Ludington Salmon

Introducing Gut-Z Lures

Gut-Z is offering lures similar to the ones we have come to know and love, only at much lower prices. Click here for their Specialty Lures page.

A Better Understanding of Salmon

Salmon like to travel in loose schools, taking their feeding and navigation cues from each other. Unless their biological spawning clock has taken over, salmon remain in search of their food source and ideal water temperatures.
Salmon prefer large schools of baitfish 3-7 inches in length and in water temps of 55-57 degrees. They will enter warmer water if driven to feed or spawn.
Salmon do not like water that is bright or clear. These can scatter or drive them deep in a hurry.
Boat noise in calm waters may spook salmon in depths up to 25 feet. Troll 50-60 feet back or set your cannonball deeper.
Baitfish tend to school more horizontally than vertically.

Salmon attack schools of baitfish from underneath and drive them upward. Frantic churning at the surface and/or seagulls hovering overhead can be a giveaway.
In preparing to feed, a salmon will first crash through a school of baitfish, attacking with its head and tail so as to cripple them, or by nipping their tails. Trolling a lure that is wobbling or rolling fast in an erratic manner near the edge of a school can be most effective.
A salmon will often follow your lure for a period of time, particularly if attached to a dodger or flasher. It can strike aggressively, grazing your lure two or three times before getting hooked (video 1; video 2). This is especially true when attacking from underneath or the side. A successful hit comes when the approach is from behind, often just grabbing it by the tail.

Steamer 43 Lyrics

With my gear all packed I'm ready to go, I can hear that mighty whistle blow.
Living on that Steamer 43.
I hated to leave, to leave my wife, Oh my friends what a different life!
I've got 20 days before I go back home.
Then I'll have 8 days that I can call mine, but still it seems like a very short time!
Living on that Steamer 43.

I miss my kids and the home-cooked meals but a job is a job, no matter how I feel.
The work is not hard and there's nothing there to fear.
But Oh how I hate to put up the gear with the weather so stormy this time of the year,
And that's really when I begin to hate this life.
There will always be men on the sea, away from their homes and families.
Living on that Steamer 43.

When it's Sunday morning and my family's in church, I'm right here doing my work!
These are the things that makes a sailor's life bad.
Oh, I lay awake, late at night thinking of my darling wife,
Living on that Steamer 43.

There will always be men on the sea, away from their homes and families.
These are the things that makes a sailor's life bad.
Yes, I lay awake late at night thinking of my darling wife,
Living on that Steamer 43.

By Pete Host, 1970. Pete was a lookout watchman and coalpasser aboard the Badger (unofficially known as Steamer 43, the Spartan being Steamer 42).
(From S.S. Badger Pictoral History. See also Ludington News article from 1970).

Pete became a Christian in 1957. He currently resides in Jacksonville, FL, where he does airbrush work and is involved in full time ministry. For more on Pete's life, click here. For his Facebook page, click here.

Works well after fish are frozen, then thawed. Does not work well at the fish cleaning station.

Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Quiche

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

1½ cups flour
1½ tsp sugar
1 tsp onion salt
½ cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp milk
½ lb salmon, flaked
1 lb fresh asparagus spears
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Havarti or Monterey Jack cheese
3 eggs & 1 egg white
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp chopped fresh dill weed or 1 tsp dried dill weed
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

Clean and break off the ends of the asparagus, Place the spears in a microwaveable dish, add ½ cup water cover and cook on high for 4 minutes. Set aside.

Heat oven to 425°. Mix flour, sugar and onion salt in medium bowl. Beat oil and milk in measuring cup with fork until creamy. Pour oil mixture over flour mixture; stir until dough forms.

Pat dough on bottom and side of ungreased pie plate, 9" x 1¼", or quiche dish, 9" x 1½". Sprinkle salmon over crust. Cut off bottom one-third of each asparagus spear; reserve top spear portions. Chop asparagus ends; sprinkle over salmon. Sprinkle cheese evenly over asparagus.

Beat eggs and egg white, whipping cream, dill weed, salt and pepper in medium bowl with wire whisk. Slowly pour egg mixture over quiche ingredients. Arrange reserved asparagus in spoke fashion on top of quiche.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°. Bake 40-45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. If necessary, cover edge of crust with strips of aluminum foil after 10-15 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.