Ludington Fishing Report – The Midlife Mayhem Edition

7/26/20253 min read

Where we last left off, it was Monday, and I was reluctantly peeling myself away from Ludington, headed back to the “real world” – one day in the office, then a business trip to fancy pants Louisville, KY for a bill collector convention (that’s what dreams are made of). Landed back in Michigan Friday morning, promptly turned around and beelined back to Ludington for what would be known as: The Great Drunken Derby of 2025.

Joining me this weekend: cousins Davey and Nate, their fun-loving friends Miller, Curt (or Kurt? Still not sure), and everyone's favorite party legend – Lloyd. These dudes? They didn’t come here to fish. No. They came to drink. Last year they even asked, "Can we just fish Saturday morning so we can party Saturday night and sleep in Sunday?" Back in the day, that would’ve been an automatic ejection from the boat. Now? I’ve got a Ludington local crew deep enough to pick and choose my battles – and this battle wasn’t worth it. Saturday-only it is.

Sorry to those of you who hit me up last week to get out fishing – I was booked. I stay loyal to my plans!

Mojo Level was rising…I picked up my new bike, smooth 2-mile ride for fun, brought up Riley’s laker mount from the hog she caught a couple month ago, 2nd 2-mile bike ride for the sunset...

We’re locked in and loading up. The mojo was high. Then I met the boys for dinner. They were already 600 drinks deep and 4 decibels over legal limit. We ended up at The Mitten (conveniently next to the Tiki Bar, their real destination). I bailed early with two objectives: 1) Avoid being associated with their behavior. 2) Get ice and rig the hottest 19 lures known to man.

Before leaving, I gave them a heartfelt request: “Please don’t use my name or the boat’s name.” Always a good sign of things to come. “See y’all at 5am!” (They would not be there at 5am!)

Saturday Morning Chaos: 3:30am – I’m up for my ritual run, 3:40am – Dump an entire protein shake in the kitchen. - Bad juju. Still made it to the boat by 4:50am. Started the motors at exactly 5:00am. Got a text from Davey at 5:01am: “On way.”
…Okay, 30 seconds from the dock. No biggie. 5:10am – No crew. 5:20am – Still no crew.
Got off the boat to investigate. Found Davey, Nate, and Lloyd wandering the dock like the Dons. But wait… no Curt. No Miller.

Apparently Miller was “too tired” (Parker, you’ve been dethroned – you’re officially off the hook buddy – lets go fishing!). And Curt? MIA. Just gone. Did I mention I turned other people down for this trip? Bad juju confirmed.

Lake Michigan was lit up – boats to the north, south, and every which way. We set up south of the bathhouse near the blinky nets. The screen was absolutely loaded. The fish were apparently still sleeping it off from Friday with Miller and, maybe Curt (we don’t know where he’s at and don’t know how to spell his name!)

Eventually, a rigger fires – medium king. I try to hand the rod to Lloyd, but Davey swoops in like it’s a piñata. Fish darts back and forth behind the boat while Davey starts shouting at it like it owes him money: “Get in here you son of a bitch!” POP. Hook flies out. Spoon rockets into the sky and lodges itself high in the net. Bad Juju.

Final Tally: 3 kings landed, 6 bites

Hot Bites:

Silver Streak “Pink Panties” (standard size) on 7 color (not pictured – sorry forgot)
DW Mag Soda 50’ down on rigger
Mag Rhinestone Cowboy 65’ down on rigger
Showtime meat rig on small high diver 190’ back
Kevin’s Girlfriend meat rig on mag low diver 130’ back
Red Tail meat rig on high diver 150’ back

What I Learned Today:

XM Radio failed us. Yacht Rock, Ozzy’s Boneyard (RIP Ozzy), Red White and Booze, Classic Vinyl – all bad.
Lloyd has never noticed how many song titles use parentheses.
There is a massive maturity gap between 40-somethings and 50-somethings. Ask me how I know.
I’ve had to say “Please don’t use my name or the boat’s name” three times this year. Hmmm...
You don’t need chairs to save concert spots anymore – just rope off land like it’s the Oklahoma Land Rush.
Curt is still missing. Miller’s still tired. And Lloyd… Lloyd is just fine so long as he found his lighter!

Mojo Reset to include 15 lbs of fresh blueberries & our chairs set for the Yacht Rock concert! Our lineup tomorrow includes a special guest from Norton Shores, Charlie Daniels, maybe Nick, maybe Kaedin, maybe Parker. But whoever shows up? They’ll be at the boat at 5am! Because that’s how we roll…hopefully!