A Shallow Water James River Hawg

It's interesting that the recent issue of In-Fisherman has a story on catching shallow water blue cats on the James River, as this is where and how this fish was caught! It was an overcast day with a generally slow bite, but as the tide turned favorably I setup on a shallow water flat <10 feet deep. I cast a spread of six rods with cut gizzard shad in all directions around the boat and began the wait. Within minutes drag is peeling on my Abu 6500 Black Cat and my Ugly Stik Tiger Lite rod is bent to the water. I enjoyed a tremendous fight with this fish using this combo, and eventually got it to the boat - weighed, photographed, and released to fight another day! It was and still is the second largest catfish I've caught, but I hope to bump it down a few notches in the coming year!