Going back in time and catching up on the beginning of this year when I was fishing more.
One of the more successful fisheries for me this year was heading up to RVA to try out the James River for catfish and shad early in the spring. The amount of wildlife around the river and the early mornings made for some great time to relax kayaking. First trip up targeting big blue cats with Ryan and Brad with a sunny weather forecast after a few weeks of clouds and snow I was excited to hit the water. Of course I hadnt taken into account that traveling north its going to be colder than a forecast for the Tidewater area and when we got to the ramp and seen the two feet of snow I knew I was in for a cold day on the water. Luckily with a few fish biting and the sun coming up it wasnt too bad. We started out trying to find the deep holes the big cats would be hiding in with water temps barely above freezing. After anchoring up and soaking cut bait it wasnt long before small eater sized fish were being caught with my biggest of the day going about 8 pounds. One of the biggest differences between TN catfishing and VA was fishing the tide change on the river. During the outgoing tide the water was moving so hard it was difficult to hold bottom even with 8 oz of lead.
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| Cold morning launching on the James. |
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| James River Blue |
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| Migrating ducks and geese flying overhead. |
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| Nice relaxing day on the river. |
