Smallmouth River Recommendation

[jmerens]

^{Can anyone offer a recommendation for a great smallmouth river that is 1. wadable during late summer and 2. within six hours driving of Northern Illinois ? I am planning a fishing trip for August after I finish studying for the bar and would like to chase some river smallies. All suggestions and/or intel would be greatly appreciated.}

 

Thank you!

[bowhunter63]

The Rock during low water. Plenty of low head dams. Oregan is a really good spot or around Rock Falls . Fished  them all the time when I lived up there 

[MIbassyaker]

If Michigan is within your range, there are some very nice rivers for smallmouth on the west-central lower peninsula. For wading specifically, the the best resources tend to be fly-fishing guides and publications, but these waters are all open to conventional tackle also:

-- Kalamazoo River above Allegan,

--Grand River, middle & upper reaches and tributaries, upstream of Grand Rapids. For tribs, the Flat, Thornapple, and Looking Glass are very underestimated.

--Muskegon river, especially from Croton Dam to Newaygo

 

By late August there is even a chance of encountering early steelhead and salmon in those stretches of the Grand and Muskegon.

[jmerens]

Thank you for this intel. Where would be a good place to stay to access the Grand if I’m looking for a small town with few anglers around? And you know anything about how the Kalamazoo is near Battle Creek?

[jmerens]

A campground or cabin setup would work too. Really just looking for a nice smallie river that is wadable and quiet to ease my mind after studying.

[MIbassyaker]

Well, I'm not sure how successful you'll be avoiding people-- staying away from the dams is a first step, but If you want real solitude, you may need to look farther north, away from the population centers.

 

The Portland State Game Area, between the towns of Portland and Grand Ledge is pretty quiet, but you may encounter some kayaks on the weekend (I don't know what either of those towns have in terms of accommodations, but Lansing is just to the east, and there's a modern campground at the Ionia State Recreation Area, to the West).

 

I'm not sure what the Kalamazoo is like out by Battle Creek.

 

Good luck.