TIDAL AND BRACKISH-WATER CATS

Over the past couple of decades, some of the hottest blue-cat fishing has surfaced in tidal rivers, particularly along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Non-native blue cats forage on plentiful gizzard shad and herring, leading to some of the most productive fisheries today. In rivers such as the James and Potomac in Virginia, and the Cape Fear in North Carolina, among others, anglers are tangling with big numbers of trophy-class cats. Yes, the blue tide has come in, and there’s good fishing all the way to where rivers meet salt.

As an example of the burgeoning fisheries, blue catfish were stocked in the James River in the 1970s and really took off in the 1990s. “Blues were putting on 10-pound increments each year, says Bob Greenlee, district fishery biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. “Fifty-pounders were unheard of in the 1990s; now 70s are common and a handful of 80s are caught each year. The state record 95-pound 11-ounce blue was caught in the James in June 2006,” he says. “There’s an unbelievable biomass of blues out there. We see electrofishing catch rates up to 2,000 fish per hour.”

WEIR ON THE JAMES RIVER

Jimmy Weir, a blue cat specialist from Virginia Beach, Virginia, has a knack for producing big blue cats in almost any weather or water condition and is a consistent performer in local tournaments. He and his partners have logged 10-fish creels pushing close to 300 pounds. Time now to follow his approach to finding and catching big blue cats in tidal rivers. His tactics are deceptively simple, having been refined through years of experience, and should help you catch more and bigger blues from the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs you fish.

Creating & Sustaining a Trophy Fishery

In-Fisherman Publisher Steve Hoffman: Many catmen are surprised to learn of the abundance of trophy blue cats in the James, Rappahannock, and other tidal rivers. Why are the cats in these rivers getting so big, so fast?

Weir: Tidal rivers like the James contain diverse habitat—huge flats, small tributary creeks, and lots of main-channel habitat like holes and steep ledges. The two major rivers that feed the James, the Appomattox and Chickahominy, also contain similar habitat and support their own populations of resident blue cats. This diversity, coupled with an abundance of baitfish and a strong catch-and-release ethic, has made the James River one of the best rivers for blue cats anywhere.

Hoffman: As the average size of blue cats in the James River has increased, anglers seem more willing to release big fish—those weighing 40 pounds or more. How have local catfish tournaments promoted the release of large blues?

Weir: Many of the best anglers in this area fish tournaments, and most realize that this is a finite fishery. The resource will continue to improve only if we conserve what we already have. Rules requiring the release of big fish should be mandatory for all tournaments. All of our Virginia Catfish Association tournaments require fish to be weighed alive, but we realize that rules alone aren’t good enough. Keeping a 30- to 40-pounder or bigger fish alive requires a large livewell with a good circulation system.

Livewell systems with this kind of capacity aren’t a factory option on most freshwater boats, but transforming a 120-quart cooler or other container into a suitable livewell is easy. All you need is a 750-gallon-per-minute, through-transom pump; about three feet of 3/4-inch hose; a short piece of 3/4-inch PVC pipe; and a 3/4-inch PVC end cap. Drill a series of holes in the PVC pipe and mount the spray bar inside the cooler. If the water is changed every hour or so, large cats can be kept alive for several days.

Hoffman: Many tournament organizers I’ve talked with claim that live-release tournaments lack support, particularly in the Southeast. They say participants and spectators want to see numbers of big fish—dead or alive.

Weir: That lacks vision. No fishery can support numbers of trophy fish and unlimited harvest indefinitely. These tournament promoters should reduce the creel limit to increase fish survival, particularly on big fish venues. At our tournaments, participants are allowed to weigh only three fish. Five fish were permitted a few years ago, but the average size of the fish has increased dramatically.