Ludington Fishing Report – Prayers and Pee Jugs

7/5/20253 min read

The morning after the 4th of July in Ludington… and the town is so quiet it feels like someone hit the mute button on America. I bailed on fireworks at 10:15pm, and apparently, they didn’t even start until 10:45pm. So yeah, I have zero regrets on that move.

While walking the docks yesterday—doing my usual rounds—I got the text that Charlie Daniels can’t fish. Bummer, but okay. Crew is now: me, Tim, and Nick. But wait—Enter Josh and Zac, two dudes from Indiana and I met Josh exactly one year ago on the 4th. Josh said they’d meet us at 5am and bring donuts! I’m giving this a 50/50 chance of them showing and, if they show a 100% chance on the donuts!

Tim and I pull in at 4:57am—Tim’s driving back to Hartland later, so he brought a “polite” amount of beer (2 or 3 ish). Nick? No beers. Rough morning. The Scottville Clown Band had their way with Nick yesterday – he didn’t even make the fireworks!

Here comes Josh and Zac! Sweet! Zac’s carrying a cooler full of tasty alcohol drinks and Josh is wrapped in a blanket like E.T., he remembered the blankets, forgot the donuts! Two Miller Lites are already open already and lots of smiles. Word on the street is they went to the Alley Bar after the fireworks and maybe slept on their boat. This could go one of two ways...

The plan was to sneak in 2–4 hours before the small craft advisory kicked in. We were gunning for that same starting spot we’d hit the last couple days. The waves were totally fishable. The crew was happy, except for Tim and Nick’s beer jealousy. It didn’t take long for them to start “borrowing” from Josh and Zac’s cooler stash, all while quietly roasting themselves for coming unprepared.

Ten minutes in—rigger fires. Josh lands a medium king and we’re off to the races. We had 17 lures in the water and high hopes for the next 24 fish (math is hard, but that’d be a full 5-man limit). But then... crickets. Nothing for a while.

So, like any spiritual fishing team, we resorted to divine help…Zac’s Prayer: Part Sermon, Part Talladega Nights…Out of nowhere, Zac drops a full-on prayer. It was serious. Like, heartfelt. But also had some “Dear Baby Jesus” energy à la Talladega Nights. I didn’t know whether to say “Amen” or offer him a Mountain Dew and Taco Bell. Immediately after his prayer…Fish on…A legit bite. A legit fish. Zac’s now officially the Pull Hard prayer team. Applications are closed.

Inspired by divine success, we switched from our usual XM stations to the Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville station – not sure why? Within 10 seconds - bam, another fish hits. Of course it’s a live concert from Indiana. Of course, Josh and Zac are from Indiana. The universe was aligned!

Now for a story no one asked for, but everyone needs: the pee jug game. Yes, the Tiara has a bathroom. No, real men still use the jug. It’s a weird badge of honor that started back in the Starcraft Islander days. Enter Zac...He grabs the jug, drops his shorts all the way to the deck (bold move), revealing patriotic underwear then screamed “God Bless America” or something similar, was laughing too hard to remember. He fills one jug, dumps, starts jug #2, then holds up ¾ of jug 2…This tied the all-time record with Matt Brown! Add in the boxers for the tiebreaker and we have a new undisputed champion. No one can touch that man’s bladder or his commitment to the boat!

We pulled lines around 9:30am, just as the wind turned from “breezy” to “bad shit’s gonna happen” with a final fish count of 4 king salmon and 1 steelhead on 5 bites! Not the fish storm we wanted, but the crew’s antics made it an all-timer.

Hot Bites

Mr. Chrome Aurora Mag Spoon – 300 copper
Dreamweaver Mag Rhinestone Cowboy – 84 down on rigger
Yeck Blue Magoo – free slider, 75 down on rigger
ITO Meat Rig – chute rigger, 90 down on rigger
Mystery Mongolian Beefy Type Spoon – 75 down on out-down (we still don’t know what this thing is but it worked once today)

Things I Learned Today

Nick will never come without a full beer supply again. He even drank the last Beast.
Ludington takes petunias very seriously. Josh is literally on the Petunia Committee. He was even in the parade dressed as a petunia. I can’t make this up.
I’m not joining the Clown Band as a roadie. That was a brief moment of madness.
There is no one, I mean no one, that I’ve fished with (even Dan Doyle!) that brings a fish to the net faster than Josh!
Zac’s bladder is a thing of legend.

No more fishing for this holiday weekend—winds are up and I’m out. My only responsibility? Buy ingredients and make soup for Soup Club Tuesday. (Yes, I take it very seriously.)

Ludington delivered again. Good fish. Great people. Weird traditions. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.