Ludington Area Fishing Reports

Got some nice Kings today up north off the bank. The biggest pictured left was a 23.2 lb. 39.6 inch dandy caught by Bub Smyth. It came on a 250 copper with a 10″ White Crush Spin Doctor/Green Mirage Strong Fly Meat Rig. Bub’s King qualifies for a Michigan Master Angler Award.  Two other Kings pushing 18 lbs. came on a 10 color core with a 10″ Chrome Killer Spin Doctor/Green UV Big Water Meat Rig. We set up in 120 feet of water (fow) in the high 00’s and trolled north. The surface temp was 53 degrees and it was 41 degrees down 50 feet. We had all our rods set before we got our first bite. It came on a 8″ Kevin’s Girlfriend Spin Doctor/Green UV Big Water Meat Rig on a 10 color core. We hit our second fish on a 10″ White Crush Spin Doctor/Green Mile Big Water Rig on a 250 copper but it got away. We rode all the way to the Point without another bite. We talked to a friend and he told us they were taking some nice Kings out in 200 to 230 fow. We made a turn out to head back south in deeper water when we took a King on a high wire diver out 120 with a 10″ Blue Bubble Spin Doctor/Blue Bubble Action Fly. We took 3 more Kings on the south troll working between 190 and 230 fow. We turned back north in the high 00’s and took the rest of our fish on the north troll. Our 11″ White Crush Paddle/Pickled Sunshine Action Fly on the chute rigger only went once today. A Steelhead hit it when we were reeling it in at the end of the trip.  All our fish came on meat today except two. Our next scheduled trip is Tuesday afternoon. We use Dreamweaver Premium Strips in all our meat rigs and Morgan’s Tackle on our copper rods.

We checked out the latest Coast Watch image this morning and the best picture didn’t look very good. The break appeared to be further west than yesterday and more spread out. We heard of a couple boats taking a few mature Kings on the bank yesterday. It was a tough decision to make. Go way out and north where we had been doing so good or try for mature Kings on the Bank? We opted to try the Bank. The surface temp was 47.7  where we set up in the 01’s and 120 feet of water (fow). Our fish Hawk probe was down 50 feet. The temp was 41 degrees there. We had most of our rods set when the chute rigger with an 11″ White Crush Paddle/Pickled Sunshine Action Fly set at 55 ft. started bouncing with a mature King on the other end. After a good fight it ended up in our box. That combo went 2 more times but, we missed  the other two  strikes. Another big King hit a high wire diver out 95 ft. with a 10″ White Crush Green Spin Doctor with a homemade Pickled Sunshine meat rig. A little later in the morning 1st mate Austin dropped it back to 135 ft. and we took 2 more Kings on that rig including the nice one Carlito , pictured above, landed. We had a low wire diver out 70 with a 10″ Dark Blue Slick Spin Doctor/Blue UV Meat Rig that took our last King. We took a good Steelhead on a 10 color core  with a mag Fuzzy Bear Carmel Dolphin and a Lake Trout on a 7.5 color core with a glow spoon. We spent most of our time this morning working between 120 and 180 fow. A friend made the run out to the deep water break and reported tough fishing out there. The break had widened and the bite was slow.