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Spirit of Moonpie and I spent May 6-8 on the Nottoway below Delaware. The water was actually a little low, 76 degrees and running very fast, especially on day three. Pretty unusual to get all that rain upriver and only get the fast flow instead of both an increase of flow and high water. Trash was very light, and I saw no glaring water quality issues.

This was the first pontoon trip of the season and the earliest since I bought the boat in 1984 that I have camped on it. The prior early record was May 20 in 2017. It was definitely a little chilly the first night at 53 degrees to be on the pontoon boat. Second night wasn’t as bad. At least the chillyness thwarted the skeeters, and the half moon was awesome!

The fishing on this trip was just so-so. I didn’t get to fish all that much the first day as there is always lots to do on the first trip out of the year. I caught bait easy enough and caught a few bass and some big jacks. All caught on Mepps White Tail and small Broken Back Rapala. The first night I caught three blues, all were only three-pound class. Second night only caught one four-pounder. Had a couple big hits on the jug and one on the new slip line jug I’m experimenting with, but neither touched steel. The new jug method I’m trying uses a bobber stop on the line that can be adjusted to depth as desired. I can suspend it or make it so it will stay on the bottom. I attached two lure eyelets to the cap of the jug for the line to feed through. Even though I didn’t catch one with this rig, I had that big hit, and I think it warrants some more trials. 

I was happy to see an adult bald eagle sitting on the edge of the nest at the Bronco Club nest that is upriver at the deep curve. Last time I was there I never saw an adult the three days I was there, and I was worried something had happened. But everything seems to be OK, and I should see babies sometime in June. I managed to get a few pics of that bird, albeit I got the mean eagle look. They always look like that, though. It was looking at me like, “Hey, buddy, I see you and that tasty-looking Moonpie looking at me out here 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. Search for “Blackwater Nottoway RiverGuard” on Facebook.