James
River Blue Catfish
The Quest
for Giants.
By:
Jim Gronaw
Date Posted: January 20, 2011
They’re
big, they’re bad, and now they exceed a
hundred pounds. No, I’m not talking
about cobia, black drum or even the
ever-popular striped bass. I’m talking
about blue catfish; a non-native
transplant that was stocked in selected
tidal river systems more than 30 years
ago by the Virginia Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries. In particular, the
tidal James River and its’ adjoining
tributaries. Yes, catfishing is coming
of age nowayears and as more and more
big fish show up, regional anglers are
starting to pay attention to this world
class fishery that is right under the
nose of millions of ‘back east’ anglers
in the Mid-Atlantic.
I had the
chance to fish with catfishing legend
Chris Eberwein on the James along with
my son Matt in quest of these big cats.
Eberwein has a guarantee for his
clients…no citation blue cats ( 30
pounds and up ) then no pay. Pretty good
deal, if you ask me. Our first mate for
the day was Dustin Eberwein, Chris’s 23
year-old son and a seasoned catfish
angler in his own right. Launching out
of the Jordan Point Marina a few miles
downstream from Hopewell, Virginia, the
Eberweins wasted no time in catching
gizzard shad with the cast net and the
gillnet to use for bait on the big
blues.
With bait
in the box, they went about a mile
upriver and set up just upcurrent from a
series of underwater humps in about 25
feet of water. It took probably less
than two minutes to anchor up on the
hole and quickly their heavy baitcast
outfits were heaved out with hunks of
cut shad. After about ten minutes and a
few tentative strikes, I asked Chris how
long do they usually stay on a hole.
‘We’re getting’ ready to leave now’ was
the quick response. Dustin yanked the
anchor as Chris idled up the Suzuki
engine on his Carolina Skiff and we were
off to the next catfish hole. This would
be repeated at least a dozen more times
throughout the day, being prolonged only
by the hooking, landing and photo taking
of fish.
RUN AND GUN
CATFISHING…
The old
concept of catfishing on a deep hole on
a river and waiting the fish out is not
what gets the cats for top area guides
like Eberwein. In contrast to old school
tactics of waiting on active fish to
come to you, it is far better to be
mobile and actively seek bluecats from
one spot to the other. As tides change
by the hour, certain spots will draw big
blues and you have to ‘run and gun ‘em’
as Eberwein says, to stay on top of an
active bite. Tidal cats are different
from those that are in ‘one way’ flowing
rivers, as they have to adapt to the
reversing of the tides every six hours.
And then again, some spots only produce
at a particular stage of an incoming or
an outgoing tide. Some holes produce
best at low tide, others do well at high
tide.
I asked
Chris how many spots did he have to fish
for these blues on the James. He told me
that he had currently waypointed 619
spots on the river on his GPS. But he
admitted that he only recorded spots
that had ‘produced 50 pound or betta’
blue cats’ over the years. Sheesh, I
don’t think I have fished 619 places in
my entire life, for all species, let
alone just one specie in one river
system. Wow!
Soon, we
pulled up on a ‘spot’ that was just a
slight dip in the river bottom in about
20 feet of water. Eberwein pointed out
that there was a fair concentration of
brush and wood debris that had washed
into this area and it was a drawing card
for cats. Before we could get all the
rods out, one of them was down to the
waters edge and my son Matt jumped on it
and started a steady ‘lift-and-reel’ tug
of war back to the boat. Soon, the first
Virginia citation blue cat, a chubby 35
pounder, was netted and flopping in the
bottom of the boat. After a brief photo
session and a quick release, another rod
went down and I grabbed that one, which
resulted in a nice 25 pounder.
It should
be pointed out that the current Virginia
citation minimum for blue cats is 30
pounds. That benchmark is easily
achieved during prime winter months,
often several times a day, on the James.
In the winter of February 2010 Eberwein
told me he had a string of twenty days
where he had ‘at least one 70-pouda’
every day. Top area guides actually
prefer November through early March as
the best times for upper end fish. And
in truth, most serious catfishermen on
the river don’t get too excited unless a
50 pounder, or better, hits the deck.
After another thirty-plus cat and a
couple of teenagers, the boys decided to
pull anchor and look for bigger fish.
We hit a
few more areas of sunken brush and logs
and I was surprised as to how structure
– oriented these fish were. Often
thought of as strictly fish of the deep,
tidal blues are very much attracted to
wood cover in the form of fallen, deep
trees, washed-in logs and debris or
submerged barges or old pier pilings. In
our two-day run on the James, we caught
some of our best fish in relatively
shallow areas that would draw
run-and-gun bass anglers.
ROCKS AND
DEPRESSIONS…AND MORE…
As good as
wood can be, Eberwein also likes to fish
submerged rock piles. We pulled up on
just such a spot and set up quickly and
picked up a low thirty and an upper
twenty. After a few light strikers, one
of the rods took a serious bend and I
wrestled it from the rod holder.
Initially, the fish came toward the
boat, but once it realized it was hooked
it made plans for escape. With an
incoming tide running at a good clip,
the fish was dramatically stronger than
any of the others we had fought. Despite
the heavy gear and 100 pound test
leader, I took my time with this fish
that just didn’t want to come up.
