>>2021213Hey bud not familiar with the James but I’m assuming it’s a tidal river. Normally I fish a stout 8 wt (tfo ticrx) unless the wind is really kicking up then I go with a 10 wt. On the local tidal rivers I always fish an 8 wt. If you are looking to buy a rod I’d recommend getting a 9wt though since it’s a more all around rod for stripers.
As far as flies are concerned you could basically fish only deceivers and clousers and catch a lot of fish. Especially early season I fish both of those flies in all white and tie them about 3 inches in length. I use a 1/0 eagle claw 254 hook which are cheap and salt resistant. Pick related is my favorite fly for stripers.
For a tidal river line selection can get a little tough. I normally fish a 250 grain 30 ft sink tip with unweighted or lightly weighted flies but some guys use intermediate lines. A few guys will use floating lines but then you need to weight the fly like crazy to get it down. I normally carry 3 spools with me..one with a sink tip, one with a full intermediate and one with a floating line. Let me know if you have any other questions.
