Ludington Fishing Report – Mid-August Madness

8/16/20253 min read

Mid-August in beautiful Ludington means two things: (1) perfect weather, and (2) big salmon stacking up close to port. And when you think big kings, you naturally think Milford High’s own Class of ’85 legend, Matt Brown. Yep, he was on board this weekend. This is the same Matt who rookie Zac dethroned earlier this season—ouch, and it’s his crew pictured holding the hogs on my home page of this awesome website! Joining him were father-in-law Jeff, plus Jeff’s sons Geoff (pronounced "Gee-off" and I'm told named "after the giraffe") and Nick. That’s five guys with three Jeffs, kinda… so basically 3-for-5 batting average on names.

Oh, and this wasn’t just any Saturday morning. Nope, this was Logan’s nameless salmon showdown. He did this last year, and folks loved it. This year, he’s back organizing again (respect), but still hasn’t given it a proper name. “Logan’s Sunrise Salmon Derby”? “First Light Fishing Classic”? I don’t know dude, just pick something so I can stop making stuff up. And yes, this is the same Logan who keeps talking about a blog-off with me. Logan, the Big King Bonanza is awesome… but a blog-off? Still dumb.

Friday Night: Matt and the Farrell crew rolled into town around 4:30 p.m. Matt immediately demanded a boat tutorial instead of waiting until the 5 a.m. chaos. Respect. We covered:

How to reel in a board fish
How to survive a downrigger hit
How to handline a dipsy
How to net

Class dismissed (they, of course, forgot it all this morning!)

Dinner at Sportsman. Beers, pizza, rice bowls. I heroically attempted to eat healthy. Then Wesco for the true essentials: more beer, ice, and those day-old donuts that are basically salmon crack. Loaded the boat, grabbed a sunset bike ride, and cashed out.

Saturday Morning: Alarm at 3:30 a.m.—but not for a jog. Nope, tournament day. We were supposed to leave at 4:30, ended up 10 minutes late because, well, 828 things. Headed south toward Pentwater on Todd from Jackpot’s hot tip (dude had a hot limit yesterday). Set lines at 5:05am, expecting an immediate rod apocalypse. Instead? Crickets. Fifteen rods, seventeen lures, and me muttering “WTF” while staring at the graph.

Big props to Matt for running the back of the boat with me—dude was locked in all morning, which kinda had me confused!

Final tally: 3 kings, 4 coho, 1 steelhead (yeah, the pic only shows 3 coho—one was shy and hiding under the ice). Sixteen bites, three broken lines (rare for us), and enough chaos to keep things spicy.

Hot Bites:

Blue slice meat 100 back low diver – 3 bites
Mr. chrome McLovin on 200 copper – 2 bites
Red tail meat rig 150 back on low diver – 2 bites
Charlie special with money shot fly100 back low diver
Charlie special with money shot fly175 back low diver
Mr. Chrome Fin Frog on 7 color
Mr. Chrome Yeh mon mag free slider on rigger 65 down
Orange slice mag free slider on rigger 65 down
Showtime meat rig 150 back high diver
Mag Fuzzy Bear soda 56 down on rigger
Moonshone Mag green knight rv on10 color
Standard Rasta goose free slider 69 down on rigger (yes, the XM Bob Marley station was on for this bite).

Lessons Learned Today:

If your buddy says “go farther south for hogs,” don’t be a dipshit and stop short.
Why so many lost fish? Maybe they were slider-smart salmon ducking into the rigger cables?… maybe Logan’s fans sabotaged our knots over night?… or maybe the Farrells buttered our hooks with sourdough bread butter at breakfast.
Matt Brown is officially off his netting probation after 10 years. Dude was money with the net today. Even snagged a board + lure combo—hall of fame play right there.
The Farrells are on year 3 (maybe 4?) of this trip, and I’d fish with these dudes any time. Total class crew.
Speaking of class, how about Logan? Takes time to organize this no-name tournament thingy and don't even think he fished it. Thanks man!

Wrapping up: The Brown-Farrell crew is currently in the condo pool recovering from salmon-induced forearm cramps. I’m debating whether to join them for laps or just splash around. Tomorrow we’re heading farther south—where the hogs actually are. Stay tuned.