smallmouthjoe

Nice report, thanks. I started using the slim dog this summer on the rock instead of the spook and I like it better. Walks much easier and is a little different than what everyone else is throwing. I need to try it on some streams, I thought it was too big and ugly for stream smallies but I guess that's not the case. Thanks again.

On The current this year I literally had one come about ten feet away from me going 20 or 30. Crazy man, I was frozen, I thought I was going to die.

I needed to go fishing before I started the weekly grind again, so I sacrificed sleeping in today and went to Bull Creek. It's a nice little stream that one of the veterans here told me about. I've been there many times this summer and haven't posted anything because I wanted to keep it a secret. But I feel that pretty much well all the people on this site are good people who practice catch and release and are definitely more environmentally minded than the party hard types that hang out there. It was a great day of fishing. I left all my jigs and tubes at home today in an effort to break my dependence on them. All I took was a light action rod some cranks, one popper, some original floaters and some shaky heads, just in case. I took my dog as well and it was nice to have the company even if he made me think that I had lost him and made me think of how my girlfriend would stick my head in a guillotine if I had. My effort to catch fish on active style baits worked out really well, I caught around 20 on a norman crappie crank which has been a really good crank everywhere I've gone this summer. The jerk bait for some reason wasn't doing the trick, I only caught one LM on it. The popper was producing little fish and the shaky head did really well like it always does everywhere at pretty much any time. The biggest one I caught today went around 13 or 14 and is big considering how small a stream this is. All the fish hit the crankbait like you would handle fine china, very, very, very lightly. A great day indeed my only regret is having to come home and type a lab report. Take care.

I'd take catching fish over catching women any day. This river freezes over? Wow, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. I've always felt sorry for those people up north, stuck inside most of the year. I couldn't handle it.

Sounds like a great time. If there's one thing I've learned about tube baits it is the slower you go the better they seem to work. Of course, there are exceptions like in the spring or when they're in feeding mode when they prefer to have it swam. I'm hitting a little creek tomorrow that RS introduced to me and I think I'll leave the tubes and the jigs at home. I really need to get better at catching fish on active style baits, it's a part of my game that I need to work on. Go Chiefs, they maybe bad but they still are Missouri's team and I'll support any team that represents my beloved home state. Expect The Royals when they are playing The Cards.

Right on! Money is something you can get more of, when a friend is lost, their lost forever.

Nice fish, I love catching multiple species in the same day. Don't let winter stop you, some of the best fish I catch are caught in the dead of winter. I love fishing in the snow, very tranquil.

So I guess that land will be county property. I wonder what they're planning on doing with it?

I have a Sliver Ranger but at a distance it could look white. I was shocked to see as many Green OT Rushs as I did that day. Besides mine I saw two others, everyone has one.

I wouldn't park there. Could you get someone to drop you off? That's how I usually do it. As far as hook size goes, match the hook to the size of soft plastic your using. 4" worm / 1 6"-8' worm/2 etc... I rarely use anything above a 2 on The Finley. You might try a more natural color, the fish in this river see a lot of lures. The only time I use bright colors is when the water is stained or when the fish are really active.

You have to float down, or you can walk down there. It can get ugly if you walk down there, lots of bush whacking.

Some good looking streams there.

Don't worry about the gars, I wade through there at least a few time a year and I haven't been bit yet. You would probably have better luck fishing the tail-water than you would the Springfield Park area. Take your inflatable and float down to the low water bridge and fish the water below it. There's some nice fish hanging around down there.

Yesterday was just a bad day for me. I was pressed for time and was making bad casts which started to really annoy me. I think I have the fishing equivalent to The Chuck Knoblauch Syndrome.

It's possible, i just want them to have the best record in the national league. I hope Albert gets the MVP and both Chris and Adam have a great chance to win the Cy Young. I think there's no one that can touch them in the national league. The Yankees might be the only team that can beat them and Boston always worries me. I'm getting head of myself, but I don't think the Dodgers or The Phillies could beat them, especially in a five game series. Of course there's a slim chance that they will play either of them in the division series. I haven't seen much of the Rockies, so I don't really know what to expect from them. After watching labor days game I'm really ready to watch them beat up on everybody in the playoffs.

I had a chance to go fishing today. I should have been at home studying but I had to get out and fish somewhere before I started another week of work and school. Fishing was the worst I've ever had on the stretch between green bridge and the park. I tried a little of everything: norman crappie crank, two rock bass and a sucker, bitsy tube, a few rocks, Bitsy jig, lots of rocks and a few smallmouth, senko, few largemouths, my biggest smallie 12" and of course a rock bass or two. It was just a slow day, kind of an off day. My casting and my boat control was crap it really got under my skin. It's amazing how quick my skills have diminished since I stopped fishing three or four days a week. Take care guys.

I couldn't find anything on line about determining between lake strain and our native strain. Do you know the difference, I mean besides size?

Ha, I'm going to tell that one to my Grandpa. He's from Oklahoma, he'll probably get a real kick out of it.

OK, i might have over reacted. I'm just concerned, I don't want samllies to become the minority.

I should have considered the fact that they come from different families as well. Since they are not as closely related as spots and smallies, they may not use the resources the same. I didn't know that walleye were a native species, I thought they were introduced by the conservation dept years ago.

The walleye doesn't surprise me at all. The size does, what a monster. Like Randy said, The James seems to have more and more walleye in it every year. I'm worried about the small-mouth population, the competitive exclusion principle states that no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time. We've seen an example of this on in some streams in are state. A perfect example would be the take over of some sections of rivers by the Spotted Bass. I've caught more Spots this year on The James, along with Walleye, than in any year before. And I've caught both species in faster water lying behind current breaks willing to hit a crayfish imitator. There are of course many factors involved and the small mouth are still the more prevalent species so I don't think it's a real concern at the moment. But it does make me concerned about the future. Oh yeah, where are you fishing? Just curious.

Trying to find a place on the Finley where your not going to have to drag is tough. If i remember right the place you went 32nd opens up for a pretty good stretch a little ways down. I've seen people parked along side the 65 bridge accessing the river I would assume, but Ive never done it myself so I don't know if you'll be OK doing that or not. And to be honest I've never caught very many fish around the Bridge when I've floated that section of the river. I've seen big LM's hanging around there, but their like the LM's in the hole above Green Bridge very spooky.

Thanks for the picture and link. I'm going to try it this weekend if I can come up with some time to fish. Thanks guys.

What do you suggest in the way of a bobber? So some work better than others?

I've been wanting to try the float n fly method for a while now. You just attach a hair jig with a bobber a foot or so above it and pop it along the surface right? Is there other techniques or set-ups?