Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

Spent a great evening late last week floating from Cox to Blunk. Launched at 5 or so and blew through the upper 3/4 mile, started fishing at the big bend. Had the best evening for walleye I have had in years! Ended up with 13 to the boat, kept two for dinner and released the rest. 

Half the fish came on the fly rod ( clousers in purple and pink) and the other half came on smoke purple swimming minnows on an 1/8th oz head, fished near ( but not on) the bottom. 

Picked up a couple of good smallies and some big goggle eye as well..

Floated the stretch from Taylor to Blunk in the dark, listening to the peepers and watching the bats skim insects in the moonlight. A pretty perfect evening...

Gonna hit it again early tomorrow, will keep you posted!

eye.jpg

Eye2.jpg

Yakeye.jpg

Posted

Awesome Ryan! As a Minnesotan, new to Missouri and fly fishing I can't think of anything more fun that landing walleye with the flyrod! Where are these entry points you mention, "Cox, Taylor, and Blunk" are there any stretches that would be good to wade? I don't have a kayak, just some waders :) 

Posted
10 minutes ago, MNtransplant said:

Awesome Ryan! As a Minnesotan, new to Missouri and fly fishing I can't think of anything more fun that landing walleye with the flyrod! Where are these entry points you mention, "Cox, Taylor, and Blunk" are there any stretches that would be good to wade? I don't have a kayak, just some waders :) 

Man, y'all have some GREAT fishing up there! I have spent the past few years traveling Wisconsin and MN for work, and have gotten to "sample" some if it!

Cox access is an MDC access in Galena Mo, on the James. 

Taylor is a shoal above Blunk access ( or, if you will, below Cox Access).

Blunk is a road in Galena that ends in the James river, and is a popular access/launch point for upper Table Rock Lake or the lower James River.

In my opinion, if you want to wade fish for 'eyes on the James, Blunk access is the place. You can walk the river up to Taylor shoals and fish it or some of the water above it. And there is ample wade fishing along that stretch of river. Water is a bit high now, but in a day or two it'll be manageable ( gully washers not-withstanding)...

Look here on Google maps: 36.790025, -93.488606 

Let me know if you have questions...

Posted

Thanks for the info. Definitely a spot worth hitting soon!

Posted
1 hour ago, Ryan Walker said:

Man, y'all have some GREAT fishing up there! I have spent the past few years traveling Wisconsin and MN for work, and have gotten to "sample" some if it!

Cox access is an MDC access in Galena Mo, on the James. 

Taylor is a shoal above Blunk access ( or, if you will, below Cox Access).

Blunk is a road in Galena that ends in the James river, and is a popular access/launch point for upper Table Rock Lake or the lower James River.

In my opinion, if you want to wade fish for 'eyes on the James, Blunk access is the place. You can walk the river up to Taylor shoals and fish it or some of the water above it. And there is ample wade fishing along that stretch of river. Water is a bit high now, but in a day or two it'll be manageable ( gully washers not-withstanding)...

Look here on Google maps: 36.790025, -93.488606 

Let me know if you have questions...

What a helpful and precise answer! Not every fishing board has this kind of sharing.

Posted

I agree.  That is a great answer.  I've seen some of these spots referenced quite a bit but never knew precisely where they were.  By the way nice yak setup!

Posted
9 minutes ago, Beginneryakangler said:

I agree.  That is a great answer.  I've seen some of these spots referenced quite a bit but never knew precisely where they were.  By the way nice yak setup!

 Thanks man! I'm pretty happy with my wilderness. It was good for fishing rivers. 

Posted

Hi Ryan,

I ended up getting down to the Blunk Access that you mentioned earlier this week but was only able to fish for about 30 minutes as I was just passing through on a work route. I managed just the one crappie in the last photo. Saw some big tail fins coming up every now and again that looked like some nice sized gar. Glad I didn't hook one of those on my 2-pound line!

Then just yesterday I got back out to "a location that shall not be named" (even though the photo is pretty obvious) and caught a few nice whites 3 on the fly with a purple and white clauser, and the last one on the jig shown.

I keep hearing around the bait shops that late April, early May is panfish time. Does anyone know of a good spot to catch some crappy's??

 

 

White Bass #1.jpg

White Bass #2.jpg

White Bass #3.jpg

Crappie.jpg

Posted

I have been thinking about the James, sounds like it will be good for eyes. Really great catch, I would have been ecstatic !

My wife and I met in Galena, we know the area well. 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.