Mofloatjunkie

Nice fish guys!! Thanks for posting.

Got down by swan creek around 830, the wind was blowing from the south off and on, and fish were hitting the water all over the place. I ran a crankbait along the bluff up the creek with no success. Tried fishing the point where the mudbank drops off and had a hit that almost pulled me in the water. When I set the hook I missed him. I like to tell myself it was a monster walleye but who knows. I casted a 100 times in that same spot with no luck. Walked around the point and started fishing the other bluff and caught a nice spotted bass about 16 inches. Fished for about another hour and a half and didn't even get another bite. Wish we would have got there earlier. Decided to try our luck on trout above powersite dam and limited out in about a hour. All rainbows biggest being 16 inches. Seems that they would only hit if you used 2 colors of power bait at the same time. Glitter chartreuse and pink combo worked for me. Had a great day. If anybody has been in that area lately please post a report. I would like to know how you did.

Good to hear of some walleye being caught. I will be headed down to that area hopefully Thursday. I cleaned up the jerkbaits and crankbaits I found last week and replaced all the hooks. Can't wait to give it a try.

I fished the Forsyth area on Thursday. They weren't running any water at powersite. Talked to one guy that had been doing good on walleye below the dam on stick baits. No such luck for me. I caught one spot down by swan creek about 17 inches and that was it. Did find some nice crankbaits walking the bank. Ended the day by limiting out on trout at the dock at empire. All in all a good trip. At least I got dinner.

Just like my granddaddy said, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

Beautiful pics yaknar. I think #7 was the best as well. Can't beat a float on the James.

Welcome. I'm from springfield and fish the James religiously. In my opinion the James has the best smallmouth fishing around. Glad to hear of new folks to the area taking advantage of it. If you ever need any advice or have any tips to share please feel free to private message me.

I love this forum and all the advice and help I get. these guys have definitely made me a better fisherman.

I've been eating fish out of the James for the last 28 years and I'm still alive!!!

Will do yaknar. I picked up some trash on Friday at the crighton access. Always leave the river better than you found it is my motto. Looks like the smallies you caught have very vibrant color as well. I'm gonna try to get out after work and do a little fishing. Good luck everyone.

Got in the water about 930 and it was probably the most beautiful day I have ever experienced on the river. I started off using a pink and black jig and began catching smallmouth under the 14 bridge. Nothing real big but I did see some hogs crusing the timber. We pulled off to take a break and I started thinking about what Al Agnew said about catching more and bigger fish on top water baits. I tied on a rebel floating grasshopper and decided to give it a try. The first cast I caught a monster sunfish. He hit that lure like he was a shark! After that I pretty much stuck to the grasshopper. All I had to do was cast it out and give it a couple twitches and I could see the fish following it. Biggest fish of the day was a 14 inch smallmouth. The smallmouth all seemed to have beautiful colors that were very vibrant. It was hard at first not to set the hook when I saw a blow up but I got the hang of it after awhile. The sidearm hook set after the fish took the bait down worked very well. Thanks to everybody for all the tips and tricks shared on this forum. Since joining I can say without a doubt you guys have made me a better fisherman. Thanks again.

Could it have been a shad? I have caught shiny silver shad that could have been mistaken for a trout.

Good report. I fished for about three hours up by the bluffs under the bridge and all I caught was some oversized perch. I'm a river guy so I'm still learning the whole lake thing. Saw some huge bass cruising the shallows in standing timber by the lake house. Now I just have to figure out how to catch them.

Nice fish yaknar. Those leaves are a pain this time of year. Had a buddy of mine caught a walleye at Delaware a couple weeks ago. He was a small dude, but he fought hard. Was planning on floating Delaware to shelvin today. Ended up going to shell knob and only caught a few small ones. Come on fall!!!

I second moguy1973. Just bring a rope and pull it if you can't paddle up. Another place you might try is under the hwy 14 bridge just downstream. Lots of structure around there.

