RSBreth

I like anything entertaining, like that "Fish On" show with the girls who couldn't fish but were in bikinis' the entire show. No seriously, I still like the In-Fisherman shows, but most outdoor T.V. (not just fishing) blows. I don't mind a little pandering to the sponsor, but a half hour infomercial is just that.

Well, how'd you do? I came late to this topic, or I would have told you to go fish above Topaz for a great wade/fish trip for Smallies, I've been doing it for years. I got clued in to this from the book Ozark Hideaways by Louis C. White, which strangely enough I just did a short review of for my site. You might check Springfield for this book, I don't think the Ozark library has it, but you can get it transferred to the Ozark branch via COOLCAT. (Or ask a librarian) I have a signed copy. Anyway, he has a really great outline of hiking and wading this upper section in the book, and another trip downstream, and another on Indian Creek that pours in not too far downstream. Good stuff, trust me. I've never caught huge fish in that area, but you will catch plenty of fish.

Yeah, I saw this and posted something about it at my site, then get an email from someone asking who he was. So I edited my post to say if you don't know who Bill Tapply was you need your outdoor Man-card revoked.

Upper Finley to me is anything above Linden, so yeah, out near Fordland. Any Bass on the upper stretch that goes around 2-pounds is a good one, but like you noticed, there's TONS of Rock Bass. (Goggle-Eyes.)

Cox is what I call Galena. Its here:http://www.mowin.org/Project31903/JamesRiv...ml#accesspoints

Monday wasn't the best day of fishing I've had in this stretch, maybe lots of weekend traffic had the fish sulking. I did catch a couple of nice fish, and lost a really good one right at my feet while stretching my legs. Hit a crankbait right as I was pulling out of the water, tailwalked, and then came untied after about 3 seconds. I stood there, wondering what had just happened. Anyway, the best lure of the day was the Senko knock-off Tiki Stick, in bruised orange. The first couple of fish took the hook deep, so I started wacky rigging it, which often helps you hook them near the corners of the mouth, as oppossed to the standard Texas rigging. Didn't see anyone else until I got back to the access, and was off the water by 3 P.M.

Mr. Wacky here. I use soft sticks "wacky" on plain hooks, weighted hooks, and jig heads, too. Try a slim 5" stick (Like a Tiki Stick or Strike King Shim-E-Stick) on a 1/8-ounce weedless jighead for skipping around docks. Killer.

I've caught a few "Largies" w/ the rough patch, but they don't look anything like a Spot, they look alot like that fish, so.... I'll have to say Largemouth, too. Most Spots look more like this: Very "Football" shaped. Sorry about the logo, but it was the easiest to find and post.

Wow, thanks for the heads up on both of those, but obviously, I am not a lawyer. Is there a statute about being "a bleephole in public"? I see TONS of violations of that, every day.

Yeah, this issue has two sides, and both are right or wrong, depending on point of view, who is armed, and God knows how many other issues. Here around Ozark we go round and round about a couple of access points off the county road bridges over the Finley. According to the late Charlie Farmer this problem has been going on ever since he moved over here, years and years ago. I had a talk with a landowner east of here who owns land around Johns Ford this past weekend, and all of his problems with drunks hanging around there at night. He says he has the right to keep people off his land, which he thinks includes the river bottom itself- because he owns land on each side of the river. I told him, nope, you don't own that, it's public land. He disagreed, but warmed to my idea that if it is public land, the people partying are drunk in public, and the Sheriff can arrest them for it. Doesn't matter much for us fisherman, he's cool with us because he knows we aren't a problem. The fact he also saw me picking up trash off "his land" as I was taking out couldn't have hurt, either.

It's hard to get easy access to wading spots on Finley, there aren't very many. I know a couple of folks who bought little inflatable kayaks just for fishing and wading, cheap, but works. You might try Lindenlure (east, off 125) and where the Finley dumps into the James, down southwest of Nixa. Both are kind of busy on weekends.

Don't forget North Fork of the White- Smallmouths in the upper part, and tons of trout in the lower part. Good camping, too.

Cool. Nothing like catching a nice fish from small water.

There's so many different materials you can use, including marabou. Mine are bucktail, except for float and fly type jigs I tie out of craft fur. The one I use most is kind of "dirty minnow" colored, two-toned, like a Clouser Minnow. http://www.clouserflyfishing.com/clousminor.html There's some crystal flash in there, too. Here's a pretty good video about tying jigs, at Youtube: I've got a couple of emails about them, so I'll have to do a small write-up at my site.

I usually tie my own on these jigheads :http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_100720_100010006_100000000_100010000_100-10-6 But I'm sure any smaller commercial jig would work. I need to post some pictures of the ones I tie, I keep getting emails about them...

It's busy in that stretch, unless you hit it really early. Nice fish anyway.

Both. I'll swim it for a little bit, then let it settle. Then swim it for a little bit more, then shake it. I mix it up, but Rock Bass and little Smallies aren't picky.

I fished a part of the upper Finley I haven't hit in a while. I portaged and fished up from a slab ford, then floated back down. No big fish, but lots of numbers. A few nice Largemouths in the bigger pools on a spinnerbait, but otherwise catching Rockies and Smallmouths on one of my hair jigs w/ a shortened Zoom Shaky Tail as a trailer, and one of my favorite creek cranks, the tiny Fat A in a couple of colors, none working better than the other. Didn't see another fisherman, and fished from about 6:30 A.M. until after 3 in the afternoon. It was a wonderful day, not hot, just a little breezy.

Every Walleye I've ate from river or lake tasted about the same to me- delicious.

Make it match the other side.

The seat height is another reason some of us like the canoes better. I don't know of any store that would let you demo, but some of us are close, you could P.M. and see if one of us solo guys could let you paddle around for a while. To bad Al A isn't closer.

A crankbait catching fish in the James? Say it isn't so... Sorry, just being sarcastic. Good report. Another Walleye on the crank get's me thinking about a fish fry...

Yeah, I guess I forgot the "Greenies".

The Finley has TONS of panfish, from Bluegills to Rock Bass, Longears and the occasional Crappie. Good for kids, and us big kids. Nice report.

Very, very cool. I do lots of portaging upstream and then floating back, so weight was the major priority, but I've come to like the little bugger. It won't be my last solo (I'm wanting a good 14' tripper solo) but it'll do for around here just Smallie fishing, and sneaking up on Ducks. Keep us all posted on how you're liking it the rest of the summer, as you have time. Al's advice is good, you'll need to make sure you butt doesn't fall asleep!