we hit Logan’s little honey hole out in 370 FOW.
Then things started happening. Nice mixed bag morning with kings, steelhead and a laker. Just enough action to keep everybody moving but not enough chaos where you completely lose your mind.
We ended up 12 for 17. I think. I’m trying to build a better bite-tracking system that eventually turns into some kind of little app because this whole “write stuff down or type stuff in while fish are flopping around” system is getting shaky. Definitely missed a couple bites today. And since it wasn’t technically my program, I was even more lost than usual.
Sloppy…I know…Sorry. One step back for three steps forward.
Hot Bites:
3 Color Lead – Spoon – Goldie Locks SS / Goldie Locks – 5 bites
100 Copper – Spoon – Stinger Mod Coyote – 2 bites
Chute Rigger – Flasher/Fly – White Pickle Sunshine – 2 bites
Low Diver – Meat Rig – Prototype Meat Rig – 1 bite
Out Down – Spoon – Standard DW Hot Michigan Dolphin – 1 bite
3 Color Lead – Spoon – Gold Magic Man – 2 bites
2 Color Lead – Spoon – Stinger KC 1 – 1 bite
5 Color Lead – Spoon – Stinger Blue Veggie – 1 bite
200 Copper – Meat Rig – Kevin’s GF Green Ghost – 1 bite
Low Diver – Flasher/Fly – Dragon Slayer 8” Pro Troll with Howies Bull Frog Fly – 1 bite
What I Learned Today:
30 MPH in a big boat feels like about 8 MPH.
There’s apparently a way to hide the two surface temp numbers on the Fish Hawk head unit. Need to figure that out.
Steve is the prototype meat rig guy. Even if I told you the colors, you still couldn’t duplicate the artwork.
Charlie and Euge are absolute fish killers. Both were great on the rods today.
I remain completely confused about 11” paddle leader lengths. Long? Short? Somewhere in the middle? No clue.
Greg is a great host and super appreciative. He’s made a difference for me when he first took me out and I try and pass that forward to people every weekend. Thanks man! (and thanks Logan for thinking of us for this trip!)
I learned that our 23.9 trout for the Bonanza was beat by O’fish’l Business by 0.3 oz. Congratulations on the 24.1 lb hog/hammer!
Apparently, I don't get many fish pictures when it's not my trip, BUT I will add a special treat picture of the 1982 Lowrance hat I'm considering investing in! You're welcome!
Now waiting on Surgeon Jenn so we can head to the Fish On For Freedom captain’s meeting. Everybody is crossing fingers and toes hoping the weather forecast changes.
So tomorrow we’re either fishing against 36 of Ludington’s finest…or doing random boat projects at the dock. Mother Nature gets the final vote.
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