fishing vacation on james river

[bcbassmaster]

I have an opportunity to visit my brother in richman va the first weekend in oct. I would like to fish the james river and would like your help to find some good areas. I have a 18 foot bass boat and i will be fishing with my son. we both belong to a club in new jersey and have fished smaller bodies of water. We only have a day and a half to fish and would like to have fun and not spend all our time trying to figure things out. we have purchased some maps. if anyone can share some locations. patterns and baits it will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Nottoway]

Dutch Gap Area, and the pits in this area.  Throw crankbait at everything.

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

8-)

[rondef]

to the forum

[johnkook73]

Hello, welcome to the forums. If you decide to fish the main river, there are alot of rock jetties near the big I295 bridge. I have alot success using crankbaits and grub worms. I also suggest going to the upper appomattox. Just be aware there are alot of mud flats in that area. Probably your best bet is going there when its high tide. If you need any other help pm me.

John

[robchoi]

If you wanna get down and dirty, you can hop the rocks at Pony Pasture and get plenty of smallmouth.  They're not gigantic, but still a lot of fun.  I pulled a 3lber earlier this year.  They'll take anything from spinners to lizards/worms.  Just skip from pool to pool and you'll find them.

[Sam]

You have some great choices within 50 miles of Richmond so do not limit yourself to the Historic James River.

If you have the GMCO maps you can find these places to launch your boat.

Lower James River

Dutch Gap; Hopewell Marina; Osborne Landing

Upper James River

Watkins Landing

Pony Pasture for Smallmouths

Dutch Gap and Osborne Landing place you just east of Richmond. Hopewell Marina gives you easy access to the James and Appomattox Rivers.  If you can make it to Herring Creek give it a try.

Lake Chesdin

Seven Springs Marina; Public Ramp in Dinwiddie County across from Seven Springs.

Pamunkey River

Williams Landing in New Kent County.

Lake Anna

Sturgeon Landing; Anna Marina.

Ponds

Innsbrook Area, especially Lake Rook after you cross Nuckols Road on Cox Road.

If you want to venture out a little, Sandy River Reservoir is a good place for trolling motor fishing.  Briery Creek south of Farmville is also a good spot.

Search this site for the names of the aforementioned rivers, lakes and ponds to see what you can find.

If you can get a color map of Richmond you can find other places to fish from the bank.

When fishing the James River, please be very careful.  It is an unforgiving body of water with sand bars and mud flats so it is imperative that you check the tide charts before venturing out to fish any tidal river in the vicinity.

Scroll down to find the river you will want to fish.

www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/virginiasites.html

And contact John as he knows other places to fish in the area, too.

Have fun.  

[Sam]

Should be Anna Point Marina.

And welcome to the forum.  

[johnkook73]

Oh good one Sam, I forgot about Herring Creek. If you go there...travel about a 1/2 mile up and there are alot of docks, trees and duck blinds where I have pulled some nice ones.

John

[Sam]

John!  John!  John!

Don't tell everyone about Herring Creek.

Opps, too late.  ;D

It is a hike, about 8 miles, from Hopewell Marina, but worth the trip.

Just watch the wind and waves as the James can turn on you in a heartbeat.

[bcbassmaster]

thanks all for the useful info.  I fish the tidal delaware river here in NJ and am pretty familiar with the bass's seasonal patterns.  typically by Oct. the fish are starting to make their way to the back of the creeks and deeper coves.  Does the same hold true on the james or are they still on the main river.

It looks like we will be fishing an incoming tide most of the day and suggestions for fishing incoming tides?

[Sam]

Only suggestion I can think of for an incoming tide is to fish east of Richmond and follow the tide up river, fishing the shore and jetties and drop offs.

Lots of places to fish so get a GMCO map of the Lower James River and Chickahominy River and see all of the creeks and places to fish the rivers.

Have fun.