yaknar

I have a question for Cajunangler or Wayne. Where is Marble Ground? Is it a river access? I have floated from AA Hwy to Kerr, but I haven't heard of Marble.

I have no green or green pumpkin colored lures. Maybe I need to add a few. I forgot to add, with all the talk about un-attended vehicles, broken windows, stealing, I now strip my truck before leaving my truck at an access. I leave nothing in my truck but an old set of jumper cables and a towel. The glovebox is left open, with nothing in it and the center console is left open with nothing in it. I also bought a locking gas cap that I only put on when I go fishing. Can't be too careful.

Kayaked Delaware to Shelvin Friday. The first fish I caught was a large smallmouth with a hook in its mouth, it was tied to a short line with two split shots on it. My lure had tangled in the line. As I reached down to pick him, or her, up, he jumped and threw the hook and swam off. Lost the fish but felt good about him throwing the hook out. The river was a little down but nice float and the " Boat" was gone. Inline spinners were catching goggle eyes and pumpkinseeds, so the rest of the day it was swimbaits and after seeing down the mouth of the bass, a green crawdad?, I had to put on a Rebel craw...Took a few pictures and of course they were all released.

I found this on the internet the other day. 407 ft 7 in long and holds 100 kayakers.

Just wanted to say "THANKS" to the James River Basin Partnership and the more than 170 people that participated in the Rescue Cleanup on the James Saturday . They cleaned the stretch from Shelvin Rock to Jamesville. THANKS AGAIN!

I kayaked down the James on Friday. Started off with 49 degree temps, with the river dropping with the rain the day before. Had to get the neoprene wader back out. I fished for about 30 min. without getting even a bite, but then the fish got hungry. Seems like everytime I go I catch a cat. I had camera troubles on the way down. I think its time to buy a waterproof camera, anyone recommends any? Inexpensive. I had 2 fish break my line off, although I think one was a turtle because it was slowly moving upstream. I'm replacing my line today, going from 6lb to 8lb. I'll see if it makes a difference catching fish or fewer fish. Any thoughts if going from 6lb to 8lb will make a difference other than retrieving hung up lures? Caught one big beautiful smallmouth and a lot of smaller ones. And for myself this float takes me between 7 to 8 hours.

I guess everyone else knows the answer to this but, I have to ask, " What's a river trout"?

Kayaked from Kerr to Cox this weekend, first time this year and only floated it once last year. First, I did not find a boat but there was a car up river from Galena. Looked like it has been there for a while.Saw a couple deer. I started off with an inline spinner but caught too many small fish so I switched to swimbait and crawdad colored cranks. I was catching fish with the swimbait but something was bitting off the tails. Does this mean the lure is too big,I'm fishing too fast or their just little fish? I also tried out suspendots. Finally has anyone named their kayak? The best one I heard was a pastor who named his kayak " visitation " so if he was asked what he did on Saturday , he could say was on visitation....

I caught most of them on the Bee which dives to 2 ft. There were 2 hole that had a lot of goggle eyes in them.

Kayaked Delaware to Shelvin Rock friday. The first fish of the day was a cat caught on a rapala. I caught 3 catfish on crankbaits, wonder why?, one on a Bass Pro's Crazy Bug. The bass were hitting Rebel Crawfish and I caught probably 20 goggle eyes on a Rebel Bumble Bee. The last fish of the day was a little catfish.... and no one told me about the "river goats". I took a picture of a few, probably posted to many, and all were released to fight again.

I kayaked from Delware to Shelvin today, fishing report to follow. But first I found an abondoned boat on the river. I don't know if anyone else on this forum has seen it. It was stripped with about a foot of water in it. Maybe it just floated away from someone's dock/ramp. I thought I should call someone, so I called the MDC but they did not care . They did give me the phone number of the highway patrol/ water patrol. So I called them. Why would someone just abandon a boat? I dont have a boat but wouldnt the number on the side tell who's it is? I wonder if they will haul it out?

Wayne, thanks. Seth, I did not see any spoons on my trip down but nice spoonbill in you profile picture. Mic, she is an Ocean Kayak Caper, 11 ft long, tracks straight down the river,45 lbs., so I can carry her on one shoulder, yellow because we all know yellow kayaks catch more fish, and rigged for my comfort.

