The James (hooten Up)

[smallmouthjoe]

Fished the James Thursday from Hooten up for about a mile stretch. Caught four eyes, one smallmouth, one largemouth and a little spot. River was up around five to six feet and the water had a little color to it. Plowed through every pieces of still water I could find but couldn't find the bigger smallmouths. After fishing the side eddys for a couple of hours I started focusing on mid stream rocks but still couldn't come up with a decent smallie. Most of the fish where caught on a brown and orange bitsy bug with an orange paca craw on the back and the spot was caught on a shad rap. Saw a beautiful Midland Water Snake resting in the branches of a downed tree and got a couple of good photos. She was truly a magnificent specimen.

[faded]

Well you had better luck than I...Float fished from Shelvin to Hooten on Tuesday (in record time as the water was moving pretty fast....) Managed a couple of small smallies while my buddy got into the perch...my daughter she caught a stick, some leaves, and a few rocks...

I would not have posted such pathetic results typically but the mention of the snake prompted me to post pretty close to Hooten we were working on freeing a snag from a low limb over the water and I found myself nearly eye to eye with what could have been the same snake stretched out on a forked limb just watching..... startled me for a moment...

[smallmouthjoe]

Might have been they usually stay around the same area all season and tend to carve out a little section that is all there own. I was porting around a riffle and glanced over to my right and there she was, gave me quite the scare.

[RSBreth]

I sound like a broken record, but spinnerbaits and cranks usually are the big fish lures when the water's up and has some color. I'll throw a jig or soft plastic to a spot to fish it a little more thoroughly, but usually do better on the lures that have some vibration and thump.

[smallmouthjoe]

Next time the water is up I'll try a spinnerbait. I should have tried it this last time, especially after reading your post, but I didn't bring any with me. Do they work well when the water is at a normal level and clear?

[RSBreth]

They work well around cover in all but the coldest water. Smallies have to hit it or let it go by, most of the time, they nail it.

Cast them tight to cover that breaks current in the upper part of a pool. Sometimes it takes several casts to get them to hit.