MrErickson

Some background: This summer is the first time I've really chased Smallmouth with any determination. I've gotten pretty good at finding those 13 and 14 inch fish which keeps my enjoyment level high during floats. I live near Shelvin and Delaware, so I've floated that stretch a lot. I've also made it down to Hootentown a couple times, weaving in and out of recreational canoes and rafts like a slalom skier. Because I fancy myself a goal-oriented individual, I proclaimed this "The Summer of The James" meaning I would float from Springfield Lake to Galena in sections this summer (spoiler alert: I'm not gonna make it this summer). Your reports of 18+ inch fish have me salivating and working harder to land one of those big boys (or girls). Before today I had pulled in several 16 inch fish but nothing bigger. I grew up fishing farm ponds, small lakes and muddy creeks in North Missouri, so this clear water river fishing stuff is different. Learning is fun. With all that in mind, today I floated from Hootentown to Ponce and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'd say it is my favorite stretch I've been on thus far. I hit the water about 6 am, and the topwater bite was on. The river is wide, current is good and obstacles are few. I was trying to meet a ride at Ponce at 1, so I didn't dally during the first few miles. Pulled in plenty of fish, size was good. As I went through a deep fast run, I hooked into a fish that took some drag and turned the kayak. I was sure my 18 inch goal had been reached. After fighting, beaching, landing and measuring, the tale of the tape said 17 inches. No disappointment - it is still my largest yet. 5 casts later in the same run, I hooked into something with shoulders. A couple minutes (it seemed like) of singing drag, current runs and then came the breach. The football sized brown beauty was noticeably bigger than the 17 inch puny minnow I had just landed. Bronze back glistened in the morning sun as the beast cleared the water. Ferocious head shake, splash down and SNAP. My lucky crankbait swam off in the mouth of a picture worthy Smallmouth. Still no disappointment. It was an awesome day. I got to Ponce at noon. 6 hours to float 6.5 miles with a couple fishing stops. If I wasn't under a time crunch I could have stretched the float to 8. Boaz gauge said 300 cfs. Of course all the fish I caught were released. Best Wishes.

A friend of mine, familiar with the strip pits, led me on a fun trip this weekend. We lugged our kayaks through 200 yards of thick brush to an isolated pit that looked very fishy Friday evening. I pulled in the only fish Friday, a 5 pound channel cat that hit a topwater lure. We left the water at dark, stashing our yaks near the waters edge. Ate supper at Los Lunas in Columbus. Highly recommend the carnitas and top shelf margarita. They stayed past closing time to feed us. We stayed at the Budget Inn-cheap place to wash off the ticks. We hit the water at sunup and found slow fishing with high muddy water caught some bass, drum and bluegill. I really enjoyed paddling through different terrain. Wildlife was abundant-deer, beaver, gar and more were spotted frequently. We left in time to catch lunch at the Red Ball in Baxter Springs. It's a cool little bar that makes a good burger and fries. Fun trip-if you're looking for something different. My buddy took me on a driving tour of several pits as we left. Lots have easy access.

A friend and I floated the Mulberry on July 6th. We got to Byrds after a nice drive in the foggy foothills. We launched about 7am with Turner Bend as our destination. I had never been on the Mulberry. Summer levels usually find it unfloatable but recent rain had the gauge at 1.6 ft and 140 cfs. I found the float very enjoyable. Several tricky twists and shoots. I could see how the white water could be very fun at a gauge height of 3 feet. I cut several new grooves in my kayak; character scars from our trip. The fishing was a bit different than I've experienced on the James this summer. The smallies were numerous but undersized. I'd say we caught 50+ smallmouth but most were 8-10". We got a couple 12 but none bigger. I did lose two nice fish- a SM and a LM off a crank bait. Most of the smallies came on a twin tail grub or a PBJ Ned. I ordered a bunch of heads from Dave and they worked great on this trip. The weed guard makes a noticible difference and hook quality is outstanding. Every riffle had multiple fish that were ready to bite and fight. But we also pulled smallmouth out of some still slow water which I thought was strange. The colors of the fish were also a bit drab. I'm certainly not complaining. We had a great day. 8 miles we floated and got off the water about 5. The folks at Turner Bend shuttled us up to the truck at Byrds. Nice people at both locations. Turner Bend is for sale, just FYI in case you are looking to get into the outfitter biz. All considered, I'm glad we picked the Mulberry. The scenery was cool. We saw only one other floater. We caught lots of fish-all released to be caught again. I might go back to the Mulberry but I'll continue checking off other rivers first. A cool spring fed river would be my first fishing choice over the warmer Mulberry.

Awesome info guys. Thanks for taking the time. Hopefully soon I can start posting some reports with pics of hogs and slabs.

Hi guys, Tuesday the James was pushing 1750 Cubic Feet per Second at Boaz, according to the USGS. I put my kayak in at Shelvin for a bit and paddled around. But it was too fast for me to do any serious fishing without having a take out plan (down near Galena with the rate the water swept me). Did anybody get on the river Monday or Tuesday? Can you give me any ballpark advice for river flow and/or height that are good for floating or paddling? I've canoed in high water like that before - in my younger dumber days. But I always had a take out plan downstream somewhere. That's floating and "steering". I've got this new yak so I can paddle upstream from an access, fish back down and not arrange a shuttle of any kind. Occasionally I'll team up with a buddy and float/shuttle. So what's a good number for paddling upstream? And how about just a good flow number for floating down? Do the outfitters have a "high water" point where they will stop renting? Sitting here bored, wishin I was fishin.