Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990 TAG: 9003222653
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"People are hot," said Lacy All, who operates a tackle shop in Salem, not far from the action on the Roanoke River. "They are catching a lot of trout, but they are short and skinny."
David Light of Salem talks about going to the South Fork of Roanoke River in Montgomery County and catching 13 fish, only four large enough to be what he considers keepers.
"The people I talk to are a little bit disappointed," said Robert Daniel of Roanoke, who has fished Jennings Creek, Bullpasture River, Tinker Creek and Roanoke River. Only the Bullpasture turned out what he called nice-size fish.
"On the Roanoke River, at first I thought I was hooking chubs. They are that small," he said.
The major complaint is over brown trout, which Lacy All described as being a skimpy 8 to 9 inches in length.
"They were much smaller than normal," said Richard Pauley, of Daleville, who fished Roaring Run in Botetourt County. "They were really inferior to the brown trout in there last year."
Most of the griping is being contained among fishermen. A mid-week check with officials of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Richmond and Vinton revealed few official complaints.
"I checked around, and none of our wardens have had any complaints about small fish," said Capt. Bill Nance, a supervising warden who works out of Vinton.
The same report came from Richmond.
"We have not had complaints. Our phones have been amazingly quiet," said Gary Martel, assistant chief of the department's fish division.
The size of the trout stocked during recent seasons has been creeping up, so fishermen now may be reflecting disappointment over fish that are well within the agency's two-to-the pound standard, said Martel.
"Fishermen are starting to get spoiled a little bit, because there have been a lot of three-quarter and pound-size fish stocked in the past."
Most of the trout stocked in the Roanoke Valley come from the hatchery in Paint Bank, where Charlie Stephens, the managers, says he is hearing only praise.
"Normally the browns will be somewhat smaller than the rainbows and brooks, because they are slower growing, but as far as our stocking, they are what they should be," said Stephens.
Some fish have been well above average, including a 3-pound brook trout caught from Jennings Creek by Steve Brickey of Roanoke.
Tinker Creek gave up a 3-pound, 11-ounce brown to Edward Jones of Roanoke and a 3-pound, 12-ounce brown for Shirley Clemons of Roanoke.
Clemons hooked his on a Mepps spinner. It was the only fish he landed because it damaged his tackle so much he had to quit fishing.
"He tore my reel up. I told the fellow I was fishing with, I'm satisfied if I don't catch any more."
Rain and high water left an unusually high number of trout in streams past opening day; even so, restocking began Tuesday.
In an effort to make in-season stockings more secretive, officials will be releasing the weekly list of streams that have been stocked later than in the past. It won't make the late-week outdoor column, so look for it in Friday's Scoreboard.
For the first time, stocking information also will be available by phone from game and fish field offices in Vinton (857-7704), Marion, (703-783-4860) and Staunton (703-332-9210).
At the Douthat State Park pay-fishing program, the lake will be stocked twice weekly; however, the day and hour will be staggered in an effort to decrease crowds, officials said.
by CNB