IS THE JAMES TO FAST FOR A 16'6" CANOE

[onewyr]

IS THE JAMES TO FAST FOR MY CANOE? i HAVE A 16'6" WITH 50LB THRUST TROLLING MOTOR AND WILL HAVE NAV LIGHTS ON SOON i WANT TO DO SOME NIGHT FISHING FOR CATS. BUT I DON'T WANT TO HEAD OUT AND THEN FIND OUT THAT IT IS TO FAST FOR MY BOAT. ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED. I.E. WHERE TO PUT IN i AM IN PORTSMOUTH BUT HAVE NO PROBS DRIVING A BIT FOR A BIG CAT

[Big Cat]

I wouldn't worry about the river being to fast as much as id worry about the boat wakes flipping your canoe.

[martineta]

It might be tough pushing back to the ramp against the tide. I think it would be a challenge to land a 50 pound rolling, twisting, lunging catfish. I almost fell out of my Jonboat last spring during a ripping tide while fishing by myself. I moved real fast from the rear of the boat to the front to grab a rod that was about to snap from a biggun. Valuable leason learned. Slow down.

[catfishjpt]

I wouldn't reccomend it. With the storms that come out of nowhere and the boat/ship traffic, it would be pretty dangerous.

[Gottheblues]

you might want to try kayak fishing for cats. it seems to be the new craze. People are kayak fishing in the Chesapeake Bay for big fish like cobia and drum. I heard one guy almost got killed being pulled around near the Bridge Tunnel by some fish.

[wasabi]

Maybe...maybe...if you knew of some backwater areas where there would be absolutely no boat traffic. And I wouldn't go anywhere at night where there was current.

[BradF]

I saw someone yesterday kayaking around the channel at City Point in Hopewell yesterday. Too far away to tell if they had a fishing rod or not. Now fighting a big catfish at night from a Kayak or canoe would be another story all together! I have thought about using a kayak to fish around the river in this area around the bridge pylons. Never tried though.

[wasabi]

canoes and bridge pilons don't go together.

/experience

[earlyriser]

I wouldnt want to use a canoe in the James, above Richmond yeah, but below no way man.

[kepone cats]

If you do go catfishing on the James from a canoe (and you are not a seasoned local) you better take out a hefty life insurance policy before you go fishing! Creeks off of the Chick. may be ok, if you do not have a boat, fish from the shore of a dock. -Kepone

[carp]

I use my kayak on the upper and lower James and the Pamunkey, chickahominy, and the Mattaponi all the time for big cats. I also use it down at Lynnhaven Inlet for Red Drum and Flounder . I fish the inside of the inlet all the way out to the pilings on the left side outside.I think if your careful and wear your life vest you'll be fine. Am going to Nags Head next week and will hit Oregon Inlet bridge for some Sheeps head and Flounder.
Now get out there and catch you some cats!!!!

[onewyr]

well looks like I may not need to use my canoe. I'm getting a boat from my dad it's like a 15 or 16 foot v/flat bottom boat. pretty deep hull looks like it will be very sturdy great for cattin. He has a 9.9 on it but will it accept something a little bigger

[ketch69]

You'll be fine. I'll bmail you a good location or two. I really enjoy turning new fishermen on to what we have up this way.

The first thing you should know is most of the Dutch Gap stories are just that. A lot of the better catfishermen claim to ketch most of the fish near there to keep new guys like you away from the good stuff.

There are plenty good catfish to be had around the Benjamin Harrison Bridge. If you move a little down river there are lots of good fish in Tar Bay. Just down river from Tar Bay there are two very good creeks,Powells Creek and Herring Creek. Each of these has good water and large Catfish. From there you can fish down river towards the powerlines at Flowerdue. The best fishinf in this area is on the left hand sie of the channel when headind down. A little down river from here there is some very good deep water on the right hand side of the river near the mouth of Flowerdue Hundred Creek. This is a very good spot for large fish. The deep water comes very close to shore and is very productive on outgoing tide. I haven't fished much water further down river but some have. I'm now nearing Riser Territory, how bout it Slade.

You fellas on this board are getting way to secrative about these Catfish. This fella asks for a little help and every post other than this one is pushing him away. Maybe you should bmail Dayton for some info. He as begged for every fishing and hunting spot in the state.


DEAN who is now a liscensed guide and will do his best to teach others the basics of ketching bait and locating large Catfish on the James and Appomatox Rivers.

MORE INFO TO COME




DEAN

[Gottheblues]

Actually, I do catch a ton of fish in the Dutch Gap Area....and I really mean the Dutch Gap Area. Downriver can be good but during some periods of the year the upriver section can be hard to beat....just ask Mike Ostrander who fishing almost exclusively in the upper section. Dean, welcome to guiding.(I'm making an assumption from your post that you are going in this route) just make sure you(or anyone that wants to guide) get you coast guard six pack license before you start doing it. They are starting to crack down on this and the fine can be quite substantial if you guide without it. I just got my license. You have to go through a bunch of hurdles to acquire one. First there is the class, then physicals, drug test, finger prints, cpr training, background check, and proof of citizenship.

I don't think anyone was discouraging the orginal poster. Everyone was just giving sound advice of not venturing out in the James in a canoe to fish for catfish. There are a few places that this can be safe but even a lot of precautions need to be taken when fishing out of a canoe or a small 15-16 ft jon boat in the tidal section of the James.

