Get in my boat you FAT PIG!

I took a week off work and came down to the James River for some big cat action! 

Friday (11/20):
My boat was still in the shop in Richmond when I came down, so a friend offered to take me out with him.  We left Deep Bottom at midnight, got bait, and got setup in a fishy spot in no time.  Such a gorgeous and calm night.  I was in a single long sleeve shirt all night.  We boated a single small fish for most of the night.  We moved around a bit, and at sunup finally found the right pattern for the fish and ended up with a pretty good day of fishing.  Jeff boated a couple of citations, and I closed out the day with a long fight against a stubborn 53# that didn't want to come up off the bottom.  We lost our electronics early in the night, including the depth finder, so we had to setup on spots by look and feel, and we did pretty good.  I kind of went with that the rest of the week too.

34.4#:

30#:

53.1# - 44.75":

Final tally for the day:
Jeff - 34.4#, 30#, 25#
Me - 53.1#-44.75", 25#, 22#, 20#, 15#, 10#

Saturday (11/21):
I picked my boat up at 9am, paid a $361 bill, and proceeded to the ramp.  Not 1/4 mile down the river, I noticed it wouldn't get above 4000rpm (WOT on my boat is 5K RPM).  Then the bad shaking and noises began.  I took a look under the cowling, and saw where the flywheel ate up a hose and left a fine black dust all over the interior of my motor.  There would be no fishing this day.

A small group of catters had a meetup at Hooters that night and we had a good time shooting the shit and eating good food for over 3 hours.  One of the guys offered to take me out on his boat the next day (Jaybeeyakker), and another guy offered to let me borrow his boat the rest of the week (Fish Pimp).  I reluctantly accepted Pete's offer.  I've never known a more helpful, unselfish, group of guys than those I've met since I started catfishing.

Here is our group at Hooters:

From left: Jeff (Jaybeeyakker), Jeff's friend, Pete (Fish Pimp), Mike (Cameron_Krazie), Kenneth (Paraguayguy), and myself. 
Lizard snapped the pic so unfortunately wasn't in it.

Sunday (11/22):
I headed out of Deep Bottom as captain of the Fish Pimp express.  Got used to the stick steer in no time.  It's a fun boat to pilot!  Bait was just average all week, and I usually fished with 5-6 cutters, so I was having to use baits a long time, but I don't think it affected the bite at all.  It was a tough day.  I caught one fish.

38# - 43":

Final tally for the day:  38#-43"

Monday (11/23):
I basically had the river to myself.  I fished a 1/4 mile section of river all day that had been producing.  I tried a new technique setting up at the head of a fertile stretch, fishing it for about an hour, and if the bite slows or is non-existant, pulling anchor and moving just beyond the reach of your last baits, then repeating down that stretch of river until you find an active pocket of fish.  Pulled in some nice fish through the day long drizzle and pulled out just after dark.



44.6# - 45":

33.2# - 39":

Waiting for a bite......

Pete's sweet custom-built Monster Rod Rack

Final tally for the day:  44.6#-45" and 17# double, 33.2#-39", 27#, 17#

Tuesday (11/24):
I set out downriver out of Jordan Point on another rainy day.  Today was the only day I got bait really fast.  I fished another 1/4 mile section of river and did the same anchor and move strategy.  First setup, nothing.  Second setup, 20#.  Third setup, bingo!  Three 40#+ fish within an hour....all on the same pole, cast to the same spot.

48.3# - 44":

41.7# - 43.5":

40.7# - 43":

The water around the Benjamin Harrison Bridge...smooth as glass....

Final tally for the day:  48.3#-44", 41.7#-43.5", 40.7#-43", 20#

Wednesday (11/25):
To this point, all the fish I'd caught had been in the channel in 30+ feet of water.  So that's the strategy I went with to start the day.  I got a 15# on my first setup, shallow side.  I got a 20# on my second setup, shallow side.  Nothing on my third and fourth set.

