I fish the james a lot and all the rest of the rivers up that way
well for the last 6 or 7 years and I can shed a lot of light on a lot of rivers but the james works this way..
from the red deer to the bridge just before the trunk road is Greaaaaaat fishing even if you walk up the road towards the trunk its still good..
but once you get about 5 km before the james river camp grounds the fishing is very far and few between (backcountry camping has wrecked it with the sqauters)... very nice holes that contain 1 bull every half km if lucky and a lot of beaver dams..
now anywhere near james lake is decent fishing
I normaly start at eagle lake and walk to james lake (eagle lake is useless without a float tube) but if you have a float tube then well
its a great lake and a lot of guides pool up there for fun