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	James River Catfishing   The James River Blue Catfishing 1-25 & 26-08 The 25th of January, a bitter cold morning of 21­°, with a wind chill that made it feel much colder. At Deep Bottom Park on the James we had to get back in the truck to warm up several times before being able to get the boat loaded with our gear. Our fingers were getting numb even though we were wearing heavy gloves. These are the mornings that make you wonder if it's all worth it. And the 26th wouldn't be much better at the Jordan Point ramp. Trying to get the boat in the water and it wouldn't even begin to float off the trailer. Checked to make sure the tie down straps was off and the winch strap off, the safety chain off, wasn't sure what was going on, only to finally realize the boat was froze to the bunk boards on the trailer. After letting the boat and trailer set in the water for a few minutes it was good to go, well the boat was, the older motor didn't like the cold much more than we did.   This was the first time out fishing this cold and the first trip with Alan and we were on the water by 7:15 AM. We put out the gill net one time at Trespass and let it soak for 20 minutes and no bait, not even one. So then we head up to Dutch Gap and fished with frozen bait from my last trip until we had bait.  The bait was defiantly hard to find and it took us until noon to end up with 12 cutters and none for the freezer for the next trip.
We set up to fish while the gill net is soaking and 2 lines go down with in 5 - 10 minutes at once...Alan brings in one and I get the other. Needless to say we weren't ready for this and couldn't get the landing net out with one hand as it had gotten tangled in one of the reels laying beside it. So I gave up on the net and got the blue close to the boat and got my hand in it's mouth and jerked him in the boat, that felt so good I told Alan bring yours in close and I yanked him in the boat also. One weighed 14 and the other a 20 pounder, not a bad start. So now we catch our breath and let the adrenaline rush settle down and decide it's time to check the gill net we have several cutters in the net and put it out to soak again.   We talk about it going back to the same hole and decide we will give it another shot and unbelievable as soon as we got the lines out and again with in minutes a big girl is on. Now this rascal runs and gets tangled up in a tree under water. Alan keeps a cool head, now if that had been me I would have fought the fish and probably broke the line, not Alan. He put the rod back in the holder and hits the bait clicker and in about 5 minutes she starts running again. Alan starts the battle with her and back into the tree again. At this point I'm thinking we will never get this fish in the boat. Well Alan puts the rod in the holder again and once again sets the bait clicker, I would say in about 10 minutes the big girl takes off again peeling line, the old bait clicker just a singing. Alan picks up the rod very causally likes it's no big deal and the battle begins. He finally gets the fish near the boat and she goes ballistic and starts peeling drag, she comes to the surface and we now know he's got a good fish.....but she then takes another dive. Alan gets her near the boat again and still a plenty of fight left in the fish and she starts to dive again pulling drag at will. I'm thinking this is unreal, never going to get this fish in the boat. There was a bass boat in front of us that had been trolling, they just stopped and watched the show. Well I figure that I had better try to net her as she is diving might be my last chance, but in the excitment the 10 oz weight gets tangled in the landing net.Ole Alan is still fighting the blue and gets her back on top for the last time, and yes I finally get the net under her and in the boat, what a fish. Boy did she have a big belly, almost as big as mine.  Unfortunately Alan had brought along a his new 100 pound digital scale and it said only 61 pounds, no mater how many times I weighed her. She looked much larger than 61 pounds. Alan had his dance with her and let her go back home to dance another day!! This fish was caught with frozen shad, so I guess frozen bait will work in a pinch. We caught several fish the 26th below Jordan Point but only one over 20 and that was 41 lbs.   One interesting thing I might mention is shad can have one hell of a scent if left in the cooler. Alan left one of the vacumned packs of shad in his cooler and forgot about it. About 3 weeks later he notices a stinch in the basement and thinks a mouse has gotten in the house and died. Upon investigating and opening the cooler the smell about knocks him off his feet and the whole house fills with the odor. The bag has swollen to about the size of a basketball and subject to rupture any second. Alan runs for the door and makes it outside without incident. Wonder if his wife was upset??   Link to more photos of the 2 fish: James River 1-25-08   Back to top Back to Articles