Ludington Fishing Report – September Mid-Month Check

9/15/20253 min read

Another beautiful Ludington morning. Mid-September sun, crisp air, flat lake — you’d think this was shaping up to be the most productive day of the season. We had just come off Todd’s boat and a ridiculous 29-bite day. We knew where to go. We knew what to run. We had a legit crew in the works. Basically, I was convinced ESPN Outdoors was going to call or maybe a sponsorship deal with Wesco donuts by the end of the day.

But before the fishing, there was the homework. Hours of UWGB yesterday. My brain was so fried I almost forgot basic things like: take the canvas off, grab rods, pick out the opening lineup, etc. Multitasking, people. At 7pm I biked down, rigged the program, and caught a sunset at the harbor (always a good mojo omen). Back to the condo, wore the letters off my keyboard till 9:30pm bedtime. Didn’t get it all done, but hey, fishing brain was at least semi-ready.

Alarm at 4am. Skipped my morning run because I figured the salmon action was going to have me logging miles anyway—Polish shuffle cardio. Dock meetup was 5:30am, but I pulled in at 5:10am a tad overeager. First one there: Jenn, salmon rookie who drove up from Norton Shores and was pumped for the “slaughter.” Then came Petunia Josh, oozing flower-power optimism. Nick was supposed to roll in with… someone? Nobody knew. Surprise cameo: Big Fish Brad. So crew = me, Jenn, Josh, Nick, and Brad…perfect!

We blasted 20 miles south to Todd’s honey hole in front of Silver Lake, set up in 135 FOW and trolled south. The Lowrance was lit up—marks everywhere. Fish city. I took the inside lines, Nick set the long stuff. Ten rods in, port rigger goes. Dink king. Perfect. No skunk, quick net, we’re rolling. Fifteen rods in, 17 baits wet, and… nothing. Graph stacked, rods dead. WTF. Did I forget to put hooks on the spoons? Stared at the graph. Stared at the rods. Swore at both. Nothing.

We stretched out to 160 FOW, still blah. Forgot the tunes (rookie mistake). Donuts should have had Jackpot mojo (leftovers from Todd’s boat) but felt stale in more ways than one. Josh said “go shallower,” Nick said “go deeper.” Normally I just do the opposite of whatever those two dudes say, but they canceled each other out. Mojo scrambled. Aimed east cause I saw a few other boats there. Then the phone rings. Caller ID: Todd. This is the call we all want on the water…Me: “Hello.” Todd: “Get into 104 FOW right now…” — CLICK. That’s it. Hung up. No instructions, no chatter. Just numbers and silence. Todd’s basically like the fishing Batman. We slid into 104, tucked in behind his boat, and… nothing. Blah 2.0.

Final count: 4 kings, 1 laker, 6 bites. Big Fish Brad hauled in the hog, obviously.

Hot Bites

Moonshine Standard JJ Mac, rigger 70 down
Moonshine Raspberry Carbon plug, 10 color leadcore
Mr. Chrome Mag Yeah Mon, 200 copper
Mr. Chrome Mag McLovin, 300 copper
Moonshine Standard Do Dee K, 10 color leadcore
Mag Orange Slice, 7 color leadcore

What I Learned Today

Todd had 14 bites. I had 6. Difference = smaller swivels? Nope. Logan. Dude’s like fish pheromones in human form.
Brad might be auditioning for Logan’s role. He stares at rods with Jedi-level intensity waiting for a bite. When reeling a fish, he goes silent monk mode—unshakable focus.
Jenn’s a salmon sponge. Soaks up tips, info, tricks. Newbie energy is fun to watch.
Josh + Nick… something’s going on. Check the pics. Same weird Hawaii hand sign at the same time. Neither planned it. Maybe it was sharing the case of Budweiser telepathy?
School is important. Fishing is also important. On the way in we rolled past 1,000 birds hammering baitfish—like Costa Rica style chaos. I wanted to drop lines so bad, but homework guilt won. Teachers better give me extra credit for passing up 20 salmon.
Blog’s late again. Sorry to my 4 readers (yes, up from 2!). Homework ate my life.

Four weekends left. The clock’s ticking. Logan, I need you on my boat. I’ll bring donuts. You bring the voodoo. I need to use my evidence-based practices to figure your mojo out man!