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ROCK FISH & RIVER RATS
ROCCUS LINEATUS

In April, Roger asks, "have you seen any Rocks yet?"
This question repeated by every other "River Rat" Roger knows as they flock to the Roanoke River at Weldon, NC. This 2 by 4 mile strip on the edge of the river surrounded by silted clay became "Raglans' Ferry" in 1770 then in 1808, the name changed to Pride's Ferry." Today no ferry exists and the name is "Mush Island" according to The North Carolina Gazetteer compiled by William S. Powell of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.

Every April and May this annual event occurs. The event involves catching and cooking of the striped bass, known as Rock Fish".
The fishermen and their interactions are as unique as the rockfish-spawning season in the rocky swift waters of the Roanoke River near Weldon.
Northwest of "Mush Island," the Roanoke River drops some 100+ feet from the juncture of the piedmont section of the state and the lower Coastal plains leading to the ocean. The former Native Americans living there name it "Great Falls." In these sharp and tortuous rapids, the rockfish come to spawn every year. They have returned to this same area as long as oral tradition and written history recorded the story. The Roanoke River is one of the few fresh water rivers that rockfish spawn in along the Atlantic coast of the US.
The Roccus saxatilis is the basic rockfish of the east coast, one of many species of stripped bass. Rockfish vary broadly in size. The very large rockfish in the Atlantic Ocean often weigh upwards to one-hundred pounds.
However, it is my intent to focus on a unique anthropological subculture (river rats) which evolved from the late 1600's through 1970. The term "River Rats" is a local name given to middle and lower class men (cotton or paper mill workers) who gather for the rockfish run at Weldon, every year. More specifically, there methods they used to catch the rockfish and how they cooked the "Rock Fish Muddle" a type of fish stew including vegetables' and special seasonings. The seasonings vary with the person doing the cooking.
The rockfish made the 100 mile swim up the placid river until they reached Weldon, NC. This is the point where the coastal plains and the piedmont sections meet. The Roanoke River is a wide and long river winding through its Virginia head waters into North Carolina near Wise, NC. Between Roanoke Rapids and Weldon, NC, the river drops about 103 feet in sea level. The falls are long and dangerous for boaters to navigate. However,

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