smallmouthjoe

I want on of those things so bad, just can't afford it now. Where's the nearest Dick's?

Man that is a nice spot, I hardly ever catch ones that big out of streams. Sorry about your rod, good story to tell anyway.

In the summer I don't waste my time with slack water unless I'm looking for a LM. Like Wayne says any obstruction in the current that a smallie can sit behind and wait for something to come along. Current seams are also really good, it seems like a lot of people ignore them, but they'll hold the fish that are actively feeding.

Great idea, I love the pics. I really like that stretch of the Finley, lots of wood with current running over it, my favorite. Thanks for the great post.

Thanks for the report, how deep were you fishing? I think I might go down to Aunts Creek this weekend. Thanks.

And if you have to go into cover and get them I would recommended a Texas rig. You should look at the bitsy tubes, I've had really good luck with them everywhere I've gone. They have some really good colors as well.

I realize this is a real concern and I wont be posting on Bull Creek or any other small creek anymore. If I do I'll steal a page from Creek Wader and not give the name or location.

Two of them back to back, that's crazy. I've never owned a Shimano, so I couldn't tell you what happened. Bad Luck.

Hilarious, my guts are about to burst out of my sides.

I agree with Eric and Al 100%. In streams when the water is muddy and high it's always tough. Most of the time when there's been heavy rain I go to the lakes. High water brings the fish up shallow and their usually aggressive.

I'm always glad to see someone post something about Springfield lake. Thanks for the report, I'm thinking about going there this sunday instead of a stream. It all depends on how much it rains between now and Sunday. Thanks again.

Looks like you had no problem catching fish today, I would be happy catching that many fish in high water or at a normal level. But you definitely had the right idea on what lure to use. In high water situations I always stick with lures that produce vibration and make noise. Spinnerbaits, brightly colored cranks, noisy top-waters, but if the fish don't seem to want anything like that I throw a bulky dark colored jig with a dark trailer at them. As far as where the fish will be positioned , if the river is really high I find them close to the bank buried in cover usually. I'm not the best at fishing in high water but I have gotten better at it with all the rain we received this spring. I'm going out this weekend and hopefully we don't get anymore rain.

Wow, great fish. Did it come off the end of that dock?

Nice fish man, I fished all day at Table Rock and couldn't get anything going on a spook. Tried all the sizes and colors I had, nothing. Thanks for the report, as always, great pics and info.

I was fishing on Aunts creek yesterday and could nothing going on a spinnerbait. The guy i was fishing caught one nice keeper on a spinnerbait and caught all the rest of his fish on a buzzbait. He didn't catch numbers but he was catching quality. First time I've ever seen the buzzbait be effective on Table Rock.

I definably stay in the greenish brown area of the color spectrum. Even though I've had success with chompers Missouri craw color with a black trailer on cloudy, rainy days. Yesterday I started out with PB&J with a green pumpkin trailer and caught some fish, but later in the day I started throwing a Bitsy Flip in strike kings spring craw pattern (green and brown) and found it to work better. Could have been the color or maybe the smaller profile that did it.

Fishing is really tough this time of the year. I have a buddy, who like crawfly, has had some tough days lately. The fishing will get better as winter approaches, I can't wait for a good, chilly wintertime float. Over winter break will be the next time i can dedicate a whole day to fishing. Only three months away.

Hoglaw, thanks for the info. Honestly my boss is someone who is easily swayed by political fear mongering. He probably heard something about it on some radio talk show and he, like he always does, took it to be the truth. I thought it was pretty ridiculous when he told me. It's OK to use a high caliber weapon that will shoot 30 rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger but not OK to use a shotgun? I wish I could tell him that he's an ignorant SOB but that would probably get me fired. Thanks to everyone. Oh yeah, i still haven't heard anything about my neighbor, it's been three days and nothing, I hope he's OK.

I haven't seem him yet today. He lives by himself and I really don't know him all that well so I don't have anyone I could contact to find out how he's doing. The last time I saw him he was being loaded into an ambulance, but he was speaking and able to stand, even with how bad he looked. His face was a mess and his white shirt was torn and covered in blood that was hemorrhaging out of his hands and arms. Pretty bad, pretty scary considering that my girl had gotten back from walking the dog about two hours prior.

Hey guys, I have a question for all you shotgunners out there. I've been thinking about buying a 12 gauge for bird hunting for awhile now and also to keep as home protection. I live in a pretty tough part of Springfield and have become concerned for me and my girls well being as of late. Last night my next door neighbor was stabbed and beat up pretty bad while he was out for an evening stroll. He showed up at my door asking for help so I saw the damage first hand. Pretty scary. When I told my coworkers about it this morning and when I told them about buying a shotgun for home protection my boss told me that it is illegal to use a shotgun in that manner. So I was wondering if anyone here knew of any such law? It seems completely ridiculous to me if it's true. Any feed back will be welcome. Thanks.

Hey Al, how long do you experiment with a particular retrieve until you try something different? Or do you just hit a fishy spot multiple times with different retrieves. I can never find or stick with something that I feel is the best, I'm always trying different things feeling like I might be missing out on something that will really appeal to them.

Now I'm not saying it's the easiest wade, I'm just saying that I do it. If you do wade it stick to the left side of the river after you get pass the riffle that's at the upper end of the access. There's on big hole where you'll have to really hug the bank and walk through a foot of muck in order to get around it. But up from there is the first riffle that consists of a submerged gravel bar with water flowing over it, that's a decent spot but it seems to be really hit or miss. In the big hole above I would suggest crossing the river at that riffle with the wood in it, fishing it first, then walk your way on to the clay bank and fishing the big hole from there. I honestly have better luck there in the winter that half mile stretch above Shelvin is my favorite winter wades. There's a submerged log that is about half way between Shelvin and the first hole that always has fish on it in the winter but only seems to hold eyes in the summer. I haven't been to The James in a few weeks but I would imagine that they might be a little scattered now and could be anywhere in that initial run. I hope you find them. Good luck.

I've been using a blood knot with a little dab of super glue. I'll let the glue dry out a little and get kind of gooey then I'll roll it between my fingers to work it in. I haven't had a problem since I started using the super glue.

Hey Wader, how are you working the wtds? I've been using a zara puppy all summer and have had mixed results. I've heard Al say that you have to work it fast, but I think my fast is his slow. Are you having better luck working it really fast as well?

I'm pretty sure you can't park at the bridge, there's a farm house right there so you could ask them if you could park there. I think the water down from the bridge is a shallow run with lots of bed rock, not very many fish in there. But there is a giant hole down from that run that does hold some good fish. The next riffle and hole also has some nice fish in it, last year I caught a 19" smallie on a grub out of there. Honestly I would just go to Shelvin and if you can get past the first shallow area you can make your way up to those two riffles. I wade it so it shouldn't be too much of paddle in an inflatable. Hope all goes well.