RSBreth

What's funny is the ones from over here on the Finley look a little different than the ones in the James - same drainage. Nice pictures, sounds like a fun trip.

I was going to go over there after work this week, but they have us breaking more rocks into gravel than usual, so I didn't have time.

Plenty of water for most kayaks or canoes. I floated before the rain last week and it was perfect. I've caught lots of smaller Bass this year, but not many big ones from the lower James.

I have a really fast 9-weight I mostly use for Stripers - for Black Bass the heaviest I go is 8-weight, and that's really for throwing big poppers and leeches and what not. It's not that you need an 8-weight to land the average Bass, but if you want to throw the big stuff - you'll need a pretty big stick. I like my 7-weight for most Smallmouth sized "big flies" and if I had to narrow it down to one rod for all of my Ozark area Bass fly-rodding (Smallmouths in the rivers, Largemouths Bass in the lakes and farm ponds) it would probably be the 7-weight.

If at all possible pre-fish in your own boat. When the pairings are announced, really, really, talk to the guy you are going to fish with. Does he have a plan? Did he do really good pre-fishing? Did he even pre-fish? Ask about any "rules" they have with their boat - no bananas, no chew, no.. whatever. Anything they just can't stand. Like others already stated - go with rigs you can fish a lot of different stuff on - but stick with what you know. A tournament isn't the time to try to master a technique you've never tried - there's enough pressure. Don't take an enormous amount of tackle and gear, but take enough stuff to get you through the day - your partner may have a large cooler full of snacks and drinks, but it's not likely. Pack enough for yourself, and maybe throw two water bottles in extra for your partner - you never know. Have fun. It's a competition, but also an experience, it's still supposed to be fun. If it wasn't why do it?

Awesome! The Jitterbug strikes again.

The rain might have cooled it down a little and given it a little color - it was tougher fishing than usual during that heat.

I've been over there a few times in the past couple of weeks - mostly catching smaller Bass on finesse jigs and soft plastics. Lot's of Rock Bass on the jig, too.

I caught one of my best Ozark Smallmouths upstream from that bridge a long time ago - on my own deer-hair popper on my favorite 6-weight. Thanks for the memories. Oh, yeah - like people have asked - how's the parking at the new bridge?

I didn't catch anything big fishing a couple of morning this weekend on the James - the water's low, it's hot - everyone knows it can be tough out there - but I'm always optimistic on my chances of catching a big fish. Not this time. I did see a nice bald eagle, caught a couple of bonus white bass, saw one riffle where 5 great blue herons were fishing, and managed to half fill the Pack with beer/water can and bottles coming back downstream on one trip. It's hot, the water's low, but I had a great time fishing both mornings. I fished the lower James the first morning,and then the middle. I put in and paddled up both trips.

Maybe sometime I'll have to meet up with you when you're going to be down here - I'll "learn you" how to fish a Clouser. My favorite fly.

Sounds like a great time. I can't wait until it cools off some and I can go camp at Bull Shoals State Park. There's fishing to be done, but we just like the campsite and poking around at Gaston's and the whole Dam area.

One thing I do love about OA - if you have a strong opinion there's always backlash. If you do normally NOT keep big Smallies then I'll chill on the topic. But still - I know there's plenty of folks keeping every legal (or not) Bass they catch - sorry if my opinion of that being wrong offends folks. BTW - Nice language folks. I know Phil is away - but still.

Looking back on lots of trips I've made over the years it seems that the quick "hour or three" trips yield just as many big fish as the "missions" where that's the goal. Nice Bass!

You are going to catch every kind of grief for keeping that Smallie - all of which you deserve. I hope your "Old Man" believes you now. If you were 10 or something I'd give you some slack. Seriously?

I'd go as far up as you can and try to find some current.

Red eyes AND tongue patch is a Spot around here. The Largmouths and Spots in my local rivers are easy to tell apart.

