While the fishing off Ludington remains GOOD, when it comes to Tournament fishing, that term takes on a whole new meaning. Captain Craig fished with TEAM HAMMBONE, a perennial top contender on the Pro Salmon Tournament Trail and the TV Tournament, Salmon Showdown. They fished in the Budwiser Pro AM out of Manistee this weekend, and therefore, good fishing would mean BIG KINGS and lots of them! On Saturday, Captain Craig worked the deck of the HAMMBONE, fishing in the 11's down to the 9's in 100 to 180 foot of water. While fishing was steady, the HAMMBONE was unable to find the tournament class fish they needed for the first day. On Sunday, they fished from the 13's down to the 10's. However instead of staying on the bank as they did on Saturday, once they reached the 10's they put the HAMMBONE on a WEST Troll all the way out to 500 foot of water. This turned out to be a good choice as they found the tournament caliber of fish in over 400 plus foot of water, where the 375 copper with meat rigs took the fish necessary for the Salmon Showdown. This allowed TEAM HAMMBONE to make a charge up the leader board, but falling short of their ultimate goal. The Program produced 18 and 35 bites respectively each day and they landed 13 & 24 fish. Congratulations to TRAXSTECH and TEAM VERDICT on their win!
The best baits were as follows:
- RIGGERS: Best spoons were the Moonshine Blue Shorts, Oscar, and DW Bumble Bee all in the standard size. Leads were 30 back with the depths set 40 to 80 down. Free Sliders were very effective with Bumble Bee and a Fixed Slider 10 foot above the deepest rigger with a Moonshine Glow Bloody Nose. Moonshine Oscar was by far the best rigger bait 45 down and 30 back, as this went 8 times.
- WIRE DIVERS:
- HIGH DIVERS: Back 240 with the DW Kevin's Girlfriend Spin Doctor and the UV Pickled Mirage Meat Rig. We had no other high diver bites and the Low Divers were MIA all weekend.
- CORES & COPPERS: The 375 Copper was the best with the DW Kevin's Girlfriend Spin Doctor and the UV Pickled Mirage Meat Rig being the best as it took our biggest fish. All the rest of the baits were the standard size spoons on 50, 100, 150, and 300 coppers. Dreamweaver Starburst, Monkey Shine, DW Green Signature Series and Moonshine Hot Lips took fish respectively. We believe our Cores went on vacation with the Low Divers for the weekend! Stay tuned for an update on their whereabouts!
Please do not misunderstand this report, as it was taken from a tournament point of view. Fishing in the LUDINGTON Waters remains very good. If you are on a charter trip or a family outing, the action is steady and the numbers good. The fish are very aggressive and put up and excellent fight. Combine this with the fact that they are giving us great table fare, and you have a truely PURE LUDINGTON EXPERIENCE! We have this weekend open if you are looking for a trip to get in on the good action! Captain Mark