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I have been invited to fish with Bill Pearl several times over the last year, but the stars never aligned until today. He texted me to see if I was available to fish the Susky and I said yes! I met him at his house at 4:30am and we hit the road. We were on the water by about 7:30am and no other boats at the ramp. He said that could be good or bad news. More on that later.
It was run and gun mostly, hitting spots and moving on if no bites. I was finally able to get the skunk out of the boat with a chunky 14.25"er (no picture) behind a rock ledge with a tube. A little while later, Bill got one behind a grass bed. We did not measure it.
Fishing was tougher than we hoped for. We hit lots of ledges and grass beds and would pick off a fish here and there. The river and day were beautiful for fishing. It seemed maybe they were in post-spawn funk.
My highlights were a nice 17"er and later a 17.25"er both hooked on my wacky Damiki Stinger on 6 pound test. Same setup I caught my Musky in the Greenbrier with.
We had to get off the river a little early as Bill had a family event. I had a blast and really enjoyed fishing new water and learning from Bill. He has a great boat (looks kinda familiar). Thanks again, Bill!
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Bill knows smallies....glad you got a few. I bet water temps were down.
This is his third James River Rhino Jet. Carl had 2. Between the two of them, I was able to visualize and build what I wanted.
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We were hoping for a topwater bite. I had one half-heartedly swipe at a mini-buzz bait, but no takers.
Bill had a couple break him off on hookset. My 17"er hit when Bill started the motor to move spots. We thought that might have been a pattern...
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Great scenery, conditions looked ideal. Glad you and Bill got a few.
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Awesome river
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