I usually do really good on goggle eye in the deep water just down from the boat ramp. Another place I do good there is just past the rapids where the water starts to get deep. I have pulled many nice smallmouth out of there. Fish slow. Thats what seems to work for me there.

I get 95 percent of my soft plastics from bass pro outlet store for $6.99 a lb. the other 5 percent I pick up at garage sales, discount stores, and sale items. Lures don't last for years when you lose them.

I personally have never used a spook on the James. But I have heard of people doing good early in the morning with those. I'm more of a soft plastic kinda guy. Lures are expensive.

I still have the rooster tail hanging on my wall.

Dougie, I have caught a fish with a lure in his mouth. It was a white bass on the sac river a few years ago. He had a rusted nasty rooster tail stuck between his mouth and eyeball. I pulled it and my lure out and set him free. I bet he was glad I caught him that day!!!

I went fishing again in the same stretch of river after the rain yesterday evening. I saw a lot of huge bass crusing the banks but couldn't get them to hit. Which was really frustrating because they were in predator mode and feeding. After giving up on the big bass I went back to my jigging technique. I picked a huge stump with a bunch of logs jammed up behind it, dropped my jig in the water and started bouncing it off the bottom straight down along the wood. My brother and I caught so many goggle eye out of that hole my arm was sore. Between that hole and another one just down stream I bet we caught between 30 and 40 goggle eye in less than three hours. That's not counting the fat perch we were catching as well. The only reason we stopped fishing was because it got dark and I didn't bring my lights. As always we released all fish unharmed. I would be going again today after work but I promised mrs. Mofloatjunkie I would watch the chiefs game with her tonight. On a second note my frustration over breaking rods this year has led me to one conclusion. My brothers cheap Shakespeare rod has lasted year after year with heavy use. And I'm poor so I went and bought a 5 ft ultralight from the bass pro outlet store for 10 bucks. I put my browning spinning reel on it and it fishes great. This will have to do until I get some money saved up to buy an ugly stik. I'm very curious to see how this cheap rod holds up.

Thanks for the advice guys. I really like a shorter pole on the river because it's easier to put away on the boat and I do a lot of casting in heavy cover and the shorter rod requires less space to cast. I have never broke a rod fighting a smallie, I usually break them trying to pull out of a snag. I have been avoiding getting an ugly stik as that's what my arch enemy uses. Lol! But mo smallies I think I will take your advice. Thanks for all the help guys. I plan on going again this evening, I will let you guys know how I do. Much love, Mofloatjunkie

Since we didn't put the boat in until 10 a.m. I figured we wouldn't catch much, it was already hot. But on the first cast before I even got in the boat in my ''secret hole'' I caught a fat goggle eye. We paddled up past the water intake station as far as we could. Then I figured out where the fish were. They were in heavy thick structure. And you had to fish in it not around it. I was pulling the boat right over the top of brush, logs, limbs, etc. and just jigging in the middle of it. Once I threw that jig in the water it was game on!! I caught 4 goggle eye, three smallmouth in the 12 to 14 in range and some impressive sized perch. The fish are deep and in heavy cover. Fishing can be tough and frustrating in this heat but with a little patience and effort you can catch them. I caught all my fish on dark purple and red/chart.tube jigs on a 16th oz jig head hook. Also I need some advice. I love fishing with a 5 ft 6 in ultra light rod but I have broke three of them this year. Thank The Lord for Bass Pro warranties! Anybody have one that is durable? If so what brand? Thanks. Mofloatjunkie

And btw.. The number one reason we fish crighton so much is because we are poor and can't afford to drive anywhere else.

I like the 4 and six pound as well. It seems to be more sensitive and I believe I can feel more bites compared to bigger line. I usually have 4 lb on one rod and six lb. on another. The four pound I use for 16th oz. lures and smaller. I use the 6 lb for any lure bigger than that.