Saturday Morning Catfish on the James River

I headed out to the Jamestown Ferry on Saturday morning to pick up a catfish dinner and try out my new Humminbird 561 Fishfinder. Mission accomplished on both accounts. Everyone has told me that a fishfinder would change the way I fish and I have to say that I agree. It was nice to know what depth I was casting into. I paddled around a bit to get a good picture of the bottom surface and then dropped a few lines in the area that i had scouted out. Within minutes I had hooked up to a smaller 18 inch Channel Cat. I proceeded to pull in two more around the same size, one a Blue Cat and the other one a Channel

Then I got ahold of this guy that came in around 25 inches. All of these fish were caught within a 2.5 hour time block using shrimp for bait.

I'm looking forward to getting out on some saltwater in the next month. Weather reports seem to indicate another cold spell and then things should start to get warmer... This means some trips out to CBBT.  Come on warm weather!  

Planning My 2014 Kayak Fishing Season

    The way I see it, I'll fish any water anytime for anything that might be in the water at that given time. I can't remember who said it but someone once told me "the best time to fish is whenever you have time to fish" If you wait for the perfect time with perfect conditions, you'll be waiting more than fishing. With that in mind, I want to have a plan of attack for the year where I break out what fish will be in my local waters during what month. I created the graph below as a quick reference guide to look at as the year progresses.

2014 Top Target Species

Season

Primary  X

Secondary X

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Red Drum

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Tautog

X

X

X

Sheepshead Spadefish Triggerfish

X

X

X

X

X

Speckled Trout

X

X

X

X

X

Flounder

X

X

X

X

X

X

Striped Bass

X

X

X

Cobia

The season is highlighted in blue. The red X indicates primary effort and the black X indicates secondary effort.

Starting at January, it's kind of a moot point since it's laready gone but had I had the opportunity, I would have gone after specks in the Elizabeth River. Cold weather and life events prevented me from getting out this last month so no big deal. Specks arent my favorite meal in the sea so I'm not too sad about missing out on the action. Besides, they are here all year pretty much.

In February, I'd like to get on some Tautogs if the water temperature will get above 50 degrees. This is a fish that I didnt target at all last year during their season and I really do regret it.

If last year is any indicator, redfish are present in my local waters nearly year round. What I really want to do is target the big reds on the eastern shore of virginia during March and April and then go after them more locally in the James river when time permits as the year rolls on.

The hot summer months (May-Sep) will be consumed with the hunt for sheepshead, spadefish, and triggerfish. I can target all 3 of these simultaneously at the CBBT.  I can also target flounder near here but I doubt I'll focus on them.
This should keep me busy until striper season starts in the fall.

Of course I won't strictly adhere to this plan but I like having a roadmap to follow.  It helps me to know what I need to be prepared for at any given time

2013 Year in Review "The Year I Began to Fish"

2013 will forever be known as the year I began to fish. This was literally the first year I had ever fished in my life so I didn't expect to rack up a huge list of species. I figured I might catch a few Catfish and maybe a Bass or two and that would be it. I couldn't have been more wrong.  I kept track of my fishing trips on www.vasaltwaterjournal.com It kept a journal of everything for me and looking back through my records it seems that I've done fairly well. At least way better than I expected. I caught 13 different species with a total of 72 fish and 1114 total inches of fish combined (Not including bait fish). Here is my 2013 lineup in no particular order and a little bit about my experiences this year.

MENHADEN - I started off the year by learning how to throw a cast net so I could catch these little guys from the pier. Sometimes I caught em by the bucket and other times it was a struggle just to find one or two. This was about the best bait I could get my hands on weather it was for Red Drum, Catfish, or Striper. I owe a large portion of my success to this pretty little menhaden.

BASS, BLACK SEA - I caught these by the handful out at the CBBT. didn't get one that was big enough to take home though...

BASS, STRIPED - I just caught my first legal rockfish this last weekend and I cant wait to eat them. the biggest was 25in. I used a Berkley Swim Shad and it worked like a charm.

DRUM, RED - these guys were all up in the James River this year and have turned out to be my favorite sea fare. I would catch them one after another on Menhaden and the occasional little Croaker. I can eat red fish till I'm blue...

CATFISH, CHANEL - the very first fish I ever caught. I spent most of the beginning of 2013 on these learning what they liked up until around March. I have caught quite a few of them with the biggest being 37 inches. Some of the most valuable fishing knowledge I have gained this year came from fishing the dock at the Chickahominy river and talking to the old guys out there late at night. I don't loose half as many rigs anymore thanks to them.

SEATROUT, SPOTTED - I caught a 19in beauty that was a nice surprise out at Goodwin Island and I caught a few more out at Lynhaven Inlet as well. I would really like to spend some time getting to know this gorgeous fish next year.

SHAD, AMERICAN - I caught and released several of these quite by accident on the James this year but I plan on making an actual effort to catch a few more when the dogwoods bloom in 2014

TAUTOG - I caught one of these at the CBBT this year. He was out of season but sure was an interesting looking fish. I need to go back while they are in season and bring one home for the dinner plate. I hear they are tasty!

TRIGGERFISHES - these guys were a blast to catch out the first island of the CBBT. What a great tasting fish and an interesting one too. I had several trips out there that were completely uneventful and then one day this cool looking fish started eating my bait. What a surprise to find that I could take as many as I could catch since it was unregulated.

CROAKER - the bane of my CBBT trips everywhere I went these guys would eat my bait. I never took one home to eat but in retrospect I should have. It would have been fair play.

SHARK, SPINY DOG - I couldn't get a Cobia but I caught plenty of these trying. That was a real "well what do I do now" moment when I brought the first one up to the kayak. I'll never forget just sitting there looking at the thing thinking this could go terribly wrong. Thankful to say that I was able to handle it just fine the next few times I brought one to the surface.

BASS, LARGEMOUTH - I loved the way this fish fights. I did not love the way this fish tastes.. I'll come back for more with a fly rod in 2014 but these guys have nothing to fear from my fillet knife anymore

PERCH - This fish turned out to be plentiful in my local creeks but I think it could be more satisfying on a fly rod.

Well thats my year in a nutshell Its not over yet and there are a few Stripers with my name on em left in the Bay and maybe a Tautog if I can get the time but for the most part I'm done this year. I cant wait to get on em again in 2014 with a few more tricks up my sleeve.

Stripers

All fish caught with:

Berkley PowerBait Freshwater Swimming Pogy Soft Baits

Late night catfishin