Wessendorf on Suckers: Advanced Rod Tip Squinting

So much important adult stuff to do this weekend. Backlog at home home. Organized chaos in Ludington…bedroom two at the condo currently looks like a tactical fishing yard sale. This was the perfect weekend to get my life together. Then 5:00 pm Thursday hits…text from Logan: “Got 8 suckers…river finally opened up…I’m sucker fishing every day the next 3 days.” Well. That sounds dramatically better than folding laundry and reorganizing teaser rigs. I have never officially been sucker fishing, so, obviously I am in.

Drive west started strong. First stop Muskegon to meet Surgeon Jenn for lunch. She is on call for seven straight days fixing humans but still gets to eat. We hit the Mexican joint by the hospital. Great time. They even tried to bring the meat rig toothpick energy that El Rancho perfected. Respect, but fishermen do not want prewrapped toothpicks. That’s not how this works. I appreciate the effort though.

Next issue. Logan only has 100 leaf worms. Only. So I swing into Slowen Outdoors. I spent way too long in there for three dozen nightcrawlers. Also, how exactly does a little sucker fish eat a giant nightcrawler? Spoiler…they do not. Still bought them for confidence. Ludington Meijer of all places had a worm buffet going on. Red worms, crawlers, the works. If you need bait, go now before Logan cleans them out. He has a fridge full and somehow still needs more.

Is there such a thing as sucker fishing mojo? No clue. Logan was working the Dan Keating workshop at Chuck’s that morning, so I needed to see this mythical sucker rig in person. My morning became gym, schoolwork, Chuck’s, condo to tie rigs, then off to the mighty PM River. Of course I got sucked into the discontinued table at Chuck’s. Ten inch Blue Bubble Crushed Spin Doctors for seven bucks? That cracked the door. I left with two of those, a ten inch white slick, a ten inch black slick, one of Logan’s new meat rigs, and the white Spin Doctor he claims it was designed for. Only seventy five bucks. Basically free, right?

Weather report all week was fifty plus and sunshine. Today? Snowed all night. Thirty something degrees. Little wind. Just enough to make you question your decisions. That’s ok, I have the thirty degree no gloves hand warmer program dialed in. Been doing it for years. Lucky me I brought one pack of YakTrax hand warmers. Unlucky me they were apparently from the Carter administration. They felt like they were cooling my hands instead of warming them. Cold hands are brutal. Even with full ice gear, my fingers were miserable.

The shore crew was me, Logan, and Logan’s uncle Doug. Both veterans of the sucker game. I am the intern. The program is simple. Cast a perch rig with one hook and a worm. Add a 1.5 ounce pyramid sinker. Watch the rod tip. Look for wiggle jiggle. Reel in hog suckers.

Doug hooks one within ten minutes. I barely saw the rod tip move. He lands it. Hooks another. Logan misses a couple then starts bringing them in. Me? I am studying the rod tips…not seeing it. I net fish. I rebait hooks. I squint at the tip. I don’t think I actually had a real bite.

Logan starts calling out bites constantly. Thirty, thirty-five total across six rods. I am convinced he enjoys watching me sprint to a rod, set the hook like KVD, and reel in absolutely nothing. I am pretty sure he is laughing internally the entire time.

Final tally was eight for somewhere between thirty and thirty-five bites.

What I learned:

• Apparently suckers have preferences. Nightcrawlers, red worms, leaf worms. They will tell you what they want. I have no idea how, but Logan claims they do.

• Bring more than one pair of hand warmers. Or maybe it is time to finally explore electric ones.

• The new park at the PM bridges is nice. A little close to the road. Logan waving the net around was drawing a crowd. Same energy as netting kings at big point.

• I think it takes a keen eye for sucker fishing - at one point all three of us were leaning over looking at Doug's rod tip! Nothing!

• I was officially skunked. Did not feel a head shake. Did not set a hook. Still had a blast. Because fishing is fishing and good company fixes a lot of things.

• A big moment of the day was grabbing the heated steering wheel in the Ram after we packed up. My fingers were burning as they thawed. Pure luxury.

• Would I do it again? Yep, already tied up a few more rigs!

Now I need to figure out how to rendezvous with Logan because he saved the sucker tails for me. Yes. Sucker tail soup is happening…Laundry can wait.