Headed downriver

[berkley]

Gonna go down to Sturgeon and Chippokes Saturday night. Anyone been fishing down that way lately? I have never been quite that far before. I am looking for a 70 lb class fish. I have caught a 61 lber and a few at 58-59 lbs. Looking for a 70 lb or better( ain't we all)! hope to see some of you on the water, Berkley

[madtom]

thats a ride buddy... good luck

[berkley]

Just got back from Hopewell. we went down to Sturgeon Point last night and caught a 34 and a 42 out of the same hole. That was all. We fished a few spots on the way back upriver and stayed the rest of the night acroos river from mouth of herring creek. I liked it down there and the ride wasn't too bad. I've got a 20 foot grizzly jon boat with a 90 HP merc. It only burned 9 gallons round trip. Just want to start fishing a new area. I don't think it gets too much pressure down there. Seems like everytime we go to one of our favorite spots near JP or DB or DG, there is one or more boats already there. Only saw one boat below the powerlines last night. Watch out for crab pots though! I believe one could catch croaker and spot down there. Had a black snake stretched out on one of my poles last night. That was interesting! Must have been in the boat or crawled up the anchor rope. Slept with paddle in my hand and one eye open all night.

[CATAHOLIC]

I've caught four over 70lbs within 2 miles of hopewell in the past year! No need to run that far to catch a pig. Their have been well over 10 fish over 80lbs caught between the bridge and the powerlines this year and just as many caught above Dutchgap to Richmond. I have found that bait presentation/setup has been the difference for me not area of the river. I do understand about the crowds. Keep where you catch what to yourself so you don't have that same issue in your new locations!! Those areas upriver are overrun because of internet and people reading posts and going there to fish.. Wait till fall those areas downriver will be loaded up with boats. They get alot of pressure too. Good luck with your quest. See you on the river..

[ekim22]

Had a black snake stretched out on one of my poles last night. That was interesting! Must have been in the boat or crawled up the anchor rope. Slept with paddle in my hand and one eye open all night

You just let the thing sit there all night????

[wasabi]

It is nice to learn a new stretch of the river, isn't it? Gives you another strategy to have and a few more holes. I've had great nights and crappy nights down there, also had nights where there were quite a few boats. My big one came down that way but I seem to catch more fish upriver. There's a big wreck right in the middle of the river on that bend but all I've ever been able to do was lose anchors and rigs and never pulled a fish off it. It looks nasty on the depth finder.

[berkley]

It is nice to learn a new stretch. I started fishing down there about 8 years ago. We did some work on the Beacon theater right in Hopewell. We stayed in a motel closer to Fort Lee. There was nothing to do in the evenings, so we fished off the bank at City Point. It was before they put that dock there. We used to catch gobs of little ones there. One day OSHA shut us down for scaffolding and the bossman told us to disapear for the day. We went fishing! I landed a 20 pounder or so that day. That was when I started looking into serious fishing down there. Been hooked ever since. The biggest I have caught so far is a 61 lber post spawn fish. I seem to be in a rut catching 30-40-50 lb fish, not that it's a bad thing. I have been experimenting with different ways of presenting bait; different cuts and also different hook rigs. As soon as I got home today, I was ready to go back. I plan on being back down in three weeks or so. I hope to keep my boat in storage down that way somewhere for the colder months. I plan on doing alot of fishing this fall/winter. Storage down there saves me lots of gas money and aggrevation. See y'all soon. keep posting. It seems this board is getting less and less use. Berkley