5 Trophy Gar and Chunky Cat

It was what I was hoping for.  

They were everywhere.  

I took Jeff to a spot down on the James River below Hopewell and got into them quickly.  Minnows on the bottom as well as under bobbers didn't last long.  We lost count of the mid to upper 30" gar.  The hard part was letting them run after they picked up the bait.  If it was too earlier, we could feel them drop and the minnow would come back missing scales.  When we timed it right, we were treated to fast streaks and tail walking mayhem.  Anytime you have a 40 plus inch fish jump clear out of the water multiple times then thrash right next to your kayak with mouth wide open and full of please don't get in the kayak yet, adrenaline will flow.

Over the span of a few hours I tallied 5 citations up to a little over 44".  Jeff got the timing right as well and landed a citation also right at 40". 

After running out of minnows, I found a nice channel with a sharp drop off.  We dropped chunks of gizzard shad on 8/0 circle carolina rigs and I quickly had a strong take down.  The heavy catfish swung my kayak around in a hurry but somehow the circle hook came out.  Not too long after, this 41"er gave me a chance for redemption.

I wish I had brought my scale because it had been eating very, very well.

The trophy blue catfish was a most welcome cherry on top of a an already awesome day.  

Still Messin' Around on the River

While looking forward to getting back to the Chesapeake, the James River in hometown Richmond has kept me entertained.  Quick trips after work have yielded an abundance of hickory shad as well as some white perch, herring, and American Shad.  Reports of big catfish and some stripers have picked up as well.

American Shad.

Remember you are not allowed to possess herring or American Shad.

Jeff Lockhart and I hit the river after work on Monday.  It took a bit to find the fish but once we did it was hook up after hook up.  Shad flies as well as spoons produced many hits.  After the sun went down we put out chunks of hickory shad on 8/0 circles hooks.  It was slower than I was expecting but after a while, Jeff's kayak started dragging anchor as he went to work hauling in a good size fish.  An impressive set of splashes caught enough interest from me to pull my anchor up to see what it was.

Jeff crushed his previous personal best blue catfish with this fat 43"er.  

We stuck around a little longer, messed with smaller cats, and called it a good night in RVA.  The short drive back home left little time to plan the next trip, 

but we both agree...

The salt calls.

After Work Bottom Chunkin'

The shad fishing was slow, which is a little unusual for this time of year.  But I'm sure it'll pick right back up.  We managed a few white perch and decided to chunk up a few a little ways down river.  The catfishing was slow too, but I lucked out with one blue at 37.5". 

Not a monster by James River standards, but still good times.

Cats, Sunnies, a Long Paddle and some Flounder

As kind as he was about sharing one of his speckled trout spots with me, I had to help Matt Anderson when he decided to try for catfish up my way.  5 o'clock couldn't come soon enough and I bolted from my office chair to meet him at the launch.  He had been out earlier with Dan Smullen and had a 29" blue cat for an online tournament he was hoping to win.  When we got to the water, I realized the water was higher than I thought it would be.  It was not a problem as far as the paddle goes, but for the spot I like to fish, it was a few feet higher than I like.  We still got into some fish just as the sun was setting.  I managed 4 or 5 with the biggest blue cat going ~31" and the biggest flathead going ~27"...nothing huge but still a good time.  Matt went on to win the tourney with the fish he caught earlier. 


The next day I went looking for crawdads in the creek down the street.  I was hoping to use some for bait, but they were nowhere to be found.  But I did find something else.  I went back home, grabbed my flyrod and had a good time sight casting to these little guys.

 
Red Breasted Sunfish (note the elongated ear flap)

Gotta love those colors

Planning my next trip got me excited.  Everything was packed and ready for the 3am departure.  All antsy and excited, I felt like a little kid.  Tossing and turning, thoughts of what could happen... oh the possibilities.  

The Eastern Shore greeted me with an amazing sunrise and light winds.  Long story short, I looked for bull reds, chummed for cobia,  and dropped clam bits for spades and sheeps.  I saw none and caught none.  An extremely long paddle in some new areas yielded small grey trout, sand perch, croaker and black sea bass... disappointing to say the least but at least I tried and learned a little about the new location.  My last ditch effort just before sunset had me jigging for flounder near the launch area.  That saved the day... 21", 20", 16" and 14".  

Back to the River

I almost forgot what it was like to drive less than an hour to go fishing.  My attraction to the salt had been pretty intense lately.  But today, I decided to switch things up and stay close to home.  I also decided to switch things up even more by going after something a little unusual..... GAR!

I found out about a spot on the James river that's loaded with gar.  However, the nearest public launch area was over 8 miles away and I didn't have time to dedicate to that kind of distance.  Staying determined, I did a little research on google maps.  Then I worked a little charm on a nice old lady who let me drag my kayak through her property.  Next thing I knew I was only a 15 minute paddle from the spot. Ya gotta love being able to do that with a kayak.

As I got closer to the spot, I could see the gar breaching the surface.  They were all over the place and some were definitely pushing 4 feet long.  I've used artificials/lures on them before but found it extremely frustrating since the hook up ratio on those skinny nosed gar was very low.  I decided to bring minnows this time, but it was still difficult to hook one.  The gar would grab it, then run, but wouldn't actually eat it for quite some time.  I would keep yanking it out of their teeth.

Speaking of teeth, I know some people have used frayed nylon rope as a lure and had pretty decent success with it.  The teeth would get tangled in the fine strands of rope and the angler could fight and land it.  I tried, but the fish didn't want anything to do with it, or any artificials I threw at them.

Eventually, I finally got one to eat a minnow, and with light tackle, it was a very enjoyable fight.  I got a little nervous when I pulled it close to the yak.  The prehistoric looking beast started tail dancing with it's mouth open... all 3 zillion pointy teeth flailing around in close proximity.

I think they're actually very pretty, except for their face.  My wife says they got "butterface".  I didn't see that one coming.  Anyway, my free lined minnows couldn't find the inside of another gar's mouth for the rest of the day.  But they did find several catfish, including this 42" citation blue cat...

I was a little surprised that this leviathan went after a 4" minnow.  

Just before I called it a day this pretty little James River striper came up to bid me adieu.

It was a nice day to change things up.