RSBreth

No space, or no cooperation from the other inhabitant? I kept my two man canoe stored in a hallway at one apartment - the Mrs. was fine with it because it beat paying for storage. An average sized hardshell 'Yak would look awesome as a coffee table when it's not wet.

I found a ton of Bomber 4A's in silver minnow/tan belly colors at mine here in Ozark.

Hey - that was my fish, now give it back! I've been trying to track this rumor down, too.

I fished down at blunks Tuesday and Wednesday nights - not really anything happening. I think the cold weather and water run-off has set them back a week or so. It'll happen, but I think it will be this weekend IF it warms up AND if it rains, too. A warm rain.

"Terrible Eating" my backside. The best fish chowder I make has either Walleyes or White Bass in it for firmness - you can't tell which is which when the fillets are taken care of. When they are grilled or pan fried or baked you can, but even my picky wife loves Whites when I catch them and clean them and keep them cold and clean. Just trim out that red line and you're good to go.

I'm sorry I didn't see this - I think it really depends on how much you are in love with that rod. I have a couple that work really good, but push come to shove I'd move on and find a better (or good enough) rod. That being said, I've stripped a fly rod blank bare and rebuilt it - I liked the action of that rod so much that it was worth it. To do the handle right you really need to strip the guides off - easier with just the butt section of a two-piece rod but if it's one piece you have to do the whole thing. I don't think your idea is crazy - but it may look that way from others.

I started right after 4:00 A.M. - Plenty of time. I'll be sacking it early tonight, for sure. I thought it would be the trip where I get the double-digit Walleye, but not this time. I keep getting better and better fish on swimbaits, but this wasn't the trip for them I guess.

First off I'd skip the paddle up from Hootentown - probably the least productive stretch of the James for me during the last half-dozen years. Paddle up from H.L. Kerr (Horse Creek) or Shelvin or the unofficial access of McCall Bridge road, or even Galena. Much better fishing. The other thing would be fish the same place (like Lake Springfield or the Ozark Park) alot - like every week for a year or two at least. I know about the fish in both by fishing them often - a really great day can be as much of a fluke as a day that you get skunked - time on the water will tell you what usually works, and what doesn't. As far as/gear/lures go - I'd keep using some of the finesse type stuff you're using, but branch out with some topwaters and cranks - small swimbaits are really good, too.

I fished from early (way too early) until right after daybreak this morning - mostly on either side of the 76 bridge near Shadow Rock Park. I fished the mouth of Swan and didn't pick up anything - but both rocky banks downstream of the bridge have Walleyes cruising the shore (including the WIllow Bank Phil has the picture of in another post) - I only caught smaller males but the fish are there. I did best on slowly retrieved jerkbaits - not twitched and paused but reeled in slowly and steadily like a crank but with the rod tip held high so they didn't dive too deep. I did catch one small White on a Berkley "Sick Fish" swimbait - but didn't get a big 'Eye to nail it like I thought might happen. Best jerkbait was a Clown XRap 10. Rainy and a little lightning but didn't see another fisherman until right after daylight.

Good pictures, I was down there early this A.M.

Mine are mostly all custom now but if I use stock ones it's Terminator or War Eagle - 3/8ths for rivers and 3/8 or 1/2 with added weight for the lakes. (My profile picture fish was caught on a 3/8 Terminator in Fire-Tiger with the single gold Oklahoma blade, chartreuese Zoom Tab-Tail grub for a trialer.) You probably know I fish the Smallie rivers all the time, and I always have my favorite casting setup for spinnerbaits with me.

I think the real question is do you want distance or accuracy? If you want more distance for light lures stay with spinning and get a good 7' rod and larger spool reel - then spool it with braid or fused superline and use a leader or just tie direct. If it's more accurate casts with a little heavier lures - casting gear is the way to go. I use all three (fly, spinning, and casting), but my casting gear in rivers is more for quick accurate casts with heavier lures - crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

I was there earlier today and over at Shadow Rock on Swan - just a few little fish. It'll happen but not yet.

I really wanted to fish this one but couldn't. Good to see them catching them pretty good though.

I've been doing the "rain dance" over here all Winter. Maybe we'll get a decent White run this year - last year really sucked.

Thats a tough field to compete against, too. Great job!

It has some wear on the cork but is otherwise in great shape - complete with rod sock and aluminum tube. It was my Crane Creek rod for a long time but I built a new custom rod from a blank so it mostly sits in the corner of my shop. Spring cleaning so you can get a great light rod for a great price. This rod is perfect for casting dries and wet flies but also small indicator rigs or even smaller poppers for panfish or Bass, too. It has a really great medium fast action that cast far better than most short rods. https://plus.google.com/photos/101507934293977390383/albums/5853380972320504241?authkey=CJ2MlKzW77eJlgE

Not enough snow this time, but back in 2011 I did the same thing...

I fished around the mouth of Swan for a while this afternoon - I caught a couple of short Bass on a Megabass Jerk, and half a dozen more on a smaller Bass Pro brand Suspender. I was trying to maybe get a White or even a Walleye but it was just the Black Bass that wanted to play. It was super windy.

I'll take your old spool of 10-pound if you have it.

Ham said what I was thinking - I'd hit up the In-Fisherman guys for more info - they've done several stories on the NW Miss Crappie Lakes. Giant Crappies South

Well if you use the "Jimmy Houston" hook set you can apply enough strength to break 50 or 65-pound braid using MH or H action rods - no stretch to cushion the impact and "pop"! Not really the line to blame just wrong line rod action/power combo. You have to learn to ratchet down the rod action and power and set your drag correctly to slip on the hook set just a bit, too. A fluoro leader adds that little extra wiggle room to ease the impact, and I think one of the keys for using superlines. It's not just you that had that problem, ultra finesse isn't for everyone. There's a lot of trade-offs for what you get. I've landed Rainbows up to 7-pounds and Largemouths a bit more with 6-pound Nano - it'll do it if you have everything working together right - but I'll say again that it really isn't a line for everyone.

I use it with a flourocarbon leader so I don't worry about how opaque it is - but also it's so thin it also protects it from abrasion. I do have to double the end of the NanoFil with a spider hitch to get the line/leader knot to hold because of how thin it is. I do know it's the farthest-casting line I've ever used - it's just crazy how slick and thin it is.

SOLD- Thanks Joe.

Joe can rant all he wants - I like most of the videos I see, and if they start to bore me I just click them off. Pretty good one, btw.