Stripers on the James River

Because of a recent cold front, this weekend brought us some ugly weather, preventing many people from fishing. It had appeared though that Sunday was starting to look better as time passed. Having this weekend off, I was anxious to get out and do some fishing.

Staying local, I launched out of Deep Creek around 1pm and proceeded out to the James River.  I trolled a Stretch lure as well as two bucktails on a tandem rig, trying to cover different depths in search of Striped Bass. I worked the edges of the channel moving towards the Ghost Fleet. 

No strikes, but then I turned around and trolled down river, and shortly after my luck changed. I could tell my looking at my rod that the Stretch had started to bump along the bottom, then within several seconds, the rod bends and I end up catching a nice 23 inch Striper!

I had other things to take care of today, so after the catch I didn't spend too much time out. Was back at Deep Creek by 430pm. It was definitely much colder out, the coldest it's been since I've started jet ski fishing, and I know it won't get any warmer anytime soon. I have most my cold weather gear already, just waiting on a couple things to arrive in the mail and I'll be all set. As for today, I was able to stay warm wearing a wet suit.


Water temperature on the James River was at 59 degrees, definitely a big drop from just not too long ago.

Columbus Day Rockfishin'

Had the chance this evening to do a little bit of fishing. Headed over down to the boat ramp near the James River Bridge and proceeded to head towards the Monior Merrimac Tunnel. Once I arrived I started trolling and about half an hour later my rod bends instantly and I land a 22' Rockfish, not bad! I really wanted to continue fishing but my Stretch lure's eye came off on one side. No big deal right? I thought so too, until I started using it. It would start to decent towards deeper water, then head right back up on one side, usually verring off to the left. Without the eye, the shape of the lure on one side is considerably different. Cant' complain, caught at least one fish so I went back to the boat ramp and called it a day!

James River Blues

After coming off of duty this morning, I decided to make a short afternoon fishing trip to the MMBT in search of some Stripers. I launched near the James River Bridge around 12pm, in time for the tide change over at the MMBT. Not a lot was being caught, there was one boat that was very successful however, trolling various Stretch lures. Good size Stripers too.

After some time with no luck, I figured I'd give the JRB a shot. I cast out my Storm Shad a couple times and finally got some a couple strikes but not hookup. I tried again, this time hooking into the fish. It didn't quite feel like a Striper though but it fought hard. When it finally came close to the top, I couldn't quite make out what it was, but the drag started ripping from my reel. This fish didn't want to leave the water. The fight became more intense, then shortly I landed the fish. To my surprise it was a 16" Bluefish!

 After catching tiny Blues off Cape Henry, it was surprising to see such a larger Blue in the James River

 The Bluefish attack signature...no more paddle tail on the shad.

Overall, it was a nice day out. Colder then I expected, I'll have to dress a little warmer next time. Water temps are dropping, the James River was at 67-69 degrees during my entire time out. Glad I was able to at least catch something right before heading back in for the day.

James River Bridge, Striped Bass Season Kick-Off

Since getting my Sea Doo, I have rarely fished off any fishing pier. The freedom of going out on the water and going wherever you want is absolutely hard to beat, but there's those days it's a lot easier and quicker to just go to the pier. Also, Virginia does not allow PWC's to be operated at night. This is likely due to how reckless many PWC owner can be. As far as I know, there is no exception to this rule as of yet, even if I were to install proper navigation lights. Hopefully that will change once day, it'd be nice to do a few night trips.

Anyways, Striped Bass season has just opened, so to celebrate I made my down to the James River Bridge Fishing Pier around 8PM and fished for almost 3 hours. I caught 5 Stripers, ranging from 14-18 inches, as well as two Grey Trout, one that was of respectable size. It was a lot of fun on light tackle. I was using just a silver Gotcha plug.  All caught and released.