Mofloatjunkie

I've been fishing that place my whole life. One of the things I have learned about crighton is water level is everything. It seems to me bigger baits work when the water is high and smaller baits do better when the water is low. My favorite lure to use down there is a 16th oz. jig head hook with a crappie jig. My favorite colors during the day-when the Sun is out are chartreuse, red, yellow, and pink. When it's dark and or cloudy I like dark natural colors such as watermelon, black, dark brown etc... A slow retrieve seems to be the way they like it there. And my favorite part about fishing crappie jigs is you catch everything in the river. There are some big fish in there. But they are smart and hard to catch.

Nice fish. I always do good right there by the bridge in your bass pic. Keep up the good work. Nice to hear from my fellow James river junkies!!!

We just pulled out. Great evening of fishing. I caught 2 descent small mouths, 10 or so goggle eye, and countless perch. My brother caught some smallmouth, goggle eye, and a 15 in channel cat. Right a the end he hooked a cat that had to be 10 lbs. he fought it all the way to the boat and as I reached down to grab it, he jerked his head and snapped his 6 lb test. It was huge!! I wish we could have got it in the boat. We caught all fish on red, yellow and white jigs. As always all fish were released unharmed. Never underestimate crighton. There are some big fish in there.

I'm putting my boat in right now. Gonna fish till we get kicked out. I will let you know how I do.

Went to crighton from about 6 till 8 this evening. I fished every hole that I could get to on foot and all I hooked was a bluegill about the size of my lure. The water is getting super low. I hope we get this rain they are calling for this week. The river needs it bad.

Richline is right on the money.

Nice fish dougie. That's my go to fishing spot after work. I've caught a lot of nice smallies out of that section of water. I'm thinking about taking the flat bottom down there tomorrow morning. If you ever see a couple yahoos in an aluminum boat be sure and say hi. Keep up the good work.

Put the flat bottom in at about 645 pm yesterday after work. There were so many people swimming it was rediculous. We paddled upstream to the first riffle and started working the banks. Caught some very nice sized goggle eye right off the bat. Usually we catch these in the chunk rock but they seemed to be under the logs this time. My buddy caught 2 smallmouth that we're about 12 in each. I caught a A smallie that measured a whopping 5 inches. He put up a hard fight for a little dude!! Lots of sunfish and bluegill in the mix as well. Not bad for a little after work trip. All fish were caught on 16th oz. jigs. Chartruse was the color. And as always all fish were released unharmed.

The niangua on Saturday about noonish.

I have been doing very well using anything that is green or brown. 2 3/4 in tube baits, craw dad looking crank baits, and finesse worms are my go to. I have also had success trolling with live bait such as craw dads, minnows and frogs. And there's no need to buy live bait. The river will provide all you need.

Looks like you had a good trip. The last few times I've fished the James all I can catch is goggle eye. Not that I'm complaining though. Thanks for the post and the pics.

Went fishing at creighton Monday afternoon. Not much action but it was a treat just to be outdoors in this great weather. Got a few hits but didn't land anything. The water is still very cold. I have heard of some folks catching bass by the warm water outlet by the dam. May try there tomorrow. Please post if you do any good in these areas.

Thinking of taking a flat bottom and a canoe from Delaware to shelvin in the morning. Anybody been through there lately? Think I will have a dragging problem? And any fishing tips would be appreciated as well. Thanks, Mofloatjunkie

The lures that do the best for me on that stretch of river are bright colored jigs, compact spinnerbaits, and any small crank bait that looks like a craw dad . My favorite colored jig is chartreuse and red. Hope this helps. There a lot of good smallmouth through there. Good luck.

Wayne, to answer your question yes. We put in at the boat ramp and floated to the campsites at the end of mill pond trail. Not a long float by any means and has a lot of hazardous obstacles, but produces good fishing every time for me. We get out of the boat a lot and wade fish as well.

Fishing was awesome. Caught a lot of smallies in the 12 to 15 inch range. Most of my fish were caught on dark colored curly tailed grubs. Thanks for the advice mopanfisher. My buddy caught the biggest fish of the trip on a scatter rap that looked like a craw dad. There were some obstacles that were pretty tricky to get through in the flat bottom, but we managed. Released all fish unharmed.

Going camping at lead mine tomorrow nite. Taking the flat bottom and doing a short float from the boat ramp to my campsite. Anybody caught anything it that area? Any suggestions on what lures to use? Would love to catch some smallmouth.

All Palomar, all day.

Nice cat. My buddy caught one about that size on a crappie jig about a mile down stream from there. I love to float from creighton to the 65 bridge. Lots of good holes through there.

Floated from hootentown to H.L. Kerr. Planned on making it a two day trip but ended up being a one day deal. Caught probably 70 or 80 fish between the two of us. Lots of smallies in the 12 to 15 inch range. The goggle eye were also hitting well, caught about 10 of those or so. The river level is absolutely prefect. Only saw one other canoe the entire time. The crank baits were just not working for us. All fish were caught on 1/16th oz jig head hooks with bright colored jigs. Most of the smallies were caught on red and chartreuse. This will definitely be the stretch of river I will float from now on.

Planning to float from hootentown to h.l. Kerr in two weeks. Anybody been doing any fishing through that part? Any advice where to camp overnight? Any advice would be appreciated.