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Spirit of Moonpie and I spent October the 10th through the 12th on the Blackwater below Franklin. The water was perfect, 60 degrees and in great shape. Air temps ranged from 55 to 75 degrees, don’t get much better than that! Trash was light; I only picked up a 5-gallon bucket full and a nice PFD. 

The fishing was fantastic; the Blackwater is back to being in great condition after being pretty stagnant all summer. I caught nine chain pickerel and five bass. The bass were small, but that’s okay, they are better to munch on. I also caught some big bream. All were caught on a #2 Mepps spinner modified with red feather dressing. Red is what they wanted for some reason. I also harvested a squirrel for my Brunswick stew I will make later in the year. 

I noticed on this trip that Wash Hole Creek near the mill is now blocked by logs hung up in all that infrastructure near the mouth. I’m going to ask that they clear that out and if it’s possible to do away with one pipe that keeps larger boats from getting access to the creek. That creek is one of the largest tributaries to the river on that section of the Blackwater and is public waters. I think it is time for public access to be restored on that creek. In the past I have been able to get my fishing boat up in there, but most modern fishing boats cannot. It’s really pretty up in there once you get past all the pipes and stuff. I don’t think any company should be able to block access to the two rivers we call the Blackwater and Nottoway.

Jeff Turner is the Blackwater Nottoway RiverGuard. To contact him about river issues, send him an email at blknotkpr@earthlink.net. He can also be followed on the Blackwater Nottoway RiverGuard Facebook page. Just type in “Blackwater Nottoway RiverGuard” in the search field on Facebook.