Ludington Offshore Classic Report

[EdB]

We fished the classic this past weekend. Very, very rough seas on Friday for the ladies tourney. We didn't make the long run to where we had been pre-fishing and stayed closer to Ludington to see what was going on there. We got kings but no trout and ended up in 22nd.

It wasn't quite as rough on Saturday and we made a long bumpy run 20 miles south. We set lines around 7:00AM and started picking away. We ended up 12 for 14, got 2 needed trout and some very nice kings for a heavy box. We ended up in 8th place on day one. That got us an observer on our boat and a great position for day 2. We were very happy back at the docks.

Back to the same water on Sunday and we had the fish going immediately but we struggled boxing them. The fish just kept getting unbuttoned. We ended the day 6 for 15, what a puker! That dropped us to 30th place out of 89 boats. We landed one trout and lost another for sure and maybe the 3rd we needed. If we could have landed 1/2 of the ones we lost, we would have cashed a check. We had our chances and blew it. Oh well, that's fishing and our team doesn't take it too seriously. We still had lot's of fun and great action on the rods!

Some of the best rigs were a DW sportsman special on a 300 ft copper. A DW blue whale on a full core was hot, got steelies and kings. This is an old standby that hasn't worked that well in recent years but it will be getting more time in the water in coming weeks. A blk mamba meat rig on a 1-1/2lb weight out 200 to 250 ft. A green/glow spin doctor and fly on a 300 ft copper. A white spin doctor and pickled sunshine fly on a rigger at 90 ft. The best depth was over 80 to 120 ft of water with fish coming 40 to 90 down. If I get some time, I'll upload some pics later. Good luck!

[Paulywood]

Good job Ed. Somedays it seems like there is nothing you can do to keep those fish on the line. Must have been exciting going out sunday morning after the good day you had saturday. Better luck next time.

[JWheeler]

heard the same story from my B.I.L., said they were getting the hits on sunday just couldn't get em to the net. Been there, done that....frustrating certainly

[GLF]

Nice job Ed! If only we could boat all of the fish we have on.

[Paulywood]

Heard that there was a protest and a well known pro boat was DQ'd. You would think that it would be hard to cheat when there are observers on board.

[mattmishler]

Nice job ed. Wouldnt be the same with terry on board with out a 1.5 pound drop in the water. Great job tho

[Priority1]

Ed, GJ.

[EdB]

The issue on the pro boat was they were trying to shake off smaller fish. The observer lodged the complaint. I don't think results are official yet.