large blue cats of VA

[gwl2oneida]

Got a friend asking me to go to VA to fish monster blue cats in the James river. Anyone ever do a trip like this? I'm tempted but its a lot of driving.Any feed back would help.

[kcritch]

Yes I have....Do it dude. It's definitley worth the trip in my mind. Me and the wife did a half day guided trip and had a blast. Our trip was in December 2012 just before New Years...it was 19 degrees in the morning and never got above 25..but the guide had a Pontoon boat with full canvas enclosure and a heater. Fished in a sweatshirt and jeans all day nice and toasty. Biggest one we got was 30lbs with a few in the 15 to 25 and a few more in the 5 to 10 range. And we had a slow day supposedly. We were using chunks of gizzard shad that we netted that day. The bait is the key...just like everywhere. PM me if you want the guides info.

And yes Eddie I caught the biggest one that day...not my wife! :D Although she probably did catch more then me....of course.

[kcritch]

Here are some pics from our day!

[mcfish82]

It's a ton of fun. I've gone twice with captain josh who owns Rivercatn guide service. He has previously held the Md state record cat n he put his clients on the current record in the Potomac river. He also fishes the James river if you want. I've gone twice on the Potomac with him and on both trips pulled in numerous 40 plus with some 50s and 3 sixty plus pounders. He gets upset when it's anything under 40 and guarantees you a trophy cat or your money back. Plus he's one of the coolest/nicest/funniest rednecks you will ever meet! I'd love to get down there again this year if I can

[gwl2oneida]

Thanks guys! Looks like a worthwhile trip for the future.

[catfishonthelake]

From what I hear the James is a sure thing. I've looked into a few of those guides and most of them guarantee a citation (fish over 30 pounds) or you don't pay for your trip.