Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990                   TAG: 9003133135
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SIZING UP PLACES TO LAND A BIG ONE

Last season, at least 1,489 trout hefty enough to brag about were hooked, landed, weighed and registered. That was the number of citations awarded by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for brooks, browns and rainbows of trophy size.

There's no telling how many other citation candidates were taken home and unceremoniously plopped into a frying pan.

Where do you look for a citation-size fish?

There are some definite patterns from last year that a prudent angler can apply when the season opens Saturday. But be aware that a trophy trout can pop up in an unexpected place.

The largest rainbow of the '89 season, for example, came from the Shenandoah River, a stream commonly associated with excellent smallmouth bass fishing, not trout production.

The 9-pound, 10-ounce champion fish was landed in mid-June by John Richard of Middletown. It measured 25 inches.

State fish officials were perplexed about the origin of the fish until learning last week about a trout pond that had washed into the river during a high-water period.

While the Shenandoah may be viewed as an unlikely spot to catch a trophy rainbow, there is little debate on the most promising producer of big brown trout.

That's Moomaw Lake.

Last season, it accounted for seven of the top 10 browns, including the heaviest - a 10-pound, 5-ounce fish landed by Michael Prosser of Roanoke.

Prosser also caught a 9-pound, 12-ounce Moomaw brown, the sixth-largest of the season. He landed the two fish while working a plug in a jigging style at 15- to 20-foot depths.

"I didn't see as many fish last year as the two previous years," said Prosser.

That didn't surprise Larry Mohn, the state biologist who manages the lake's fishery for the game and fish department. Stockings in 1987 and 1988 were virtually lost, leaving a two-season void.

Even so, it's still possible to come across an old-timer large enough to unseat the 12-pound, 13-ounce state record landed in 1985 from the South Holston River.

"There were several 10-pounders caught at Moomaw last year," Mohn said. "Any of the 10-pounders that lived - the mortality rate is pretty high at that age - would be approaching state-record size this year."

While Moomaw is in what has been perceived as a temporary downturn in its brown trout citations, several other waters are playing catch-up. Included is the Roanoke River, where fishermen registered 64 citations last season.

"We weighed some mules," said Lacy All, who filled out scores of citation forms at his All Huntin-N-Fishin store in Salem.

Potts Creek had 52 brown trout citations, Smith River had 36 and Big Stoney Creek had 27. Philpott Lake fishermen hauled in 13.

As for brook trout, anything 4 pounds or heavier is an exceptional catch, not just in Virginia, but across North America. There were nine such fish registered in the state last season.

The best was a 4-pound, 12-ounce beauty from the Tye River caught by John Thompson of Arrington. It was 14 ounces off the record.

Producing the most brook trout citations last year was Jennings Creek, a stream that flows out of the mountains of the Jefferson National Forest near Buchanan. It accounted for 21 brookie citations. Next came Big Stoney Creek, 18; Potts Creek, 15, and Barbours Creek, 13. Dismal Creek and Hunting Creek had a dozen each.

When it comes to rainbow citations, no place comes close to matching Crooked Creek, a meadow-type stream that flows gently through Carroll County. It produced 143 citations, many of them coming from a section operated as a pay-fishing program.

Closing on Crooked Creek is Moomaw Lake, which had 70 rainbow citations last year. Annual stockings of 25,000 rainbows in Moomaw have produced a significant population of jumbo fish.

Other hot spots for rainbow citations last season were Dan River, 25; Roanoke River, 23; Hale Lake, 22, and Cripple Creek, 19. Potts Creek and Little River had 15 apiece and Tinker Creek had 13.