Kevin Van Dam Forums

I grew up in Michigan and now have lived in the south the last 12 years. I have always fished but never for bass while in Michigan, and bass wasn’t as well publicized as it is in the south. So I never gave it a try. Has bass fishing been getting more popular in the great lakes and has that resulted in the tournaments in La Crosse and Green Bay, or is BASS trying to get more publicity into the northern states??

largemouth is coming around but in the northern states, probably smallmouth and walleye are the king. where i fish only has largemouth but if these ponds had walleye and smallmouth i would fish for them as well.

Bass fishing in Michigan is very popular,  but it still takes a back seat to walleye and salmon.  We have great turn outs for tournaments most week night events pull about 25-30 boats and weekend events pull about the same.  Bigger tournaments are held on St. Clair, Detroit River and Lake Erie and can pull around 75-80 boats.  I think the reason Bass put tournaments in Lacross and Green Bay is because the fishing is so good and lightly pressured not by the lack of bass fishing in those areas but because of the long closed seasons.  Green Bay has been pumping out bags that can compete with the lakes in California and I believe Falcon and Amistad in Texas but the bags are dominated by smallmouth.  We some really good bass fishing up here just not pressured to death like the south.

Smallmouth in the Traverse Bay are A LOT fatter than the ones in
Southern Michigan ...I pulled in a 12” fish that was a football had to weigh a pound more than one that would be the same length on the Grand River
to