James River - 2/18

[gnfsnva]

Hit the water with my boat for the first time in a while on Saturday. My main goal was to get some run time on the old Merc after sitting in the garage since Thanksgiving, but while I was at it, figured I'd take a couple of my boys and soak some minnows. I invited my dad along too, and it was his first time on my boat since its maiden voyage back when I first got it some 6-7 years ago.

Ran into Andy L. (Stratos976) at the ramp as we were putting in. He only had one bite, but it was good to see a buddy on the water.

The XR6 cranked up on the first try and we were off.

Headed into the barge pits and found water was much cleaner than expected with temps in 49-51 range for the day. No bites in the barge pit, so we headed to another pit area and kept on soaking. My boys, despite the inactivity were having a great time eating, shooting the breeze with my dad, and playing in the minnow bucket. We only had one hook-up on the day, and Bryce was on point. He saw the bobber was down, grabbed the rod and went to work on a chunky bite that was probably close to 4lbs, which is a new PB for him. In hindsight, I think we needed to soak them longer than I was allowing before recasting. Two young kids moving all over the boat, asking for this and that, probably had us rushing and not focusing as much as we could have been.

We only had a couple hours on the water, but this trip reminded me how close I am to some great river fishing. 35-min to Osbourne and 40-min to Rockahock...yet I continuously drive up to Anna Sux (1:05) and the Potomac (1:20). I need to do this more often, as I hooked up, drove down and dropped in, fished for a solid 3-hours, and got home cleaned up and back in the garage all in the space of time that my wife was at work. It was almost like it never happened...LOL

Unfortunately, I found that my jack-plate was cracked at the end of the day, so that sux like Anna, but I'll be back on the water soon enough. Not sure how or why it cracked, but it did, so I'll get it replaced and move on.

Here's a couple pics on the day.

[PsuHntr]

very cool!

[31Airborne]

great pics and a great fish.

[River Bum]

Always fun when the kids are having fun!

[Stratos976]

Thats awesome Ek!! Good pics and a great fish for Bryce to catch. Hard to beat a nice day like that spending time together, it was good to see you at the ramp.

[MSTFSH]

Great trip EK, sorry about the jackplate. Nice pictures as well.

[Big E]

Fun trip. I'm surprised you don't fish the James/Chick more often.

[gnfsnva]

Fun trip. I'm surprised you don't fish the James/Chick more often.

Yeah, with my very limited time on the water, and over the years in a club or doing the Legacy events, I've only been out to either a few times. With me taking a step back most tournaments this year, I will make it a point to hit the Chick/James more often.

[Bryan 2]

Those are some great pics! Thanks for the report.

[skeet1]

Any day on water with family is a great gift from god, no mater the bite the time together is unreplaceable. Thanks for reort and pics Eric.