James River 6/25-26/10

Floated around the JRSP on Friday afternoon Paddled up from the canoe landing to the rocks/riffles and we caught several. No hogs but decent fish in the 14" range. Floated on down to Dixon's landing and caught several more, primarily below riffles. Pam caught several behind ledges near the bank. Fat baby craws and paddle tail senkos were working as well as grubs.
Was going to float from BC down to the park Saturday but the water was loaded with canoes/kayaks so we went on up to AC and floated down to BC. Water was almost a foot lower than the previous weekend. Had to get out an walk thru most of the riffles. Not quite as good as the last weekend but we still caught fish. Several pools that were holding fish no longer had them due to water levels. Hoping for some rain to get the water up a little but not so much as to really stain it. Not sure where we're going this weekend but we'll be on the river somewhere......

Allens Creek to Bent Creek

Got on the river today with the family; Pam, Johnny, and me. Put in at Allen's Creek about 7:45am, paddled out to the river, and went up stream about 100yds to get to the other side of the island. Started a little slow but Vada found that green pumpkin fat baby craws were the ticket. He caught 10 with one pretty decent smallie. Pam had many hits but didn't hook up till middle of the day and finished with about 6. I tried paca craws with little luck. Switched to green pumpkin grubs and started catching fish. I caught about 8-10 but really no size. I was surprised that the water was still a little stained. River was just over 3' at Bent Creek. We were able to float the entire trip without having to walk the yaks thru any rapids but another 6" lower and we would have. Good float, lots of rocks and ledges, and a few trees. Went into the creek that divides the island and had a sandwich. Told Johnny about when I used to deer hunt on these islands with Uncle Bubby. Those were good times as a kid! Saw 4 college age boys in 2 canoes, a couple other yaks at a distance. Other than that, the river was ours. Wonder why we fish the river instead of lake fishing? I bet the lakes today were a cess pool of humanity........
T and Chess are at JRSP this week. We'll probably go up and fish a day with them next weekend. Batteau's are coming thru this area tomorrow so glad we got there ahead of them.

Smallie fishing on the James

Got on the James today. Chester the Molester and I put in at the state farm and floated down to James Frame's place, roughly 2-3 miles. This short of a float allowed us to fish and not feel rushed to get on down river. CM caught 3-4 and I caught 4. Nothing big, 14" or less, but boy can smallies fight! River was still stained, visibility was 12"-16" at most. I caught one on 1/4oz white spinnerbait, one on a paca craw, one on a chigger craw, and one on a lizard. CM caught his mainly on a lizard. Couldn't see much structure or the bottom so we focused on current breaks and behind rocks. Lots of jet boats out, nobody appeared to be slaying them. Did see one jet catch a hog at the state farm dam. Looked to be every bit of 3lbs!
I also tried a frog jig trailer on a 1/0 hook just for the leg motion.....nothing. Also tried a tiny torpedo but probably didn't fish it long enough to see if it would work. Tried a grub....nothing. Tried 2 different colored 4" senkos.....nothing. Bite was tough but again I think it had alot to do with water clarity.
Hopefully going to Bent Creek next weekend. Up river, barring any wash out storms, water clarity should be better.

Ain't been fishing....

Katie got married on Saturday, Sunday was a recovery day and man was it hot! Don't even know if being on the water would have been any cooler. Week is looking a bit rough to do any serious fishing, might be able to get out one afternoon for a little pond fishing. Vada's baseball team continues to win and if they win tomorrow, they head to Radford for the state finals. That will be friday-saturday. That only leaves Sunday afternoon and I think they are forecasting showers. We'll see........