It was already 3pm, and I was nearing the end of my trip.  I needed to try something different, so I setup shallow close by and it was a good move.  I immediately got a 44#, following by a citation length 26#, followed by four more fish 23 and under.  I then had another pole go down and was fighting a 15# and just about had him at the boat, when the monster finally hit.  He hit with such force, the rod holder spun to the right. I thought to myself this is a nice fish, so I better put the rod I had in my hand back into the holder and deal with that fish later.  I had to untangle the mess of other poles before I could start fighting the big fish, and what a fight it was!  I was only in about 10' of water, and it was making alot of sideways runs and was pulling alot of drag.  I was thinking 50+ for sure just by the fight, but I got a brief glimpse of him just under the surface and I started to get excited!  I had some trouble netting him because it was so long, but after a couple of trys and having to manually stuff his tail into the net, I got him aboard.  New PB shatters the old mark, and I'm now a proud member of the 60lb club! The fish went 66.3# and was 51" long. Both records for me.  A few minutes after landing this fish, another pole went down and I boated a 50# fish to end the night! What a great last two hours!

66.3# - 51" - NEW PB!!!

Here I am struggling to pick the fish up as the timer shot went off:

What a gorgeous sky!

Can you tell which rod holder the fish hit and which way it ran?

50.3# - 44":

44.3# - 42":

26# - 38":

Here is one of the many barges that passed me on the river during the week:

Final tally for the day:  66.3#-51", 50.3#-44", 44.3#-42", 26#-38", 23, 21, 20, 15, 15, 15, 5

Accomodations: 
I found a great couple who was renting a trailer in their backyard.  It was located less than 10 minutes away from Deep Bottom off I-295.  Having the home-like accomodations really made a huge difference through the week.  There is something about staying in a hotel night after night that drains you, as if the fishing alone doesn't do that.  But being able to come home to a hot shower, home cooked meal, and to crash on the couch and watch tv like I was at home, enabled me to keep my batteries charged through the week and avoid the typical crash I've experienced in the past.  I also spent about half of what I normally would at a hotel!  I ate very well throughout the week.

Here was a Salisbury Steak and rice dinner I fixed Friday night:

Beats a greasy fast food dinner any time!

Hachooo!...Gold Mine!

Pulled an all-nighter upriver.  Got bait pretty easily near the 895 bridge, and fished in that vicinity all night.  The bite was kind of slow, and allergies kicked my ass all night.  I did end up catching one good fish:

40# - 42":

I moved onto a flat that morning that was super active, but for some reason, I missed all three hookups I had.  These felt like solid 30#+ fish, and I fought each for 30 seconds to 1 minute before they came off.  When I've lost fish in the past, it happened right after the takedown.  So I'm not exactly sure what was going on.

It was amazing to see the run of fishing boats going upriver at daybreak.  Every 2-3 minutes, another boat would pass me.  One bright spot of the trip is that I scouted a spot that would yield a new PB for me later in the year!

Took a Kid Fishing - Pt. II

I took Drew fishing again.  He's the kid I took the previous year and caught a 33.5# blue.  I had gone nearly 20 trips in a row catching at least one citation fish, and had never gotten skunked on the James before.  If there was ever a trip I'd want a citation more than anything, it would be this one.  But it wasn't in the cards. 

Looking back, we probably should have focused upriver all day.  We started at Deep Bottom and worked our way downriver, eventually ending up below the Benjamin Harrison.  When we did get upriver, it was nearing time to take Drew home, and that's just when the bite started to pick up.  A couple friends who we chatted with upriver ended up having a fantastic night after we left.

On the bright side, Drew still had a blast.  I let him drive the boat most of the time, so he probably had just as much fun as he would have had he caught a monster.  Hopefully I can redeem myself the next time I take him fishing.

Way to Go....Pops!

Took my future Father-In-Law fishing.  He accompanied me on many trips when I was first learning the river, and we basically paid our dues together.  He hadn't come fishing with me in a while since I switched to catfishing almost exclusively in cold weather.  He hadn't caught a citation yet, and with all the time I put in the previous winter, I was itching to put that knowledge to use and put him on a nice fish.

