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Everything posted by RSBreth
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Nice smallie. I like to think of the little ones as the next generation coming along. Todays dink is the beast in top picture in a few years, if we all take care of the river. Many other floaters out yesterday afternoon? How about jet boats?
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Started early and had an overall great day. Lots of fish on the Rogue, some on a Poppin Image Jr. and a couple on jig/worm combos and cranks. Had a beast of a spot or largemouth on the little Fat A crank that broke the front hook hanger on the bait and split the plastic. I saw green, not bronze, never got a good look at it, then as I got it near the canoe the line went slack. I thought it pulled the hooks out. Nope, broke the crankbait! I 've had a brown trout or pike demolish a balsa bait, but never had a bass ruin a plastic bait like that. Oh, and the hole just up from the Galena bridge, not the big bluff pool but the small one right after it had 2 trotlines, and at least 10 limblines in it. Be real fun to ditch it out of the canoe and get caught in that. Anyway, the pictures everyone is waiting for: Early morning, twitching the Rogue like a topwater fish, Wading a bluff pool, lots of 12"-14" smallies in the area aroung this riffle, Caught a couple of good spots like this little football.
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Mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com/directions/main.ad...amp;2z=&r=f You might also check out renting a canoe from one of the outfitters and hitting the lower James for smallmouth, if you like flyfishing for bass that is...
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I was down from Hootentown, how far down, well... I wasn't to McCord bend. Throw clousers, I tie them in the same color as that jerkbait, hard to find at the fly shop, though standard colors work o.k. too. Hit the current seams at top of pools, and work them with lots of short hard twitches. When water levels settle down for a while, I'll bust out my 8 weight too.
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Ding ding ding! Correct. Rattlin' Rogue,(Floating) Blue back, Orange belly. Figured it was a good choice since my biggest Table Rock Smallie was caught on the suspending version.
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Fished Friday morning until about 2 p.m. Only saw one boat fishing, looked like grandpa taking the grandson out. They were throwing buzzbaits, and not catching anything according to them. I have had a hard time catching much with topwaters of any kind so far this year, could be the flooding has the fish out of sorts. Maybe after the rivers levels are stable for a while. I have had a good time throwing soft jerkbaits the past few trips, so I decided to throw a floating jerkbait, and couldn't keep fish off of it! Caught a couple of others on a texas rigged Smallie Beaver in pools off the main current, but nothing like the ones on the jerkbait. No monsters, just lots of good 1 to 2 pound fish. You can see the model and color of the lure I was using in the photo, bonus points to the first correct guess. I should have taken more pictures, but the fishing was good, hard to stop when you're really catching them.
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I saw more jet boats today than I ever have on the James. I lost count at 5. 2 didn't appear to be fishing, just screwing around on the river. Lots of floaters, too. Some with clothing, some not so much. Anyway, I did well on the usual stuff, I keep getting good numbers on small craw colored cranks, and after today I'm convinced I should always have a rod rigged with a soft jerkbait. (Berkley Power Jerk shad in rainbow trout in todays case.) Lots of blow ups on the jerkbait, missed some that took a swipe at it as I cranked it in fast to make another cast, including one of the biggest smallies I've seen in a while. So I finally got smart and started working it real fast, almost just burning it across the top of the water while twitching it, and doubled the number of solid hits. First good fish at first light: Lots of guys like this one on the Little Fat A: Then after a hat change, a snack, a cool drink, and a faster jerkbait technique: Oh, and I caught another nice channel cat on the crank, but it was bleeding a little where the treble nicked it's gills, so I got it back in the water quickly without a picture.
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Since you have the saltwater experience, you might look at Beaver Lake, spring and fall you get a shot at shallow stripers on the fly, my biggest is only about 12 lbs. but lots of fun on the 8 weight. Oh, and stream smallies on the fly are just so, well, you'll find out. Lots of good freshwater stuff going on here, you'll love it.
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Depends on what you call swimbaits. The hard plastic or wood 50$ a pop models? No. But I have used the Storm Swimshad in the 4" or 5", http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...0007000_100-7-7 and really like a 4.5 Lunker City Shaker on a 1/2 0r 5/8 ounce jig head swam in the same areas you'd use a grub. Did well this spring on Beaver and Table Rock for smallies with this one in Rainbow Trout color. http://www.lunkercity.com/firstpage.html
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Fished from about 7:30 P.M. 'til after dark last night, hordes of biting bugs finally ran me off, combined with some jackass shooting roman candles off his deck over the lake. Some people are still 12 years old, even at 50. Some baseball event was going on in the park, so the lights helped with being able to see a little. Caught 3 on a spinnerbait, the buzzbait blanked for some reason, and caught one really nice spot on a jig near a lawdown that the flood moved 25 yards from where it was before. This is the second spotted bass I've caught in the park this year. Never caught a spot this far up the Finley until this year. No pictures, too dark.
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Most, if not all of that was not from "anglers", it was from bank napping, bait fishing drunks, party floaters, and the rest was just plain crap washed in from wherever. Someone else wisely noted it is also litter, not toxic waste. Although unsightly, it is not the same as the overflowing septic tanks, golf course lawn chemical overdose, etc. Your lawn fanatic neighbor, and mine, is the enemy of clean streams. And they wonder why I flip them off as they "weed and feed"?!
