smallmouthjoe

Nice fish, thanks for the pics. Hopefully I can steal a day of fishing over thanksgiving break. It's been about a month since I fished last because this has been the semester from hell, but hopefully I can hit The James or The Finley this week. I think the constellatus is the most handsome of the Ambloplites genus. Lucky we have so many of them around here.

Thanks for the info guys, I'm very grateful for the advise. All the Mountain Hardware I've seen so far has been a little expense for me and my meager wage. I do want a durable and lightweight tent though so I will probably bit the bullet and pay the extra money. This last summer I camped a lot and wore out two cheap tents in about three months. I was trying to remember the name of that outdoor catalog campmor. I was searching for all kinds of names: campout, campspot, campin,,,, I do like that LL Bean. It may be a snug fit but most of the time Ill be by myself or with a good looking blond so it's not really that big of a deal. I do what something that offers space but above all I want something I can beat the hell out of and not worry about babying.

Hello everyone, I've been looking for a good 3 season tent and just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions. I'm looking to spend around 200$, at the most, and if I'm going to spend that kind of money on a tent I want to get a good one. I'm looking for a 2 person tent that I can backpack and float with. I've been looking at eureka tents and they seem to be within my price range and looking at them on the internet they seem like good tents but I am reluctant to buy without more information. Any information on the matter would be welcome. Thanks

Floated from Delaware Town to Shelvin Rock yesterday. Started around ten and finished up around five or so. It was a great day of fishing, I didn't have anyone with me so I could really concentrate on catching fish. Caught four different species which consisted of: Smallmouth, Largemouth, Spotted and Ozark Bass. Most of the smallies I caught were in the 12" to 14" range with one going a little over 15". The biggest LM was 17" and besides that one all others were dinks. The biggest spot went 13", and like the LMs, all other spots were dinks. The two best baits of the day were a homemade buzzbait in black and yellow and a homemade 1/4 jig in PB&J with a hint of yellow in the skirt and a green pumpkin chigger craw on the back. The buzzbait, which caught my biggest LM, was not even looked at by the smallies but the LMs and the spots were crazy about it. All the smallmouth were caught on the jig and they wanted it glued to the bottom and sitting still today.

The time before this last trip I noticed a guy putting in at turners. It made me think about asking the landowner at the bridge if I could wade his stretch of river. I think that would be a good winter wading spot due to the low water and limited number of wintering holes. Thanks for the info.

I'm from Highlandville Missoura, land of the dueling banjos and the south will rise again bumper sticker. I'm trying to get use to measuring everything in metric, helps me with my schooln'.

Yeah the road was closed so i had to do a military style drop off, minus the helicopter of course. I had to drag the canoe about 100 meters to get to water.

I would say that the 125 to Creighton stretch is a whole work week of clearing for a construction company. It's pretty bad, I probably dragged my canoe three miles of the seven mile float. But I only saw two other people the entire trip, and I'll gladly drag for that level of solitude. I'm floating from Delaware to Shelvin tomorrow ill let you guys know how it goes.

This past Sunday I floated from Hwy 125 down to Joe Creighton. Typically I don't float this section due to access issues and the amount of dragging that is required to get through it. But since I decided to sleep in that day I knew that other sections of the river would be full of people and I decided dragging was a better option than dealing with the crowd. The fishing was pretty good. I had a good buzzbait bite going for the first hour or so then I went about dragging a tube around. The biggest fish of the day was a 16" smallie caught by my girl on a copper craw bitsy tube with a 1/8 tube insert in it. The fish wanted the tube up in the water column and weren't having it t-rigged and on the bottom, she was just throwing it out and reeling it slowly back. Besides the tube and the buzzbait, fish were also taken on a bitsy bug and a pop-r.

Nice, I'm starting to like that section of the river. I thought I was the only one who fished it that far down. Nice Fish.

Thanks guys, i just called them and got everything in order. Really appreciate it.

Hello everyone, I'm looking for a good two night float on The Eleven Point and recommendations on outfitters in the area. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks

Monday was a brutal day to be outside, I should know because I spent the entire day out in it. Thanks for the report Randy, I still haven't had a chance to get on The James lately and I miss it. This summer has been nothing but work and when I do get a chance to fish it's usally around the Neosho area. I'm planning an overnighter between Hooten and Kerr in the next couple of weekends, hopefully it comes to pass.

What section of The James? PM me if you don't want to post it. Really intersted in where they could have come from.

How far did you make it up stream?

Its only about a five or six mile float and you could probably float it pretty quick if you wanted. I usually try to get as many casts in as I can if I have the time. As far as what you should use for bait, just look at previous fishing reports on The James and that should give you a good idea what to use and where to use it.

I've fished a little ways up from the bridge and didn't find much. I bet if I got a little further from the bridge it would have been better. Let us know how you did.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm disappointed that our place doesn't go down that far bobber, I would like to meet and thank you personally for all the help you've given me concerning this river. I'll call the folks at silver hill tomorrow. Thanks again, and take care.

Hello everyone, I'm looking for an outfitter who shuttles around the Tyler Bend area of the river and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I was going on a trip with a friend and we were going to do all the shuttling our selves but he has canceled and now I need to find an outfitter. Thank you in advance for any information.

I believe the treatment facility is located about a mile down stream of the 65 bridge. So the water above the mill should be fine to fish and I have the feeling that the Finley may be a little deserted this summer.

It's pretty easy to get a canoe or a kayak down there, at least I can always manage without much of a problem. You will want to use the north side of the bridge, you'll see where to take it once you get there. Good luck.

That's me, were you the guy in the mad river canoe?

Started floating around 9:00 this last Sunday from Creighton and finished up at the lake around 3:00. The fishing was pretty good caught a mixed bag of Rock Bass, SM, LM, Bluegills, Green Sunfish and one really pretty bluegill/green sunfish hybrid. Couldn't find where the big smallies were hiding but I was able to find a nice pattern for LMs. There were plenty of LMs hanging around in the shaded slower parts of the river willing to hit a white SB waked at the surface. Most of them were in the 10" range but I caught a couple that were 14". The SMs were not in the current seams, or maybe they were and were unwilling to hit anything I threw at them, which was everything. The SMs i found were all hiding under wood in slower moving runs, the biggest being around 12".

Funny, story and great fish. What section were you floating?

Thanks for the report, I need to get on The James, I've been spending too much time out west.