Labor Day recap
Grand Lake had a busy Labor Day weekend, and Jeff saw and heard of a lot of fish caught. Boat and fishing traffic complemented each other. The lake didn't get busy until about 10:30 or 11 and was packed by noon or 1 on Saturday and Sunday. Jeff and his wife live at Shangri-La and love watching the tubers, skiers, WaveRunners and cruisers, and chatting with anglers who fish past their dock. Back when he guided full time, big-boat traffic was often more than he wanted to deal with on trips. Even so, mornings, evenings and weekdays still offer great fishing all summer.
Crappie
Haydn with Williams Guide Service keeps sending picture after picture of limits of really big Crappie from brush piles. The Crappie seem to be past the finicky July–August stage and putting the feed bag on. Haydn says it's some of the most fun Crappie fishing he's had all year. He's dropping minnows into offshore main-lake brush, not in coves. He has put in a lot of work over the last two or three years cutting, hauling and sinking brush so he always has spots, and the day he talked to Jeff he knew of five brush piles holding Crappie. If you put the work in, you can catch all the Crappie you want.
Fish factory
Grand Lake proves it year after year: spawning runs of Paddlefish, Catfish and White Bass, plus lots of Bluegill and Sunfish, all support the fish factory.
Paddlefish
Some guides are snagging Paddlefish from the mouth of the Elk River over to about Wolf Point at the mouth of Wolf Creek, probably moving a bit upriver but likely not much past the Three Fingers coves. It's a fertile area with a tremendous amount of zooplankton, and Jeff thinks that's why so many Paddlefish live there.
Catfish
Drift fishing in the early mornings and evenings is great anywhere from 10 to 45–50 feet. Anchoring on flats in the evenings and at night produces Blue and Channel Cats. Cut Gizzard Shad is one of the very best baits. No cast net? Soak chicken breast (fresh, or frozen that hasn't been in the freezer too long) in a blood-scent spray and drift-fish it. You'll be surprised what you catch.
Fall ahead
With summer boat activity winding down, Grand Lake goes back to the fishermen until it gets really cold around the first of the year. Expect lots of good reports on the Grand Fishing Report Facebook group.