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Typically, this time of year is prime for trophy Blue cats on the James river. So, I went off in search of...

Put in at the Hopewell Yacht club at just after 0700, and headed out to get bait. I use fresh-caught Gizzard shad, and today proved to be a good day. Caught what I needed in about 5 minutes. Last weekend took about an hour.

Leaving just after launching. Headed out on the Appomattox river towards the James.


I had to go about a mile to a spot that's reliable for bait.


Once I had that done, I headed to my first spot. Well, today the bait was easy to catch, but the Cats didn't seem to be doing too much eating in the morning.


I have been catching large Cats, during the day, in 20 to 30 feet of water, either in open water at the edge of the channel, or by fishing structure with anywhere from 10 to 40 feet of water around it. At night, they will also come up on the extensive mud flats around here. One guy pulled one out of 3 feet of water a couple of weeks ago that went 80 lbs.

Anyway, I moved to another spot. This area had two streams running together, and a depth difference of about 20 feet, so I set up and tried to fish the deeper, faster-moving water, and the more shallow water at the same time. How I had my rods set was 2 in the deep, 2 in the current seam, and 2 in the more shallow, slower water. You can see the current seam just to the left of the boat. Still nothing.


So I moved to another spot. This little piece of structure has netted me (chuckle) Cats anywhere from 5 to 55 pounds. Obviously, it's on the channel edge, and you can fish 12 to 35 foot water, here.


Cutting bait to fish said spot.


What turned out to be the only catch of the day, a 22 pound Blue. Last week, I caught a 20, a 22, a 30, a 34, and a 42 pounder in about 4 hours.
[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6040/6313382296_3f77d5fcc4_z.jpg[/img]

I tried a couple of other spots on the James, but, having changed propellers for the worse, I didn't want to wander too far. I had changed both diameter and pitch in props, and it was a bad guess and very inefficient, consequently fuel usage was more than the usual. The reason for the change is that the prop on my boat was kinda ragged, and I have a brand new one here that has 1" more pitch, but 1.5" less diameter. One of proper dimensions is now on order.

A couple more shots. Here, I am going back past my starting point, and headed up the Appomattox to a couple of proven holes. People fish from the bank at this spot, and some of those guys have rods that can cast halfway across the river. I use a Penn 320 on an Ugly Stik BWC2201, so casting ain't my strong point, but I can winch those big Cats in...
[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6098/6313382298_9d41b38a33_z.jpg[/img]

Well, the fishing was as dead in the Appomattox as it was in the James, so near sundown, I headed back downriver(well, at least twice a day it's downriver, everything being tidal).
[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6225/6313382300_1ea60def81_z.jpg[/img]

Finished the day here. Had a few pulldowns, but nothing big enough to get the bait in their mouth. I guess it's time to start hitting the deeper holes.....
[img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6035/6313382306_57a30ce4e7_z.jpg[/img]

Mighty big cats in that river. Are you using circle hooks?

Awesome, thanks for posting. Since you're using Power Pro do you think a Penn 310 would be plenty? That 320 has got to hold about 500yd of 50#.

Yea, I like to use something between a 5/0 to 8/0, Gamakatsu seems to be a good hook, and the Eagle Claw Lazer sharps work good, too.

I talked to a Biologist not too long ago, and he thinks we oughtta see hundred-pounders before too long.

I'm catching 40 to 60's fairly regularly.

Actually, that is Sufix Superior Mono, 20 lb. With the water getting colder, I'm fixing to go to 40 lb.

I've never used braided line, so I really can't comment on it's properties, just what I've heard. A lot of the guys don't like it's inability to resist abrasion. Of the guys who use braided, PowerPro is very popular.

I like the thought of all the line you can get on the reel. And I would think a 310 would be plenty, especially if you like braided.

Vic, great photos. I have a question, this summer I caught a 33 inch blue out of my canoe and it was a joyride for a while. Damn fish kept wanting to circle under the canoe. Lifting him over the side was tricky as well. Didn't have a scale, only a tape measure. How heavy might a 33 inch blue be? Felt like a ton but I can't say for sure.

Dan

Checked my records and a 30" Channel cat will weigh about 12-14 pounds while a 36" will go over 25 pounds (the only two I have records for that are similar). So your fish should have been around 20 pounds (give or take 2 pounds).

It really depends on how fat they are and the species. Blue cats tend to be a bit heavier for a certain length than channels and flatheads are even heavier, but the difference is not more than a pound or two until they get a LOT bigger.

There are formulas using girth and length, and I don't know them right off the top of my head, but I can try to find out.

My experience has been the most spirited fighters are the 20 to 30 pounders, after that, they do the tow-truck thing.

I went yesterday in the morning and stayed till after dark. Score was (in pounds) a 29, 12, 12, 5, 25, 26, 22, 20, and a 46. Didn't get on them till later in the day in 40+ feet of water, then the fight was on!! I had two poles going twice, and one of them decided to act like a Striper and ran all over the place, creating one of the worst line tangles I've ever had.

Here's happiness:



This is when the boredom disappears:

Thanks for sharing the pics. I see you got a bunch of Ugly Stick Tiger rods. I switched to those myself last year and love it. The best rod I've used for the money.

I like 'em. I got things to where all were the same. I'll use 6 rods and they all are the Tigers with Penn 320s.

Very nice pics...

How big are those shad you use for bait.? They look huge compared to what shad I've used...

I was wondering about those shad too. He must cut them. We used bluegill bellys when I was in Colorado.

Those are Gizzard shad. They'll run about 14" or so. We are allowed to use gill nets to catch them, and I use a 2" opening, 4" stretch net to allow smaller fish through. To catch smaller ones, you can use a cast net. We call the big ones "cutters" and the smaller ones "Candy Shad".

Occasionally, you'll get some catfish and stripers in your net, and the way they love to twist, it makes for a good mess in your net.

I'll cut my shad into 4 pieces. I try to put the head/gills into the most likely areas, it seems the bigger fish prefer those. The gut-pockets will work good, too. Those Shad have a lot of oil and blood in them.

The Stripers will hit this bait, too. I much prefer them to catfish for eating, but they are much more regulated than the cats.

Where do you fish? Ark River?

A little update.

They're still biting, but slowing down. The spawn will be on soon. I usually fish by myself, but I took a friend Friday, and we got a few like this.



A couple more weeks, and it will pretty much shut down, then we will go to night fishing in the middle of May.

that's a nice one. we've some really large cats here in Missippi. we get alota flatheads...largest caught 82lbs... but on a trot line. would love to catch one like that on a pole.

good job!

Wow! 82 lb Flathead. As Troy Landry would say...."Dat's a big one, Elizebeth".

I've caught big cats on trotlines and you can tell when you have one on there.

It looks like where you fish would be considered the Tidewater area? Do you ever get any saltwater fish in that area or is it too far west? I've fished the James a lot further west but it's a smaller river back there, mostly Channel Cats & Smallmouth Bass. Good photos, thanks.

wish our cats got that big

Ya ever get this way, I'll put you on 'em.