RSBreth

Cool. I've seen a Baldie on the lower James for a month or so. Not extremely rare, but not common either. Double points for taking the "other half-'ol lady-girlfriend-spouse unit-whatever" floating, too.

Man, that thing is a beast- 80-something pounds? I guess it would be stable...

I have two identical mesh vests meant for flyfishing, but they are so handy I use them for everything, and the large pockets hold even big plastic boxes well. Columbia is the brand, but they quit making this model, of course. Waist packs don't have enough room for me. (I carry to much s...uh, stuff.) I don't know, you'll have to do a lot of looking around. Sometimes I think about designing my own stuff because I can't find something perfect, you know?

As long as there is pretty decent flow in both the James and Finley, there are Whites as far up as they can swim. Sorry to hear about the diapers, what is wrong with people?

Yeah, it's hard to hide the fact I like my Pack, but it does feel "tippy" at first. It's initial stability isn't very good, but it's actually hard to tip over, just feels "squirrely" You get used to it. Some people lower the seat, but I like to sit up higher for several reasons. I would never paddle something for a little while and be able to make a judgment from that, I'd have to get in one for a little while, say, maybe half a day. I wasn't sure about the Pack at first, but it's a great compromise between stability and light weight. Not very many solo craft that are widely available AND weigh less than 40-pounds. Griz, have you paddled the Pack Angler enough to do a report on it? I haven't seen more than a comment on here about it, so I'm curious how you like it.

I don't have much else to add besides saying... awesome post. Fish where others don't bother, or can't get to easily. BE QUIET. Hit everything you can with a cast or two with a couple of different type of lures until you see whats working that day (or hour). Use good sized lures, not the dinky panfish stuff. Highly active, aggressive Smallmouth can refuse finesse tactics. Sometimes, especially in warmer water, you drop a soft plastic or jig right beside them and they don't even look at it, but then run a crank or buzzbait in the same spot and get chased by 5 Smallmouths all trying to kill it. It happens. That's about it. It's not rocket science, but sometimes I think you might need to see it for yourself in person. I do have my own style, but I'm proud to say I stole about half of the basic template from Al. The other half is from Bassmaster-type "patterning" of fish. O.K., maybe another half from In-Fisherman. That's right, I know 150% about Smallmouths.

I would pull the trigger on a Native Ultimate, mostly because it's really a solo Canoe and not a Kayak at all. Brilliant marketing over there at Native. They see the "Kayak Craze", and market a canoe as a Kayak. The people who buy one are doing better than those who buy a regular Kayak for fishing, in my opinion.

But was that canoe a SOLO canoe? Like Al's Wenonah? Or my OT Pack? Comparing a tandem canoe that weighs 60 (or more) pounds and has two people in it to a solo kayak is like comparing a fire engine with the two drivers to a convertible sports car. I think this is the most frustrating thing us in the solo canoe camp have when people are comparing the two, is that people don't understand we are talking about SOLO canoes versus SOLO Kayaks. If people were commonly using big touring Sea Kayaks (15-foot + in length) and comparing them to solo canoes we would have the same problem, but in reverse.

Well, if you ask me, Gavin, or Al A we'll be telling you to go look at solo canoes. BUT... I know the drill, solo canoes are not as widely available as kayaks, and tend to be more expensive. This topic just constantly spins over at Riversmallies.com, kind of like one of those perpetual movement machines. I did have a popular model of sit-in kayak for a while, and discovered that although I loved the ease of paddling and mobility, sit-ins are hard to get in and out of, and I'm 6'- 200lbs. It was a little small for a bigger guy. There are good sit-on-top Kayaks that addess these issues, but another thing that bugged me was the double-bladed paddling stroke isn't as easy for me to do all day as the single-bladed canoe stroke I've been doing since I was 5-years old. Another big issue for me was there isn't much storage space with smaller 'Yaks. So I went solo. I use an Old Town Pack, and just love the little thing. Some folks say it's too small for bigger guys, but I like the maneuverability, and ease of portaging- it only weighs 33-pounds. One neat development on the solo front was the Kay-noe from Dicks, but I don't think these are available anymore. Whatever you get, it'll expand your horizons like you won't believe. The ability to go on a moments notice, and yet not be stuck on the bank. The ability to portage into areas that can't be reached even with a small outboard powered john. No tags, taxes, or fuel to buy. I sound like a salesman, don't I?