We got bait pretty easy that morning, then headed out to the main river.  We stopped adjacent to a grass flat and he boated a 22#.  We then moved on to a number of spots the rest of the day out on the main river in a little deeper water and didn't catch a single fish.  The day was winding down and I was eager to put him on some more fish, so we headed back to first spot of the day.  We should have never left it!

We started getting bites almost immediately.  He got a double 22.5# and 23.5#.  Another pole went down and I decided to fight my first fish for the day, and a nice one it was, but it spit the hook.  A while later, the moment finally came.  Pole goes down and up comes his first citation blue cat!

What a Fish!  36.7# - 41.5":

Double 23.5# and 22.5#:

What an exciting time at the last hole!  It eventually started to get dark so we made our way back to the ramp.  As we were loading up, we got to watch a teenage girl catch a 15# blue.  I don't think anyone in her family had ever seen a fish that big, so they were really stoked!  We said our congratulations to her.  Just a couple minutes after that, a little jon boat pulls up with three guys on it.  They're hootin' and hollerin' about a big fish they just caught, and one guy jumps off the boat and goes running by us saying he needs to go home and get his camera.  He was flying b/c I didn't even have time to tell him I would have gladly taken a picture for them and sent it to them.  They weighed it at the dock and it went just over 30#.  So looks like the day was full of P.B.'s for alot of people!  It doesn't get any better than that.........



Let it Rain!

I fished the James Friday and Saturday.  Started Friday off with a length citation 27#er, and spent nearly the rest of the day hole-hopping without a fish.  I decided to make a run downriver and I'm glad I did.  I had a 48#er slam my rod down to end the day!

48.1# - 44":

27# - 38":

I went downriver Saturday and started the day off with a 32#.  None of the usual winter spots were producing and it was nearing 5pm so I figured I'd try one last spot.  From the get go, it was on!  47# and 25# double, 36#, 35# all within an hour.  I was hoping to fish Sunday to see if I patterned them correctly, but two days of fishing in that non-stop cold drizzle was enough for me.

47# - 44":



36.4# - 40.5":

 35# - 39":

31.7# - 39":

Bait never took more than 10 minutes each day, and thankfully not many catfish to sort through.  Check out a few of the goodies I caught in one set of my net:

Of course, they were released and not used as bait ;-)

Something about the river has a calming effect, even in the rain:

Final tally for the trip:

Friday:  48.1#-44", 27#-38",

Saturday:  47#-44", 36.4#-40.5", 35#-39", 31.7#-39", 25#, 25#, 15#, 12#

The Early Bird Got the Worm

I got on the water around midnight and my two citations came before 7 am.  Once the weather warmed up, the bite turned off and all I got was sunburned.  I got bait first in DB, and it was so-so.  I kept the gill net with me and set it downriver later in the day and bait was very plentiful.  I swear there was a boat every 50 yards on the river.  It was crazy out there.  I decided to quit fishing early afternoon due to the heat, the crowds, and the wind picking up.  There was a line of boats waiting to launch and load at Deep Bottom, reminded me of Dutch Gap on a holiday weekend.  Everybody and their cousin was out fishing.  Even some of the out of the way spots had party boats in there hanging out and playing music and carrying on, destroying any peace and quiet. 

43.4# - 42":

36.6# - 40.5":



My first Bowfin, it went 6.3#:

Gill net goodie....an early season Hickory Shad.  I heard a school of fish splashing just prior to me setting my net.  I'm betting it was Hickories and this little guy got separated from the pack:

I never waved at so many people yesterday and not had my wave returned.  To all you fair weather fishermen with no manners, I hope you got skunked and sunburned!

Final tally for the day:  43.4#-42", 36.6#-40.5", 25#, 20#, 20#, 5#, 6.3# Bowfin

Prognosis Negative

Finally took the boat into the shop to get the tilt/trim unit worked on.  It turns out the motor was fried.  It never held water and froze like I had suspected.  The good folks at Adams and Durvin Marine placed a call to Yamaha and got the repair done under warranty, so zero cost for me!  It was almost $800 worth of work.  Good to finally have this taken care of and ready to hit the water!