Windy Weekend

The forecast for this weekend looked nice with the exception of one thing, the wind.  The forecast called for winds of at least 15kts with stronger gusts and I knew I wouldn’t be able to fish the larger lakes I have been fishing.  Plan B was to downsize to a small pond protected by wind.  I rigged up the SUPerFISHal for some bass fishing.  Since it is a small pond I was pretty sure the fish would be in a few specific locations.  One of these spots was a large laydown tree.  I ran a crankbait through the outside limbs and it was smashed by a nice 19.5in bass.

 After I released it I pitched a jig with a PowerTeam Lures Craw D’oeuvre trailer.  I hopped my jig once and then it was picked up by a 18in bass.  I kept pitching my jig and working my crankbait by some more cover and picked up a few more nice largemouths up to 20in. 

  My Dad was using a jerkbait and live bait and also picked up a few bass.  As the day went on we each caught our fair share of bass and pickerel and were going to call it a day. 

  My Dad pitched his last live bait near some cover and it was almost immediately nailed by a good fish.  After a short fight he landed a big pickerel.  He placed it on the board and it measured 24.75in, a Virginia Trophy Citation.  After snapping a few pictures, we watched it swim off and we called it a day.

The next day was forecasted to be a little colder with steady winds out of the north.  I loaded up my Cuda 14 and targeted catfish.  This time of year catfish invade the marshes and creeks of the lower James River, and it makes for easy and fun fishing.  I timed the tides so wouldn’t have to paddle against them and I paddled into a large creek and set up my baits.  After only 15minutes, I already had several small cats in the boat.

  The bite continued most of the day.  The action was so hot, at times I had double and even triple headers with 15in-22in catfish.  I fished until I ran out of bait and the current was too strong.  A short easy paddle back to the truck with a stringer full of good eating catfish ended the day.