RSBreth

Mondays can be tough, you never know how many people went through there on the weekend.

Are you driving the Cherokee? It was the only vehicle down there when I jogged past right at about 6:45 A.M. (Yes, I jog. I know you probably can't tell from looking at me.) Anyway, the entire stretch from the dam down to 65 is fair at best. No big fish (there are exceptions) but just not worth my time. I'd rather paddle up above Riverside and mess with little Rock Bass than fish that stretch. The little bit down from 65 accessed from 32nd street is a little fast there - sorry I forgot you had the inflatable. Maybe upstream of where the Finley dumps into the James of Equine Valley Road? It's not to far, and pretty good. Still too far?

Well, since the James seems to have more and more Walleyes in it every year, I guess it's not so shocking that some would venture up the Finley BUT one that size will certainly get my attention. The catfish thing is pretty cool - I always think I'm going to get the time to fish for them but never really do. My next oldest brother is a serious "catman" and has caught some huge fish from smaller creeks over there in Kansas, so you never know, you may get a big Flathead.I was just wondering if those were Blues or just large Channel Cats. I didn't think Blues lived in smaller waters like the Finley. http://www.thejump.net/fishlist/channelcat.htm http://www.thejump.net/fishlist/bluecat.htm

My in-laws neighbor has caught several smaller Walleye this week right off their dock in Beaver Cove. (Between the Clifty's, near point 5) Those are some nice Stripers!

I fished from about 3:30 to just after 7:00 P.M. yesterday in the Beaver Cove/Clifty area. Lot's of chunky little 1- to 2-pound Spots on shaky head worms and finesse jigs. I fished from about 6:00 this morning 'til about 10:00 and caught a couple of dink Smallies, some more nice Spots, and two decent Largemouths. I dunked the camera in a screwed up incident I won't relate here, I may have some okay phone-camera pictures, but can't really post them because this is being written on a borrowed laptop, and it's just not setup for it. I talked to a couple of guys in a nice Skeeter that were fishing near me in my canoe, and they said that's where all the good fish they were catching were coming from, too. They said they liked my "little boat" and weren't even sarcastic about it. Nice guys. They had been really catching them, too. Tubes and Senkos, they said. Most of my fish were on an 1/8-ounce Strike King jighead and Zoom Trick worm (not the finesse worm- the bigger 6" worm cut back about 1/2-inch) in amber/black or pumpkin, shaky head style cast to cover and let free-fall. Most fish were hitting right as you moved it off the bottom. Finesse jig was the pumpkin Booyah Baby Boo with the skirt cut "Eakin's Jig" style, and Small size Powercraw trailer in purple. I was finding fish chasing the new Xrap Shallow Shad, but they would not hit it, just chase it. Frustrating. I'm going right now to swim with my son, but will fish first thing in the A.M. - We'll see how I do.

I can think of few better places to get someone started flyfishing than the Finley. Panfish heaven! Great report.

At least you were willing to switch to something else. I work with a guy who is a self-proclaimed "jig fisherman". He will only use something besides his circa-1982 Arkie jig and pork trailer if his partner is wailing on them with something else for half the day, then he'll try it. No wonder he rarely wins the little night tourneys he sometimes fishes. You gotta be versatile.

Yeah, heading down to the in-laws, but probably can't swing dragging the boat down there. In-laws have two boats, but both are cruisers or ski boats. So I'm dragging my canoe down, and have them drop me off at certain spots like a "mother ship" off the swim deck of the Master Craft, then come back when I call them to pick me up. I've done it before, I sure get some funny looks from guys in their bass boats. "How the hell did you paddle that all the way back here?" Should be fun.

Wow that is great deal, good for a newbie as a first Taney Rod, too.

Not bad. They tended to have a good reputation for accuracy, despite the rear locking lugs of the bolt.

I find the jig or grub or whatever usually out-fishes the tube. Maybe because everyone else is fishing the tube?

That's awesome. I love it when guys "doctor up" their lures, no matter how it's done. Great paint jobs. I do use the regular Rogue whenever I'm fishing heavy timber - just flat catches fish, and if you lose them you aren't out 15 bucks like a Pointer.

Wow, I didn't know that about you, Larry. I love winter Jerkbait fishing, too. One of my favorite things. And yes the SUPER Rogues do have that weight transfer thing going on, but I think their "paint jobs" aren't anywhere as good as the XS4. But you get what you pay for, and the Super Rogues aren't unreasonably priced. If the fish are hitting them, they cost as much as they need too.

Store it hung upside down from eye-hooks installed in the hallway. Or somewhere like that. Don't store off-site or it becomes too easy to not use it, which is bad. I once had a canoe in a hallway for a couple of years. (When I wasn't using it.) People had to duck and always complained about it, I told them to go home or deal with it - it's MY home.

The Brown Trout more than make up for my Fall Smallie slump. I HATE the leaves in the water, makes running any treble-hooked lure impossible. Love the crisp weather, hunting, and all the fair-weather fishermen hanging it up to watch football or whatever.

Agreed. The best Trout I've ever had have been times when I could konk them on the head, put them on ice, and cook them within the hour. No bleeding.

Hope you get well, I've been tested twice for Lymes, negative both times, but ticks LOVE me. You got to be careful, and check whenever you get feeling crappy. If you're an outdoor nut like we all are it can happen.

Nope. Next one upstream.

The park can be kind of slow fishing during the summer. Catching a couple in only a few hours isn't too bad.

Wow, I don't think so, at least not among the "name brand" rods. I built a 9-weight several years ago for big fish (Pike, Monster Largemouths, but mostly for Stripers) and used Fuji sic's for the toughness and castability.

The Excaliber jerkbaits are like a Rogue if you took it to "pimp my lure" customs or something. Looks like a Rogue, shaped like a Rogue, but way better than a Rogue. Ever since I got my sweaty hands on one they're one of my favorites for extremely cold water. Don't cost as much as Pointers, either.

Wow, great pictures, looks like you got into some nice fish. I love the upper Jacks Fork for the same reasons you said - it reminds me of my home streams, but with less people. I haven't been over there in over a year, and it's killing me.

The stretch from Heritage down to 65 is actually mostly shallow. I live right by it but rarely fish it. It's getting hit hard by all the people who walk along the new trail. I need to send you a P.M. sometime this week with a couple of spots to try out that inflatable.

Almost all of them. I think it was Mark Twain who said no new law should be made without throwing out an old one. Makes sense to me.

If you aren't 100% that long upstream paddle can wipe you out, that's for sure. There are good fish all through there, maybe you can hit it again before it turns too cold.