MoFisher22

Started off throwing the ned until I found them. Then once I knew I was in the right hole I started throwing a white spinnerbait and most were caught on that, although the biggest fish was caught on a crankbait. I had already begun to think I was going to get skunked since I was over 3 hours into my float, but I guess that’s just winter fishing. They all pile up together.

Ended up having a great day. Didn’t get a bite until I was 4 miles into my float but when I found one I found them all. Ended up with 9 fish that were 15+ inches. Here’s a few of my best. Thanks to everyone who provided insight last week.

Thinking about going after some smallies this weekend with the nice weather incoming. I’m not very knowledgeable on where the fish would be this time of year. I like fishing above Bennett near Moon Valley, does that part of the river still hold fish this time of year?

Gauge height is showing around .75 - is that too low to float? Was thinking of floating to/from the leadmine area

Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it. I’m 26 and in decent shape so I probably will experiment with the dragging although the boat mentioned above does look like it’s probably quite a bit lighter than mine. I’ve only floated the gasconade in my kayak and never went below Jerome in an effort to stay away from jet boats. I guess my question now is how close to the confluence with the Missouri is there still a stable smallmouth population? Assuming at some point it becomes a LM/Spots.

Recently bought an aluminum bass tracker with a 25hp on it. Mostly going to be putting it on Truman but I was wondering how far up river I could make it? Bell Chutes? I know it depends on specific water level at the time but I was just curious if any of you could help me out. TIA

Thanks Mike I really appreciate the info. By jig do you mean just a simple hair jig?

Done a lot of crappie and bass fishing but I’ve never caught an eye and im hoping to change that this spring. Going to be taking my kayak on a variety of both large and small tributaries of LOZ, Truman, Pomme and Stockton in search of them running. If you had two poles in the boat, what would you tie on to entice an eye to bite? TIA

Had a great float Saturday. Caught 8 fish total with only 1 under 13 inches but none were over 14. Didn’t take long to figure out the only spots worth fishing were the deep holes where you couldn’t see the bottom. All were caught on a PB&J ned.

Decided to hold off on the float this past weekend. Being by myself on a river I’ve never been on + high water didn’t seem like a good combo. However, I think I’m set on Hootentown to McCall bridge this Saturday. Got a shuttle setup with Hootentown but if anyone’s interested in floating I’d love to have some company and we could do the shuttle ourselves.

darn. It seems like such large quantity of sudden changes would be hard on the fish but obviously they cope with it well cause I know people catch good fish in there; atleast in the spring.

Thanks Panfisher I really appreciate the help. Looks like everything recently shows it’s either full generation or none at all, is it safe to assume it’s always like that?

I’ve been trying to find info on how to know when they’re going to generate on the Sac but haven’t found much. Wanting to do some kayaking on it this spring but obviously I don’t want to get caught out there when they start to generate. TIA

Jerkbait, correct? I’ve had really great success on the lakes in late February/early March with them but never tried them for river smallies. Definitely going to have to give it a try

Thanks guys I really appreciate the info. I think it’s going to be too nice this weekend to not go out and try to find a smallie or 2. I’ll update after for a report.

I’m not very familiar with the area. Where is Asher’s? I think we are looking at trying around hootentown

I’ve fished a lot of the smallmouth streams in Missouri but never tried the James. Thinking about giving it a go this weekend, anyone ever had any luck fishing the river in the winter? Trying to figure out which stretch of river is worth the float

Anyone ever caught any smallmouth on the lake during the Winter? I know the upper Pomme has some it in and that atleast part of the population moves into the lake for deeper, warmer water in the winter but I’ve never caught one or seen any pictures.

Yup learned that lesson on the little niangua this summer. A spot looked sketchy but I had never dumped before with a lot of miles logged on the river. Well before I could blink my yak was sitting in the bottom of the river filled with water and all my poles/tackle were gone. Definitely won’t make that mistake again.

Thanks for the info. That definitely makes sense. Really wanted to go up or down river but the riffles on each side of that hole just didn’t seem navigable.

Update: Ended up putting in on the lower niangua at the boat ramp in the first picture. I’m sure many of you know where that’s at. Was out there from about 11-4. It was a strange day. I caught 30+ bass and every single one was a largemouth. Not one single spot or smallie. Two biggest i caught I have attached in the pics and didn’t catch any under 12 inches. Additionally, every single fish was caught in the same 50 yard span where an area of fast current dumped into a deep hole. Absolutely just stacked in there. I threw mostly jigs/ned rigs and switched colors often in hopes of finding something a smallie would like, but I eventually came to the conclusion they just weren’t there. What do you guys think? Just simply something different between the two species that made the largemouths want to stay in that hole and the smallies to find a different one? I really have no idea. I do a lot of fishing for largemouth in the lakes so when I’m on the river I really am targeting solely smallmouth, but even with that in consideration catching that many decent sized fish is always a good day. And boy I do love seeing how dark and thick their black stripes get in the winter.

Good numbers of 12-16 inchers is definitely what i would consider a great day. Thanks everyone for the info. Think im going to try a few spots friday when its warm, ill update if i catch anything worth mentioning.

I’ve fished/floated most the river from Bennett to lead mine in the spring/summer with good success for smallies, always CPR ofcourse. However, I’ve never tried them in the winter and was curious if anyone had any advice on what accesses they’ve found to be most successful and maybe even what baits have been most productive for you in the winter. I’m also curious about if anyone has any info on the habits of the smallies below tunnel dam as to whether they go into the lake in the winter or if they stay in the river. Thanks in advance

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like we better be prepared to do some paddling.

Me and a couple buddies were thinking about doing an overnight float on this stretch in the next few weeks. Anything specifically we should look out for? How high is too high for this section of river?