D and R Sports Classic 2026 - Day 2 - Grand River
The wake up call came quick after the big wedding night. We still had all of our Muskegon tackle to put away, Grand River rods to rig, and tackle to shuffle around. Like we said the night before, whatever was going to happen today was going to happen. Weights were tight but we were in the hunt. If we could match our weight from the day before we would have a chance, if we could catch 16-17 pounds we felt good about it. But it’s the Grand River and even the best game plans can blow up in your face or you just don’t get those bigger bites. 2 things were certain the leaderboard was going to shuffle around and Trevor would have us around them.
It was nice to have a good boat number again since it went by the order we finished. That would hopefully give us a chance to get in a good rotation. I knew we were going to get on some good stuff early and I had big dreams of a flurry that would put a bunch of fish in the well quickly. That wasn’t going to be the case although Trevor did catch a short fish on his first cast. We hit a little bit of a lull but once we caught the first one the next several stops produced keepers. It had the potential to be a brutal day so we were happy to have a limit pretty early but none of them weighed very much. I had broken 2 fish off which was super weird, because I had very little pressure on the fish. I’m not sure if they were pike or got me on something sharp but I would have loved to know what they were.
Just like the day before we culled a little tiny one that would have to be measured again before bringing to the scales with our nicest fish of the day. All of our fish were kind of lean for the day and the biggest one was no exception. He was kind of a disappointment when I scooped him in the net but we were happy to have a 3 pounder. Eventually fishing around Spring Lake had run its course and off to the river we went. It wasn’t one of those times that you could just cull a little here and a little there to get a nice bag. We needed two BIG bites to have a shot at it and the river is a great place to get them. Culling by pounds and not ounces was the goal, we also knew we wouldn’t get a ton of bites the rest of the day.
Our very first stop produced a cull and we still had about 4 hours to make it happen. Flashback to our last tournament on the river and a 4.68 late in the day saved us. It was a boost of confidence to know bites like that are our there. One thing that wasn’t helping us on the river was no breeze. It was still and downright tropical in a few places we fished. The fish were there but getting them to bite was a different story and we tried a lot of different techniques. We fished a lot of really good places and some really sneaky ones that you could be almost certain no other competitors had visited. It just wouldn’t happen for us. We did hit one flurry where we both lost upgrades on chatterbaits. Not huge upgrades but they might have bumped us up a little bit at the end of the day. Every time we would land a fish it just wouldn’t help, we were at least rotating through a few keepers. It always helps the focus to be setting the hook now and again.
Time was ticking and with the Grand there is always so much no wake to shorten your tournament day. We had a decent bite in the pads that didn’t get it and 4 more bites covering water that also didn’t get it in the last hour. It just wasn’t meant to be for us but I can tell you it wasn’t from lack of effort. We never lost focus and fished with no regrets. We thought it was likely that we might hold on for a check at least with our 11.82 pound day. If you look at the weights from the Grand, you’ll understand it was a challenging bite especially if you know some of the teams that win a lot of money on the river (Full Standings). We dropped a couple places to 7th and still got a good payday. Consistency was key for the winning team and they weighed a solid bag each day. Congrats to them and everyone else who found success in this event, it was a tough one.
There were lots of contingency prizes left and we were going to have good odds in some of them There was so much free money at this event if you are willing to support the event sponsors and purchase their products. Our name hadn’t been called for anything yet this year but maybe our luck would change. One of the prizes was for owning a Bluestorm PFD. I purchased an inflatable one at the D&R Spring show for this very reason. Someone (thanks Cole!) didn’t want the first raffle ticket but I was happy to be that guy and won 600 dollars for having the lifejacket. I do need a rearming kit for it since I dropped it in the water at Houghton Lake and I guess I have some money to buy that now. Thanks to all the event sponsors and companies that support West Michigan fishing. If you are fishing these events you have to support these guys. Sometimes that means you have to be a little intentional with your purchasing. There are several Michigan retailers with solid online storefronts (and free/cheap/fast shipping) if you aren’t able to make it to the brick and mortar stores. I know sometimes it just doesn’t work out and we need this specific color or bait and we need it now. I have gotten more intentional with my tackle and outdoor shopping habits in general. I look at Michigan retailers first and if I can’t buy it there, I am at least going to try and purchase from companies that support hunting, fishing, and conservation.
Lastly I’ve got to give a shout out to all the guys running the tournaments and doing the work behind the scenes. I’m pretty sure I can name them all but out of risk of forgetting one I won’t. They know who they are and just know that we as anglers appreciate what you do. You guys do it well and with a smile on your face all the time. As we head into the offseason, I also know that I’ll miss seeing all my friends at the tournaments. That’s what makes the tournament world go round and without that it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. I’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone at the shows this winter. Other than maybe a few thoughts about the season once things settle down that’s it for bass fishing for the time being.