Ultimate James River Catfish Trip: Oliver Lands a 30 lb. Trophy in an Epic 109 Fish Day

Dara, Oliver, Cy, and Beckett joined us on the James River for the ultimate adventure. We started our trip bright and early at 4 AM with our sights set on catching as many fish as we could before the sun came up. From the second, we got to our first spot we were catching white perch, and striper left and right. Everybody had a chance to catch themselves a striper and there were some pretty good ones in the mix.

We continued to catch striper, but the white perch bite heated up in a ferocious way. In our first 90 minutes of the trip, we caught 104 fish, sometimes catching four or five at a time.

It was time to get set up on our first catfish spot before the sun came up. We made a move, got some rods out, and hunkered down to wait for the bite to turn on. We had a bunch of taps on the rods, most looking like small fish. Right as the tide was going slack, we were adjusting our rods when we looked up and saw a pink hellcat rod folded over and screaming drag. Oliver was first to the rod and the fight was on. Without having any current to contend with, this fish was running all over the place, and we had to move the rod across the rod rack to the other side of the boat. Oliver got the fish directly below the boat and started to wear it out, one run after the other. Eventually, the fish tired they came to the surface where we netted a trophy fish weighing 30 pounds and measuring 38 1/4 inches.

This was Oliver‘s second trophy fish of October since he was on a trip with us earlier in the month. It’s always good to add chips to your trophy chip collection.

We continued to wait around on the bite with a bunch of little taps, but no serious takedowns. As we were reeling the rods in Beckett thought he had a fish on the end of the line and he was right. He brought it to the boat, and we found ourselves with a small eater catfish that we threw in the livewell.

We used our sonar to locate our next pod of fish and sat on them for about 45 minutes. As soon as we got the rods out, we busted out the grill and grilled up some lunch, which felt great after a chilly morning..

The rods were getting hit immediately without any serious takedowns. A rod folded over and Cy was quick to jump on it and caught himself his new personal best blue catfish weighing just under 13 pounds.

We set the rods back up in a few minutes later we had three rods go down one after another after another. One of the fish never hooked up, but we were able to catch the other two with an impressive double of two fish in the 10 to 15 pound range.

We packed up our gear so we could spend the last little bit of our time in one more location as we waited around for high tide. We caught one fish shortly after we set up weighing in around 15 pounds.

After that, the bite was pretty slow aside from a couple massive takedowns that never hooked up. We ended the trip with 109 fish and everybody was ready to go home and take a nap after a long day on the water.

Thanks for joining us on the water. We can’t wait for the next trip.

Thanks for trusting Goober Time Guide Service to show you a good time on the water!

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Goober Time Guide Service offers premier guided fishing experiences throughout the James River and key bodies of water across Central Virginia. We specialize in multi-species excursions, targeting trophy Blue Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, and Crappie.

Our versatile fleet includes a fully-equipped main vessel for full-group charters, as well as specialized kayaks, paddleboards, and whitewater rafts to access remote waters and low-pressure fisheries. Furthermore, we offer exclusive light-lining charter trips for elite anglers seeking the ultimate technical challenge and potential record-breaking catches.

Contact us to consult on your group’s goals, and we will expertly design a tailored fishing adventure to exceed your expectations.

Captain Dan Szajta

USCG Master Charter Captain

www.goobertimeguideservice.com/book-online

804-592-0456