RIVERGUARD REPORT: Meditating on ‘Shadrack’ amid shad season
Published 10:05 am Monday, March 31, 2025
- Pictured is a hickory shad, which RiverGuard Jeff Turner noted are running in the rivers right now. Turner caught around 20 shad during his March 26-28 patrol on the Blackwater River above Joyner’s Bridge. (Photo submitted by Jeff Turner)
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Spirit of Moonpie and I spent March 26-28 on the Blackwater above Joyner’s Bridge. The water was high at 8.86 on the Burdette USGS gauge, fast, clear and 57 degrees. Nine feet is the limit to get under the bridge. Air temps ranged from 34 to 68 degrees. It was very nice weather.
Trash was not too bad, but I didn’t venture downriver where there usually is aplenty. I only picked up eight pounds worth and removed one derelict limbline. The limbline had a tag but had been there so long only “Christopher” was still on it.
The fishing on this trip was OK. I caught 20 or so shad. It seemed they liked the pink spoon the best. Whispering Bear visited on Day Two and caught a couple. One was a roe-laden female that weighed three pounds. I caught a couple of either small hickory shad or herring, kind of hard to tell. They were probably shad, though, as it’s kind of early for herring… normally. I jigged for about an hour for stripers but didn’t have a hit. I guess the fisheries biologists are correct that they are in a decline this year. I have not caught one since spring of 2024.
Yep, every shad season always brings my mind to think of Shadrack, the Biblical story and also the name of a song made famous by Louis Armstrong in the 1930s. And also, the nickname I gave my stepson, Lynda’s oldest son Shad, hhaaaa. And then there is Shad Planking, which also could be called a Shad Rack!
Anyway, it was a good trip, and it was great getting Whispering Bear out on the river for a few hours. Also, I was glad my back held together this trip. I was pretty gun-shy… outright scared actually packing down on Day Three because last trip that’s when my back went out. Thank the Lord that did not happen this time 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. Search for “Blackwater Nottoway RiverGuard” on Facebook.
