brwon fish citation, my first.................

[The Mountain Man]

Before I discovered crappie I was a small mouth a-holic. I still like to chase them. I caught my very first one at age 13, it was about 3-1/2 pounds from the Cowpasture River on a Zebco 202 and I thought they all grew that big. It about wrecked the gears in that old 202 but I knew I wanted some more of those fish. Thosands of fish later and many out of state trips chasing them, Canada, Lake Erie, Finger Lakes in NY, Dale Hollow TN, James and New River, I used to live on the Rapidan. Finally I caught a citation one yesterday. James River, on a crankbait that was a gift from a friend. I have caught heavier ones but not a 20 incher. This one was just over 20 inches and weighed less that 4 pounds. A long lean fish, his tail was worn badly from the spawn. We did not fish very long, stomach bug hit my partner and we left shortly after this one was caught and released. The river was pretty, plenty of flow and sligtly colored. Can't wait to go back now. We did spend some time searching for crappie up there but did not find any. They are there and we are gonna get them one day. Hope your weekend was as good as mine.

[Barnacle Bill]

Nice brownie. Its been many. many years since I've caught one of them and nothing nowhere that big.

[gabowman]

I've never fished any waters that had any smallmouths in it but I've watched 'em catch 'em on TV. I've always said those fat fish should be some good eating and if I ever caught any I'd try 'em. That's a real nice one you've got. Congrats.

[Percidae_Papermouth]

Congrats! Nice smallmouth!

[JET4]

nice smallmouth

[jim.b]

that picture sure brings back alot of good memories. i had a friend who owned a cabin near howardsville and fished the river for years. we never caught any crappie but the bream fishing was great. that sure is a nice brown!!!. when i saw your post i asmued it was a bowfin but not when i saw you holding the fish with your fingers in its mouth. the james is a great place to fish.

[Redy2Fish]