Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 22, 1993 TAG: 9303220415
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SHOULD OPENING DAY GET THE AX?
AN OLD DEBATE on opening day will be rekindled by a survey designed to monitor the likes and dislikes of trout anglers.\ Opening day!
Is it a circus of tangled lines, tangled traffic and tangled nerves, with hot dog vendors running through trout pools?
Or is it a rite of spring, a treasured tradition that is good for both the economy and the soul, and fair to everyone?
That old debate is being rekindled as the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries prepares a trout survey designed to monitor the attitudes and concerns of trout anglers. A major question will be: Should Virginia have a year-round trout season that eliminates opening day?
The survey is a follow-up to one conducted by the department in 1986. Many of the same questions will be repeated.
"It is a way to get a reading on the program and how the people who use the program feel about it," said David Whitehurst, chief of the department's fish division.
"We did get some good stuff out of the other one. We modified our trout program based on that survey."
Following the 1986 survey, officials moved opening day from the first Saturday in April to the third Saturday in March. They also discontinued the practice of announcing ahead of time where in-season stockings would take place.
But even through a slim majority of the participants in the previous survey - 57.6 percent - said they favored a year-round season that would eliminate opening day, such a change wasn't made.
"We didn't go that far, because we felt like it would be too much of a change," said Whitehurst. "If the response this time is strongly in favor of no opening day, that is something that will receive strong consideration."
Whitehurst said the year-round season is an issue that even divides opinion among his staff members.
The format would result in cost savings when it comes to raising and stocking trout, Whitehurst said. In some instances, trout wouldn't have to be held and fed in hatcheries as long, and the intense preseason stocking effort, which was disrupted by snow this season, would be eliminated.
In addition, anglers would be able to fish during those mild days that frequently occur in February, and the large crowds associated with opening day would be eliminated.
On the other side, many people see opening day as a celebration of spring, a time when the streams are full of fish and all anglers are on equal footing.
"It is a strong tradition," said Whitehurst. "There are a lot of people who camp at a certain spot on opening day. They get together and enjoy old friends. Fire departments have sandwich sales. It is kinda like a rite of spring that is intertwined in the local customs of Southwest Virginia."
Still another advantage, an opening day gives the tackle industry a merchandising event, he said.
A major question, would a year-round season result in a reduction of trout license sales? That would mean fewer dollars to operate the program, which already is under financial stress.
"My feeling is, license sales probably would stay about the same," said Whitehurst. "There might be a short drop the first year, but I think the people who now trout fish once or twice a year would continue to do so."
Officials in West Virginia report that their license sales have increased under a year-round season, even though the state's population has declined. By being able to move trout out of hatcheries as early as December and January, production has been increased by 20 percent, officials say.
While backers of a year-round season often highlight the successes of the West Virginia season, Whitehurst questions if the comparison is all that valid. West Virginia is smaller and less populated, with most of its trout streams in rural areas where people see the hatchery truck go by. In Virginia, urban residents have complained that they are at a disadvantage to anglers who live near trout streams.
Virginia made a substantial advance toward a year-round season when opening day was moved into March following the last survey, said Whitehurst.
"The only difference, if we were to go to a year-round season, we would start stocking in February most likely, and people would start fishing in February as opposed to waiting till the third Saturday in March."
The survey participants will be selected from licensed trout anglers about midsummer. In 1986, just over 1,500 fishermen were surveyed. The greatest support for a year-round season came from anglers with the highest income and education.