Blue Catfish in the james River

[MartyJ16]

This article ran today in The Virginia Pilot. Not quite sure what to make of it.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/blue-catfish-now-james-rivers-biggest-predator

[sportskiff]

This is the story of folks introducing a species not normal to the eco-system, where not much thought about after effects entered into the minds of the "few" who made this all possible.
Like ALL of us boaters KNOW, we dont transport plant life from one place to anuther. BUT,the few simple minds that dropped blues in a place there were none had nuthin (in their opinion, i am sure) that was absorbed as detrimintal to the river. After all, do you think those few simple minds would have listened to the reasons folk had on why NOT to do that???????
Just one more case of "buck chasing" , by a overzealous lot of simple minds.
Oh, but do thank them for the kick buns place to go blue cat fishin!!!!! And at just what cost to the folks that live there has yet to be determined....
Sorry, my rant, my 2 pennies worth.
Thanks for the eye opener Marty!!!! What a SHAME!!!!!!!!!

[CFISHN]

MY pea brain is thinking 100 ponder BLUE Kitty's that not a problem !

NOW getting people to throw em back so the rest of us can get a crack at em that's the problem !

[MartyJ16]

Reggie and C,

I did not know that blue cats were non native to the James. From my childhood trot lining experience in Georgia (Lake Jackson, Sinclair, Occonee), I just figured they were everywhere. There is a pretty big business over there on the James putting folks on the real big cats. I do know they are voracious eaters, and if you are eating a baby largemouth, I got a problem with you. I'm interested to see how this develops because if those cats are eating crabs, this fight is just starting. But the James like all the creeks and rivers feeding the bays has a fresh water table that turns to brackish which the blue cats apparently don't like and the crabs do.

Like the Neuse, Pamlico, Albemarle, Currituck, Chesapeake, James and Elizabeth and all the rest of these systems, this is fragile stuff.

I would love to hear from our catfishing members to educate me on this subject.

[Whatever]

Very interesting Marty, I lived in Hampton Roads (West Ocean View) for 12 years, and fished the entire time there. We would always catch cats near the old "Ghost Fleet" and north towards Richmond, but never ever hooked one down past that point. Not to even mention at the Merrimack...*kickrock*

[123marks]

i have fished the pamunkey james and chick since i was a kid and can remember when the fishing was a lot better than it is now. I will say this when i was going with my father as a kid he would give me a beetle spin and it was on.... now i take my nephew and givve him the same and he may pick up just a few a day while i bass fish..... these fish are eating the river literally... i wish we could make them go away but the state seems to think there a great sportfish.... and protect them with one a day for large fish... by the way sportfish have you ever pulled up a big piece of wood off the bottom and unhooked it beside the boat, it's just like catching a blue cat so much fun yea haa.... we caught on this spring bass fishing about 8-10 lbs it had a fat belly so out of couriosity we split his gut open inside was a ring perch and two white perch all big enough for a fish fry and he was still eating my bass plug.... p;ease fill your livewell with them and if you don't eat em bury them in you garden for fertilizer. Do we as taxpayers conservationist and fishermen have any recourse against the state for ruining out rivers. All the game department really cares about is selling some lic for revenue and going on safaris with taxpayer money.

[Whatever]

Guys I do not want to sound like the know it all old timer...but in the good oll days at the Nas Norfolk Sea Plane Ramps you could catch crabs for a month's supply in less than an hour...The Merrimack Park Creek was the killer spot!!!!

Anything in Willoughby Bay is Gravy at the right time!!!

[sportskiff]

Bro's,
dont do nuthin "bad" but call the sorry SOB'S RESPONSIBLE for the INTRODUCTION of a UN WARRETED, NON ECO FRIENDLY species into a place that COULD HAVE been stocked with the PROPER FISHES that the place ORIGINALLY HAD. Make a bumper sticker, make a website, GIT THE NEWS OUT!!!!!!!
Ya cant think the folks up an down both sides of the body of water happy with this. It takes NUMBERS ta kick butt, PUT THE WORD OUT!!!!!!!!! The "democratic machine" failed on this one, link up the fore-goers of this, see how they "involved" an cremate the sorry suns-of-guns. Public opinion still carries the view, START A PETITION, send it to the senate,bump it to the top , what ya got to loose?????? I WILL SIGN, an that's 1 more ta help than ya got already.
Got National Geographic's number???????? MAKE A STINK!!!!!!!!!!!
It takes folks IN THE AREA ta MAKE a change.............

[carolinacatjack]

It's time for one of the resident catfishermen to speak up.....

Y'all are all right about keeping them. But why? The folks that introduced them years ago obviously didn't know what the hell they were doing. That's evident in the article. There's nothing that can be done about it now. The damage is done. 30 years later and only NOW folks are hollerin' for the fish to be all but exterminated? Me? I'm gonna throw the big ones back and keep fish 10lbs and under. Do you know how long it takes for a blue to get that damn big? 50-100 years, at least. *004*

If y'all wanna cut all that red meat out when you clean 'em, that's your business, but for God's sake, don't waste a fish. Catch 'em, decide you don't want them, then bury them in the garden for fertilizer? What in the world, bros? We're all particular about a certain kind of fish here. We're not here to attack each other's thoughts and opinions. I say we load up the Skiffs, head up to the James, and get our piece of the action. I've been wanting to fish that river for a few years now. All that article did for me was get my adrenaline pumping......