yaknar

No, not this weekend. I fish with three light action 5 ft poles, with 8lb mono line.

Thanks for the comments. Marcusearlt, I agree. I fish mainly the rivers, so I dont know if I will throw it much. I already have a go topwater lure. Dont know much about frogs. I was missing the popping sound, so I found a small popping frog, might make a difference , might not. I did find one with interchangeable legs.

My shuttle driver, wife, went out of town, so I decided to try Springfield Lake. This was only my second time on the lake and I dont know where to fish or what to fish with. I put in before the sun came up in the fog. I knew there were pads so I bought a weedless frog and caught my first bass on it, last two pictures. When I got home I did trim the legs, haven't bent the hooks yet.. Its nice throwing a lure in heavy cover without worrying about hang ups. I had no takers on buzzbaits or swimbaits, and caught the rest on crankbaits. When the sun came up the bite stopped. I caught a handful, took pictures of a few, hard to take pictures in the dark, and released them all...

I got on the river Friday. Had a few showers throughout the day but nothing wrong with fishing in the rain. It took about 30 min before my first fish and it was a gar. It made it back to the kayak but got off. The only lure I could get them to hit was crankbaits. I did catch a fish on a new lure and lost it on the next cast With all of the rain we been getting, I use to have to drive to the river and check the flow and level to make sure it was floatable. But for the last several years, I have been recording the flow and level from the USGS website when ever I go. So Friday before I left I check the site and was good to go. It was another great day on the river, caught a lot of fish, posted a few, and released them all...

I got out friday for a little kayaking and fishing. When I left the house it was 34 degrees. I bought a pair of brown jersey gloves and cut off the tip of the fingers hoping to keep my hands warm. .As you can see I did OK. I don't count my fish but I caught a 'mess of fish". I caught equal numbers on crankbaits and plastic swimbaits. Caught the cat on a 1/8 plastic swimbait which was a nice surpise. I did break a hook off one of the trebles of a crankbait. It just fell off. The lure was working so good I dedcided to try it again and on the next cast I caught another. Great day on the river. Took pictures of a few, I have many more pics but thought maybe even this was too many, and released them all.

So, Kee sims, did you park up on 14 and walk down along side the bridge? Can you walk very far down stream on the bank?

marcusearit, I was throwing crankbaits, medium and deep, along with plastic swimbaits. I caught almost all the fish on deep crankbaits.

I went out Friday, dressed as if I was going to shovel snow, 38 degrees, but it turned into a beautiful day. I had the same luck as htwo82 did, and only caught sunfish, goggle eyes, and some small smallmouths. So the only pictures I could take was of the river and one pretty little bass

I got the kayak out and went down the James this week, picked a great day to be on the river, it may be time to take the wader off. Caught a mess of goggle eyes, in about knee deep water, but all the bass were in the deep holes. I saw no beds anywhere. Had my best luck with a orange deep diving crank bait. No stories to tell , but one bass had one eye and another had food in his mouth. Lost one lure, BPS trip, and saw 3 crankbaits hanging from tree, too high to retreive. Took pictures of a few of them and released them all...

Yesterday, I got the kayak out for the first time this year. I had great weather for my float.. Caught a mess of smallmouth out of the deep holes and a mess of goggle eyes. Thought I would post a couple of pictures and a couple of the largest smallmouth I caught. I dont know how big it was, so when I got home I layed a ruler acrossed my legs to see how long it was. I could not hold it out in front on me, with one hand, to take a picture because my arm was not long enought to get the whole fish in. With my light rod, it was all I could do to pull her in. Caught and Released them all. I also tried out a couple of lures I bought on E Bay from China. They will not be making any more trips down the river. They looked nice but...All in all a great day on the river.

I didn't know where to put these pictures on the forum, but I had to show them. I had a couple Eagles show up for breakfast Sunday morning. We were dining on frozen possum. I thought it was pretty cool. WOW

I thought I would float down the James one more time, before I hung up the paddle this years. It may have been one week too early for the color change. But that's it for me this year, so keep posting...

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Floated down the James Friday in the rain. Not a lot of smallmouth action,but when they hit,they hit hard and took several jumps on the way back to the kayak. The fish of the day, goggle eyes, were hitting everything. There was a lot of leaf litter down on the bottom. I was constantly picking leafs off my lure. I caught a cat on a crankbait which always surprises me. Took a few pictures, none of the goggle eyes were picture worthy. Released them all. Great day on the river..... And I saw this grill on the internet which made me smile. Grilling, Fishing, and Kayaking..what could be better.

I forgot to add that the next day I had to go to Bass Pro, to replace a couple of lures. I saw across the road by Whole Hog, for all of you jerky lover out there, there is a "Beef Jerky Outlet Store". They have, I would guess over 50 kinds of jerky. I don't like the walmart type jerky. They give free samples but it's not cheap. And as you can see I had to buy some.

Flysmallie and Buzz, thanks for the comments. Wayne, I bought a "Fish Grip". It is small., was cheap and floats. I only use it, so far, for walleyes. And try not to use if if they are thrashing about or support their whole weight by it, except to bring it into the kayak.