Good to be back on the river...I got up early Saturday morning and had my wife drop me off at Shelvin and floated to Hootentown, but being a fairly new fisherman I googled " bass nest" so I knew what to avoid casting at. The river was up a little with a nice flow. North of the hwy M bridge I tried topwater,inline spinners and crankbaits with little luck. I did catch a hand full of sunfish and small bass. I ended up loosing 4 crankbaits, ouch. So from the hwy M bridge on down I put on a swinbait, I carry Storm swimbaits, that I have never use. I have never used any swimbaits, normaly I just bring them along for the ride down the river. Since they are cheaper then crankbaits I put one on and my luck changed. I did keep my rapala clackin' on my othe rod which also produced. I took pictures of a few of them and released them all as quickly as I could.When I arrived at Hootentown the were 7 kayak either puttting in or just starting and I dont think they came from the Hootentown rental. No canoes...

I saw them Friday night at O'Reilly Family Event Center. The show lasted from 7pm to midnight. They celebrated their 40th anniversary. Also on the bill was Big Smith and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They said it was the first time the Event Center has sold out since they opened. It was a great show and on the final number all three bands played.

I went fishing last year, in late October. It was the first time I fished that late in the year, in the James. And I know there are other places to fish. The weather was nice, but I fished all day and only caught 2 or 3 fish. Like you said "a lot of effort with little result." And the fish I caught had no fight. It was like pulling in a branch, if anyone of you have caught a branch. I like it when they jump, bend my rod or turn my kayak...so until next year.

I kayaked down the James friday. This time I brought my son along. It was his first and last time this year but one he won't forget. I'm hanging up the paddle until 2012. We didn't catch a lot of fish, the water was clear and a little up from the recent rains. I caught a couple of fish that I haven't caught all year, on crankbaits. My son caught his largest bass ever, which after that he didn't care if he caught anything else the rest of the day. He caught it on a Rebel bumble bee. Right before we got to our take out a bald eagle flew over us, what a great day. Hope I didn't post to many pictures....

I have never fished it, but my son lives around Mt. Vernon so I might.Let us know how it went. Apple Butter Making Days this weekend in Mt. Vernon. This is a page out of " A Paddler's Guide to Missouri" from the conservation dept.

Osage,nice cats. What do you use to catch them on? And what's on top of the head of the first channel?

Osage, welcome to OzarkAnglers, post often and post with pictures. And yes, those are neo's. Simple math... 41 degree air temp. at 6:30 am Friday morning + senior citizen = neoprene waders. I did not wear them for the water temp. I use Square A's for the shallow water, and right now that's most of the James. And I dont know very much about fish but if the CC is stocking fingerling walleyes, wont they be eating the bass that I like to catch or will the bass be eating the fingerlings.

I kayaked down the James yesterday, a stretch I've never floated before. When my wife picked me up, I told her I caught a fish today I never caught before. Her reply was "you mean you catch the same fish every time you go, that doesn't sound very fun." So to be clear, I caught a different type of fish I have never caught before. I caught bunch of goggle eye and 10 in bass, 2 logperch, I don't know why I catch these, it must say something about the way I fish. I didn't catch a gar but I did catch something with teeth, a walleye? He was a stiff fish. I caught him on a yellow Bomber. Are walleyes common on the James? This far up? Does anyone else catch them on the James or try to catch them? It was a great day to be on the river.

OK, next time I see a gar surfacing on the river, I will be ready. The lure was simple to make, I added eyes to give it a little personality, and wet it weights about 1/2 oz. so I didn't add any weight and it's about 4 in. long. I was told to cast pass the gar and reel it by them slowly as you twitch it. Any more suggestions?

When I'm fishing the James, I see gars surfacing in some of the deep holes I fish in. I have read how to make and use rope lures for gars.I thought I would make one this week and try it out. My questions are: Has anyone used a rope lure? Is it hard to pry open the mouth of a gar? Is it hard to remove the rope lure? What glove would you buy at BPS to handle the gar? Do we want gars in the river?

Walked down the James, Shelvin to Hootentown, today. I brought my kayak along, I dont know why, I could have just brought along a lawn chair. Caught a lot of 10 in bass but not much of anything else. Since this is my 3rd time using soft plastic, I thought I would put them in a ziplock bag with a craw scent mix in and let them stew over night. I couldnt tell much difference. Does anyone use scents on their lures? Mine didnt have any already added. And if so, what? As you can see, I did find a logperch in the river today. And if my fishing skills are not improving...my trash collecting is.

I agree with crawfly, the river is low, very low. I use the Boaz gauge when I float this stretch. I wonder what this gauge's lowest reading is. We have to be getting close to it. And last time I went, I came to a few hole I wanted to fish just to find people swimming in them, which I understand, they had no other place to swim. But good luck, take picture of the fish and the lures you use.

It has never happened to me, but last year, on the James, my son had a double on a Rebel bumblebee.