LOW MOOR -- Just moments after it began a wriggling return to the fishing rod that flung it, the tiny crankbait came to an abrupt stop -- in the mouth of a smallmouth bass.

When this happens on the first cast of the day it can mean good things are ahead.

And here on the lower Jackson River this kind of quick action doesn't come as a surprise.

Fisheries biologist Paul Bugas has studied this section of stream for about 10 years, and has found that bass catch rates are among the best in Western Virginia.

The fast fishing is a result of a combination of things, the most important being that the river has a bunch of fish, according to population samplings.

Additionally, pressure is relatively light, so the fish haven't been educated like on the region's more popular smallmouth streams.

Everyone knows dumb fish mean fun fishing, which is why the Jackson ended up as the second stop on the eight-week Summer Smallmouth Tour that just got under way.

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