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Powell Creek to Farm Creek

-by Andy Andrzejewski

Powell Creek, a shallow Virginia tributary, is accessible by the Leesylvania State Park located on the north point of the Creek and is directly across the river from Mattawoman Creek. The south point of the Creek is Cockpit Point, easily identifiable by the large pier extending from the point and the tank farm on the shore.

The south shore, from Cockpit Point to Tims River Shore Restaurant at Cherry Hill, offers no significant features and productivity is dependent on cyclic grasses, which come and go as weather dictates.

The pier at Tims can be good. In fact, we often refer to it as the Every Day Dock because a bass can be caught from it every day. The small pier just above Tims sits in very shallow water but the outside pilings can be productive when they are covered with water.

Continuing along the south shore toward the bridge, you will be able to fish some downfalls and even a few small pilings from structures that no longer can be identified. The concrete pilings of the railroad bridge provide good cover for bass and should not be overlooked. Pay close attention to the sign on the downstream side of the pilings, which warn of submerged piles inside of the railroad bridge. The area marked by the sign has been cleared of the old wooded pilings and it is safe to navigate cautiously through the opening. Approximately 20 feet inside of the railroad bridge are two rows of wooden pilings from the old bridge. They sit about 15 feet apart and are covered at high tide but awash at low tide. As expected, they hold bass. An unusual and little known feature of this area is the railroad ties, which were placed on the bottom of the creek creating a wooden bottom in the left side portion of the pilings. The second row of wood pilings on the north side of the creek form an L shape extending westward along the shore. The wooded bank above the piles, on the left side of the creek as you enter, can be very good. The water is very shallow here so access is limited.

As you look across this flat toward the back of the creek, you will see a spatterdock field. To the right center of the field you will see a slight opening in the pads, the opening is Powell Creek proper. This portion of the creek can be reached at high tide and once you are inside of the opening, the water deepens to four or five feet. This narrow, serpentine, pad-lined creek provides good bass fishing, especially on a falling tide. Be sure you exit this creek before the tide is low or you will have to navigate an exposed mud bar at the exit of the pads to get back to water. Avoiding this portion of the creek at low tide would be prudent during a full or new moon and a strong northwest wind.

As you exit the creek, start below the bridge pilings and fish the wood cover and Gabion Baskets that are along the north shore until you get to Leesylvania State Park. Leesylvania State Park has a shallow boat basin bordered by man-made rock jetties. The jetties make for good habitat and many anglers take advantage of that fact.

Proceeding along the Virginia shore you will come to a pier with a gazebo on the end. Just before the gazebo pier are pilings from an old pier. Fish both, with special emphasis on the old pilings. Just beyond the pier is a rocky bluff. This is Freestone Point at the entrance to Neabsco Creek. Much history and many urban legends exist about Freestone Point. A gun position did exist here during the civil war and the area was a rock quarry but the stories about the use of the stone to build the Capitol, to the stone being used in the Washington Monument and even stories about the point being used for naval gun target practice should best be sorted out by historians. Freestone point provides fishing opportunities for several species of fish. I have caught limits of stripers here as well as limits of both largemouth and Smallmouth bass. Good water depth is adjacent and the current flows around the point at a rate that makes it attractive to stripers and other game fish. There is a large rock, which sits just away from the bank on the upstream side of the bluff. The rock as been eroded by years of current and the base has narrowed so that the rock now resembles a mushroom sitting in the water. This eroded rock holds some fine fish, work it thoroughly.

Continuing along the shoreline past the rock bluff, you will find many downed trees. Fish the trees and also fish the area behind your boat. The bottom, away from the visible trees, is littered with logs, which at times provide better fishing than the trees themselves. Work this shoreline all the way to the steel railroad bridge. This bridge has undergone some recent construction that resulted in the removal of some old wooden pilings and boards. As of this writing, the work is ongoing. Since the construction has begun, the fishing hasnt been as good as it used to be but it is still worth working. The area between the bridge pilings is filled with rock only inches under the surface and it has a wing dam affect. Water flows over these rocks on the incoming and outgoing tide and bass position themselves along it to feed. As you work your way under the bridge and into the creek, you will observe the marinas on the left shore. As with most marinas, the pilings hold fish. At the end marina (a new marina with covered boat slips) are some dilapidated pilings and a few old wrecks. They all hold fish. The wooded point on the left just past the last wreck can be surprisingly good at times. Beyond this point, the water gets very shallow before the large spatterdock field.

As you look at the spatterdocks, you will see a few duck blinds situated back in them on the right portion of the creek. They are positioned along the creek channel. You can access the channel by boating at approximately a 45-degree angle from the last wooded point, keeping the pad field close to the port side of your boat. This is the channel and it has two to four feet of water in it. There presently are some white PVC pipes which mark this approach but their longevity may not be lasting. Once you enter the opening in the pad field you will find deeper water and good bass fishing for several hundred yards. There is a wastewater discharge on the right just past the first hard bank. This discharge deposits some unsightly water in the creek but fish are still present. As you exit the pad field and head back to the bridge you will see another pad field on your left side. This pad field is bordered by shallow water until you get to the bridge but it can be a good place to fish on the high end of the tide. Fish the bridge again before you leave the creek and continue to fish along the bank on the north side as you leave the creek. Again, many logs lay away from the shoreline and they should not be overlooked. As you fish your way past a marsh bank and into a small embayment you will come to a creek entering the small bay, this is Farm Creek and that is where well pick up in our next article.