James River (VA) Smallmouth, and Does anyone here fish the Monacan park stretch?

[Fairtax4me]

I got the addiction for smallmouth last year. The Rivanna River borders the property where I work and I had a blast wading down the river catching these feisty little suckers after work last summer, but all of them came on top water baits. 

 

Ive had the opportunity to fish Monacan a few times and caught some good fish there, and landed a 4.7lb smallmouth on a shaky head worm while fishing for LMB. But that I consider to be kind of a lucky catch. I don't usually catch smallmouth there even when fishing various lures that I've read/heard should be great for smallies. 

 

So I'm looking for some tips especially if any of you guys fish there. I figure that opportunity for smallmouth should be better upriver in the shallower water. But I know I've seen smallies go airborne chasing bait in the deeper lake section above the dam, and that's the area I'm more interested in. Seem like if you get anywhere within casting distance of these fish, they disappear like a fart in the wind. But then you see them jumping out of the water behind you where you just came from. Any ideas, tips, pointers, Very Much appreciated! 

[InFishingWeTrust]

I havent fished the James yet but thats one river I would like to hit this year. Like to see how it goes for you. Keep us posted. I personally would just fan cast the area Im fishing different depths of the water column. In the Shenandoah I do good with paddle tail swimbaits. Option for various depths. Could even try a spy bait. Shenandoah is mostly pretty shallow though with some deep spots. Main river system I fish so thats what i would try my self. 

[Fairtax4me]

Last year my big focus there was largemouth, and I occasionally got a smallie working smaller lures. This year I want to devote most of my time there to smallmouth fishing and see how that goes. 

I plan to fish more small swimbaits and creature baits that I can toss out into areas with current/work around rocks. Also some squarebills and spinner baits depending on water quality. 

The deeper areas I'll be using more jig heads, crankbaits, and bigger paddle tail worms or swim baits, again depending on water quality. Usually the deep section of monacan is pretty dirty. 3-5 ft vis and murky brown. The shallower river section is usually clear or slightly stained unless we've had a large rain storm. 

[Mgreene6513]

I grew up fishing Monacan park and the next section down. The lower section has a makeshift ramp at Red and Dots that you may still be able to use. I was able to put my 20’ Ranger in there. The best smallmouth came from the last mile upriver before the dams fishing any current breaks with flukes, 4” Senkos, dt6’s, 1/4 oz jigs, 1/4oz buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. Stick with black, brown, green pumpkin, green pumpkin magic and sometimes grey lure colors. Both largemouth and shallows will chew a spro popp’n frog here around all the shoreline cover. The current breaks usually were large trees, rip rap along the train tracks, and bluff walls with outcrops. If you put in at Red and Dots, be careful of a submerged wingman that’s about 1/3 of a mile above the train tressle. There’s a break in the middle that you can idle through. Tight lines! Matt 4346091641

[Fairtax4me]

Thanks Matt! 

I would LOVE to fish that section below the dam where the railroad bridge is. But as far as I can tell the ramp at Red and Dots is closed indefinitely or is totally private now. I really checked into that one earlier this year and the ramp was blocked off, no store there anymore, and nobody was around to ask when I made the trip to look around. I couldn’t tell if there were any other public access points even just to launch a kayak, or park next to the road somewhere to bank fish that section. Still on my to-do list, but it’s hard to find a good day to drive down and poke around the area. 

 

 

Maye you can answer this question for me... Seems like all summer long and into late fall whenever I fish the deep section of monacan (boat ramp to the dam basically, but they’re all over the entire stretch) these fish are scattered all over that come up and pop their heads/backs out of the water then dive back under. Kinda like a big trout will do eating bugs off the surface. I haven’t ever been close enough to one to really tell what they are, but they appear slightly brown, and some of them appear to be quite large, maybe 3-5lbs, maybe larger? 

But they’re like ghosts, even with sidescan sonar, they flat out disappear if you get within casting distance of them. Ive literally watched them come up 40-50 yards from the boat, trolled over to the spot, marked exactly Zero of anything on sonar on the way there, and then turned around to see one surface where I just left from. 

Do you have any ideas what these mystery fish are? 

 

[blackbriar]

if it aint on dry fly it don't count g

[Mgreene6513]

I think they are river carp. The people that own red and dots live across the street from the old store. I used to put my $10 in their mail box. There’s a private home that has a gravel boat launch just before the train tressel farther up river road. They launch their ski boat there. Might be worth looking into. For the summer bass: I caught most of mine around monacan park in the summer fishing a jig and Squarebill Crankbait in the ends of deeper lay downs around the island and a black spot popping frog along the grass and lay downs right next to shore