by Jeff Turner

Spirit of Moonpie and I spent the 25th through the 27th on the Blackwater below Franklin. The water was nasty, low and 42 degrees. Air temps ranged from 24 to 63 degrees, of course the 63-degree day was on the day I came home.

For some unknown reason this trip the water was scummy and just loaded up with sticks and leaves and just … junk. It was like somebody had busted up a monster beaver dam upriver or something. Anyway, it was a mess. Trash was ‘bout normal; I picked up a bagful and one more dang Styro block, which makes 27 now I have collected. I swear that ditch from Tractor Supply at one time must have looked like a Styro block assembly line.

Noticed a new problem back behind the peanut company beside the river back on Bowers Road. Back behind the building where the trucks pull around, looks like people been eating their lunch nearby and then walking over to the bank and tossing their trash down the hillside into the river. I’m hoping word of this gets around to them so this will not continue. If it’s trashed up next time I go by there, I reckon I’ll have to take action on it. Other than what I mentioned though, I saw no other water quality issues.

The fishing on this trip was TERRIBLE for everything. I was hoping the raccoon perch were going to be getting it on by now, but it was not so. I jigged so much my right arm actually left my body and took off and did several bizarre jig like dances in the boat. At least that’s what it felt like. I jigged so many hours for perch and blackfish that when I went to bed at night my right arm was still jiggin’! I’m surprised I didn’t have a bloody nose or something from all that arm swingin’ whilst I was asleep.

I never did cast for fish along the shore, with the water so cold I figured it wasn’t even worth it. I’ll be glad when the water starts to warm up a little. Usually by now I have caught a few striped bass, but I ain’t seen a one yet. Shoot, in about a month it’ll be time to start seeing shad. Anyway, it was a tough fishing trip.

We didn’t even see much on the Moonpie critter patrol. We did see a couple of nice bucks back behind the old particleboard plant upriver from Franklin, but that was about it. So it was really a pretty uneventful trip. In closing I would like to say thank you for all the citizens that help me keep an eye on things and report bad stuff they see or good stuff. We all need a helping hand now and then, and the help you guys give really assist me in keeping these rivers in shape, the two rivers we call the Blackwater and Nottoway.

To contact Jeff about river issues, email him at blknotkpr@earthlink.net.

JEFF TURNER is the Blackwater/Nottoway River Guard. He can be reached at blknotkpr@earthlink.net.