Grand River

[Duke]

I'm heading up to the Grand River October 19. I'm planning on fishing it all day. Can any of you give me any advice? I've never been to this body of water before and am hoping to fish the river and Lake Michigan. I would appreciate any advice. Also, any navigational tips would be greatly appreciated.

If you're free that day, I'm looking for a partner.

Duke

[canvsbk]

Navigational tip: watch out for things that will rip your lower unit off.

(sorry guys - private joke)

Spring Lake will appeal to the pier fisherman within you. However, neither it nor the Grand are what they once where. My guess would be the smallies will be off the pier heads by then - maybe not too - and will be chasing shad. The drill at that time is spinnerbaits and rattle traps. Of all the places to be in late October how did you ever come up with this one?

Where you launching from? How far do you want to run? Do you insist on smallies?

[Duke]

I heard the Grand River has been on fire all year! 

I do not insist on smallies unless I'm on the big lake. Its my understanding that while on the river, LM are actually better? I'm willing to run as far as necessary w/o sacrificing my lower unit in the process.

[LUMBERLEO]

The river could be tough if we get a bunch of rain.? I would go to Mona or Muskegon.? Either of those to lakes can be super in the fall.? Mona is a small lake north of the river.? It will be on your graph.? The fish are easy to find and you can really get some quaility fish if you hit it on the right day.? If you go to one of them let me know I will give you a couple spots to try...? ? ? ? ? ? ? Scott

[Duke]

Yesterday I made the 2 hour jaunt out to the river and was humbled and fell in love at the same time. I didn't catch many fish, but I loved the challenge and fishing something with some size.

I launched at Mill Point Park. Nice facilities and free of charge. It is literally 1 minute off of 31. Anyhow, I idled out to Lake Michigan which took quite a while. I wanted to fish Muskegon. As I went under the 31 bridge I looked at the railroad bridge and got scared. I called Rufus to see if its safe; he didn't answer so I sucked it up and went through. I realized I was a paranoid wimp. No problems! It just looks intimidating. Anyhow, as I began getting close to the South Channel I noticed waves coming at me. I wondered if they were coming from the big Lake or a boat I didn't see. As I continued the waves got bigger and bigger. When I got to the riprap, the waves were 2'-3' and at the mouth of the pierheads they were between 4'-5'. They were bouncing around and coming from both sides; bumpy. Now, I was once in a 22' Champion that sank on Lake Charlevoix years ago, so I'm a scaredy-cat and it made me a bit nervous. I went out on the Lake and was in 5'-6' waves instantly. My little 19' Triton handled them just fine, but the wind was coming directly out of the west and it wasn't supposed to change. Thus, I was afraid after getting to Muskegon, those waves would be much bigger. Hence, I wimped out and went back into the Grand.

After idling back in I fished the riprap in front of North Shore Marina; those rocks looked too good to be left alone. Well, they should have been left alone. I threw a tube, dropshot, and jerkbait: nothing. Not that I would know, but it appeared that the waves were rougher than the spot is used to; 2'-3' waves were coming onto them. Next spot was the South Channel. This spot also looked good. I fished all the way to the first bridge and caught nothing. I did see a shore angler catch a decent coho...

On I went to the railroad bridge and 31 bridge. I fished both spots thoroughly with a tube, dropshot, silver buddy, crankbait, senko, spinnerbait, and jerkbait. Nothing. Next, I move to the 104 Bridge going into Spring Lake. Same results with the same baits.

Then I moved into Spring Lake and went looking for a shipwreck on the lake map. I don't know how I didn't go over it, but after searching for nearly 60 minutes, I gave up. I fished that area thoroughly and found some weeds but no fish. The shad were busting everywhere though. I was hoping to find some predators lurking nearby, but nope!

After 5.5 hours I have zero fish to speak of. I knew the conditions were going to be tough, but give me a break! I put my boat on a dock and ran across the street to a Mobil station to buy some oil; I didn't want to run out.

I then ran to an area in the second no wake zone and fished some shoreline on the west side. The map shows rock, but I didn't find toomuch. I got bit off by a walleye (I think). It might be good to pitch into during the warmer months with some green cattails, but no fish today.

Next, I idled into Millhouse Bayou and am I ever glad I did. Immediately I catch a fat keeper on a spinnerbait. On my next cast, same thing. I circle the entire bayou (not very big) and lost track of how many fish I caught; probably a dozen?? I didn't have a limit, but 4 keepers will be suffice today. That was a good way to finish. Caught the first few fish on spinnerbait then they stopped biting it, I switched to a wacky senko and they liked that much better.

I fished 10 hours and spent a great deal of time idling around and learning the river. Its tough, but awesome. Thats OK, I'm not afraid of challenges. Give me 2 more years and I'll be tough out there. I have a new love in my life. I can't wait to get back. A big thanks to Angolajones & Rufus for some help out there. Lumberleo: thanks for the offer! Someday I'll take you up on that.

Duke

[canvsbk]

You school teachers have all the fun!
Wish I had been here to go along, I could have been nervous with you in those 5 footers.

[Duke]

Something tells me you wouldn't have nervous in the least with your experiences in GT Bay etc.  . We'll have to hook up sometime this fall.

Duke

[djkimmel]

You don't want to run Lake Michigan if the waves are already breaking if you don't have to... especially with a westerly winds. One of my worst rides ever started that way. Not too bad when we left the Grand. Big rollers. But part way to the Muskegon, they started to break and kept building. Just in that short time they became the biggest waves I've ever been in. It was more than just rough. It was nuts!

We should have known better. On the way out the river, ALL of the tuna boats were coming back in already. One captain leaned over to us from his bridge and said, "you're gonna die out there." He smiled why he said it. I smiled back. Duh!

The bayous around the Grand can pretty good in the fall. Shad move into many of the pockets, especially off of Spring Lake. Been many years since I've done it, but I had some fun times just flipping to docks and water pumps... things like that, in the fall.