[RANGER690]

Dang! That means I have to start following Ketch now. All I really need is your top 3-5 fishing spots. Then I can leave you alone. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It is up to you.

That makes an nice round number of James River Guides.....15. I am going to focus on Buggs Island crappie next year.

Dayton

[Big Cat]

He was asking for info about using his canoe. Thats what we gave. Catching big cats is no big secret just go out and fish and you will probably catch one or two. It's not that hard.

[kepone cats]

Catfishing sucks.

[onewyr]

I know about the catfishing. I just needed some opinions on wheather or not using my canoe was a good Idea. the boat that I am getting is a very wide boat so I think it will do fine but I think I will probably stick to the chick I have fished there before and there are some good size cats out there I caught a 30lber a couple of yrs ago. It was a great catch one of the biggest fish I have ever caught it was definatley the biggest freshwater fish i have caught. now that I have a boat I would like to start catching the biguns again I am getting board with the pier fishing.

[NoPainNoGain]

Wise decision on avoiding the James in a canoe. Although I say ketch69 owes you a guided trip for providing a forum for his coming out party! [excited] Your picture holding up a monster cat could be like the way some folks frame thier first dollar bill!

[ketch69]

I'm actually gonna do things different than most. My gig is gonna be a "Catfish seminar on your boat". This way I can show those that wanna learn how to use their own stuff which will help them in future trips and also keep Dayton from being able to follw me[grin]

I don't dought you Chris about the Dutch Gap thing, I too have caught plenty fish up that way. I just think that a lot of fishermen use Dutch Gap in their reports when they didn't fish there, you know what I mean.

Gotta go. I'm metting a crew from Newport News in an hour for a four hour deal. Will be fishing out of a 21' Sea Pro Dayton but will be in Riser territory.


DEAN

[willis]

Like everyone else stated the James is no place for a canoe. For that matter some jon boats on the smaller side have no buisness out there at times. I fish a 18ft XXwide and there are times it can be too rough especially if you get a barge wake too close or a storm roll up quick.

Hey Ketch, good luck with the guide service. Whats the going rate for a guide trip these days? Ive always wanted to go on a guided trip but could never break down with the cash.

[Gottheblues]

Best of luck Ketch! Make sure you have your OUPV/six pack license. As long as you are paid it doesn't matter if you are on your boat or someone else's. I know of about 3 guides who have been called recently from a Coast Guard rep inquiring about whether they had a license or not. From time to time I get hired to go out on other people's boats but I'd rather take them on mine and show them how to fish. my number is 804-314-9629 if you ever need anything while you are out on the water.

[onewyr]

how much does a guided cat trip usually cost

[earlyriser]

Man the riser boys got a section of the river named after us, thats awesome[smile][smile]. I took two guys out the other night on a sort of guided trip, no cash exchanged hands. It was awesome putting the kid on a 30lber. He was extremely excited and thats what it is all about. I was thinking that fish was decent, but his first words were, "that fish is huge". So it was cool. Youve got some good points there Dean. Hope everything goes really good for you. Both fish we caught the other night were on the Garcia 9000 setup I bought from you, so she still is ketching.

[wasabi]

Dutch Gap, right Earlyriser? [excited]

[earlyriser]

yeah, Wasabi you been doing any fishing??

[RKOCH]

Hell when I was a kid I had a concrete mixing tub ripped off from a contruction site that was 4' wide x 6' long x 1' deep that had a 30 lb trolling motor on the front of it and a 2x6 bolted across it for a seat. I fished all over the James river in that thing from the JRB the chick and up to richmond. Hell I look back it was slightly crazy but hell I never sank. And caught alot of fish too.[grin]

[RANGER690]

RKOOK, You a mad man. Between the hunting stories and the fishing antics you a legend......somewhere.

Dayton

[RKOCH]

In my younger days I did just about anything you could to to hunt or fish. From one end of the spectrum to the other.

[onewyr]

what are some absolute must haves on a boat to make a really good fishing rig? How many hods/ holders any electronics just anything you can think of

[RKOCH]

Well now that I fish in a bigger vessel.[grin] It really depends on what you are targeting. Me I like to do it all from crappie, bass catfish etc to cobia, tuna etc. My 17 footer has fished for bass in the James and 70 miles out in the atlantic for bluefin tuna. I have a good depth sounder, vhf radio , 4 rod holders perfect spread for trolling or bait fishing and a bow mounted foot controled trolling motor. You want to fish the James I say 4 to 6 good rod holders, depth sounder, vhf and a trolling motor and you are in there.

[onewyr]

i have a stupid ?????? other than safety what else would u need the radio for. this is what I have so far.
15 fter
9.9
50lb thrust trolling motor
pfds
depth/fish finder
10lb anchor

[RKOCH]

The Vhf is if you are in trouble and need help a cell phone is good to but marine patrols etc monitor the vhf just for that reason. sound like are pretty much in there. Just watch the weather and the large boats and go fishing.

[onewyr]

thats what I thought.

what type of rods do you guys recomend for cat fishing.
I have a 6ft med-heavy with a quantum 80
and a 8ft med-heavy witha quantum 70