First off....
This is a picture of a Longnose Gar, native to Michigan, and leftover from the from the Jurassic world. These fish have been around for over 100 million years. They have fantastic markings, put up a great fight, are difficult to land and you can more of less sight cast for them All of this makes them, in our opinion, a perfect game fish. Master Angler in Michigan is 32 inches for these fish. In this picture, Henry lands a Master Angler Longnose Gar taping in at 36 inches. We have submitted the Master Angler application to the DNR and Henry will receive a Master Angler patch, certificate and his name in the 2022 Master Angler book. Nice work Henry!!!
Now for the rest of the report
The Grand River continues to be in great shape with some slight stain to clear water, depending on where you are in the system. With that said, because of the clarity, it’s a casting game and accuracy matters to land fish with size. Here’s the latest from the Grand River frontlines.
With the low clear water, fish are holding extremely tight to structure. If you want to land smallmouth in the 17+ inch range, you’ll need to land your fly or lure literally right next to the logs, weed mats or any other cover they may be under. If you are too far from it, they will not chase the fly or lure. If you are spot on with your cast, you’ll be rewarded if there is a smallmouth there.
The flies of choice have been brightly colored flies in yellow, orange, white and chartreuse with some flash mix in. You’ll need flies, that as you cast to the structure, can hover with a very slow sink rate to elicit the strike. We have been and continue use Scientific Anglers Tropical Clear line for the best results.
If you're new to fishing.......
If you’re new to fishing and may not have the most accurate cast, don’t worry, we’re still bringing fish to net but they are more cookie cutter sizes in the10 to 12 inch range. This still makes for a fun day, as they can still cork a rod over.
This time of year, it’s more a finesse game on the conventional side. We’re using ned rigs in the TRD and Big TRD sizes, tubes, swim jigs and flukes. The color’s we’re seeing the most success on, are green pumpkin, anything with chartreuse in it, white, black and PB & J. The key is to, again, fish near structure like rock piles and in the deeper sections of the river. Fish it slow, with an almost bottom bounce / dredging like technique.
Summer has been going well for us and as you can see we continue to bring fish to net. If you’re looking to get on the river, give us call and get on our calendar. August, September and October can be some of the finest smallmouth fishing on of the year.