Tired of staring at a motionless rod? Stop the guessing game and learn the repeatable formula for locating trophy catfish. From tracking bait balls with electronics to mastering "feeding shelves" and current seams, this guide from Goober Time Guide Service breaks down the professional tactics you need to stop "fishing" and start "catching."

The rods were screaming! 🎣 Relive a massive day on the James River where we landed multiple trophy blue catfish, including a 40lb beauty in the shallows. Learn how we transitioned from deep holes to planer boards to keep the bite alive and helped our clients land their biggest fish yet.

Join Goober Time Guide Service for our final 2025 James River trophy catfish trip! See how Xavier landed a 50lb blue catfish using planer bo

Here are a few options for your blog excerpt, depending on the "vibe" of your website: Option 1: Action-Oriented (Best for SEO and Engagement) A warm December morning on the James River turned into a productive day of catfishing for John, Camden, Evan, and Luke. From filling the cooler with perfect "eater-sized" blue cats to battling a 15-pounder on the planer boards, the river offered a classic mix of fast-paced action and the challenge of the trophy hunt. Read more to see

Looking for the best catfishing on the James River? In our latest trip report, we head out with Dan to navigate the Virginia tidal waters. F

Despite a difficult morning spent hunting for fresh bait, persistence paid off for Joshua, Dylan, and their crew during a day of catfishing

Celebrate your birthday with a monster catch! Read about our recent James River trip where we landed a 54lb trophy blue catfish using AlphaB

Don't let the cold stop you! Winter is the ultimate time for a trophy hunt on the James River. Learn how to pinpoint deep-water wintering holes, master cold-water bait presentation, and see how Goober Time Guide Service provides the warmth, safety, and expertise needed to land a monster Blue Catfish this season.

As the air crisps and the leaves on Virginia’s iconic trees turn brilliant shades of red and gold, the James River Blue Catfish  begins its most aggressive feeding period. Fall is widely considered the best time of year to target trophy-class catfish, as they gorge themselves in preparation for the coming winter. If you’re heading to the tidal James River this season, abandon your summer spots. The fish are moving! Here are three essential and proven fall catfishing technique

Rahsaan, Lloyd, Earnest, and Kenton joined us on the James River for a morning of hunting trophy blue catfish. We started the day with a mixed bag of live baits in the livewell. After running up the river, we set the gill net and chopped up some fresh white perch and gizzard shad to fish our first channel ledge. The bite began slowly, with just a few small taps as the outgoing tide slowed down. Just before the river went slack, a Hellcat Revenge spinning rod took off, screami

The James River  in Virginia is a world-class destination for landing trophy blue catfish , fish often exceeding the 50-pound mark. Unlike many fisheries that slow down dramatically, the James offers phenomenal catfishing action year-round. Understanding the seasonal movements of these massive predators is the key to consistent success. 🌱 Spring : The Pre-Spawn Feast and Shallow Push (March – May) As river temperatures climb, the blue catfish bite explodes. This pre-spawn  p

Gary, Dylan, and Kyle joined us on the river to chase a trophy catfish and collect some eater fish for a fish fry. Our morning trip saw a slow bite so we made a big move up river to look for some new fish to target. We pulled into a put and marked a ton of fish that looked like carp with some catfish mixed in. We set up on the pod of fish and had a few decent runs but nothing substantial so we left after 30 minutes. We started to scan the channel ledges and did not mark a fis

An Unforgettable Day of Fishing Dara, Oliver, Cy, and Beckett joined us on the James River for the ultimate adventure! We kicked off our trip bright and early at 4 AM, eager to catch as many fish as possible before the sun peeked over the horizon. From the moment we arrived at our first spot, we were reeling in white perch and striper left and right. Everyone had a chance to catch a striper, and let me tell you, some of them were pretty impressive! We kept catching striper, b

Travis, Connor, Nolan, and Declan joined us on the lake for a morning of multispecies fishing. Their goal was to catch as many differnet types of fish as possible. We set out shortly after sunrise and started to drag crankbaits and jigs behind the boat along the channel ledges. It didn't take long before we started to work through a number of white perch. Just about everybody on board had a chance to catch a white perch. We started to target some shallower water near creek mo

Cody, Randy, Trey, and Tee joined us for a day on the James River. We started the morning off collecting a bunch of fresh bait while a patch of heavy fog burned off. It wasn't long before we were taking off down river. We marked a giant fish and tried to drift past him without success. We went ahead of him and anchored up current from the mark and started to wait him out. After about 20 minutes a rod folded over but never hooked up. A couple more taps resulted in nothing then

Dara, Oliver, Parks, Kyle, and Gwathmey joined us on the river for a morning catfishing trip for Oliver's Birthday. We had bait ready to go and took off for our first fishing spot at sunrise. We set the gill net to snag a little more bait while we fished on a channel ledge. We tossed some rods shallow, some deep, and some on the channel drop off. Over the course of 45 minutes, we had a lot of taps, a few good takedowns, and landed one small fish to get the skunk off the boat.

Darin and Nash joined us for a morning trip on the James River. We set our gill net to start the trip and pulled in a few gizzard shad. We scanned a channel ledge, which was holding fish, so we set the gill net and fished next to it for about 40 minutes. These fish were not very active, and we only saw a few small taps on the rods. We deployed the Alphaboardz and started to drag baits in a mud flat. As soon as we hit water less than 5 ft deep, the rods starts to light up. A l

A Morning on the James River Lyndsey booked a morning trip for her and her husband to spend some time on the river, hoping to land a big blue catfish. We had the bait ready when the couple jumped on the boat, and we took off down the river, excitement buzzing in the air! We scanned the channel ledges and found some promising marks. Setting the boat up, we cast the rods out and settled in. The anticipation was palpable as we watched the rods, which got a few taps here and ther

Gibson, Harrison, and Ezra joined us on the river to celebrate Harrison's birthday. They wanted to try their hand at trophy catfishing. We pulled the gill net and started the morning off with fresh gizzard shad for bait. We started our trip in the dark and made it to our first fishing location as the sun was coming up. We had a rainy morning and the bite was not fired up to start the trip. We pulled planer boards through schools of bait and marked plenty of big fish but none

We had David, David, David and Kevin on the boat to celebrate a bachelor party. We had bait ready to go and got to work scanning for some fish. It took a second to check out a few areas as our usual locations were not holding fish. We pulled out the Alphaboardz and started to drag baits in some shallow to moderately deep water. A few minutes into pulling planer boards and we had our first eater size fish of the morning on the deck. We reset the boards and continued to drag al