Trophy Flathead Catfish on the Paddleboard

Zach joined us for a paddleboard trip on the upper James River. Our goal was to catch some blue catfish and flathead catfish. We hit the river with two buckets full of live bluegill. The first couple holes we hit were not holding fish like they had been all summer long. We continued to work down the river until we got to a deep section.

We put on some floats and started to let some live bait drift down the river. It wasn't long until we hooked into a clue catfish way down river from where we were anchored. Zach had to pull his anchor and go chase the fish, which was worth it for his new personal best blue catfish.

We set back up and a few drifts laters, another rod went down. Zach was able to stay on anchor and pull the fish up river to where his paddleboard was anchored. Not quite as big as his first blue catfish of the morning but still a great fish.

Letting the floats drift down river allowed us to key in on where the fish were stacked up. We moved out paddleboards into a new location, tossed out our anchors and went back to anchor fishing. We didn't have to wait long until one of our baits were sucked up. This fish took Zach for a ride and pulled him off his anchor. This fish went on multiple drag-peeling runs and did not want to cooperate. Zach eventually got him ont he paddleboard and had his new personal best flathead catfish.

We regrouped and set back up on the same area. One of Zach's lines started to swim away and we coule tell from teh start of the fight that it was going to be an even bigger flathead. The fish started pulling Zach's paddleboard and anchor up river fast. Captain Dan went to reel in his line to help Zach out and thought he was snagged. That was until the snag started to swim away and he could tell he had a monster flathead on as well.

The next 10 minutes were utter chaos with Zach getting towed all over the river and Captain Dan's fish trying to drag him down into the rapids. After some shouting back and forth, we agreed to get our fish on our paddlebaord and meet at the bank. That was easier said than done but we made it happen. What an awesome double up on two trophy flathead catfish!

Paddle board catfishing is recommended for the only most adventurous anglers and there may not be a more exciting way to target trophy catfish! Thanks for joining us on the river!