Lower James River April 2005


Name: Rich K
Email:
Date: 4/22/05
Time: 5 PM - 7 PM

Place

Lower James River (Appomatox)

Weather

Overcast clearing

Water

Dingy 62'ish

Locations

Old River Channel

Fish

2 LMB 1 - 1 1/2 Lbs

Lures

Jerkbait/Senko

Depth

1-5'

Method

Slow

Comments

Took my Neighbor kid fishing for his first time (on a boat), we didn't have a lot of time for the VAFISHING "research" that I would have liked as the tide was getting where I have a lot of succes in this area when we had to leave. He caught the bigger of the 2 on the senko T-Rigged with a light slip sinker to fight the current at about the same time I caught mine. We made a few more casts and then left.


Name: Trey Goodman
Email: hookpuller@yahoo.com
Date: 4/16/05
Time: 7:00-4:00

Place

Lower James River

Weather

WINDY

Water

1-2ft vis

Locations

Pits

Fish

LMB

Lures

Carolina rig, spinnerbait

Depth

1-14

Method

fished the hooters tournament yesterday on the james. Tough day of fishing, very sunny and windy. We only had 4 bites all day. Broke one off and landed 3 that went 11.82 total.

Comments


Name: Bill
Email: BigFishAddict@aol.com
Date: 04/13/05
Time: mid-day

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Was supposed to be raining, almost called it off but it cleared up, windy though.

Water

Getting clearer up river.

Locations

Between I-95 bridge and the R/R tracks.

Fish

White Perch and lots of them.

Lures

Sabiki Rig with six hooks.

Depth

Method

Comments

Well the weather turned out to be pretty decent after all. Went with my regular fishing partner and we caught close to 100 White Perch! On some casts we were reeling in 5 at a time. The fishing was awesome. Kept several for eating and threw the rest back for another day. Had a couple that were very close to citation size but not. Catching that many I had hoped for a citation.


Name: Rich K
Email:
Date: 4/11/05
Time: 1 - 5 PM

Place

Lower James River / Appomatox

Weather

Clear upper 60's windy

Water

62-64 deg heavy chop below Benjamin Harris Bridge

Locations

Mouth of Herring Creek/Old Appomatox River Channel

Fish

1 LMB in the Appomatox

Lures

Spinner through wood

Depth

1-14

Method

Bounced spinner through laydowns

Comments

Well, I managed to sneak out and get on the water finally. I was aiming for some shad at first, but I lost any hope for it as the further down river I went the bigger the chop got. Two foot white caps, and strong winds downstream of the B.H. Bridge. I tried to fish anyway, but way too windy. I was seeing huge schools on the fishfinder. I motored back up through Hopewell, and fished the old river channel for the rest of the day. Managed (1) 13.5" LMB, and numerous short strikes before calling it a day.


Name: Trey Goodman
Email: hookpuller@yahoo.com
Date: 04/11/05
Time: 8:00-3:00

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Sunny

Water

stained

Locations

Pits on lower James and Appomattox rivers.

Fish

Bass and Crappie

Lures

Tx rigged plastics, spinnerbaits, 1/32oz Crappie jig

Depth

2-15

Method

Started off the day hitting the pits. Caught a few bass on plastics and one on spinnerbait. Decided to run up in the Appomattox and try Crappie fishing. Caught 25-30 in about an hour and a half. Later in the afternoon we were fishing in the Meads pit and I happened to see a huge gar cruising just below the surface. I see lots of them in the river but this one was a monster. I couldnt resist pitching a floating worm to him......game on!!!!!! He stripped about 60ft of line off then the hook popped out.

Comments


Name: Bill
Email: BigFishAddict@aol.com
Date: 04/11/05
Time: 12p-430p

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Beautiful day, Sunny and warm, no clouds

Water

still a little muddy

Locations

Upper end of the lower James near the head of tide, between the I-95 bridge and the R/R bridge.

Fish

White Perch, Shad, Blue Herring, and one baby Crappie.

Lures

Sabiki rig on light rod and reel

Depth

everything

Method

cast and sweep

Comments

After getting blanked at Briery yesterday, I was in need of confidence builder, so I took my son shad fishing. It was his best day fishing ever and pretty darn good for me too. We caught and released 86 good sized, hard fighting , shad and blue herring in 4 1/2 hours. Also caught about a dozen nice white perch that I gave to my neighbor for dinner. Boy we wore them out today. It made up for yesterday in my book.


Name: Kc188
Email:
Date: 4/7/2005
Time: 10 - 2 p.m.

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Cloudy and Very windy

Water

Muddy

Locations

Actually fished the Appomattox river.

Fish

Large mouth Bass

Lures

Spinnerbait, crankbait, soft plastic craw

Depth

5-7 feet

Method

slow presentation is what I caught the fish on.

Comments

Wow, it was windy. I had to locate areas to get out of the wind. Started with spinnerbait and crankbait without a hit. Then switced to a soft plastic craw and caught two nice LMB. Both of these came out of the same area, off of a rocky bank. Water temps were a consistent 60 degrees and muddy


Name: Blackie Lee
Email: blackielee2003@yahoo.com
Date: 04/04/05
Time: 7:00AM4:30PM

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Windy

Water

Muddy

Locations

Dutch Gap area

Fish

Striper/Blue catfish

Lures

Cut shad

Depth

2ft.to 27ft.

Method

Bottom fishing

Comments

Water was high but not as high as I thought it would be. Lots of stuff in the muddy water. Oh and a little windy too. Doug and I was able to catch one little striper about 18 inches and three catfish 18,20 and one 31 pounds. And did I mention all caught and released in the Dutch Gap area.


Name: Bill
Email: BigFishAddict@aol.com
Date: 04/02/05
Time: 12-130pm

Place

Lower James River

Weather

Heavy rain

Water

high and muddy

Locations

Ancarrows landing, same place as yesterday.

Fish

American Shad, Blueback Herring, Alewife

Lures

Sabiki rig

Depth

Method

Sweep and reel

Comments

Caught a few more today but the rain was pounding. Couldnt take it for too long. River is still a mess. Caught all fish by snagging them, mostly in the tail. Im still waiting for some clean water for the bite.


Name: Bill
Email: BigFishAddict@aol.com
Date: 04/01/05
Time: 1pm -2pm

Place

Lower James River

Weather

overcast but comfortable

Water

high and very muddy, big debris has mostly subsided

Locations

On the stone wall above Ancarrows landing on the south side of the James in Richmond.

Fish

8 fish in 1 hour. 4 American Shad, 2 Alewife, 1 Blueback Herring and 1 confused blue catfish.

Lures

Sabiki Rig,6, #8 gold hooks with wings

Depth

all

Method

cast as far as you can then retrieve with a sweeping motion

Comments

They're here!! I have been trying for a few days with no luck. Rivers a mess. Tried again today and caught one on the 1st cast. Only had an hour to fish before working the evening shift. It payed off. All fish were caught snagged, not mouth hooked. This tells me the river is still too muddy for the fish to see the lures but also tells me there are significant numbers of shad in the river to be able to snag that many in an hour. All fish were big for shad and they fought surprisingly very hard. The blue herring I caught was the biggest of all and the biggest one I have ever seen or caught. I was in my dress clothes and didnt have scales or tape. We luckily missed todays rain. If Saturdays downpours dont happen we will be into them big time. Im going back in the morning. I didnt see anyone else fishing for them because of the high water, but they are there. Bill

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