James River white bass

[porochi]

I'm looking for advice on fishing the white bass spawn this spring on the James River. Never been there. Will be flyfishing, would like wade access but will probably use boat. I understand the run starts in March, about when though? And where on the James do ya go? Where should I put in? And if there is some wading accessible portions of the river that are good for fishing the run, I'd like to know where. Thanks for any advice.

porochi

[Sam]

I've got just the place for you. Go to Galena, MO on Hwy. 176. Turn on Hwy. 248 to go toward the town square, but before you get to the square, Hwy. 248 turns right - there's a store on the corner. The guy who runs that store knows what's going on daily with the white bass run and he's real helpful - you might want to stop and talk to him.

From the store, continue on Hwy. 248 just up to the top of the hill. Turn left on "Blunk" at the top of the hill and stay on it until it dead-ends at the James River. We call that the Galena Park, and fly fishermen like to wade off the sandbar just across from the launch ramp there. If the river is low, you can wade across about 200 yards upstream - otherwise you'll need a boat to get over there.

A half mile upstream from that spot, just above the next big bend of the river, is "Blunk Hole". Lots of fly fishermen do well there. You can drive almost there from the Park in a 4wd (if it's not muddy), or you can walk it. There's another way in to Blunk Hole from halfway back on Blunk Rd. (the way you came in). At the high ridge turn on the dirt road and park at the corner. There's a stile over the fence for fishermen, and a good trail down the bluff. The fishing at Blunk Hole is on the side you drive or walk, you don't need to cross the river.

I checked my calendar, and last year I started catching white bass in those places March 14, with the last trip on April 8. I'm sure the run lasted longer than that, but I got busy catching crappie in other places about that time.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

[Steve Smith]

My journal shows the white bass really didn't peak on the James River until March 31st, with the best days April 7th, 8th, and 9th. I had a keeper walleye on the 7th, a channel cat, and lots of whites and crappies. If wading, go to the Galena city park, but expect LOTS of people. Better by boat to put in at the Hwy 76 bridge in Cafe Fair [bridgeport]. Motor up to the Galena park, and drift your way out. Watch your depth really close as it gets darn shallow in Galena. Work the banks with blue back - white belly or green back - white belly streamers. I'm sure as the time nears, there will be tons of reports on this site. Good Luck

Looks like Sam and I posted at the same time. Sam's right on his stuff. I could get you there, but can't remeber the road names.

[Sam]

Putting in at Bridgeport is good, but it's a long way up to Galena from there - and that time of year you've got to dodge a lot of spoonbillers!

Steve is right - the area around the Park will be awfully crowded and the launch ramp there is BAD.

What I'd really do, if I were you and had a boat, is put in at the "two-dollar hole" at McCord Bend. It's just a short ways downstream from the Park. Continue past Blunk Rd. on Hwy. 248 for about 1 1/2 miles and look for the sign "McCord Bend" to the left. Turn down that road and it dead-ends at the small community of McCord Bend. Make a left turn, then a right (this is easier to find than it sounds), and you'll come to where "Charlie" has a mailbox set up at the entrance to his private park/campground. Put $2 in the mailbox!

That's a good place to park with a good ramp. You can put in there, and the Park is just a ways upstream. Also, you're right in the middle of good white bass fishing both up and down stream from there.

If your boat is big enough to stand in, you can fly fish from the boat. If not, there are lots of sandbars where you can get out and wade and cast. And with the boat for transportation - you'll have access to a lot more fishing water than from the bank.

But remember - you're going for white bass, so leave my crappie alone!

Just kidding. I hope you have a great trip.

[porochi]

Hey, thanks for the advice! I'll save this and come March / April, I'll check out these places.

[powerdive]

Sam, is your classic article still out there somewhere? Wouldn't mind seeing that again....I'm a big fan of that particular piece of writing. Hope you don't mind--thanks.

[Sam]

Sam, is your classic article still out there somewhere? Wouldn't mind seeing that again....I'm a big fan of that particular piece of writing. Hope you don't mind--thanks.

Thanks for the compliment, PD. Here it is:

The New Year in March

By SAM WAMMACK

TMNS Correspondent

March 19, 1999

The New Year in the Ozarks doesn't come on some cold day in January -- it starts now. Last weekend we had a big snowfall, but it was the last one of the winter and the snow was heavy and wet and now it's gone. Give us a week of temperatures in the 60s and the first event of the New Year will finally be here -- the spring white bass run.