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I like to throw a crank almost anytime, but the recent high water is the perfect time. Low visibility, but not muddy, fish that maybe haven't fed for a couple of days - perfect. I like to hit the current seams, that is, where fast water flows by a slower water. Hit that with a crank that lightly tips bottom or timber and you will get bit. In higher water I like the Bomber 4A, Rapala DT4, Strike King Series 2, Bandit 200, etc. in bright colors. In lower, clearer water, I like the mini Fat A, Balsa Honey B, and similar ultralight cranks in more natural colors. I need to do a river cranking article and post it on my blog, if I ever get the time. Actually, crankin' isn't my favorite smallie technique, it's casting a big topwater fly on my 8 weight, and I like using soft jerk baits on my one spinning rod, and then there's using suspending jerkbaits in cold water and...........
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Paddled up to where the Finley dumps in from Hootentown, 3 Jet boats out running around, can hardly wait until the water drops and shuts those guys down. Caught some good smallies, as it would happen, two that got loose on me before I got them in were bigger than the picture fish here: Everyone else I talked to said they were getting skunked. I caught all but 1 fish on a Bomber 4A, Charteuse baby bass color. Water is off color, but not muddy.
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June 13, 2007 Stockton Lake Fishing Report
RSBreth replied to Thompson Fishing Guide Service's topic in Stockton Lake
I really like your reports. I don't get to fish Stockton very often, but I like the fact that you take the time to post. And ditto on the jackass boaters. -
Simple answer: NO. Good fishing is possible up to say 6.5 on the Galena gauge, ah, look where it is now. That is the depth in feet at the gauge. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/uv/?site..._cd=00065,00060
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Heritage Dodge/Jeep/Whatever was forced to move cars off the lot closest to the Finley, due to water. Highest I've seen in a few years. Broke the drought though, didn't it? Look at the USGS gauge at Galena. James is unfishable, basically.
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Great looking smallie - and good to know it's still swimming. I haven't done well on any soft plastics when the water is murky in that stretch, just spinnerbaits and cranks. I was going to go yesterday, but I was running a 102 degree fever, so I'm still home sick today, watching the front yard flood here in Ozark. Looks like the James may be up in the fields the next couple of days.
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The rain blew out the lower James, right as it was clearing up from last weeks deluge, so I took the canoe out to Delaware Town access this morning. Water was rising slightly, and off color. Caught all but 1 fish on a little Fat A crankbait. Some good smallies, one good largemouth, and a few google eye. I usually avoid this access due to "people" that congregate, drink and wallow here, and there were a couple of folks out early bank fishing, but it was much cleaner than the last time I went there last year. Anyway, couple of pictures. The good Largemouth: I caught one smallmouth bigger than this guy, but he refused to get his picture taken. I was briefly hooked on the back treble as he was thrashing on the front at the side of the canoe, right as we were going into a riffle. He popped off, and I was happy!
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I have a small rain gauge that goes to four inches, it was full this morning. Finley is way up, they closed the park. Should be open tomorrow, but the river is running chocolate and about 3-4 foot high.
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Thanks for the report, with the James and Finley blown out, I might hit upper Bryant tomorrow, up by Rippee or Vera Cruz. Haven't been since last year. I don't know how high it is, I don't think it got the down pour we did here in Ozark.
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I can't wait until the water goes back down, I was going to fish the James today. I use cast and spinning tackle a lot, but love to use the fly rod for smallies. My won't leave home without fly is a bigger clouser minnow. Topwaters work anytime the water is clear. Nymphing the riffles is a great tip, too. Most folks floating blow by the fast water at the head of pools, and the most active fish tend to be on the edge of faster water. I like to use bigger flies than most, and for the lower James I use either a 7 or 8 weight.
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What is your favorite Smallmouth bait?
RSBreth replied to Chief Grey Bear's topic in General Angling Discussion
Fly rod- it's easy: Clouser minnow. But you said not fly, so its hard. Soft jerks ( Fluke, Jerk Shad, etc.) account for some of my biggest stream smallies each year. Small, shallow cranks are good. Compact spinnerbaits are way overlooked, especially in high, off color water. Try a finesse worm, with 1/16 or 1/8 weight, Texas rigged. Always a killer. I can't pick just one, as you can see. That's why I normally carry 4 or 5 rigged rods in the canoe, covering all the options. -
I went to a favorite little spot on Beaver monday, didn't get any big smallies, but the google eyes were out in force. For those playing along at home, yes, I know I'm wearing the same shirt from the report from the day before on the Finley, it's kind of a lucky shirt, and I washed it. O.K., I threw it in the dryer. Happy? That little Bomber Fat "A" is really doing a number on fish this year.
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The camera I've been using is an inexpensive HP Photosmart 525. It takes better pictures than I expected, 6 MP, but the ones posted are reduced in size for easy uploading. It has a timer, so it's easy to get a picture of good fish, set up on a small tripod secured to the tackle bag in the front of the canoe. I think it was 120.00, so if I dunk it, I won't cry too hard.
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Fished upper Finley down to Linden dam, then down to Ozark. Long day. I caught so many google eye, they wore me out. Lots of smallies, no real big ones this time. Two largemouths I'm proud of, both caught above Linden. Not too many other on the water, and it only sprinkled a little. Great day.
