The veteran guide likes to have a few spots picked out for his trip and he moves to each one according to the tide and the times each spot tends to be best fished. For example, some flats or troughs are better on incoming tides, while others are better during the last two hours of an outgoing tide. A good angler will note this from trip to trip and take advantage of the best times to fish each location.

A good fish-finder is necessary to find shallow or subtle troughs on flats. Knowledgeable reading of the water and looking for changes in the current certainly help to find great fishing spots. Be willing to make notes on a map and in a notebook. Within a few trips you will have built up a good supply of fishing destinations.

Heavy-duty equipment is a must for anglers wanting to do battle with a monster catfish, and there are certainly monster fish in the James. Salmon puts out six to eight Ugly Stik rods with an Ambassadeur 7000 baitcast reel mounted to them. He uses a 10/0 circle hook and 8- to 12-ounce cannonball sinkers on 30-pound-test line. His clients watch him bait hooks with bloody gizzard shad and sometimes eels. The key to using shad and catching fish is the freshness and the blood on the bait. Washed-out bait is not worth using.

"Keep the bait out of the water at the bottom of the ice chest to avoid this," our expert advised.

Good launch sites include Dutch Gap, and Hopewell, which has a well-lit lot and is patrolled occasionally by the local police.

Captain Kevin Salmon, owner of James River Catfishing Guide Service on the James, is a good source of information. He can put clients on fish year 'round. His home number is (804) 991-2319 and his cell is (804) 691-1472.

RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER
The Rappahannock River is not as notorious for producing the sizes and numbers of catfish as the James, but there are still plenty of good fish to be had. Fish up to 60 pounds are not uncommon and fish in the 20- to 40-pound range are commonly caught. The meandering and undeveloped banks of the river from Hicks Landing down to Leedstown have plenty of flats and shallow areas that the larger fish cruise at night looking for easy meals of shad, perch, bream and eels.

The most exciting way to catch a bruiser catfish is to tangle with it in a few feet of water at night. Imagine the thrashing and splashing a 40-pound fish will put forth under the cover of darkness.

Some of the mud flats on the Rappahannock occur at the mouths of the wide bays that pile up on the curves along the river. Between the flats and the main shoreline, there are secondary channels that hold plenty of bait. In fact, most of the bays and tidal sloughs are where anglers can find fresh gizzard or mud shad for bait. Find a secondary channel running parallel to the main channel and you will find fish. Don't overlook the mouth of such channels where they dump into the main river. Anchor up on the flat and cast into the deeper water. Green Bay, Port Tobago, Nanzatico Bay and any of the other wide bays are good locations to begin fishing.