Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 3, 1990 TAG: 9006040227
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran. 1. Salem tackle shop operator Lacy All reels in scrappy
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Alaska? Montana? Florida? Canada?
For Lacy All, the answer is Douthat Lake State Park, where a 60-acre, stream-fed impoundment shimmers amid the lush, green ridges of Bath County. It is his Walden Pond.
"This is the prettiest place around here that I know about," said All, who owns All Huntin-N-Fishin Store in Salem.
As he made the observation one day last week, a sassy rainbow trout thumped his trolled lure. The foot-long fish bowed his lightweight spinning rod, then came to the surface, its twisting body reflecting soft glints of pink and silver.
"That's 344," All said, quickly giving the fish its freedom.
A count of 344 trout taken over a 2 1/2-month period is a mark few working fishermen can equal anywhere, but for All it is nothing out of the ordinary at Douthat. What All can't understand, with that quality of fishing available, why is angling participation at Douthat on a decline?
The abiding pleasure of many fishermen is to have a trout lake all to themselves, but All likes to share Douthat. He is concerned over the fact that the number of daily fishing permits sold are dropping at Douthat, as well as the other two fee-fishing areas operated by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Douthat permits were off 25 percent last year.
It was worse at Big Tumbling Creek (near Saltville), which registered a 35 percent decline, and Crooked Creek, (near Galax) down 28 percent.
One of the reasons is price. The cost of a daily permit to fish at a fee area jumped from $2 to $3.50 last year.
All doesn't see that as a reasonable deterrent.
"Where else can you go for 14-hours of entertainment for $3.50? My wife and I went to a movie recently and it cost us 11 bucks for just over an hour-and-a-half."
Another tug on his line interrupts All's train of thought.
"No. 345," he said.
The lure working for All this outing is a Super Duper, a small spoon he trolls behind his 14-foot boat pushed into the breeze by an electric motor.
"People say there aren't any trout here anymore," All said, admitting that some days fish can be tough to catch.
"Something happened two weeks ago that convinced me there are a lot of trout in here all the time."
A hatch appeared on the surface and suddenly the lake erupted with surface-feeding trout.
"There had to be hundreds of them," All said.
The lake is stocked twice each week, from opening day in March to Labor Day in September. Those $3.50 daily fees provide the funding that keeps the hatchery truck on the roll.
This time of the year, trolling can be effective when the trout are scattered across the lake and holding near the surface. It is a quick way to cover a lot of water.
When that doesn't work, All will anchor and fish with Power Bait.
"We started coming up here in 1967," said All. We includes his wife, Charlotte. The couple frequently camp in a travel trailer on the lake's scenic shoreline.
All has fished the lake often enough to know exactly where to drop anchor for bait fishing. The Power Bait, a commercial, Play-Doh-like concoction, is molded onto a size-10 hook and cast with a split shot above it. All demonstrated last week, and the trout gobbled it up.
"No. 346 . . . No. 347."
He uses a pair of scissors to cut the line rather than chance hurting the fish by removing the hook.
When the summer sun warms the water, the angling grows tougher. The lake divides itself into three distinct layers, one too hot for trout, one cold enough but void of oxygen, one - the middle - just right.
It is then, July and August, All switches to a bait that consists of one kernel of corn and a wiggling portion of a night crawler. The offering is allowed to sink slowly, without the benefit of weight, until it reaches a 17-to 20-foot thermocline where the trout suspend over about 45 feet of water.
The technique requires skimpy 2-pound line, patience and a gentle touch.
"I missed 13 strikes in a row one day last year; I hate to admit it," said All.
All's favorite time of the year is late May and early June. The fish are near the surface and active. The shoreline is clothed with hemlocks and scarlet oaks accented by blooming laurel and rhododendron.
"People think I'm crazy coming over here and catching trout and turning them loose. I'm having a ball.
"No. 348."
by CNB