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Spirit of Moonpie and I spent April the 26th through the 28th on the Blackwater below Franklin. The water was normal and 62 degrees. Air temps ranged from 52 to 80; it was very pleasant temperature-wise. The wind was right bad, and that caused a whole lot of sawdust from I.P. to be on the water near the mill. Trash was not too bad this trip, as I picked up most of it on the prior patrol. 

The fishing on this trip was exceptional. I caught so many chain pickerel I lost count. I think this is the Month of the Pickerel Moon, hhhaaa, and if it isn’t, I just made it so! I only caught two small largemouth. All the fish were all caught on blue stick baits and a white tail Mepps. I saw some white perch hit my lures, but I did not fish for them. I imagine some could have been caught casting to shore. There were a lot of boats on the river Sunday; many of them looked to be fishing for white perch.

The day before I left to go to the river, I had received my first-ever lumbar steroid injection. Man did I feel great those first two days. I actually set up camp without feeling like I was going to break in half. However, on day three, when I awoke that morning, I knew something had changed. I crawled out of the tent in terrible pain, and it took me like 10 attempts to get to a standing position. It was really bad, and several times I thought I was not going to be able to break camp to get home. I managed to get it done, though, — thank the Lord — without having to call for a rescue mission. 

So, I reckon this will be my last land-based trip on the river at least until the fall, depending on what I decide to do about my back. As it is, I don’t even know if I will be able to do pontoon patrols through the summer with my back, shoulder, knee and all the other parts of me that seem to be in a perpetual state of rebellion. Ahhhh, the joys of getting old, hhaaaa. Hopefully, though, things will get better, and I can return soon on 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.