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!

I Doa Need No Steenkin' Shad!

I decided I would stay below the Benjamin Harrison Bridge all day.  I've been having issues with my automatic tilt and trim, and have been forced to manually adjust it.  When launching, I had the motor set a little too low and tore my prop and skeg up pretty good. 

I set the gill net twice and it yielded me two cutters.  I said enough and went to fish with what I had and in the meantime set my net about 100 yards upriver of me.  Well, I fished the hole for 30 minutes and pulled a 38# in.  He was pulling drag at will and I thought I finally had me a 60, but it was still a fun fish!

37.85# - 40":

I then went to retrieve my net, and it was HEAVY.  Reports of the shads' demise are greatly exaggerated!  I kept only the ones hooked in the gills and/or bleeding, which amounted to 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full.  And counted all that I released which was 55.  So I had probably 80-90 from that set of my gill net.  I know it's a good idea to stay with your net, but when bait was as slow as it was that morning, I thought I would come back to just a handful of cutters and catfish.

I contnued fishing between Benjamin Harrison and Flowerdew, and got two other good takedowns but no hookups.  Got off the water at 4pm and headed for home. 

Final tally for the day:  37.85#-40"

Ain't No Stopping Us Now

James (Muzkrat) tagged along for a fishing trip yesterday.  We left Lynchburg bright and early at 2:30am.  Got to the ramp at 5am hoping to get bait and partake in the "morning bite", but it wasn't meant to be.  We set the gill net in Deep Bottom for two hours for 1 cutter.  We were headed back to the ramp to take out and go fish downriver where I know I can find bait, but on the way we ran into RiverLizard and he pointed us to a spot where we could throw for medium sized shad, and it was a great tip!  Even with my 3ft Wal-Mart cast net, we were able to get enough bait for the day in about 20 minutes of throwing.  Off to the first hole!

Well....damn tilt was stuck again.  So we putter down the loop at a walking pace with the prop just barely under the water, kicking up a monster wake.  We had no speed, so we only fished the loop yesterday, which really limited our options.

Bite was super slow.  We only had two bites - and that includes dink nibbles and all.  But one of them was sweet.  We were just about asleep basking in the warm sun when a rod goes down hard and James pops up to get the fish.  The rod is shaking in the holder and he's having trouble getting the rod from the holder.  He finally gets it out and fights the fish to the boat.  It kept getting bigger and bigger the closer it got, and I even had trouble lifting it into the boat.

The fish went 56# and was 46" long. It's James' biggest fish and the largest fish landed in my boat yet.  James was stoked and it's always a good feeling to put somebody on a nice fish or PB, so I was stoked too.  We only fished a couple more spots all day as the wind picked up big, so we went back in around 5pm.

What a beast for a new P.B!  56# - 46":



I'd like to add, Mike (Cameron_Krazie) and Bruce (Redcat) offered to lend assistance getting my tilt unstuck.  Mike hopped aboard and had his arm in the water up to his shoulder trying to find the manual release that I knew nothing about.  He got my unit lowered enough to where I could go faster but still get my boat up the ramp.  Bruce gave me his screwdriver so I could adjust the tilt for the road.  Great guys and they give catfishermen a good name.  Thanks guys!