The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Shenandoah Division is entering the home stretch, with the fourth of five events scheduled for the James River in Virginia on July 27. The famed river will host the final two events of the year and should offer excellent summertime fishing and an action-packed end to the 2024 season.
Tournament details
Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Shenandoah Division
James River
Henrico, VA
July 27
About the fishery
The historic James River is significant to both America and tournament bass-fishing history. Its waters flow past the Virginia capitol, Richmond, and Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement dating back to 1607. For bass fishing history, the river has hosted many tournaments at all levels, up to the Bassmaster Classic.
The tidal river is also chock full of bass. Excellent habitat abounds From the James proper to the Chickahominy and Appomattox Rivers. Anglers can target artificial structures such as docks, sunken barges, and duck blinds. There’s also a host of natural habitat, including various vegetation and cypress tree-lined banks.
Maryland’s Brian Laclair is a tidal river ace with a pile of Major League Fishing Top 10s on tidal fisheries, including the James River. He says the summertime on all fisheries in the region can be excellent.
“The fish on all of the tidal river fisheries are feeding up, even though it’s a while after postspawn,” Laclair said. “After the bunker and white perch spawn in the system, the rivers are full of fry and the bass are gorging on them.”
Laclair expects solid weights at this late-July event and says the chance for a kicker largemouth exists. The Chickahominy River has been stocked with F1 fingerlings – a cross between Northern and Florida-strain largemouth – which has helped to increase the size potential of bass swimming in the fishery.
“For a one-day event like this, between 16 and 18 pounds should win unless someone gets one of those big Floridas,” he said. “Someone may catch a 9-pounder and their weight will jump up. But, for the most part, a limit of solid threes and 4-pounders is what you need to get close to a win on the James in the summer.”
What to expect
Laclair and likely many others in the field watched the coverage of the Bass Pro Tour event on James in June, and that has him excited about the fishing quality.
“It looked like those guys caught them pretty dang good,” Laclair said. “I also liked to see that several of the top finishers were out on the James itself and fishing docks, which is what I like to do there. My approach is to find a pod of fish nobody else is fooling with and stay away from the crowds.”
Speaking of crowds, the Chickahominy River should attract most of the boats in this event. While it’s not Laclair’s style to fish around a bunch of boats, he recognizes the draw of the popular tributary.
“The Chick is loaded with fish and cover and it can definitely be won there,” he said. “If I fish in there, I still try to find the fish others aren’t targeting. I’ve had some good tournaments in there, so I usually check it and if it doesn’t happen right away, I get out of there.”
As for how he approaches the fishing, Laclair keeps tabs on the tide and moves quickly under most circumstances.
“I like to fish a lot of areas during practice to find them, and the main thing to figure out is what region of the river they are in and how far into or away from the creeks they are,” he said. “I throw a spinnerbait to get my limit fish and then start flipping for a bigger bite, but that’s just me. Another way to generate a big bite is a frog; sometimes, that’s your best shot at a big one.”