Kings of The James Crown Claimed by Bennett, Wright, Burruss, and Wright
by Ron Presley,
Photos courtesy of Kings of The James
The winning team was a family of three generations of men who came together to fish the KOJ. Their 4 winning fish averaged nearly 60 pounds each.
The October 18-19, 2024 Kings of The James (KOJ) tournament was the 5th annual installment to be held on the tidal waters of the James River near Richmond, VA. Tournament Director, Trey Thorpe reported that the event attracted 105 boats to compete.
KOJ is a 2-day catch and release tournament. Each day anglers are allowed a maximum of 2 fish per boat with no more than 2 catfish in the livewell at any time. The winners are determined by the total weight of 4 fish.
Tournament fishing began at 6 am each day with lines out at 2 pm. Anglers were issued a card that would be verified at the weigh-in where they must present the card by 3 pm or be disqualified. The scales at Osbourne Landing opened each day at noon to accommodate any competitors with fish that may be struggling.
Competing teams could fish the James River and her tributaries east of the I-95 Bridge to West of the James River Bridge (Hwy 17). The boundaries included the Appomattox and Chickahominy Rivers are acceptable with Chickahominy Lake off-limits.
Anglers were met with beautiful weather but tough fishing conditions on day one. Morning lows in the mid-40s rose to afternoon highs in the mid-70s with sunny skies.
Even with the tough bite, several teams caught good fish. Four boats weighed bags of over 100 pounds in 2 fish and 63 boats weighed fish on the first day.
Kenny Bennett, Kenny Wright, Mikey Burruss, and Billy Wright weighed the Big Fish on day one with a 67.95-pound blue that helped them lead the field on day 1. By all indications, it would be a shootout on day two with many teams in reach of the crown.
At the end of the competition, it required nearly 240 pounds in 4 fish to claim the title of Kings of The James.
First Place and Big Fish 
Kenny Bennett, Kenny Wright, Mikey Burruss, and Billy Wright Jr teamed up to fish the KOJ and take home the 2024 Crown. Bennett and his crew arrived at the scales first on both days and never lost the lead. After day one they were in 1st place with a big fish of 67.95 pounds and a second fish of 42.45 pounds.
On day two they added an 81.82-pound blue to claim Big Fish honors in a bag that weighed 129.51 pounds. Their two-day total weight of 239.91 pounds earned them the KOJ Crown and a check for $17,000. Big Fish added $5,200 to their payday.
The three-generation team was named Pride of Dawn after Bennett’s late mother. In addition to Bennett, the team included his dad Kenny Wright, and his two sons Michael Burruss and Billy Wright Jr. It was a family victory at the KOJ.
They launched at Jordan Point Boat Ramp early each day. Bennent had noticed many of the anglers running a long distance to fish and he decided to just stay close to the ramp.
“On the first day we got our first bite at 8:30,” recalled Bennett. “We were reeling up to move and there were only 3 rods out. One rod got slammed and my dad grabbed it and the fight was on. That fish kicked his butt. It was 68 pounds and his personal best.”
The team continued to move as planned. After setting up again they waited until about 11:30 am before getting their second bite. The second fish was another good one and put them over 100 pounds on the day and they decided to go to the scales.
“It was a tough bite kinda day,” Kenny said. “I felt like we had enough and I wanted to get home early and rest.”
Well, he got a little rest but was back on the water by 2:00 am on day two. He was catching bait and doing a little scanning while beginning the day in first place.
“I found some good fish close to the ramp again,” reported Kenny. “Lines went in at 6:00 am to start the day. With the boat sitting sideways we only put out 4 rods. At 6:30 am we caught a 48-pounder.”
Just as on day one, they began day two with a nice fish. With a good one in the boat, they decided to move the Benjamin Harrison Bridge and be close to the truck.
“At 8:30 we got an amazing bite,” related Kenny. “It was the best bite in years. The rod was crushed. My 17-year-old son Michael got the rod. We had to come off anchor to land the giant blue. I was so relieved to get it in the boat. I felt very good at that point and we loaded up and went to the scales at 11:00 am.”
Team Pride of Dawn was the first boat to weigh both days in what Kenny called his “…most memorable tournament ever.” They caught 2 fish on day one and followed up with 5 on day two. White perch was their bait of choice and they caught all their fish on anchor in about 40 feet of water.
Second Place 
The runner-up spot was secured by Anthony Murphy, Mike Thomas, and Brant Bullock. They put together a strategy that brought 106.11 to the scales on day one and 115.21 pounds to the scales on day two for a 4-fish total of 221.32 pounds to the scales to earn the 2nd place check.
Third Place 
Christian Moore and Dean Irwin put two consistent days of fishing together to claim third place. Their 2 fish on day one weighed 102.04 pounds and their 2 fish on day two weighed 100.83 pounds giving them a solid two-day weight of 202.87 and third-place honors.
Youth Angler 
Connor Bailey claimed the Top Youth Angler Award. He was fishing with Tim London, and Luke Foil on day two when he put his new personal best 69.71-pound blue in the boat to earn Top Youth honors. The youth award was sponsored by Patton’s Automotive LLC.
Note: For more placement info and photos visit the KOJ Facebook page.
Final Thoughts
The James River demonstrated once again that it is a big fish destination. In this 5th edition of the KOJ tournament, anglers and organizers alike had to be pleased with the results. A competitive field of 105 teams took what the river would give on a tough bite and 63 boats weighed in on day one. After two days of competition, 22 teams weighed in more than 100 pounds in 4 fish.
“It was our pleasure to introduce Catch the Fever as our headline sponsor for Kings of The James 2024,” said tournament director Trey Thorpe. “The bite was tough for most anglers on day one but seemed a little better on day two. We had a lot of big fish weighed and they all swam away healthy.”
“I’d like to thank the anglers for their continued support of KOJ and for showing up every year in force,” concluded Thorpe. “I also want to thank the folks with Catch the Fever for jumping in as our partner sponsor.”
In addition to Catch The Fever, Thorpe sent special thanks to 4REEL Fishing, Ironside Catfishing, Code 3 AV, Team Keatts Fishing, Tidal James Catfish Club, Kings Of Tillery, Patton’s Automotive LLC, Mid-Atlantic Catfish Co, Regular Dude Outdoors, and Custom Racks By Rick for their support of the KOJ.
Many anglers praised the tournament as a great success and vowed to return next year.
For more information on KOJ visit their Facebook page.
