The first time I specifically went to the James River for catfish was May of 1995. My guide that day was Roger Jones, who then and now operates Hook, Line and Sinker Guide Service. On that outing, the biggest catfish that the Richmonder and I caught was a blue that weighed around 10 pounds. As someone who is primarily a bass fisherman, the fish seemed humongous, but Roger noted that it was merely a "nice" one and that a big fish would run several times the weight of that individual. Keep in mind that for an angler to earn a citation for blues, the fish must weigh at least 30 pounds or measure 38 inches.

Guide Roger Jones with a 10-pound blue catfish that he caught from the Tidal James. Fish this size are unbelievably common in the river. Photo by Bruce Ingram.

Flash forward to 2008. I contact Jones to plan another junket to the Tidal James for catfish. And I inquire about the size of fish that he and his clients now catch.

"A 30-pound blue may be a citation, but I would not label it as a nice fish anymore," Jones said. "Today, people start to become excited when they catch a blue between 40 and 50 pounds. In 2007, my clients caught fish up to 65 pounds."

Not surprisingly, the state-record blue came from the James on June 15, 2006, a brute that weighed in at 95 pounds, 11 ounces. Archie D. Gold landed the creature -- what else could it be called? And even more amazingly, the guide expects that soon, some skilled or lucky Virginia angler will not only smash that record but maybe also obliterate it -- perhaps even this year.

"I have no doubt that blue catfish weighing over 100 pounds are right now swimming in the lower James," Jones proclaimed. "I know fishermen are actively trying to top that 100-pound barrier. Can you imagine the havoc a fish that size would cause?"

Bob Greenlee, district fisheries biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), was similarly confident that the 100-pound barrier could be broached and that it could happen on the Tidal James.

"I would not be surprised," Greenlee said. "For the past three years, we've had increasing numbers of 80-pound fish caught, with reports of several 90-pound-plus fish caught in addition to the state-record fish. Blue catfish have unreal size structure and unreal abundance.

"Anglers and guides have come to expect the upper end of their catch to increase by 10-pound increments every two or three years, as this has been the case since the mid-1990s. In addition to the upper limit of the catch expanding, the abundance of big fish in the system available to reach these sizes has been skyrocketing -- our catch rates for these fish have increased dramatically as has the distribution of these fish within the system."

Interestingly, blue catfish are not native to the James Watershed. Jones said that since their stocking several decades ago, the fish have continuously boasted larger average sizes and also dramatically increased in number. He emphasized that it is not uncommon for several individuals on a guided trip with him to duel with 40 to 50 fish per day.

"The population has just exploded, especially in the past 15 years," he exults. "I think a major reason for that is the increase in baitfish."