You don't have to be a professional to catch fish in and around Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here are 5 spots that will get any beginner started or someone new to the area.

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Fishing Can Do You Some Good

Tommy Carroll/TSM
Tommy Carroll/TSM
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If you know anything about me, I am a very busy person who works extremely long hours every week and need to get away from it all whenever possible.

Tommy Carroll/TSM
Tommy Carroll/TSM
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I do those long hours in hopes of freeing up a weekend or two every now and then to get out on the water with my son to enjoy some fishing.

Tommy Carroll/TSM
Tommy Carroll/TSM
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He and I have a lot of laughs together while at the same time creating memories that will last a lifetime. My dad took me fishing when I was growing up and I remember all those times and now I'm passing that on to my son and it feels good.

Tommy Carroll/TSM
Tommy Carroll/TSM
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We don't have to catch fish to benefit from the rewards of being together in nature and for a few hours not thinking about work. In the photo above, we really didn't catch much of anything on this particular day but we saw this lake loon with a baby riding on its mother's back that we will never forget.

I know what it's like to be new to the area and sometimes a beginner at fishing for certain species. A co-worker asked me about spots to fish around Grand Rapids yesterday and these are the 5 I came up with.

5 Fishing Spots Around or Near Grand Rapids

/ThinkStock/GettyStock
/ThinkStock/GettyStock
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Grand River

A lot of rivers that run through cities are useless and sometimes the water is so bad you can't even eat the fish but that is not the case with the Grand River that runs through Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Depending upon what you are fishing for, the Grand River offers great fishing for steelhead, salmon, smallmouth bass, lake trout, coho, skamania, catfish, bass, and walleye. You can also catch bluegill, bullhead, carp, crappie, sunfish, northern pike, muskie, perch, and whitefish but there are better places to catch fish from this second list in other places in the area.

There are lots of places to fish offshore and plenty of places to put in a boat. Talk to local bait shop owners and other fishermen to find out what's biting for the time of year you plan on fishing. If fishing offshore, Riverside park is an easy place to get started.

Reeds Lake

Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8711782
Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8711782
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Reeds Lake is located in East Grand Rapids. There is plenty of bluegills, black crappie, largemouth bass, rock bass, yellow perch, and northern pike. There are not a lot of places to fish from shore but there are a few parks where you can wet a line. There is a park on the southwest side by the high school that can get you going.

Millineum Park

Ray Del Rio/Getty Images
Ray Del Rio/Getty Images
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No there are not normally people wakeboarding at Millineum Park as seen in the picture but there are tons of great places to fish offshore all around the park including fishing docks. Don't try and ice fish in the park because that is not allowed.

You can catch rainbow trout in the spring and fall. There are plenty of catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass sunfish, and other panfish in the lake. You can occasionally get a northern pike in there as well.

There are boat rentals available that can get you more opportunities at catching fish. There are a lot of rules fishing at Millineum Park so make sure you know them all before casting out a line.

Wabasis Lake

Lake - boats
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Wabasis Lake is about 30 minutes north of Grand Rapids but well worth the drive if you want to catch some good fish. Wabasis has great bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, muskie, walleye, rock bass, smallmouth bass, and yellow perch.

The lake is just over 400 acres in size and nearly 60 feet deep at its deepest point. Wabasis is a great lake to fish all year around. There is something biting here in all four seasons.

You can fish offshore on the western side of the lake. There is a public boat launch that has access to shore fishing. You can also rent boats relatively cheap to cover some more water with access to more fish.

Long Lake

This was a gorgeous early summer sunset in Lake Geneva Wisconsin.
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Long Lake is a straight shot north of Grand Rapids and you can get there in under 30 minutes. It's not a massive lake at 47 acres but the fishing is really good and that's all that matters. There are not a lot of opportunities to fish from shore but if you head to Long Lake Park there are some spots there.

The lake at its deepest point is about 27 feet deep so the fish can't hide from you too much. You can expect to catch bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, and yellow perch. If you are new at this or new to the area, just talk you the local bait shop and they will fill you in on what you need.

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