[jkapl001]

Thanks for all of the post up here giving me advice. This was my first trip in search of winter time cats. Got a little bit of a late start didn't get to the Jordan Point ramp until right around 12. Tried to find bait close in by the docks, no luck. I only have a cast net, so some advice in where to find bait would be great. Went out and set up just up river from the bridge on the edge of the chanel......nothing. Moved to the opposite side of the channel. First fish on, hooked on a MH bass rod, didn't have a scale, but it was about 34" long. Next fish in the boat was about 25". Then picked up a couple really small ones. I know most of you have caught cats much larger than this, but this was my personal best for catfish. So any further advice would be great, espically on finsing bait.

Thanks John

 

[cgBosun3]

Pretty good fish for using chicken livers...I prefer gizzards because they stay on the hook a lot better. Also had good luck using cheap chicken hot dogs soaked in strawberry Kool-Aid with a little garlic. Cut them into 1 inch pieces and let them sit in a ziploc bag for a day or so. I got that tip from Bob Greenlee a biologist from VA DGIF. Works great for small/ med sized fish if you want to catch a lot. I fish with my kids a lot, so catching 10 5-pounders is better than 1 50-pounder for them. Bob says you can eat your bait that way, but I think I'll pass...
No, we don't keep the fish, so we use circle hooks exclusively.

 

[jkapl001]

Actually we caught that one on beef livers, we had beef livers, chicken livers, and chicken gizzards. Also that fish was released, should have mentioned that in the post.

 

[wasabi]

You did good! See if you can find a bait store on your way that carries eels. They make decent backup bait if you are having a hard time getting live shad with a cast net. You can use the eels cut up and whole. I used to catch a lot of eels when i started catfishing on the james because I used small baits and didn't know to use a big ol' chunk of shad. Maybe you can catch some by putting a bottom rig down with small hooks baited with worms or squid. I would like to have an eel or two even if I had a bucket of shad.

I see people throwing cast nets (big ones though - you got a 6 or 8 footer, right?) between the bridge and that tiny little island. I'm talking the island on the upriver side of the bridge, a stones throw from jordan point. OK, I put up a picture. I'd throw in that area of the red circle.

Fishing on those channels ledges above the bridge is good. You can fish those edges all the way up to the piers at the Hopewell plant. Some folks like to fish upriver of the channel marker legs and cast right back into them.

 

[captron9151]

GOOD JOB , NOT TO BAD ON THE FIRST TIME OUT , WE ONLY CAUGHT 1 ON FRIDAY , KEEP AT IT :beergood:

 

[mini moe]

fishing report 25th

Way to go John!!! Shad,eels, and shad. Did you check the water temperature? How 'bout posting it if you check it when you go. I'm comming up soon and would like to know how cold my paws are gonna be in that water. Thanks.
PS Has anyone heard how the barge sinking effected the fish? Was there a fish kill? Seems like John was fishing pretty much on top of the spot where it went down. Well.....real close anyway.
moe

 

[tonydivefish]

that is still a good day, this years been a little weird.

 

[jkapl001]

Guys, I really appreciate all of the replys and help, I am going to try and go back soon. I used to use cut ells about 10 years ago when I would fish down around Claremont and near the mouth of the Chick. That is how I caught the one in the picture, right up current from a channel marker. The water temp was cold between 37-38 degrees. Thanks for posting the pic of the map, I'll give it a try. These are the post that make TF such a great site. Does the bite stay good through the summer, not that I dont enjoy 4 layers of clothes and icy decks, just wondering. Before this I have always fished for them in the summer, never with this kind of results though.

 

[racn35]

YOU DID DAMN GOOD MAN.....Good for you, go get em yourself and not begging for some else to take you - nice work man.

By the way Jorden Point sells frozen shad inside the store, not as good as fresh but I have used it several times when we cant get bait

 

[jkapl001]

Yeah I looked at there web site and had all that worked out, I missed one tiny tiny detail...........there store hours, they are closed on Sunday, glad I was already partially prepared prior to leaving home. I have just relied on throwing the net before and sometimes you just cant find bait. And yes the cast net is 6', meant to put that in the previous post.

 

[captron9151]

the out flow cooling pipeat dutch gap , was stunning the shad on friday , you could pic them up by hand , they hit the warm water and floated up to the surface , good spot to find bait almost without fail:fishing2:

 

[cavman138]

Thanks to everyone giving advice. Hopefully John and I can get back out there and catch a few more.