The old (and tired) saying about "big lures=big fish" doesn't necessarily apply to Smallmouths. I tend to use faster and bigger lures than most, but I still catch really nice ones on the same lures I catch numbers on. I think it's more about where and how you're fishing than what lure you're throwing, within reason. If you are using tiny Crappie grubs, then maybe yeah, you could go up in size. Are you fishing where other people can easily access the spot, especially from wading? The further you are from an access point, the better. Get away from the crowds, especially bank fishers. Are you fishing the easy spots to cast to, or are you throwing up in nasty downed timber? When floating, do you drift into a pool and cast here and there as you drift along, or do you turn the canoe around and go fish the spots at the top of the riffle everyone else blows by, right in the current seams? Do you make multiple cast to great spots? It sometimes takes a few casts to get a big Smallies attention. Are you "stealthy"? Do you keep quiet wading, making long casts? Or do you bang around in the canoe, float right up on where you are casting? Do use use just one lure? (Yes) Let the fish tell you what will work that day. If you're floating carry several rods rigged with different types of lures. There's probably hundreds of tips people here could share, if they want to be helpful. A couple of good articles: Softbaits for Smallmouths And for those not "allergic" to crankbaits: Smallmouth Cranks For Rivers and Lakes

Hey, you're welcome. That stretch up there is also full of Rock Bass, so if you feel like scaling it down a notch, a small grub or finesse worm just kills the panfish up there. It's not big water, but it's close. Having the ability to go pretty much wherever you want is the coolest thing about a solo canoe or kayak.

I don't think anyone was saying anything antagonistic about your approach, but you're off base on thinking you can't put a crank (or any lure) right in the middle of a snaggy spot. I do tend to use a spinnerbait or other more snagless plastic right in the middle of some downed timber, but cranks designed for cranking timber are amazingly snagless. You can say whatever you want about me and my fishing style, but questioning Al A on the subject of river Smallmouth is like trying to give Tiger Woods advice about golf. Seriously? Did you just do that?

I like your ideas about $ versus results- but my spinnerbaits wind up costing more than my cranks! Al Agnew and everyone on Riversmallies.com have gone 'round and 'round on this one topic. I agree with the maxim that a good lure that cost over 10 bucks (like a Sammy) and flat catches fish is worth more than 100 bucks worth of cheapies that don't. I've never liked those "one buck" spinnerbaits, but I do have a buddy who uses them. I know I'm too picky. Cranks (or any lure) are really easy to get back when you're in a canoe, but always get hung up in impossible places when wading. I have tons of wading spots around the Springfield/Nixa/Ozark area, I'm just a little stingy with giving the info out on the open forum. I answer most personal messages and email, though.

If every one would quit fishing the James that would be sweet. So spread the word. More big Smallmouth for me.

That's sad. I really like the Gurgler, neat idea, simple, if strange looking. Hope he'll be O.K.

Don't just limit yourself to trout, either. One of my favorite things is wading smaller creeks around here for Smallmouth and Rock Bass with my favorite 6-weight and some poppers and streamers. Awesome fun and cool fishing on those August dog days. The Bass and panfish aren't as picky as trout can be.

Riversmallies.com is back up, but all of the articles and pictures are gone. Some trouble over there that I'm not entirely privy too, but at least the forum is up and running. River Smallies<--click here!

Good report. That's the main problem with fishing the Finley- not the best wading access. Good if you get a canoe or kayak, though.

That fish hit a Bomber 4A, in Black Chartreuse. Bomber 4A<-click here.

I fished Friday from early until just after noon. Caught a few real nice fish... Click here->OzarkOutDoorJournal<-- and lot's of 1- to 2-pounders. I did step on a rock in such a way to totally hammer my foot, so I'm hobbling around today with the large bruise on my instep making me look like a cripple. I will probably live. Top lure was the Bomber 4A. I did catch a couple on a popper, but nothing big. A couple good ones on the spinnerbait, too. Full report on my Website. That is all.

For my style of flycasting, longer is always better. Especially for roll casting. One of things about flyfishing is you have realize you are purposely limiting yourself, and sometimes you'll just not be able to get a fly where you want to. If it's so tight you're roll casting, there may be no good anwser, short of Spey style casting, but that's another huge subject in itself. That being said, I think a standard 9' 8-wieght wouldn't be bad. I can't imagine not having a few rods in the 7-8-9 line weights for bigger flies and biger fish. 9-weight may be too much of a jump from 5 to start out.

Good fish in the James? Yep. Now be quiet about it!

Sweet. Good pictures, especially of that Bass swimming back to the depths.....

Shaky heads do need a little more "backbone" in the rod (to set the hook through the lure) than a small crank. I throw smaller cranks on a 7' med/light Bionic Blade (Bass Pro brand) spinning rig. Very soft tip. I use a 7' medium or even a 6'6" med/heavy for throwing Shaky heads around docks. A little different.

Love Fireline, but for Striper Stuff I'd go with whatever braid you like and find on sale. Doesn't matter much when you're trolling. Casting is something else.