We had Norris and Nathan on the boat for a return trip with the goal of catching a bunch of eaters and some trophy fish. We started off with a very cold and windy morning with temperatures below 30. We made quick work of catching fresh bait and set on our way to anchor up. We tried anchoring on a channel ledge holding a lot of bait and fish but it was so windy the boat wouldn’t stay put. We moved locations so we could hide from the wind. We found a bunch of bait fish stacked up behind a hump in the rive. Rods were getting hit almost immediately and we doubled up on two fish that weighed 18 and 19 pounds. It was a great way to start the morning
We had a very frustrating next 90 minutes as we’d anchor up on a spot then the wind would change and blow the pontoon off anchor at one point we had 60 pounds worth of anchors at the front of the boat and it was still drifting down the river. We started to scan the river looking for a place we could hide from the wind again when we found a hidden gem, we pulled into a cove and put the nose of the boat on the bank. It was nice to have some sturdy ground to keep the boat from blowing in the wind, and we were able to fish out the back of the boat.
We had marked a lot of fish in this cove and we were excited to see what would hook up. We didn’t have to wait long as within the first 15 minutes a rod went down huge. Norris grabbed the rod and fought the fish who is coming in through really shallow water and we could tell it was a giant Norris has been out a couple times on trips with a goal of a trophy fish and we’ve got one by length but not by weight so we really wanted to get him on a good fish this time. The fish was pulling drag and stirring up mud on its way to the boat. We had enough room to scoop the nut underneath the fish and he came on deck weighing a massive 44 pounds Norris is really in the trophy club now.
While he was in that fish, another rod went down huge and Nathan grab the rod. He did a great job handling the fish, but the fish was able to use the bottom of the river in a shallow section to spin and come unhooked and we had to watch a second big fish swim free.
What happened next was just one of those days that makes the James River special. We had about a five hour stretch where we never left the spot we were in and we caught at least a dozen 20 pound fish. It was a steady stream of action and we rarely had to wait more than 20 to 30 minutes for a rod to go down.
Within the first hour, we had caught so many fish that our boat was actually stuck in the mud from the tide running out beneath it. Nobody was too upset because we continued to catch fish all afternoon.
In the mess of all the 20 pounders, we missed a couple other really big fish and Nathan was even able to catch a nice 27 pound blue cat.
This took his personal that’s from about 5 pounds to 18 pounds all the way up to 27 pounds. We didn’t think about it until after we release the fish but that fish probably measured 38 inches and would’ve been a trophy class fish by length.
The tide started coming back in and the bite slowed down a little bit although we still caught a couple more nice fish in the 15 to 20 pound range as well as a couple eaters.
While we were waiting for the tide to come in and get the boat off the bank, we grilled some lunch, clean the boat up a little bit and filleted the fish so the guys could take home some meat.
It’s always a good time having Norris on the boat and we can’t wait for the next trip. Thanks for joining us fellas. I hope you had as much fun as we did.
Water temperature: 45-48 degrees.
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