yaknar

Please do not fish in the James River. Let this serve as a warning. The James River always has a high e.coli level, loaded with trash and party crowds, broken bottles on the bank, sharp rocks hiding under the surface, water moccasins, snapping turtles, I think sharks have also been seen in the river, and bluffs where people can throw things down on you while you are fishing. The fish in this post weren't even caught in the James.

I kayaked down the James Wednesday. The river was a little higher than I like, since I like to wade fish, and did very little paddling all the way down to the takeout. It turned out to be a great day fishing,caught a crazy amount of smallmouth and goggle-eyes. I returned all of them safely to the river but one . I thought I saw a piece of a soft swimbait sticking out of its throat, so I got my pliers and pulled it out. It just slid right out. As you can see it was partially digested fish. It did not hurt the fish and she was returned to the water unharmed but probably piss off. I caught some fish with strange wounds. On one of the picture the fish has several marks on it's back and another one has a mark on it's tail. I thought maybe from gigging but someone at work said maybe birds? One of the fish had only one eye. Of course these are only a few of the largest, I know I post too many pictures. CATCHING AND RELEASING

For those of you, who have not made it out to Shelvin Rock this year....Here are a couple pictures of the new ramp.

luckycraft, I bought the kayak on ebay from a place in Cape Fair about 5 yrs. ago, it has since closed. How do you have yours rigged for fishing, any pictures

MSUFisherBear, The camera is a Fujifilm Finepix XP50.

TSmith, I floated Shelvin Rock to Hootentown. It normally takes me about 8 to 81/2 hours to float but that day it only took 5 hours.

I got the kayak out for the first time Wednesday and floated down the James. I was scheduled off Friday, but was able to switch my day off to Wednesday, due to the cold front and rain headed this way. The water was a little up and moving. I wasn't able to get out of the kayak much and wade, and it took me a little while to find them. These fish were down in the deep holes.( I didn't pull any off beds.) I caught one White but no picture and no crappie. But here are a couple of pictures of some of them. I bought a new camera after last dunking my non water proof camera in the river last year and I still working on taking videos. CATCH AND RELEASE

Many of you may have already seen this, but what is it for? I was kayaking down the James yesterday and saw this. I think I have seen it before but never this high. It made me think of "Splash" on ABC,celebrities perform dives from extreme heights, not that I watch that show.....The water is not deep enough to jump off of. And it's too high to fish off so, what is it used for?

podum, It's a 5 year old Ocean Kayak Caper that I bought on ebay, they have discontinued this model. It weights 45 lb so I can throw it up on my shoulder to carry it. And the hatch come in handy on a cool morning when I wear wader or a jacket, I can take them off and put them in the hatch, out of the way. I do take off the carrying handle up front when I'm fishing so my lures don't get tangled in it.

When I started out kayaking I would always bring two rods with me, just in case something happened to one. I can't use the rod holders that came installed on the kayak because I go under low hanging trees and they eat rods. But over the winter, with nothing to do, I decided to redo my rod holder so I could bring one more. I now have one topwater, one swimbait and one crank. And yes I have plenty of room for my feet.

I bought these on ebay the other day. They look like a Rebel Crawfish with legs,a slot between their claws, and have a metal lip. I haven't tried them out yet. I usually fish with the same lures that I have confidence in when I go , but I like to have a some different lures just to throw for fun or when the fishing slow. So does anyone know who makes them. I know Bass Pro sells a Crazy Bug.

I reached the magic age of 60 this year which means I can get a lifetime fishing permit for only $35, what a deal. Of course you just can't walk in and buy one. You have to print out a form and mail it in, it took about a week before it arrived in the mail. I'm sure everyone on this forum know this but when I brought this fact up at work, only a few knew about this.... so if your 60 get a lifetime fishing permit or a fishing/hunting permit.

I kayaked down the James this weekend. The river was up from what it has been and muddy. It took awhile before I could get them to hit anything. Around 7 they started hitting topwater. It was great. They are still exploding the surface when they hit it. As I was trying different lures, to see what else they were hitting, I put on a H2O, Academy's brand, and a walleye nailed it. He hit it hard. After a hard fight on a light action rod, I pulled him along side the kayak, grab the lure, and pulled him on board. As I reached for my pliers he flopped around and fell back in.I wasn't to fond of having a big fish with teeth flopping around in a small kayak between my legs. Since I hadn't had a chance to remove the lure, the fight was on again and I was able to pull him in the kayak. After I pull the lure off, I held him down and took a picture, but when I started to pick him up, since I couldn't get my hand around him, he jumped back in. I wasn't able to measure him but maybe you can tell by the size of his head, he was big for the river, I think. The lure of the day was a KVD. I caught A LOT of fish on this lure, and this was the first time I used it. It was a great day on the river. Took a couple pictures, I could post more but.. and released them all. As for me, I'm hanging up the paddle until next year. And because of my age, I will get a lifetime permit, next year, $35, and never have to buy another fishing license.

My favorite 1/4 inline spinners are Joe's Flies. I have tried Mepps and Rooster Tails. I just like the way the flies look, the trailing treble hook, and have confidence in them.

