JAMES RIVER CATS
 

Bait-On the James River

We need big fresh bait for that big hook and the big fish. The very best bait you can get is what the blue catfish are feeding on and a large part of their diet is shad....but not limited to only shad.....of course Bluegill, Brim, Eel, and a good number of smaller fish make up part of the blue's diet if they happen to come across one. Not long a go I pulled in a 38 pound blue and was taking a photo and it regurgitated in the boat.....half an eel was sticking out of its' mouth.

Now big and fresh are key words in describing bait. The larger the shad, the more oil they contain, which means more scent in the water. A few catfisherman use a bait tank but in the fall and winter all seem to use coolers packed in ice. To keep shad fresh they need to be on ice but without being in the melting ice water. I just bag my shad and keep them on ice. If the shad are allowed to set in water they become soggy and also loose some of the scent. As a rule of thumb most will change bait on the rods every 30 minutes or so, to keep it fresh and to release maximum scent to the bait area.

DGIF biologist Bob Greenlee said �All the information I have at this point indicates that the 100-pound mark is within reach, Greenlee, who manages the James' catfish fishery. �The James is a highly productive system, and as long as the forage -- primarily gizzard shad -- holds out we will continue to see the size structure for blue cat catches expand upward, possibly topping the 100-pound mark this year or next.� all & winter I have not talked to anyone...ran across anyone....heard of anyone that used anything but cut bait on the James fishing for the trophy blues.....other than bait be sure to gear up that tackle for the big boys and girls. In the spring...White perch usually arrive in the James around end March- middle April. A lot of fisherman use perch for live bait. Also there are some that use Bluegill and Crappie.

Below are pics from John Sherman's article...he will get 4 pieces of cut bait from an 12-14 inch shad I only get 3...always dispose of the tail.

• Head
• Mid Section or some refer to if as gut pocket
• Shad cut in 4 sections

• Read John's complete article with lots of info, bait, tackle, the river:
  Trophy Blue Cats

I would guess 75-85% of the catfisherman use chunks for cut bait...but some do scale all the shad they use, some will fillet the shad, using the head and carcass on other lines. I have seen some cut the fillet up to the head leave it attached and run the hook through the fillet and head.

Just remember never leave a scale on the point of the hook and always leave plenty of hook exposed....

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