Cautiously, I would gain line, almost
see the fish, then lose line as it took
of on a powerful, surging run. After
nearly 15 minutes of give and take, I
worked the big cat boat -side and
Eberwein put the net under a
barrel-chested blue that pulled the
scales to 58 pounds. An easy personal
best for me, I couldn’t wait to bear hug
the beast for photos.
We ended up
with ten cats our first day on the
river…not bad when you consider that
most folks consider catfishing a summer
time gig. We fished with Capt. Joe
Hecht on our second day. He took us to
portions of the James that were close to
the city limits of Richmond. By fishing
small wing dams and the eddys behind
them, we managed 13 blues. Matt and I
had one very hectic and exciting double
were I got a 44 and he wrestled a 53
pounder, his personal best, on the same
side of the boat and literally seconds
apart. There are few places where a
freshwater angler can fish with a
reasonable certainty of landing several
fish in any given day that will run from
30 to 50 pounds. The James River blue
cat gig is one of those places.
Back in
March of 2010, my friend Charlie Wallace
and I did the blue cat boogie with Hecht
and Eberwein and found not huge, but
quality fish, in as shallow as two feet
of water as 15 to 20 pounders would move
up into sun-warmed backwaters when high
tide rolled in. At times Hecht admitted
that’decent’ fish, to 40 pounds, could
be had in such conditions and it was a
lot of fun ‘if you didn’t mind small
fish’. Yeah… I think I could put up with
that!
On that
trip, Charlie got the big-fish honors
with powerhouse 60-pounder that struck
in the last few minutes of the trip.
Like most big fish do, the rod just
pegged over and screamed and Charlie
wrestled the rod out of the holder. Even
with heavy gear, big blues can challenge
both tackle and fish playing skills of
any angler. Charlie kept the pressure on
the fish and it literally looked like a
small cow coming to the net. After many
long, tense minutes, the barrel-chested
fish was thumping the deck of Capt.
Joes’ Carolina Skiff.
It
should be pointed out that the blue cat
fishery on the James is an almost total
catch-and-release gig, due in part to
fish consumption advisories that are
placed on a variety of species. Many
locals eat some of the smaller cats,
under ten pounds. Also this is an
outstanding waterway for resident
largemouth bass, slab crappie, migratory
shad, perch and striped bass and
top-notch smallmouth bass fishing
upstream from Richmond.
BIG CAT
GEAR…
Tackle
considerations are somewhat standard
across the board for James River cat
guides and serious catfishermen in the
region. Ambassadeur 7000 baitcasters
with 30 to 80 pound mono as the mainline
and leader material ranges from 50 to
100 pound mono are popular, as are Okuma
and Penn reels that are comparable. Fish
finder rigs with 6 to 10 ounces of
weight hold the cut shad near the bottom
as most use one to two foot leaders with
8/0 or 10/0 Owner or Gamakatzu circle
hooks. Portions of cut gizzard shad,
steaked or filleted, are hooked with
much of the hook point exposed.
Rod
selection can be a matter of choice.
Fiberglass rods of 7 to 7 ½ feet are
popular. Heavy or medium heavy Ugly
Sticks or Tiger Series rods do well, but
the locals all have their favorites. If
you have gear for cobia, drum or big
stripers then you can likely adapt
without too much additional purchase.
The standard sinker size for the
fish-finder rig is 6 or 10 ounces.
As
pointed out earlier, Eberwein likes to
fish wood, and sometimes that means
losing rigs and even losing fish. But it
is where they are. He uses 80 pound
Trilene Big Game for a mainline and
cranks the drag down pretty tight. When
a fish pulls drag on one of his rigs,
you know you’ve got one of the ‘boys’.
By comparison, Capt. Joe Hecht, another
top area catfish guide, uses 30 to 40
pound mainline and likes Quantum BigCat
rods to do the dirty work. Capt. Hecht
specializes in hauling big blues and
flatheads out of wingdams and logjams
further upriver as the James approaches
the Richmond city limits.
If you’re
looking for some exciting, trophy
catfishing you might want to consider a
trip this winter to the James. The
current Virginia record came from the
James and went 102 pounds and 4 ounces.
Many hundreds of 50 pound plus blues are
taken annually, and the winter months
see the bulk of those trophies. They are
big, bad and in their own way,
beautiful!
HIRE A
GUIDE…
The tidal
James is a vast waterway with shallow
flats, large embayments, winding
channels and large open areas that can
quickly turn to whitecaps when
approaching cold fronts put 15 to 20 mph
winds on the river. Regardless of your
boating skill or catfish savvy, you will
learn more in one day from an
experienced area guide than in a dozen
trips on your own. Do the smart thing
and contact one of these USCG licensed
guides and let them put you on the
catfish of a lifetime. These guys can
put you on a big-fish trip of a
lifetime.
EBERWEINS’ CATFISHIN’-Capt.
Chris Eberwein, 804-449-6134,
www.catfishingva.com
FAT CAT GUIDE SERVICE-
Capt. Joe Hecht, 804-221-1951,
www.fatcatguide.com
