Grand Rapids Smallmouth Bass: A Great City and an Exceptional Fishery

Pre-spawn

It's April 16th, and the projected weather report is cold and clear. According to Tom, the fish are in pre-spawn, with the spawn expected to occur within the next two weeks. This means the fish are starting to move and position themselves in deep water that is close to the shallow water where they will spawn. The smallmouth will also be in a feeding mode to build up reserves since they won't be eating once the spawn starts. This is all good news.

Our Fly Fishing Tools

Because our quarry will be actively feeding in deeper water, we are throwing big streamers on a sinking line. This isn't much different than how we fished for the steelhead the day before. I'm using a 7-weight G. Loomis rod, the Ross Evolution R fly reel, and Scientific Angler Sonar Titan 3D SINK I/2/3 fly line.

Big Streamers For Aggressive Fish

The streamers are 4 inches, and the colors that worked best are black or a blond/black/orange combo. We tried other colors, but it wasn't until we used the two colors I mentioned that we started hooking up. My retrieve was a slow retrieve, but with violent, big strips. I'd yank the line to get the streamer to jump forward, and then a long pause. Sometimes during the pause, I'd jiggle the fly line to give the streamer an erratic, slight movement.

Violent and Aggressive

Most of my strikes came during the pause, except the last and biggest fish of the day. That fish jumped on the streamer at the beginning of an aggressive strip and yanked the line out of my hand. The hit was violent and sudden. Luckily for me, the hook set, and I recovered the line. An aggressive hit from a fish when fishing streamers is a feeling like no other.

A Great Day On The Water

I don't remember how many fish we caught. I know we did well, and I know I had a blast doing it. Tom Werkman put me in good position to make the right casts. His knowledge of the fishery was excellent, and he made the right adjustments to put us on fish.

A City Worth Visiting

Before this trip, I knew next to zero about Grand Rapids. That's all changed after spending a few days exploring the city and fishing the surrounding rivers. Grand Rapids is a great city with friendly people and plenty to do and see. There are not many places in the U.S. where you can wake up in a nice hotel, drive forty minutes, fly fish productive steelhead and smallmouth bass waters, and then be back in town by early evening to explore and enjoy a vibrant city. KB

My Equipment List

• Fly Rod: G. Loomis
• Fly Reel: Ross Reels Evolution R, 7/8
• Fly Line: 7-weight Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Sink 3D- I/2/3
• Sunglasses: Smith Venture RX