Kayaked down to Shelvin Rock this week. Had a nice float. No one else on the river. Topwater was working until around 1:30. The cat surprised me. I caught him on a 1/4 oz inline spinner. There were two places on the river, where there was about 7 - 9 cows in both places. Does anyone think it effects your fishing down stream with them pissing in the river? I guess its called fishing in the Ozarks. The smallmouth were sucking down my swimbait, I had to cut the line on two. Just before you get to Shelvin there is a tree across the river, no problem getting around it.

Seems like the James River Forum been awful quiet. I would have posted last week because I caught my biggest smallmouth this year but the camera went under the water so all I had was a "fish story". After taking it apart and putting it in a bag of rice it was good to go. I kayaked down Saturday and I don't know if it was the weather, cloud cover or river level but I had a great day. I only saw 2 other kayakers on the way down. Topwater was working but it took me a while to find the right lure for my other rod. After trying cankbaits, spinners, craws, it ended up being a 2 in swimbait. I put it on and the party began. I caught a lot of bass, size-small,medium and large, a small cat, goggle eyes, perch,and 3 crappies. I don't measure my bass but i had to measure the crappies, the two big ones were 13 in and 12in. I'm always surprised when I catch one. All were caught and released. The only sad news was one bass took the lure down deep. I didn't even try to get it out, I just cut the line. I don't know about anyone else but it bothers me when a fish I caught might not make it.

Two words.......Synchronized Fishing !

Calvin G, before you get the boat out you might want to check the James RIver Basin Partnership Facebook Page. In the left hand column it has a picture of the Delaware access as of July 29th. I went last weekend and its low. Let us know how the rope lure works. I made one last year but haven't had much luck. And I know I posted these pictures on the General Angling Forum page but in case you haven't seen them, this is my solution to floating the river.

Because it doesn't look like the drought will end anytime soon... I have modified my kayak so I don't have to drag going down the river. It may not be street legal but should be river legal. What do you think?

Osage, I was thinking about putting in on Wilson Creek and dragging down to Delaware, Has anyone ever floated down Wilson Creek?, since I never been down Wilson Creek but decided to put in under the Nelson Mill Bridge. And I came across this tree on the way down. I use my kayak to carry my extra rod.

New Rule. We can no longer call it floating until the drought ends. I had a great day on the river Friday. I told my wife I caught so many fish I should of had two fishing license. My thumb was sore from lifting up all the fish....OK now for my report. My first fish was a nice catfish, caught two for the day. I just started with the right lures and didn't need to waste time trying to find out what they wanted, although with the water this low my lures are limited. Since the water not flowing I was wondering about the e coli levels and how to find out what they were, hadn't heard anything on the news. I found them at Springfield Health Dept http://health.spring...218&PREVIEW=YES and Stone County Public Health Dept page. I dragged by Wilson creek and there was a big log jam there, although it could have been there for years. I had no problem getting around it. I was surprised when I pulled out the crappie and then another cat. It also seems like there is way more leaf litter on the river then normal. Released them all, "It Takes A Long Time To Grow A Big Smallmouth", took pictures of the ones that wanted their pictures taken and didn't get off, had the camera ready so they weren't out too long. Just a great day on the James.

Jack, I try to keep it simple and basic. I fish with an Ugly Stick, light action ( I enjoy pulling in a bass in the current on a light action rod) and 5 ft long ( I fish out of my kayak and a 5 foot rod does not extend beyond end of the kayak). My reel is a Zebco Delta. It can be dunked under the water with cast perfect on the next cast; I dont need a bird nest or back lash going down the river. I have changed my line to 8lb and I'm losing fewer lures now. I like to waste my $$ instead on lures. The last one I bought was a Siglett. I dont want to say how much it cost, but its a pretty little thing. And yes I dragged more than I normal do. I dont think I will float this section until it goes up on the Boaz gauge.

Shelvin to Hootentown...To start with I pulled more trash out of the river than fish. A picture of just part of the trash, funny I didnt find any soda cans. My fishing report... Everyone knows the river is down. I use the Boaz gauge, 2.1. I always take 2 poles but this time I kept a topwater lure on all the way down because most of the time I had no place to cast, if I didnt have it on. It was the most productive. Funny how big fish can lay in the shallowest of water. I didnt catch as many as I usually do, but did catch an assorment of bass, goggle-eye, and sunfish. And I'm sure this has happened to most of you but, on 2 of the bass as soon as the lure hit the water the bass hit it. It was like they watched the lure flying through the air and was waiting for it. Of course it could have been I just happened to casted it right on top of them...Realsed them all and had the camera ready for quick pic, out and back in.

Just a short report. I finially got to fish the lake and up river. I had good luck early in the morning on topwater, but no luck on the river, although the sun was up and it was getting hot. I think if I go again I will just fish the lake.Here's a picture of the biggest. The lures of the day were the Cavitron and the Siglett

I'm thinking about going to the Lake Springfield next week and fish from my kayak. I have only fished it once and that was 37 yr ago. My river shuttle service, wife, is going out of town so I thought about giving it a try. But I have questions and... I have read the other Lake Springfield post for answers. Why doesn't anyone go up from 65 access? How far up is the river? Is there a channel that I should fish in on the way up or just fish parallel to the bank? Should I use my river lures that dive 3 to 4 ft or do I need a deep diving crank? Is one bank, side, better to fish from than the other? OR.. should I just forget about it and fish the lake.