Ludington Fishing Report – September Weirdness

This weekend in Ludington? Kinda weird. Weird good, weird bad, but definitely weird.

Friday started with the wind howling so bad the Badger was cancelled. When Lake Michigan cancels the Badger, you know it’s not a “grab a hoodie and fish anyway” kind of day. I rolled into town mid-day after some good road-trip phone calls. Got a weird bad text Tursday—Charlie Daniels had a death in the family. Fishing was officially off for Saturday. Totally fine. Family > fish.

Oh, and just to pile on the chaos—I started school this week. Yep, back to class at University of Wisconsin. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m thinking. Hours of homework, clunky online format, discussion boards that feel like…well I don’t know what they’re like cause it’s all new to me…ugh. So what did I do when I finally got to the condo? Made soup. Riveting Salmon Cioppino. Homework + soup = Friday night, yee-haw.

Saturday = windy + cold. I skipped the alarm and managed a luxurious 8.5 hours of sleep (maybe a recent record!). Knocked out a run east—yep, right past where the funeral would be. More homework, then the funeral for Gary Elton Norton, Charlie’s father-in-law and Kaedin’s great-grandpa. First Ludington funeral I’ve been to—great guy, great family, and I swear “he loved to fish” came up 80-90 times. Honestly, respect. Back to homework until I forgot what time it was…again. (missed both Friday and Saturday sunsets!)

Sunday Fishing – Finally! Crew: small but mighty. Just me (coffee supplier), Jenn “The Salmon Surgeon” (literally never has a bad trip), and Alison (out to prove Nick’s not the only one who can run a boat).

Weather buoy said 3.5-footers. Fine. Perfect for trying something I’ve never done: catching my first salmon inside the Ludington pier heads. Been fishing here since 1982—caught a brown, a steelhead, even a perch inside the piers. Never a salmon. Today was the day.

Plan: three riggers, two high divers, all plugs, all action, right in the channel and harbor. I hate fishing plugs. I hate fishing the harbor. But we were making this work.

We set 5 lines as soon as we hit the channel. Alison and Jenn expertly dodged the jiggers—yep, the guys anchored with spot-lock right in the middle of the channel. Always fun to dodge those human hazards. We got through the pier heads…zero bites. Zero fish. Dammit.

So we kept motoring west. About half a mile out, bam—chute rigger goes, 3 color goes at the exact same time. Double! Jenn and Alison tag-teamed the fish and I netted both. Goal accomplished: fish + sunrise.

We kept poking around until 9:00 a.m. when the Badger cut across the lake and we pointed back to the harbor. Picked up one more bite, but it popped off. Still, itch scratched and we had 2 kings on 3 bites.

Hot Bites

• Mr. Chrome Mag Yeah Mon, 3 color

• Yeck Chubster, 3 color

• 5” white plug/red head, chute rigger 20 down

What I Learned Today

• Alison basically ran the boat herself. Dock ropes, riggers, dipsys, planer boards, netting, cleaning fish—you name it, she did it. Jenn and I were basically there for coffee and conversation.

• The boat actually fishes okay with the drop curtain zipped up. Good for those cold mornings with 3-4 people onboard.

• Not dragging out 26 rods = super fast clean-up. Feels like cheating. Or like I forgot half my gear.

• School deadlines: if homework is due 12:59 a.m. on 9/8…that really means tonight, not tomorrow. Eastern? Central? Dunno. But I’ll probably find out the hard way.

• Today’s big king was loaded with eggs. The little guy? Straight milk. Ludington Munson-style salmon?

So yeah, soup, homework, funeral, fish. I’m totally stressed out about my homework – but of course this blog takes priority, so you all know what to buy at Chucks and where to go, or not (Hammbone got 13 somewhere other than where we were)! Me? I’ll take my first pierhead-adjacent salmon, a gorgeous sunrise, and Alison showing us all up.

Five weekends left, people. Tick tock (couldn’t resist!)