finally some rivah crappie

And some nice brown fishes too.................Been chasing them ol brown fish on the James River again. Saturday I caught one of the biggest I have ever caught, a very fat 19 inch beautiful fish. Most were on top water baits, this one hit a buzz bait and the splash was about the same as dropping a bowling ball in the water. Then the fight was on, she jumped, walked on the water and bolted when she saw the boat. A tug like that is what it’s all about. I have never caught a crappie in this section of the river and spend some time every trip probing the holes, banks and trees for them. Sunday I finally found two spots holding some. The first was a hole above a rock with a tree in it, about 6 foot of water, slightly moving water. I picked up 7 or eight nice crappies in about 10 minutes and then nothing. The first one was just over a pound and all were 12 -13 inches, no dinks. Hit a big stump later that was holding some more, again on the upstream side. They all hit a white grub and all while it was falling, I ended up with about 14-15 nice ones. I believe they stay on the move in the current here, I tried more spots similar to where I caught them but no more bites. Hard to keep looking form them when the brown fish are active. Sunday my buddy Kenny catches himself a nice 19 inch smallmouth, thinner and lighter fish than mine, his went right at three pounds on his scale. My scale was broke so Saturday I did not get mine weighed but it was pushing five pounds, just under citation on weight and length. We caught about 40 on Saturday and 50 or more on Sunday but the crappie helped that number go up. About half smallmouth, some spotted bass and a few bluegills and redeyes. Two great days on the water looking forward to Wednesday when I can get back to it. All the fish were released, we kept none. Good luck if you get to go.

A rare (for me) upper James crappie

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My big brown fish

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wide and thick too

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Kennys big un

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Nice report and pictures. Gotta love catching fish on topwater. Glad you found some river crappie as well.

Good report. Sounds like a bunch of fun!

Good report and pictures

Sorry but I only like the first picture. :biggrin

GOOD REPORT:cool:

good job on the crappie,,but watch out wednesday the river might be flooded

great report...nothing like a good mix of fish

great report! i love having a 5lb fish on the line! its a great feeling when you land it on the boat! great job! :)

Way to go, how did you end up with Hog Choker's pink shirt?

Great report. What part of the upper james?