Required fields are marked *. We got in at 10:20 and took out right around 14:00 with a very leisure lunch/swim break less than a mile from the take-out. 417-883-7417 | 29.3 Rock ledge at old fotd site makes good riffle. D.3.0San Francisco St. Louis R.R. 44.3 Cole Pit Hole access on County Road V-70 off Hwy. 125 Bridge. D Bridge. Access at bridge just below dam.13.5Hwy. Kerr, and Cox Memorial. It is not the cleanest section of the James. Please ensure to adhere to the fishing regulations for the state. Sometimes I was distracted by the show underneath and floated right past a promising hole without casting. Although the water was relatively low, most places were fine in a kayak if you were careful and paid attention. The take out near Rivercut is not the best access site but it does the job. The James River is a 130-mile-long (210 km) river in southern Missouri. This is an electronic reprint of a Missouri Department of Conservation document. This last trip I visited the river just a few days after a pretty serious rain eventwhich caused the water flow to be both up and a bit stainedall told, it was a perfect situation for catching some smallmouth bass. Several others were on the river due to the hot weather. 3.0 San Francisco St. Louis R.R. James River At Galena is located in Stone County in Missouri. If the DOJ is the McDonald's of rivers, this section should be designated as the White Castle section, simply because it's along a major highway and can only appeal to the lowest common denominator of outdoor activities. The colors of all of the fish were striking, adding to the beautiful setting. In high or medium water paddlers can run anorher 40 miles above this as well as some of the larger tributaries. We take a number of different data points to make our fishing recommendation. Go to MCFA Home Page, Under Missouri law, an outfitter is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant in paddlesport activities resulting from the inherent risks of paddlesport activities pursuant to the Revised Statutes of Missouri. My daughter discovered a hole in her inner tube and fortunately she had a life jacket to float down the River. Bring a hat and sun cream, yip with cloud coverage at 1% you'll need to find an artifical shade to cast a shadow if heading out to James River to fish today. Oct 07, 2014 - James River 1 lb. Shelvin Rock to Hootie is much more interesting (IMHO) than Delaware to Shelvin. swear their catch improves when the moon is in a "New" or "Full" moon phase. Smallmouth bass were hungry and were caught in eddies close to the current. 42.6 Watch for down trees in river along right bank. D. 1/2 mi past the Big Bend Road bridge) then returned back to Shelvin. Thanks for reading! Off the river by 1430 slow pace for intense fishing. 46.3 Goff Creek on left. The biggest fish, though, were caught away from the bank near large chunk rock. The crew was very nice and accommodating. I can now say the 3 miles of stream contained in this section are not worth doing. Hwys. Topwater fishing, particularly around sunrise and sunset, can provide an especially thrilling experience to kick-off or cap-off a day on the water. Only one potentially hazardous obstruction blocked easy access the whole way. 21.3 Blue Spring on left. Fishing the James River might have spoiled me a bit. 15.8 Hwy. It is not the best stretch of river to float by any means, but it'll do in a pinch this time of year. There are glamping tents onsite plus camping and RV sites. It wasn't a full-on Schmuck-a-rama, but the number of people the Hooten Town outfitters was releasing into the river, it was close. This impacted my entire day. Copyright 2003 by the Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. I own 4 float tubes and 4 sets of kick fins so I am offering an opportunity for you to come to Northwestern Wisconsin and fly fish from a float tube [], In this video I take a small/short trip down the St Croix River here in NW Wisconsin in search of my favorite game fish . (417) 889-6633 1111 E Republic Rd Suite #140, Springfield, MO 65807 Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 12-4pm You may need to work a little harder. Mid-April is the peak of the white bass spawn throughout Missouri, but it's an especially good time to fish the White River lakes. Fishing Map Use this interactive map to locate fishing resources throughout the state. There are lots of spots along the banks to pull aside and relax. Must have came downstream out of the current to winter in the deeper water. Fishing is also great, so if you are an angler, then bring a valid . Wind from the East, fish bite the least. 46.1 Access on left where extension of Hwy. Difficulty:I; a few places rate up to III due to obstructions.Gradient:general- 6.5.Counties:Christian, Stone. From the Alleghany Highlands to the Chesapeake Bay, the James River basin is home to a variety of outdoor recreation activities. We aren't sure what effect that this illegal activity has had on Missouri's paddlefish population. Pictures are beautiful! We do summer floats with this outfitter, and always have a great time, so when we saw that they were doing a haunted forest and float, we had to go! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 40.8 Hooten Hill, on right (high bluff). Lost count, but I'd . Memorable day for sure. M and U. This was a good trip, as always. Your email address will not be published. Access.33.5Shelvin Rock Access on left, on Shelvin Rock Road.33.9McCafferty Hollow Cteek on left.36.2Jamesville Btidge. I paddled up to the Nature Center and back. Crankbaits for James River Smallmouth | BoatUnknown Episode Here's the link for the full video from Westin's channel, https://youtu.be/HDEMUzCuZS0.James Rive. Woo hoo! No access.6.2Hwy. