Rascal Trophy Fishing

I gotta tell you guys something, if this early bite of big fish and abundant fishing keeps up in Ludington, we are going into outer space in August this season. Why? Cause it's way too early for these millions of baitfish and big bite fish here. You avid fisherman may want to take advantage of this inside tip........or will ya?

Same couple as last Sunday looking for more bonanza punishment, salmon style in Ludington. Saturday, winds kicking at nite a bit, cloudy with more storms on the horizon, distant lightning all nite, let's go fishing. Went 9 for 12 after leaving at 7pm, back dockside 10:30pm. Best lure moonshine broken nose on rigger down 96', went 3 times along with other moonshines mixed veggie/72' rigger bite went twice too. Had 3 nice big jumpers, 2 lakers, & 4 kings total. A 10 lb steelie was biggest fish. Sunday, left 6pm, gassed up, set lines same place, bank, 120' fow up to 70 fow, went 6 for 7, not the best action, but crew and capt. all happy happy, biggest fish a king at 19 lbs., screamer took off on a wire diver back 175' with a moonshine moonshine, counter reel said 475' before he finally stopped after two runs, reeled him into 225', and he took off again back out to 325', finally, after my back was half broken, he started to relent, boated in 22 minutes, fiesty silver buck with a slight lamphrey mark on the side. Two mini trip totals for two nites: 15 for 19, nice mixed bag of fish, all silver beauties, lines in water total of 6 hours, not bad for mini trips after the combat fisherman of the morning are gone...lol. Got a few late nite pics. but cannot find a way to post them on this thread, sorry, will try the photo section.

Outstanding job finding that fish John, and a big congrats to Josh for the fintastic catch, great job of persistence and patience combined. Last time I saw a Laker down in Lk. Michigan that big was over 22 years ago, again, great job and fantastic fish for a lifetime memory. It deserves a wall mount for sure.

Nice catch report Collin, keep up the good work.

Sorry for your loss Paperboy, I also lost a fellow capt. this year, always sad.

Thanks guys, the nite bite is really strong right now, unless the 30mph winds start again, like yesterday and today. Waiting for calmer weather to go back for another Bonanza. The early early bite also is good, starts 4:30am-7am then shuts down again. These are predominantly the guys that get up at 3am and leave dock at 4am, fyi.

Well, some late weekenders stopped in last nite bout 7pm, finally got the couple "motivated" bout 8pm, left dockside 8:20pm set up in the 02's 75 fow, put two riggers down, first one hit 63' with moonshine mongolian, second one with broken nose moonshine 69', boated one of two. Worked the bank north and had a few more hits, one 53' on slider with Ludington watermelon, mangled tackle. In and out to 120', at 110' had high diver out 150' go with mt. dew/dew flie, nice screamer king. This would go 3 times, same with broken nose. Got right on the big point sable light and all hell broke loose. Had two doubles and a triple, boated 9 for 14 in all. Leadcore 5 color went twice on jumpers, moonshine/moonshine with 4 black eyes went there, nice, one jumper must have broke water in air 6 times before settling down for reeling, 9 & 6 lbs. respectively. Biggest king was 21 lbs.. That sunset and the 25 minutes afterwards were the big bang time. Got too dark for pics., sorry, next time. Alewives are into the millions right now, early, and thick. Dockside with happy happy crew at 10:45pm, not bad for a scant 2+ hours dock to dock.

Good report Justin, keep 'em coming.

Then there was a True Trac ball, now discontinued due to business closed, but a novel idea I thought, with a magnet built into the fin. The ions in the water created by a magnetic force field can also attract quite a few fish to the boat, jmo. Some had all riggers with it, I just ran one and found them to work well too, still have it too after over 10 years. Usually, the bigger the wt. the less blowback too.

That didn't look familiar to the TC area. Where were you fishing? Thanks.

Nice report again Matt, thanks. And do let us know how the weekend finished out for you too.

See Tuna Tom in Ludington, can send them or call for the correct replacement washers. The factory at Okuma isn't installing the correct washers to begin with, he has dealt with the problem and fixed it for several years now.

Try mixing a combo. of vinegar and water, 50/50 in a spray bottle, really works, but, must reapply on hot days every 30 minutes or so to be effective. I've heard where little bo peep amonia also can be mixed with h20 with same results, but never tried it yet. Black flag flying insect spray is good to start if heavy with flies before alternatives above are activated. Shoooooooo fly!

Nice to have fire drills like this so early on. What amazes me is the tourney organizing participants, free food, ice, and dockage, doesn't exist anywhere else I know of. Great post.

Very nice job and pics..

Nice catch and pics. Josh, thanks.

Glad to hear you are back on your game Frank, keep up the good work and reports.

Nice tips on batts. Frank, you hit the nail on the head. Longevity is everything. Now then, the best batts. for me are deep cell, the bigger your boat, the more room for twins, or even twins per engine, and yes, get that batt. switch, perko's are still only about $25, and will help a lot for changing and charging purposes. If the boat is big enough, a marine batt. charger is also suggested, if you have the funds, they are expensive, but worth the $$. If your batts. are over 3 years or older, time to change out. Being frugal here can cost you a tow in, a USCG warning/citation, or worst of all, untimely death at sea, don't be cheap, your life is priceless.

Haven't been after Turkey in a while, but your pic and story revives my interest. Thanks.

Nice report Don, fyi, utilizing sea bags will slow your troll down when it's rough, but I'm guessing you already know that, best regards.

Welcome to a great site for information and help with any fishing related issues. Thanks for joining the GLF.

Great job both daughter and dad, congrats. on the outstanding achievements.

I thought I heard some guys, as usual, doing good by the Nuclear plant, 30-60 fow. Check some recent threads on guys in that area. Thanks for joining, and welcome.

Many thanks for joining and hope you enjoy.

Yummy Dave, thanks.