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Spirit of Moonpie and I spent February the 20th through the 22nd on the Nottoway below Delaware. The river was a little high, very fast, muddy and 44 degrees. Air temps ranged from a very cold 28 to 55 degrees… and it was breezy, brrrr. I saw no water quality issues. I did, however, on the last day start smelling a strong sewage smell. I could not determine if it was coming from the river or the swamp I was in. The water in the swamp had disappeared on that day, so it might have been the swamp, but I don’t know why it would have had such a strong smell of sewage. 

The fishing on this trip was not great. I caught an 18- and a 22-inch striper jigging. I did a lot of jigging just to catch those two stripers. I caught the 18-inch the first day. On day two I had fished for several hours without even a hit. I was ’bout asleep when the fish hit the lure on the drop and took off in typical striper fashion, peeling line off the drag like a buzz saw. “Rock on!” hollered Moonpie. That was quite a good fight on my little green kiddie rod! I also caught one of the largest speckle I have ever caught, also on the blade bait. I hung something else, possibly a 3- or 4-pound blue catfish, but it got off right at the boat. I tried for shad several times over the course of the two days I fished but had nary a hit. I also fished in my raccoon perch place but didn’t catch any of those either. The water running so fast might have been the reason for that. I couldn’t stay on my place but just a few seconds because of the fast water, so my lure presentation was not very effective, I’m sure.

Next week it’s supposed to warm up into the 60s, which should get the water temp up a few more degrees. Maybe that will bring the shad on in on the two rivers we call the Nottoway and Blackwater.

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.