Rappahanock River

Mists steam off the water in the early morning cool and the river runs thick and brown as chocolate milk spilling out over the lowlands on the way to the sea. With the brisk air on our faces my Dad and I cruise down the river creating a wake on the muddy banks overhung with tulip poplars and sycamores.

Ospreys and huge shapes of bald eagles break from the tree lines over the water while great blue herons and white egrets stand stoically by the shoreline ignoring our presence. Kingfishers perch atop old tree trunks hunting shoreline pools while ruby throated hummingbirds dart and squeak through the blooming trumpet vines.

Throwing out our lines along a deep bend in the river we spent the morning fishing for catfish drifting slowly along the bank with the river tide. Jig your line slow across the bottom and wait for the bite from a cat fish. There are no shortage of them here and with hardly any development on the Rappahanock here on the edge of the Northern Neck it is no surprise. This river seems healthy, the mud of the shoreline reveals only a thick jungle of forest with the receding tide and the song of birds is only interrupted by the sounds of fish breaking the water.

It is brackish here, half salt and half fresh, this river is part swamp and part river estuary. Fishing with my feet off the bough occasionally a big carp or alligator gar comes up to investigate while we continue to pull in blue catfish. We called it quits after an even dozen and headed home as the day started getting hot.

Pan fried with sauteed country squash, homemade cornbread, and a tossed salad there is no better meal on a summer evening in the lowlands...