When most think of East Coast tidal fisheries, they think of the Potomac River. Thing is, not far away to the south, the James River has even bigger fish and plenty of numbers, as it’s been showing in some major events in the last couple seasons. Now, it’s set to do it again for the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Shenandoah Division Super Tournament on September 7-8.
Tournament details
Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Shenandoah Division Super Tournament
Henrico, Va.
Sept. 7-8
About the fishery
While its northern brother is mainly all about vegetation, the James River – along with its tributaries, the Chickahominy and Appomattox Rivers – are mainly about cover.
Sure, all three rivers still have plenty of grass and most of the fishing is shallow power fishing – these fish see plenty of spinnerbaits, vibrating jigs, topwaters and crankbaits – but most anglers focus on the seemingly endless cypress trees, along with man-made cover like docks, sunken barges, and duck blinds.
Those are not the only major differences between the James and Potomac. As stated earlier, the James has far bigger fish thanks to the Chickahominy River having been stocked with F1 fingerlings – a cross between Northern and Florida-strain largemouth – which has made catching a 10-pounder from these waters not an uncommon thing for anglers.
What to expect
If more than 60 years of fishing the James has taught Frank Poirier anything, it’s how two key factors can determine success or failure on the fishery.
The first is the tide.
“It has a big, big influence on how the fish behave,” Poirier said. “You’ll have guys who don’t understand it, be catching fish in practice in a spot, and then run there at the wrong time in the tournament and not get a bite.”
While catching fish won’t be a problem for most anglers – it’s not uncommon to catch upwards of 50 fish a day in early fall – anglers are going to need to maximize the best feeding windows around the tides to capitalize on the second key factor – catching a kicker.
“One big fish changes everything here,” said Poirier. “Catching a 10-pounder could change your life, but even a 6- or 7-pounder can turn a mediocre bag into one that’s in contention.”
Speaking of contention, Poirier said most everyone will probably catch a limit, but the majority will be small, in the 10-12-pound range. That’s where those quality bites will be key to get an angler up around the 18 pounds a day they’ll need to make a run at winning this derby.
“It’s going to be a fun event,” Poirier said. “Anglers are going to be able to spread out between the three rivers, and all three are as healthy as I’ve seen.”