People sometimes forget that the Smallie rivers around here sometime have some really nice Largemouths - like that monster. Niiiice.

I use an 8-weight rod a lot for Bass during Summer - and although I can get a little worn out casting it ALL day with a floating line - casting a sink-tip or sinking line very long is a pain in the backside. Well, actually it's a pain in the shoulder and elbow and wrist. Those Clearwater rods are sort of a medium action - I wouldn't overline them, either.

If I'm wading I try to keep it simple - one rod (for me that means either spinning or fly) and I use my mesh summer fly vest with a few small boxes - some small finesse jigs, smaller cranks, topwaters, and spinners that can be cast on a spinning rod - or just flies if I'm using the fly rod obviously. Usually further upstream is better - but there are parts of rivers I know that I wade that are in the bigger sections - for rivers closer to you there are several good people on here that can steer you right. I feel your pain on the boat thing - I have a nice aluminum rig that I just don't have time or money to use right now.

Nice! I wish I could have got out - too busy. Maybe Saturday.

Yeah - you have to watch what rod action you use if you make the switch either way - I use a medium power med/fast action rod for that spinnerbait rod with straight braid - it's a much softer rod than what I used to use when flinging spinnerbaits around using mono - most people would call the action a "crankbait" action for not tearing trebles out - it works great but did feel a little soft at first. That's another thing, thicker fluoro is better at abrasion resistance than braid is, at least the thinner braids.

The idea that leaders on braid (or fused) line weakens the whole chain is correct - if you are using very light braid and and light leaders. The lightest setup I use for rivers around here these days is my panfsih rig, and it has 4/10 Fireline on it, and I never use anything less than 8-pound test fluoro for a leader. For jigs and flukes and stuff I usually have 6/20 Sufix or 6/14 Fireline, and use 14- up to 20-pound flouro leaders. 7 or 8 feet of leader on the end of a braided main line may reduce hooksetting power slightly, but also is a slight shock absorber to protect the knots - most braided line break-offs are actually a result of breaking the knot on the hook set or trying to get a lure free. Learn to set drags correctly and it doesn't happen. I use straight braid for my spinnerbait setup on the river no need for leaders how fash I fish the blades - I try to work it so fast the fish barely have time to clearly see the lure let alone the line it's tied too! Anyway it works for me, but if other folks can't figure it out... (Of course I'm just ribbing you Eric - you do make some good points - there's a hassle factor in using superline's - no free lunch for sure.) I do know if I had to go back to straight mono or fluoro on spinning tackle I'd have to stab someone in the eye.

I think what Al said is right on target - there's an optimum prey size that will get you both numbers and a shot at bigger fish. I was trying to find an online version of an In-Fisherman article from a couple of years ago about a fisheries study of prey size that certain sizes of Largemouth Bass prefer - but I can't find it - anyway the quick version of it was that the bigger the Bass the bigger prey size they preferred - but there was a "window" that they mainly like to eat - say 3" to 5" for the bigger Largemouths (over 5-pounds.) Smaller Bass would also eat the 3" sized prey often enough that maybe when targeting bigger fish a lure that is just on the big side of the smaller fishes preferred prey size, and you'll get numbers and big fish. That study was for Largemouths, so shift the size down just a notch for Mr. Smalljaws - but just a notch. Hey - I throw 1/2-ounce spinnerbaits for Smallmouth, but they are about the size of the average 3/16 or 1/4-ounce lure. Why so heavy? So I can burn it fast without it spinning out - Smallmouths destroy my spinnerbait but I wouldn't call it big, just compact. Bigger than most Roostertails folks use, sure, but not as big as some of the buzzbaits I see used on the river. And like Gavin said, a 5" soft jerkshad is a "must have" on the river in summer. Smallmouths will race each other to kill one if you work it right.

There's a lot of springs and seepage (karst topography) in the Ozarks - it's very common to be wading and find a much colder spot that you can't identify where it's coming from.