Double Striper and Double Flatheads!

James and JJ were in town from Michigan for spring break and decided to come out fishing with Goober Time Guide Service. They enjoy centering their vacations around chasing fish and it was time for the James River to show them why it’s world famous.

We had fresh hickory shad ready to go when our guest stepped on the boat and we got right to work. On our first anchor, we were getting a lot of short strikes, but eventually a rod folded over with the first trophy fish of the day. This was one beat up blue cat, but it was a trophy fish by length measuring over 38 inches. What a great way to start the trip.

Welcome to the trophy club!

As we were waiting for the next rod to go down, a train started rumbling by. I’m not sure if you’re a believer in the train bite but two rods went down and we doubled up on striper with one of them being a very nice catch at 14 lbs.

The bite died down in this stretch of the river, so we moved and started to drift along the channel ledges. We moved through a series of short strikes that never hooked up before a rod finally folded over into the water. James grabbed the rod and battled fish. This fish was suctioned to the bottom and was right beneath the boat. When the fight goes vertical, we can get a better idea of what we’re dealing with and we knew this is going to be a nice fish. After a couple minute battle he peeled the fish off the bottom and got him in the net, coming face-to-face with another trophy fish. This time, a big flathead catfish!

This fish tipped the scales at 26 pounds. Welcome to the trophy club.

As we continued to drift, we picked up a number of smaller fish and the rods were getting hit very regularly. This was a lot of fun, but we were still looking for the next big bite.

After picking through a bunch of mid size fish, we started anchoring up on structure. We hopped a couple of spots, but eventually we found another really nice flathead catfish. This was a classic flathead bite with the fish messing with the rod for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, the rod folded over and the fish swam for deeper water. This fish was right below the boat for another vertical fight and JJ had a heck of a time reeling him in. He handled the fight like a pro and soon the fish was in the net. Just a snack or two shy of a trophy, this flathead weighed in at 23 pounds.

It’s always a special day when double flathead show up.

The trip was coming to close, but we had one heck of a day out on the water. Thanks for trusting Goober Time Guide Service to put you on the fish. We hope to see you out here again sometime soon.