The wife put me in the river at 4pm last night so I knew I only had 4 hours to float the 6.5 miles and still try to fish. It wasn't easy but I got to my takeout right at 8pm. I tried to fish only the productive water or when I got too tired to paddle. The fishing was great. I caught a handful of bass, some small, some big, some on topwater. I was using a craw colored lure when I caught the walleye. I have now caught 1 walleye, a year, in the James, in the last 3 years. He had 2 small crawfish in his mouth that fell out when I pulled him in, and guess what colored lure I was using. Does anyone use a fish gripper or lipper when fishing from their kayak, if you are catching walleyes? Does it hurt the fish? I don't need one when I'm catching bass. About 5 min before I got to my takeout I stopped to rest at a riffle. I knew I had caught something but couldn't tell what it was, which ended being my first double. I think I would have caught a lot more fish if I had more time but you fish when you can or when the wife is willing to drop you in the river. Great day on the river. Catching and Releasing...

I kayaked down to Delaware this weekend. It was probably my slowest fishing day this season. I have been told it gets slower later into fishing season. I caught a handful but not a lot and nothing big. So my only report is that the suckers were hitting Rapala crankbaits. When the fishing gets slow I breakout the lures I bought this year but haven't used yet, the ones that call to me when I'm walking through BP or surfing the net. The one lure someone told me it looks like a Disney character and it would only be good at catching clowns. And I'm not real fast or good at tying knots. I was using the improved clinch knot and someone suggest I try the Pitzen (16-20) knot. Has anyone had any experience with this knot? I don't know what everyone else uses but I can tie this one pretty fast. Great day to be on the river . Catching and Releasing...

I thought I might float a different section of the James this week and put in at the Crane Creek bridge on AA Hwy. I know the "Paddler's Guide to Mo" show no access, but I thought maybe I could slide the kayak down along side the bridge. When I got there this is what I saw, a fence with a couple strands of wire. I guess Crane Creek is not floatable and if you got cows you got to keep them in the field. So I went down to the AA Hwy access and floated to Kerr. I got rained on, caught a few fish, but a good day to be on the river.

So if I'm floating down the river in my kayak and get stopped.... I can keep my trash bag tied to my kayak, although I keep it for other people's trash, I will have my license, but am I required to have a PFD with me if my kayak is only 11'6'' long? according to the MO Boating Laws?

moguy1997, that's how mine broke, removing it from the fish. The broken hook just happened to fall off in my kayak. Thanks for all the response to my question. And the Scatter Rap only caught 3 fish for me. It was not the "lure of the day", but I will fish it again.

Kayaked down the James Friday, great day to be on the river. I didn't have any luck with topwater early in the morning and my swimbaits were catching goggle-eyes. They wanted something crunchy so I started throwing crankbaits. My first catch of the day was a catfish, which was a good way to start off. Caught a lot of goggle-eyes and small bass. On one of the lures that was working for me, I broke off one of the hooks, but since I was catching fish with it, I keep using it and keep catching fish. I lost 4 fish by them jumping out of the water and throwing the lure. I had bought a Scatter Rap at BP so I thought I would try it out. One of the larger fish of the day was caught on it, in about 2 ft of water. The Scatter Rap runs 6 to 9 feet deep. So my question: I was using a crankbait the runs 3 ft deep for water 3 ft deep and changing when I got to deeper water, knowing that I wanted it to bounce off of structure. So should I just fish deeper running crankbaits as long as I'm not getting hung up on the bottom, no matter how deep the water is? In the James, fish with a crankbait the run 6 to 9 ft deep all the time and if I need it to go shallower fish it slower? Just trying to improve my fishing knowledge. Took pictures of a few and Released them all to fight another day.

Kayaked down the Finley last week. My first time on the Finley, won't be my last. The section I floated was very interesting with it twist, turns and small bluffs, nothing like the James. The water was low and had to shovel gravel a couple times, not a lot of deep holes. Only problem I had was the slimy rocks under the M140-A bridge. I caught three on topwater, one was this shiner?, so don't know if he counts. With the water being low and not a lot of holes I had to change my normal approach. I had three lures working for me. I caught a lot of small ones, nothing really big. I liked the coloration of the last smallmouth. Great day to be on the river. Catching and Releasing...

Kayaked down the James Friday. It was a great day to be out and to be able to shed the waders and get in the river. I caught a bunch of small ones and goggles-eyes on swim and crank baits, and a couple nice ones. It makes me smile when a small fish tries to eat a lure as big as it is. And as you can see I write the depth on the bottom of the crankbaits, on how deep it runs. It helps me remember the depth when I fish the the different holes on river. I tried out a new lure I bought on Ebay, it came in several colors. I bought it because it looked a little different and I think sometimes that what a fish is looking for ( on the second cast I caught a bass). Look like the river is on the rise. Catching and Releasing....

I kayaked down the James today. The water is still a little higher than I like, but had a great day. I started out with topwater and then went to crank and swim baits. Most of the fish were in the deep holes. I caught my biggest fish for this year, last two pictures, and with a light action rod and in the current it was a good fight. She was able to turn the kayak around. For those of you that enjoy the pictures here are a few. Catching and Releasing...