Hootentown to H.L. Kerr

[RSBreth]

I saw more jet boats today than I ever have on the James. I lost count at 5.

2 didn't appear to be fishing, just screwing around on the river.

Lots of floaters, too. Some with clothing, some not so much.

Anyway, I did well on the usual stuff, I keep getting good numbers on small craw colored cranks, and after today I'm convinced I should always have a rod rigged with a soft jerkbait.

(Berkley Power Jerk shad in rainbow trout in todays case.)

Lots of blow ups on the jerkbait, missed some that took a swipe at it as I cranked it in fast to make another cast, including one of the biggest smallies I've seen in a while. So I finally got smart and started working it real fast, almost just burning it across the top of the water while twitching it, and doubled the number of solid hits.

First good fish at first light:

Lots of guys like this one on the Little Fat A:

Then after a hat change, a snack, a cool drink, and a faster jerkbait technique:

Oh, and I caught another nice channel cat on the crank, but it was bleeding a little where the treble nicked it's gills, so I got it back in the water quickly without a picture.