Daveinozark

being without a boat of some sort makes it near impossible at Springfield lake, unless your bobber fishing for perch. i suggest going down to Finley river, the 14 exit near old town. there's a paved walkway along the river where you can duck in to several spots. guarantee to get a few bass there. otherwise, consider an inflatable for the lake. I've used this one for several years now: http://www.mcsports.com/challenger-ii-boat-set-0#.VTbdO_Au9Ko

I was on the banks from 11-3, didn't get any. Tons of boats running full throttle. from the looks of it, they were only getting a few dinks so I don't feel bad. it was way too crowded to be enjoyable. I'll stick to less crowded sections of the James and Finley

it's an abandoned car dealer, with a large parking lot and paved trail. You could drive on the grass to unload the kayak, then drive back off of it. The water there is pretty good, but it is fished hard so there may not be much there.

fyi, in case you had plans to park at Greenbridge. I was there last weekend and they had purple spray paint on the trees, no parking signs, and even barbed wire back up. I used to be able to park on the side there, but I guess no more

hit the finley around Green bridge area. no signs of life, really. Only saw a few shad, no signs of bass anywhere. I was surprised I couldn't even get a perch on a rooster tail. I guess they're still wintered up.

for the daughter's outing, go to Springfield lake park. Park at the play gym parking lot and walk down the hill. There's a few nice clearing areas there. Bring worms and she'll catch plenty of perch or cats there. If they aren't biting, walk back up the hill and play on the play gym

in my bit of research, I think I'm leaning towards a SOT. Academy has a 10ft for $400 anyone weigh in on that one?

storage is no big deal for me, I only go on short trips

anyone have that Heritage featherlite 9.6? seems like a great price at Academy

nope, no roof rack, but I'm not worried about getting it wet. It's an old ride, I've been stuffing my inflatable boat in there. not much size difference between those 2 though. I'm thinking that Heritage at Academy may be the way to go

based on price, I've narrowed down my choices of a kayak on these 2. The featherlite is 9 1/2ft and sounds like it's lighter than the A10. concerns are fitting this into a Jeep cherokee and I do mostly stream fishing, so it has to be able to handle scraping the bottom and not tipping. which of these 2 would you recommend, and why?

how is the fishing at Shadow rock park in early November? For bluegill and catfish in particular, is this a good spot?

dare we ask where you catch that many crappies on the finley?

i've only caught fish on a white spinnerbait or crankbait, and mostly by the boathouse. It's always been hit or miss though, so I appreciate any advice too, on the patterns of this lake/river

I hit the Greenbridge area last weekend, couldn't find water deeper than my waist. I went wading, since it's so low. I only found a few fish and they were small smallies or goggle eyes. Makes me wonder where the big fish have gone, seems like they should be stuck in the pools but I couldn't find them.