Summer’s in full swing, with hot, humid weather patterns and low water. The Grand continues to be in great shape, with just the right stain, while the tributaries are low and clear with weeds. We’ve been finding fish in as shallow as 18 inches and as deep as 13 feet, welcome to summer. Here’s the latest from the frontlines.
The Grand River continues to be in great shape. The gauge at Ada is around 7 feet and the stain is ideal. The key right now is retrieve / strip cadence. We’ve been finding bass holding really tight to wood. Crisp cadence can make all the difference between getting hooked up or not.
Cast over logs and as you retrieve, make sure the fly hangs over or just past the log. If there’s a bass, they’ll take it on that pause.
Casting is key, hit the shadows, weed mats, right at logs and next to rocks. In this low clearer water, the bass will not move very far for your fly.
Fly Fishing:
On the fly side, we’ve been finding success on various patterns, A 2 1/2 inch “Fat Baby” by Alvin Dedeaux continues to produce. Use more off white colors and mix in some chartreuse with B10 stinger hooks in 1/0. The baitfish this time of year are at their smallest so use smaller streamers. Schultzy’s “Low Water Cray” and Kevin Feenstra’s Goby have been working well too.
Top water action has been hit or miss. When it’s on, we’re getting them on the dead drift with a slight twitch from time to time.
Speaking of top water, if you haven’t used SA’s Bass Bug Camo Line, it’s the bomb. The cast and retrieve is some of the smoothest I’ve used and you can get some great distance on it.
Conventional:
On the conventional side, we been using finesse techniques. Try using tubes in pumpkin green, ned rigs in black and PB & J and Senko’s, Texas rigged. We’ve also been using flukes in white to get the pause we need when going over logs.
When’s the best time to go fishing? The best time is when you can go.
We still have some openings this month and next month as well, so give us call or text at 616-502-4899 or click the button to get in touch with us.