Snagging trip for 4-14 and 4-15

[Seth]

My buddy, his dad, and I snagged Saturday and Sunday. We landed 13 paddlefish between those two days. The fish ranged from 35 pounds up to 65 pounds. All of the fish were caught between Carr Bottoms and the Walnut Springs launch ramp. We hit more fish than we boated. For some reason, our fish hit to fish boated ratio was the worse its ever been this weekend.

The funny thing about it is that we was told that nobody had been catching any paddlefish. Also, nobody else was doing nearly as good as we did. One boat caught two fish on Saturday night and also had one fish on Sunday. A pontoon that had about 8 people snagging at once also landed ONE fish. Nobody else had anything that we seen.

[CBNMO]

Seth, it sounds like you had a great trip. I was planning on going this weekend but the weather is not cooperating. There will be too much debris on the James and the river is going to be moving on. Perhaps going down stream from Cape Fair would be better until the river settles some? The James is supposed to crest near or break an all time high tomorrow. I was told it may be up on the bottom of the old Y bridge at Galena by tomorrow?

Do you mind sharing how you rig your lines? Mono or braid? How many hooks? Spacing? How heavy weight? And how do you tie on?

I tried braid for the first time last year and we tried to tie it on like mono and we kept breaking off. Not sure if it requires a different tie or we just had bad line or maybe we were just doing it wrong? We use two 12/0 hooks about 2 or 3 feet apart, and 5 to 8 oz sinkers anywheres from 8 inches to 2 feet from the last hook.

Thanks and good snaggin

[Seth]

Your rigging is basically the same as ours.

As for snapping the braid, what pound test and brand of line were you using? We like using 80 lbs Power Pro on our rods. I tried some 50 lbs spiderwire one year, but the thin diameter line gave me fits with wrapping around the bottom treble hook.

I wanted to go down to the James again this weekend too but not with the water flooding the way it is. Maybe when it subsides the temperatures will be up close to 60 and the big sows will really be running. That should make for a fun time then.

[CBNMO]

I really think it was 50lb spider wire too. I like the smaller line because it pulls so much easier. I've landed 70 lb fish with 20lb mono from a boat, snagging one hook in Oklahoma and a 4oz sinker without any problems. Just have to retie the sinker every so often. The spider wire just kept breaking.

[Seth]

The reason I went up to 80 was to help with the line twisting around the hook. I had a 10' surf rod with 20 pound Big Game spooled on the reel last year down on the James. It was hard to bury the hook in a fish, but I did manage to land one about 45 lbs. It was a blast on that lighter tackle.

[CBNMO]

I'll stop by Bass Pro and check out the line. The braid is smaller and it has less stretch too, making you hit the fish harder. I thought that would be good, but it may contribute to the line breaking too.

[CBNMO]

Seth I looked at the Power Pro, but decided on 80lb Stren Super Braid. I got the yellow high visibility. It seamed a little smoother than the others. I'm thinking the rougher lines may be wearing against each other and fraying the line to the point that it breaks when I hit a fish. Just my idea, I don't know for sure.

Then I saw some 50lb mono, and decided to buy it also. I'm gonna use the 80lb braid and tie that to a heavy duty swivel, then try using the lighter mono to tie on the hooks and sinker. Hopefully the smoother mono won't fray and break as much? Also when I snag a tree or bottom, the lighter mono ($7) will break off and leave the heavier braid ($30). That's the idea anyways. I'll get to try it out in a few days.

[Seth]

I am starting to use a 50lbs mono leaders also because last year I broke a reel trying to break that 80 lbs Power Pro. That is some tough stuff!

You can't go wrong with any type of 80 lbs braid I wouldn't think.