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

DATE: MONDAY, January 16, 1995                   TAG: 9501280006
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NOW YOU CAN FISH FOR TROUT IN A HATCHERY

The new program is the result of several fishing regulations that became law Jan. 1, most of them emphasizing fun over bringing home a hefty catch.

The rules have established five new catch-and-release trout fishing opportunities and have sharply reduced limits for trout and white bass at several impoundments in the western end of the state.

"They are designed to provide more recreation opportunities and more diverse opportunities," said Gary Martel, chief of the fish division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Some of the regulations have caught fishermen by surprise. When they were passed in mid-October they were part of a package that included a year-round trout season, and that issue grabbed most of the headlines. The year-round season becomes law July 1, making the March 18 opening day the final one.

One of the new laws increases the minimum size limit on trout from 10 to 16 inches and lowers the daily catch limit from six to two on Philpott, Moomaw and Flannagan lakes.

The objective is to give the trout that are stocked annually in these impoundments an opportunity to reach trophy size, rather than be caught just after they are released, said Martel.

"If we can protect those trout when we stock them, then they can shoot right up to 3 to 5 pounds," he said.

The daily catch limit also has been reduced from 25 to five on white bass in the New River from Buck Dam, in Carroll County, down to Claytor Dam in Montgomery County.

Fish officials have expressed concern over what they view as a decline in the white bass population in the New River drainage. Claytor Lake once was Virginia's top producer of trophy size white bass. That honor now goes to Kerr Lake.

"The [Claytor-New River white bass] population has been declining, and the fish are extremely vulnerable during a short period of the year," Martel said.

Five new special-regulation trout-fishing opportunities have been established, including the one that literally puts fishermen inside Buller hatchery.

Fishing there will be with artificial lures only, and all trout caught must be released immediately.

"The river has been closed to fishing, and over the years some big trout have congregated there," said John Jessee, a state fish biologist. "I think it is going to be a real lucrative fishing area."

Officials recently fenced some nearby trout-rearing ponds so fishermen won't be attempted to cast a lure their way.

A second, upstream stretch of the South Fork of the Holston, near the confluence of Comers Creek, also is new for special-regulations anglers. Martel describes it as an outstanding year-round trout fishery, with numerous springs and a good year-round flow.

"Studies in 1992 documented a self-sustaining rainbow trout fishery with fish up to 4 years of age and 15 inches in length," Martel said. "Trophy-sized brown trout also are found in this stream, and the current state record came from a section immediately downstream."

Roaring Fork, in the Beartown Mountain Wilderness Area of Tazewell County, is another addition to the special regulations program. The stream's once thriving population of native brook trout has been jeopardized by acidity and angling pressure, Martel said. Catch-and-release regulations are expected to help protect the trout.

Big Wilson Creek and Little Wilson Creek inside the Grayson Highland State Park and the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area also are now special-regulation steams.

"The influx of visitors to this area has placed a high demand on the wild trout fisheries," Martel said.

One thing many anglers don't understand is the new special regulations areas, as well as other fish-for-fun programs, will be open to angling even after the trout season closes Feb. 1, Martel said. Information on the state's special-regulation streams can be found in the new fishing law digest available from license agents.

Another new regulation prohibits the sale of salamanders, in Virginia, even those collected outside the state. A fishermen can possess up to 50 salamanders, often called spring lizards, for private use.