James/finley Confluence Report

[OzarksRiverman]

We haven't fished the Finley since late June, and we've been exclusively using fly rods the last couple of times. Back in June my friend was having a lot of success just with chartreuse or plain led jig head and a chartreuse tail. We were also using crank baits (we each have a small one about the size of a nickel) and rooster tails with quite a bit of success. I'd imagine things have changed since then.

For night fishing?

[Arofishing]

For night fishing?

Nope, sorry. That was all during the morning and day.

[W. Heisenberg]

Next time might try Hootentown area up stream, or Shelvin Rock. Any suggestions?

I'm glad I found this post because I am thinking about taking my fly rod down south of the HWY M bridge tomorrow. I haven't fished that spot in a few years, but my last trip was promising:

I caught that monster on a live crawdad in the middle of a pretty strong riffle area. Faught like a log. To this day I still regret taking it from the water, but I didn't have my camera down there with me, and my old man never would have believed me.

To answer your Hootentown question, I love taking my yak to Hooten and paddling upstream. There is a nice hole where the river takes a strong right turn just beyond view of the bridge that has treated me well in the past. This was from my last trip there last summer:

He was caught on a green tube jig drug along the bottom.

Anyone have any advice on where the fish will be tomorrow, and what to throw at them? I'm addicted to poppers, of course. Will the fish be in the riffles or pools?

[RSBreth]

You are going to catch every kind of grief for keeping that Smallie - all of which you deserve.

I hope your "Old Man" believes you now. If you were 10 or something I'd give you some slack. Seriously?

[Flysmallie]

You are going to catch every kind of grief for keeping that Smallie - all of which you deserve.

I hope your "Old Man" believes you now. If you were 10 or something I'd give you some slack. Seriously?

He might but it's bullshit if he does. He was legal in taking it and he feels bad for it so it really doesn't matter what any of us think.

I can't even believe you posted that RS, maybe if you were 10 or something I would understand. Seriously??

[Al Agnew]

Ah, no grief from me...sounds like he regrets it and won't do it again!

Night fishing...my rule of thumb is, if it's not real bright moonlight and the water isn't real clear, go with something that makes a lot of noise and is fairly steady moving. Think Jitterbugs, Crazy Crawlers, big black buzzbaits. If it's bright moonlight and the water is very clear, go more subtle. Shallow running crankbaits fished slowly enough that they make a wake on the surface are my favorites in that case. Spinnerbaits and lighter colored buzzbaits also might work.

And keep in mind that bass won't necessarily be in the same places at night where you'd look for them in the daytime. Under cover of darkness they often move up much shallower. You can use slow moving lures at night, like tubes and jigs, etc. but the active fish will be more scattered and in more odd places than during the day, so I like to use stuff up close to the surface that I can fish all over the river. Think about where minnows and crayfish will be and that's where actively feeding fish will be at night. Shallow, rocky flats and runs, along the margins of water willow weed beds, the tail outs of pools, etc.

[W. Heisenberg]

You are going to catch every kind of grief for keeping that Smallie - all of which you deserve.

I hope your "Old Man" believes you now. If you were 10 or something I'd give you some slack. Seriously?

Thank you for such an insightful comment, RS. I've been reading this forum for years, and I have never seen a shitty comment toward someone until now. Thank you for telling me what I deserve.

Thank you, Flysmallie, for pointing out that I was legal in taking the fish (I'm not being sarcastic now).

And not that I have to justify it, but I guess I will note that I have been fishing since I was old enough to hold a pole, and that was the first and only fish I have ever kept.

[OzarksRiverman]

Nice fish! Both of em. What did you do with the one you kept? Eat it?

[vonreed]

smallmouth are good eating, and that one had lots to eat, congrats.

[RSBreth]

One thing I do love about OA - if you have a strong opinion there's always backlash.

If you do normally NOT keep big Smallies then I'll chill on the topic. But still - I know there's plenty of folks keeping every legal (or not) Bass they catch - sorry if my opinion of that being wrong offends folks.

BTW - Nice language folks. I know Phil is away - but still.