Great Shiplock Park

Richmond Times-Dispatch Archives

Published: July 27, 2008

MAP: James River

Check our photos
of Great Shiplock Park [May 2008]

Great Shiplock Park, Dock and Pear streets. Historic working canal lock, trails, fishing and many great views of the tidal James River.

The site is farthest east of the historic James River & Kanawha canal locks. Take a stroll by the water at Great Shiplock Park. Built in the 1850s with the stone lock completed in 1854, the locks allowed ships to bypass the falls of the James and travel into Virginia's hills by connecting the James with Richmond Dock. Ships were raised from sea level to the height of the dock in each section of the locks, which accomodated ships as large as 180 feet long by 35 feet wide.

The parkland includes the former Trigg Shipyard, which was built in 1898 and went out of business in 1903. Several ships for the U.S. Navy were constructed there, including the USS Schubrick, a torpedo boat used in the Spanish-American War. The site of the former Trigg shipyard is on the eastern tip of Chapel Island on the south bank of the canal.

The area of the Great Shiplock is now a part of the James River Parks System. Alcohol and glass are forbidden in the park. Pets must be leashed, and picked up after. Nothing may be taken from the park.

What can you do?
• Fishing: In the tidal area below the falls. Rockfish and others migrate through in the spring. A license is required.

Most common: Shad, perch, rockfish (stripped bass), small mouth bass. Also you'll see: River herring, several types of catfish.

Shad: The most popular fish is shad, and the most common of that species is hickory shad "they are so common now, which is an indication of how clean the water is," said Ralph White, manager of the James River Park System.

White perch (also referred to as "stiff-backs" because of the sharp spines on their dorsal fins): They live in the bay and come up the James River to spawn only at the Mayo Bridge and the Falls of the James. In the spring runs "it is sometimes so dense with fish that you can drop a baited hook in," said White, "that before your hook hits the bottom, you've got a fish on your line."

Rockfish or striped bass: "This fish has come back bigtime," White said. They were "once endangered, are almost now prolific." Almost all of the boats and fisherman around the Mayo Bridge, Great Shiplock, Anncarrow's Landing area are fishing for rockfish. "The management has been successful due to the hard work of the Marine Resources Commission and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries."

Small mouth bass: They become a target in the summertime. Richmond is "one of the nation's great small mouth bass fishing sites," White said. The river is "managed for giant trophy-sized fish ... you can't even keep a small mouth that is less than 22 inches long."

Catfish (flathead, blue and channel): "Channel is quite good eating," White said, "especially in the 1 to 2 pound range." None of the really large fish should be considered as food because large catfish "bio-accumulate" in their tissue when they travel downstream of the Richmond region and can absorb chemicals in the water.

Info: Call: 646-8911 www.jamesriverparks.org, www.ci.richmond.va.us or 646-8911.

James River Park system: www.richmondgov.com