Spring has finally started to arrive here in West Michigan and so have the steelhead. Fishing on the Grand River has started to pick up over the last few trips. Fresher fish from Lake Michigan have started to show up in and around Grand Rapids, as well as nice mix of darker hold over fish.
Water temps are in the mid 40s, which is perfect for beads and spawn. 10mm and 12mm beads have been the ticket in bright oranges and peach colors. Try colors such as Super UV Orange, UV Fireball, and Super UV Peach. Spawn bags around the size of nickels to quarters in pink, chartreuse, and white have also been working as well.
With waters temps being more on the warm side, try fishing faster speed water around 4-6 feet deep. Some fish will also start to be in pockets behind gravel beds. These will most likely be your darker winter run fish. Warmer water temps mean the fish have need for oxygen and will be in faster water than in their slower winter holes.
Typically, I like to run 8-11 gram bobbers with according sized split shot to weigh the bobber correctly. Remember that this is the time of year when fish are spawning and to be very concise with harvesting fish, especially females.
Soon it will be time to start thinking smallmouth bass and northern pike. With that said, check out our line of handcrafted tackle and lures for musky and northern pike.
If you’re interested, click on the button below to make sure you’re ready for the spring and summer months.
We still have some steelhead dates open so drop us a line if you want to get outside and enjoy a Michigan spring in Grand Rapids with us and come and see what the Grand River is all about.
On a recent guide trip I thought about, “what makes a hero shot”. Which lead me to, “what makes an anti-hero shot”. Which further lead me to, is possible you can have an “anti-hero shot” and yet still have the “hero shot?” The answer is a resounding yes.
However, let me explain it better. In order for me to write an ode to the “anti-hero shot”, I have to first define what the “hero shot” is. A hero shot, for those that don’t know, is a picture of someone holding big fish. That fish, for example, could be a steelhead, salmon, northern pike, bass, etc. The hero shot usually gets posted on the different social media channels for various reasons, not the least of which is to get “likes.” That’s all fine and I need to come clean. I am guilty of posting the hero shot and have done it on many occasions.
This past week I did a guide trip on the Kalamazoo River for steelhead. I went there because I wanted to avoid the crowds, which we succeeded in doing. We fished the lower section, where I had been successful many times in the past.
The guide trip was, quite frankly, tough. We used all the tricks, from spawn and beads to back plugging and trolling. We worked hard for seven hours, covering all the usual runs, holes, pockets, seams, timber, etc. No bobber went down, no poles bent and no fish to net.
Finally, after about the seventh hour and near the end of the trip, the bobber went down in a riffle section of the river. Fish on! A dime bright steelhead was on the line, fresh from Lake Michigan. As a result, it jumped, tailed on the water and did a little run. A fight ensued, the fish was netted, unhooked and held up for the “hero shot.”
Skippy steelhead
Certainly you can tell, from the picture, the steelhead was lucky to tip 3 pounds on the scale. Call it what you want, a skippy, dink, jack, whatever, and laugh, but we worked hard for that fish.
After that, the trip ended and we ran down river to boat launch and chatted some more about the day. The clients thanked me for the trip, got in their truck and head back home. We didn’t find any large steelhead that day, as a guide, I was frustrated. I couldn’t give them the hero shot they might have been looking for and it wasn’t for lack of trying. They worked hard and so did I.
The Real Hero:
To sum all this up, I came to the realization the hero of the day, or any day for that matter while on the river, is the client not the size of the fish. That is to say, when the client works hard all day, they don’t give in to frustration, they don’t complain and they keep going during the toughest of conditions, they are the real heroes. To me that defines the “small fish” anti-hero shot with a hero in it.
Ode To The Anti-Hero Shot:
My little skippy, the anti-hero people think you are As an angler I have longed for you My heart has ached through the trials and tribulations of the day fighting snags, wind, snow and rain You come fresh from the big lake all dime bright ready for that mighty big fight my bobber goes down and I set the hook You jump with scorn as I reel you in net in hand and land you You many not be the beast I was hoping for but you’re a steelhead none the least I hold you in my hands for the picture before letting you go don’t be embarrassed of your size for what people didn’t see was I persevered
