James River Bass Fishing Report May 1st 2014

 

This James River bass fishing report is from May 1st, 2014. I have been practicing for the Rayovac FLW Series tournament on the James River. Fishing has been better each day out but mother nature has caused a tournament cancellation with a Sept. make up date.

	"I'm pretty bummed out that the James River tournament was canceled but given the conditions it probably was a good call for FLW to make. Flooding, strong currents, high winds, 20 ft - 40 ft floating logs and a train wrecked spilling oil into the James River were just to much to risk as far as anglers safety goes." - Melvin Smitson

Remarkably the bass fishing stayed above average through out all the craziness mother nature sent our way. If I was not a believer in the James River as a top east coast fishery for largemouth bass in the past.

I'm here to tell y'all right now I believe, the James River is the real deal!!! I needed to find out all of these things in a hurry. What baits work on the James River?, What baits don't work on the James River? Where is the best bass fishing structure on the James River?, What is the best time to catch bass on the James River?, Where are the best locations to target bass on the James River?

"I'm not sure I learned all those answers but from Sunday - Thursday I must of reeled in around 300 to 400 largemouth bass on my new Okuma Baitcasting reels, Okuma Spinning reels and Big Bear Fishing Rods. That's a running total for the week from the James River and Chick combined." - Melvin Smitson

Two of those largemouth bass were between 7 lbs - 8 lbs. My new Big Bear Rods landed both of these GAINT BASS with a high amount of confidence factored in from other BIG FISH experiences in the past. (15 lb carp, 12 lb rockfish, 10 lb catfish, 4 ft snakehead) You can also add two 12 lb - 14 lb bowfin to the list of BIG FISH I landed on my Big Bear Fishing Rods in the Chickahominy River today.

 

 

On Tuesday, I put in at Osborne landing and found a lot of 2 lb - 3lb largemouth bass up shallow and along the river banks close bye. In a location they call Meads, I was using a Okuma Helios spinning reel on a medium light action Big Bear spinning rod. I had a weightless wacky soft plastic stick bait similar to a Gambler Ace tied on. Once I noticed that all of the bass were males, I started fishing a little deeper looking for the bigger females in the group.

 

I switched over to using a Okuma Citrix 5.4.1 baitcasting reel on a medium action Big Bear casting rod with a deep diving crankbait tied on. It was not to long before the bass started getting bigger. Fishing in right around the 8ft mark seemed to be the key for catching the bigger bass while in the area called Meads. After this discovery, I headed back out onto the James River looking for rocky points and deep water. BINGO the pattern is panning out with several bass in the 4 lb - 5 lb range on the deep diving crankbait.

 

Feeling pretty good about the deep water pattern. I started up the Mercury 250 HP and started looking for shallow coves and bays that might have some BIG spawning bass in them. I did find a nice looking bay and caught a few bedding bass on a lizard while sneaking up on them with my Motor Guide trolling motor. 

 

On Wed, I put in at College Creek. I also fished a few creeks like Chippokes Creek and Morris Creek. Winding up in a place called Buzzards Bay before the wind, rain and lightning cut my day short. Mostly 2 lb fish in the creeks and 1lb - 2lb fish in Buzzards Bay. Wed fish were caught on wacky soft plastic stick baits up shallow and around cypress trees. Thank goodness my Zeko Shoes dry fast and are water resistant, I needed them today!!!

 

Thursday, Day 1 of the Rayovac FLW Series James River tournament was canceled. So I took my boat out of the James River and went to a lake on the Chickahominy River. I started out using a Gambler EZ Swimmer and did pretty good. The EZ Swimmer landed around 30 bass in the 2 lb - 3 lb range. The wacky soft plastic stick bait similar to Gambler Ace produced another 30 or so bass off cypress trees. The kicker today came when I broke out my Okuma Citrix 5.4.1 baitcasting reel on my medium action Big Bear casting rod and tied on a deep diving crankbait. BAM!!! There she was another BIG BASS, this time it was an 8 lb largemouth bass laying out deep in the grass.

 

Summing up my fishing trip to the James river I would say it was excellent time overall. I tied into two of the BIGGEST largemouth bass that I have caught in my life and had a good time doing it. Camping out in a cabin was cold and I had lots of layers on at night but the anticipation of what the next day might bring helped me get through it. I was tight on funds and light on sleep thanks to a ground shaking train that rolled by every few hours. My best time spent was when I mapped out a plan of action each night at the cabin. Then I drove with truck to the ramp closet to desired fishing location each day. For the most part there were boats flying up and down the river at each location. I settled into the Chickahominy Rver because it had fewer issues during my stay and produced larger bass on average. Water temps were 62 - 68 degrees with the James being stained to muddy and the water in the Chic was a lot clearer. This concludes my James River bass fishing report.