Most of the year, white bass are just a minor sport fish in the big lakes here -- they're not too big, but they hit a lure hard and they fight hard on light tackle. Some of our lakes are over 60 miles long, and in the summer and fall fishermen are after bigger game and white bass are rarely found in all that water. Springtime is different, though. When the water temperature approaches 55 degrees, all the white bass come out of the lakes and swim up the rivers to spawn.

The closest white bass run is where the James River runs into Tablerock Lake. The fish and the fishermen know the places on the river coming up from the lake -- the places where we meet, year after year. Bridgeport, then Flat Creek, then the Bluffs, then Asher Cane Bottom, then Long Camp, McCord Bend, Galena, Blunk Hole, and finally Gentry Cave Hole. Some of these names are never written and they're not on any map, but the fishermen know the names and every pool and rock, as did their fathers and grandfathers.

A good spring run is far from a sure thing, and fishermen know the years by the events rather than the dates. Remember the year when we had wonderful fishing for just one morning, then it started to rain and the river didn't go down until the run was over? Remember the year when the weather was perfect and we stayed on them for six weeks straight? Remember the year when they were all running so big, remember the one when there were so many but they were small?

For this short time, men take off early from work so they can go to the river for a few hours before dark, and every day, all over town as people meet, you hear the latest word about the run. "Hi, Billy -- where's the bass?" "Donny and his brother limited out yesterday afternoon -- they're up to Asher's, running good size." After the long dark time of winter, this is really the start of the New Year's cycle -- and it's so good to get out again.

The cycle starts -- while the redbuds are blooming the white bass will run, then when dogwood trees bloom it will be time for crappie fishing and big walleyes will be in the "potholes" at Forsyth. Then the oak trees will start putting out leaves, and when those leaves are "as big as a squirrel's ear" the spring largemouth bass fishing will be good. Next comes a short season for hunting wild turkeys, followed by good daytime fishing that will take us into the summer. Summertime is for night fishing, big largemouth and smallmouth bass and catfish -- and for swatting mosquitos. Fall brings the hunting seasons for turkey and deer, then the long impatient wait of winter comes again, ending the old year.

Sometimes people who have gotten too far away from the land don't understand. Anti-fishing and anti-hunting attitudes and redneck slurs are common in the media, but those ideas are coming from people who are spoiled and no longer even know the things that their grandfathers knew. Grandfathers, heck -- if I could fish the white bass run next to an ancestor from a thousand generations ago, we would both understand perfectly (well, I guess I'd have to teach him to use a spinning reel). Everyone's food comes from the land and water -- a fact that the pretty packages in supermarkets doesn't change. The liberal outrages and foolishness of our time will eventually pass, and long after they do there will still be a real world in which the white bass run starts every New Year.

[Bill Butts]

All this is very good and solid info.

When it comes to accurate detailed info on fishing locations, it is difficult to relate exact directions.

The input you're getting is very good.

I will add to their comments regarding a distinct possibility for 2006.

With TR Lake being over 11 feet below powerpool, currently, it is a strong possiblity this coming spring will be another very low water year like we had 4-5 years ago.

If that is the case, there will be wadable water down in the McCord's Bend area again.

This is extremely rare, but it does occur some years and it creates some great additional opportunities.

Also, don't forget about Flat Creek and the opportunities for white bass in that area, too, mostly in the very lowest reaches of the creek.

You will find Whites in the river sometimes well into May, but certainly thru April.

Many years ago, a local down on Beaver Creek told me that the peak of the spawning run didn't occur until the dogwood trees were in full bloom. My first thought was, right. But, over the years I've found this to be right on the money. This doesn't mean they all spawn at the same time, but you will find that this is a surprisingly good indicator. Why? I've since learned that the timing of the spawn of whites is heavily dependent on 2 things, water temp and daylight hours.

Once the nights start to remain warm consistently, I prefer to fish the mornings to avoid the crowds.

Hope you find this helpful.

[porochi]

The information y'all shared is far more than I hoped I'd get. Bless you. I'm kinda new to the area, but fished the whites in Oklahoma, where I'm from, so I've experienced a good run or two. Anyway, I gotta get me some good maps so I can find these places. Like where is Flat Creek?

[Wayne SW/MO]

Flat Creek is the creek coming in on the west side of the James river arm, its about in the center. Whether it is of any consequence or not will probably depend on whether we have a normal Spring rainfall, or better.

There are runs in Swan Creek and Beaver Creek on BS, but they need the same rainfall.