Grand River D&R 2025 - Tournament
Saturday brought more of the same hot and humid conditions to tournament day. We did have a breeze which was going to make life out there more tolerable and hopefully help the bite. We had rods ready for everything and our starting area would be determined by boat draw. A good draw and we gamble on the river, a bad draw and we go get what we can in Spring Lake.
Another good boat number this time in boat number 6. Hopefully we wouldn’t be wasting this one like we did our good draw at the Muskegon tournament. It was a mostly uneventful run upriver. We did slow down and idle by some kayaks at one point that were in the middle of one of the narrower channels. They didn’t phase the next boat coming though and it was a bad look for all of us that were in the tournament. What we weren’t counting on is some smaller tournament going on in this same area. Boats were on everything but we did get to start where we wanted to. It wasn’t worth anything but a couple short fish though and all the nearby secondary stuff already had people from our tournament or the other fishing it. Things weren’t exactly starting off like we hoped.
We dipped into a couple bayous and found the same thing. We were able to fish a couple small stretches in one, hoping for a flipping bite. You could feel that it just wasn’t clicking in there and if we kept the big sticks going it might be a very challenging day. The next bayou at least kicked out some bites but despite a half dozen fish catches we had only one small keeper to show for it. We had burned a couple hours at this point and it was getting to be time for scramble mode in Spring Lake. We made a stop on the way back that had a bunch of fish and shad a few days before. We lost one and added another keeper there. Unfortunately, that keeper was so paper thin that I almost didn’t put it in the livewell. But with how things were going, it was best to put him in there.
Certainly, Spring Lake would kick out a limit and hopefully a couple of good ones. The few keeper bites we had came finesse fishing around heavier cover and that became the theme for the day. Spring Lake is usually so easy for keeper bites that we thought we would go right to catching them. Once again, a few shorts were all that came on the first couple spots. Finally, Trevor bowed up on a good one but after a brief battle the line went slack and we found his senko doubled over on the hook. I don’t know what you can do to stop that but it was a crappy time for that to happen. Shortly after that we put another keeper in the boat and were working on the worlds smallest limit.
It was just painful for a bit after that and you have to starting thinking about what can you do to just catch 5 bass today. We got another good bite that I could feel had me in some rock. That didn’t end well and we missed out on quality bite number 2. A couple stops after that and we did land a nice one for keeper number 4. It gave us a little momentum in the right direction and we at least had a fish to weigh in. We were just kind of fishing whatever we could at this point. Nothing we had practiced and nothing that was incredibly juicy. Just keeping a bait wet and hoping to put it in front of as many fish as we could.
We hit a sneaky offshore area that was certain to produce number 5. It always comes through with some bites but it was empty today. One of the bridges wasn't far off and bridges always have activity, no matter where you are in the country. Keeper number 5 came nearby and was a relief. We still had 3 fish under 1.5 pounds though.
We pulled into an old reliable place and Trevor missed one. I threw right back in there and bowed up on a big one. This fish was out of the water and right around 4 pounds, it was here to save our day! I had to coming to the net and out of the weeds. Putting too much pressure on it and using weakened line from bridge pilings and rocks. As it was coming to the net, the snap happened and devastation set in. I can count on one hand the amount of fish I've broken off on P-Line in tournaments ever. But this was a bad time for one and all my fault.
Despite a tough day and taking until 12:30 to get a limit we should be in really good shape. We just kept the trolling motor down and kept culling those tiny ones, little by little. The paper thin one was the first to go and then any of the others we might have to worry about measuring.
Just going with the flow produced another big senko bite for Trevor. With the same results of a doubled over senko. How much more bad luck can we have today? I'm sure it was fishing tough for everyone so those bites were even more precious. But with fishing you just can't get them back and if the bite is brutal you can't produce more to recover.
Some last minute heroics, saved our day and we finally landed a quality fish. That would put us over 10 pounds and we wouldn't look as stupid as we felt. The weights were brutal and our 11.5 pounds put us in 14th place…just missing a check. The 4 pounder we saw would have put us in 3rd and who knows about the others. 17 pounds is a tall order but we might have been close. Congrats to Randy and Miles on the win, they are having an awesome year. In true D&R tournament fashion, we still got paid despite our tough day. $250 for a random draw with Humminbird Electronics was a nice surprise. Just one of the reasons it pays to fish that series.
One more chance to win this year at White Lake. I'm going to do my best to stay focused for it and not let salmon fever get me. I am ready for salmon in the bass boat but after a 16 pound White Lake Monday night. I see the potential for a great tournament too. See you there!