Snagging Paddlefish

[Seth]

Anybody here snag for paddlefish on the James River arm of "the rock"?

[Steve Smith]

Anybody here snag for paddlefish on the James River arm of "the rock"?

Snagging paddlefish on the James River was an annual event for me until a few years ago when they posted the river’s fish as unfit to eat. I think it was a mercury scare, but really can’t remember. Now, when the snagging season starts, I go after slab crappie. The crappie run seems to be about the same time as the snagging season, so I replaced paddlefish for crappie... a much better trade. There is probably a bunch of folks that can answer any questions on snapping paddlefish

[Seth]

Hasn't that been lifted about them being unfit to eat? We go down every year and get a bunch and eat the heck out of it and never gotten sick or anything.

That's another great thing about snagging season down there is the crappie are usually biting good too. If we get tired of snagging, we just grab the ultra lights and go catch a mess of crappie for dinner.

Not much beats a mess of papermouths fried up in some Andy's fish batter after a day of fishing.

[Steve Smith]

Yep. The ban was lifted, but just never went again after that

[MOBass]

Hasn't that been lifted about them being unfit to eat? We go down every year and get a bunch and eat the heck out of it and never gotten sick or anything.

That's another great thing about snagging season down there is the crappie are usually biting good too. If we get tired of snagging, we just grab the ultra lights and go catch a mess of crappie for dinner.

Not much beats a mess of papermouths fried up in some Andy's fish batter after a day of fishing.

I have been wanting to try snagging. What do I need and when is the season?

[Seth]

I have been wanting to try snagging. What do I need and when is the season?

Its open up March 15 and I am not sure exactly when it closes.

I like to use a 10 foot surf rod with 80lbs Rip Cord spooled on the reel. Alot of guys use the 6 foot broomstick rods and big levelwind baitcaster reels, but they wear a person a lot faster in my opinion. A surf rod will handle a big paddlefish just fine as long as you have the drag set to slip a little bit.

As for rigging, I usually use a 4 or 6 oz bell sinker on the end of the line and then about 12-18" above it I put a big treble hook , not sure what size but its about as big as my hand, and then another 24" I put another one on the line. Make sure the hooks are inline with your fishing line when you put them on.

To do this I loop the line through they hook eye and then around the hook. Then I make a couple loops and put around 2 of the 3 barbs to keep it lined up. Do the loops around the 2 barbs three times atleast so that each barb has a loop on it. When you pull on the line the hook should be inline with the fishin line.

We have had the best luck up around where Flat Creek comes into the James River arm and up around Walnut Springs.

A lot of guys troll for paddlefish, and we have done good trolling at times, but last year we did the best throwing towards the banks and then jerking them all the way back to the boat.

Usually snagging is good when it first opens at midnight all during the night. I think you get alot of the resident fish that stay there all year long. After that they are pretty spotty to get.

One thing about snagging though is that you can snag all day and never touch a fish. But once you find a pocket of them, you can catch your limit of two in 15 minutes. It just takes persistence and you will catch one. Usually though its one guy who catches all the fish becuase he will be doing something just a little different that the other and he will be the one hitting them.

Hope this helps,

Seth

[rainbow]

I am planning on coming down for the opener this year but I do not know where to put in or what methods to use. I have all the gear and have mostly snagged on the Osage and Mississippi. Any ideas would be great.

[Sam]

I am planning on coming down for the opener this year but I do not know where to put in or what methods to use. I have all the gear and have mostly snagged on the Osage and Mississippi. Any ideas would be great.

rainbow - The information about tackle, above, is right. The season is from March 15 through the end of April.

I'd put in at Bridgeport, most everyone does. Take Hwy. 160 south from Springfield and turn west on Hwy. 76 at Reeds Spring. Go nine miles to where Hwy. 76 crosses the James River Arm and that's it. Turn left into the driveway just before the bridge, and the launch ramp and lots of parking are right there.

Early in the season they'll be snagging around the launch point, and as the weeks go on it's further upstream. You can go all the way to Galena in a good size boat, and the paddlefish are to be found on that whole stretch of river.

I don't snag for paddlefish myself, but I fish for crappie and white bass every year amongst them. Every year I seem to snag a paddlefish or two on my crappie rig - and that's a short but intense experience. I never have got one in that way, of course.

Paddlefish snagging seems like real hard work to me, and I don't care for the meat anyway. But lots of folks enjoy it. Good luck in trying it!

[Seth]

We usually do best up below Walnut Springs just throwing towards the rock banks and jerking back.

Most guys troll but we seem to have better luck casting to the banks. I guess it is how the fish swim along the banks, becuase we have hit alot of them on our first or second jerk many times.

We have nailed a few at the mouth of flat creek snagging around the point and up into flat creek a couple hundred yards also.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

I would try this.. it sounds pretty crazy.

The idea that you might snag a 5-75lb fish.. thats exciting!

Tell us more...

best fishes - Brian