The Grand River is in great fishing condition after we received the much needed rain earlier this month and flows returned to their normal summertime levels. Here’s the latest from the frontlines.
The river still has a slight stain in some areas depending on the tributaries in that section but should clear up in the coming weeks. The smallmouth are in their summertime patterns and have been pretty active with the mid 70’s water temps.
We are finding most of our fish around weedlines and rock structure with a little bit of current close to the bank. We’ve been targeting these fish by throwing topwater in the mornings/evenings and stripping shiner patterns with fly rods and stickbaits on spinning rods.
Another place we’ve been finding fish are in deep mid river boulder fields with moderate current. Boulder fields are often overlooked and provide a great place for fish to hide behind rocks and snatch wounded baitfish, nymphs, and crayfish as they float by.
On the fly fishing side we’ve been dead drifting these areas with minnow patterns, nymphs, and crayfish patterns either under an indicator or an intermediate line with the occasional rod bounce to keep the bait from hanging up on the bottom.
On the conventional side we’ve been bouncing skirted jigs with a baby craw trailer from the downstream side of the run and workin them with the current back towards the boat to give the baits a more natural appearance and create a more clumsy wounded look as it bounces off the rocks.
As we move into the month of August the fishing should stay consistent and we see these fish start to school up into larger groups and feed heavily before they start migrating to the deeper pools in the fall. If you’re looking to get out on the river we do have some availability so don’t hesitate to drop us a line!