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. Theres an old saying on wind direction which has many variations but here's the most popular which I'm sure you've heard: Wind from the West, fish bite the best. Please ensure to adhere to the fishing regulations for the state. We spent about 5 hours on the river to include a 30 minute lunch stop. Edmond, Julian James River Outfitters had quite a few boats and inner tubes on the river. The water level was a little low in spots but still warrants a "Good" rating. 65. take Evans Road to Southwood Road. If you havent yet made it to Branson, it is quite the cityand quite the story. M and U. Another couple taking out at Kerr said their canoe dragged along in several places. Not correct. The weather was perfect with the exception of a wicked headwind that would come and go as we paddled. The only issue we found was the inconsistency of quality with the inner tubes. Still areas of the river were pretty slow. The lady with microphone to herd us on the shuttle bus had a good sense of humor but clear directions. I always pictured them as in your face, do it this way or you are dumb, know it all sort of people. AA near O to church. 65. take Evans Road to Southwood Road. The water was clear and flowing slowly with only a few faster riffles. The river bed is rocky I would recommend water shoes or sandals with a back strap. No access.10.0Southwood Access (Springfield City Utilities) on left downstream from Hwy. In addition, we brought a few decent spotted bass to the boat. Note that three river arms of Table Rock Lake - James River, Long Creek and Kings River - hold the majority of the crappie population in the lake. At almost no point during the day could one not see at least a dozen kayaks either up or down stream from us. 26.3 Stone piers of old Delaware Bridge. If you were to continue westward to Branson West and then turn north on highway 265 you would eventually run smack dab into the James River. Kerr Access on Horse Cteek Road. Chatting with him we found out that he had floated the length of the Missouri River as part of a reenactment of Lewis and Clark's journey to survey the western territory (a four-year reenactment!). Here's a list of our favorite state parks in southwest Missouri and Arkansas to help you map out your next outdoor adventure. We caught them in the current, up against rock banks, and under root wads or submerged trees. Having floated some of the James above Kinser Bridge, I always wanted to know what the section below Kinser (to Lake Springfield) consisted of. James River Fishing. In several places, we had to help others or exit the boat to portage around or through particularly troublesome obstacles. We liked that you show up when you want and take as long as you want to float back before 7pm. The moon in the night skies over James River is in a Waning Crescent phase. Gradient: general- 4.5; Hwy. Branson sits along the White River. If you havent yet tried going-small while fishing for smallmouth . It may have been a little tricky in a canoe. USGS Gauge Data: Galena (07052500) Discharge: 277. They quickly had us loaded with our large raft and drove us five miles up river for a day of floating. Still, an enjoyable day was had on the DoJ. Current fly fishing conditions are still good. Even the bigger fish were active, striking sometimes as soon as the bait hit the water. 27.0 Delaware Town Access on left, on County Road 14-31. View our maps and read detailed fishing reports from nearby anglers. We did help another family who had a canoe "tipover" on the riffle right above the M Highway bridge. 60 Bridge. which is about 2 miles long, begins.12.1Public park and access on right.12.3Kissick Darn. Its just a bit of a drive from St. Louis and trying to tackle such a long river (130 miles) blindly is intimidating. Escape Branson for a scenic, peaceful, fun day. Our guide for the trip was Ryan Walker, founder of the Ozarks Smallmouth Alliance. The spring has a flow of nearly 2 million gallons per day, is used to supply a private trout hatchery and is one of the largest springs in this river drainage.39.4Silvet Lake Branch on right.39.7Hooten Town Access on right, on Hotten Town Road.40.8Hooten Hill, on right (high bluff).42.6Watch for down trees in river along right bank. Nightcrawlers, stink baits, and chicken livers are also good options. If you ever want to fish any of the rivers of Southwest Missouri, Ryan probably can guide you on your adventure. Old Hwy. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Hiking Rockwoods Reservation in St. Louis County, 5 Best spring wildflower hikes near St. Louis, Fishing the James River in Missouri for smallmouth bass. The river was very low and slow, so we had to paddle for a while to reach Delaware Town. There are 12 public access points on the Upper James River Water Trail that are owned and operated by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Our hometown river is often overlooked as a floatable river, but thanks to the efforts by the James River Basin Partnership, the James River is once again a viable option for a leisurely paddle downstream. Access.61.3Hwy. Thinking of heading out to James River Near Strafforoad over the next few days. Billy and I stayed in Springfield the night before our float. Here are some helpful links. The fishing wasn't off-the-charts good, but we all did catch a few here and there. Catch rates in 2022 were some of the highest recorded with roughly 35% of goggle-eye sampled greater than 8 inches. Prices and optons are listed including non resident fishing licenses. A short trip that began on the last 1/4 mile of the Finley resulted in some great fishing. But this was a glorious weekend and a great adventure. The feisty rainbows were hitting on hair jigs at first, then as the day wore on only size 16 or 18 scuds. We're building software in our members area to tell you. ), it was a great day to be on an Ozarks stream. Particularly troublesome obstacles but it does the job their catch improves when the moon is a. Walker, founder of the rivers of southwest Missouri and Arkansas to help you map out your outdoor... Float back before 7pm hitting on hair jigs at first, then bring a valid or scuds! 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