Birthday Catfishing Adventure on the James River: Trophy Blue Catfish and Nonstop Action with Goober Time Guide Service

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.

We collected our gill net and had a bunch of gizzard shad and a few catfish in the net. As a result, we decided to drag planer boards in shallow water. A couple small taps over the course of an hour and no fish to show for it. We decided to change up tactics and drift some channel ledges. The wind was just strong enough ot make drifting a struggle until we got into a tight channel where the trees blocked the wind. As soon as we entered the channel it was on. Rods were going down left and right. One fish in the boat one minute.

Two fish in the boat the next minute.

The next hour and a half was chaotic with one fish after another coming in the boat. The drift was so much fun that we went back to the top and ran it again. We continued to catch catfish after catfish and had a hard time keeping rods in the water before they got hit.

Just as we were reaching the end of our drift, a pink hellcat rod folded over and was pinned to the bottom. The rod tip was just about reaching the water when Oliver picked up on it.

The battle went on for a few minutes as Oliver would gain some ground, then the fish would dig. He took his time lifting the fish out of 35 ft of water so the fish had time to decompress. The fight was relentless but Oliver hung on and we were able to sneak a net under the fish right when it surfaced. The birthday boy was rewarded with a trophy blue catfish weighing in at 33 lbs and measuring 42 inches.

Welcome to the trophy club!

We grabbed a few photos and let the fish destress in the livewell. We ran back to the boat ramp, cleaned about 10 eater fish, and released the trophy fish at the ramp. It was great to watch her swim away healthy!

Thanks for spending the morning on the water with us! Can't wait for the next trip, which is in a few short weeks!

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Goober Time Guide Service runs fishing charter trips for blue catfish, flathead catfish, smallmouth bass, crappie, striper, and a variety of other species on the James River and other bodies around central Virginia. We fish on our boat, kayaks, paddleboards, and rafts. We also have the option to run light-lining charter trips for guests looking to put their skills to the ultimate test and potentially break a world record!

Reach out to discuss your goals and we can design a fishing adventure to meet the needs of your group!

Captain Dan Szajta

USCG Master Charter Captain

www.goobertimeguideservice.com/book-online

804-592-0456