Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505230006
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``I've never had as much fun trout fishing in my life,'' said All, a longtime angler from Salem.
Sycamore Creek? You've never heard of it?
Neither had All until a few days earlier.
Sycamore Trout Stream is one of two new pay-fishing programs in Patrick County. The other, Blue Ridge Valley Trout Preserve, is located a few miles away in the Patrick Springs area on the Mayo River.
Both are unabashed copies of Cedar Springs Sportsman Lodge, where for the past four years hundreds of fishermen have tangled with trophy trout at Cripple Creek near Rural Retreat.
Last year, Cripple Creek accounted for 625 citations - 37 percent of all the trout citations registered with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. It was No. 1 in the state for big brook and rainbow trout and No. 3 for brown trout. That kind of reputation gets attention.
``We went to Cripple Creek several times and figured something like this will work up here,`' said Carl Handy, who operates the Blue Ridge Valley Trout Preserve.
Tony Meeks, who started the pay-fishing program at Sycamore Creek, also got the idea from Cripple Creek.
Both of the new areas purchase trout from Jim and Ricky Hilton, who operate a hatchery at Cedar Springs and are partners with Jim Trivette in the operation of Cedar Springs Sportsman Lodge on Cripple Creek.
Jim Hilton said he welcomes the opening of additional pay-fishing areas.
``I am glad to have something to take some of the pressure off of us,'' Hilton said.
The pay program at Cripple Creek has become so popular that reservations must be made weeks in advance.
``We are booking for 1996 right now,'' Hilton said.
The secret to a prosperous pay-fishing program is stocking big fish and having them available any time an angler shows up, Hilton said, then limiting the number of fishermen so it never appears to be crowded.
``We give people something for their money,'' he said. ``If you are a serious fishermen and you fish all day, you are going to catch [a limit of] five fish, and they are going to average a total of 15 pounds. When you go into the 3-pound average, rather than the 8- to 12-ounce average, it makes a big difference.''
``Our trout go from 11/2 pounds on up,'' Meeks said. ``They will average 2 to 3 pounds. We always keep trophy fish in here. We have a rainbow close to 7 pounds.''
Lacy All hooked his beefy brook trout on Power Bait in a pool where water was swirling behind a rock.
``I threw it in there, and something tapped it,'' he said. ``I threw it in there a second time, and he nailed it.''
Farther downstream, All drifted a nightcrawler along a rock ledge and hooked the big rainbow, which immediately rolled to the surface, flashing a blending of pink, silver and green.
``Then he went to the bottom and wouldn't move. What are you going to do with 4-pound line?'' All asked.
What he did was hold on until the trout gave up its grip on the current and came reluctantly to the net.
All was so impressed that he told Meeks to hold 10 spots for him and his buddies this week.
Most of the trout stocked in the Mayo River at Blue Ridge Valley Trout Preserve weigh 11/2 pounds and are garnished with a sprinkling of 3- to 5-pounders, Handy said.
``I'd say we have had about 25 citations caught since opening in March,'' he said.
The smaller trout are more eager to bite, which is important to many visitors, Handy said.
``I am putting in 7 to 8 pounds of fish per customer,'' Handy said. ``If I have 10 people who fish today, I will go get 75 to 80 pounds of fish and put them in before tomorrow's fishing.''
The Mayo is larger than Sycamore Creek and traverses remote terrain. Handy and his partner, Jerry Stevens, use all-terrain vehicles to stock hard-to-reach portions of the stream. When it gets too rough for these motorized mountain goats, they place trout in a tank mounted in a large inner tube.
``We push the inner tube up the river and throw the trout out as we go,'' Handy said.
Stevens and his wife, Amanda, also operate a pond where fishermen are charged $2.99 for each pound of trout caught.
The popularity of pay-fishing areas appears to be boundless, but the facilities are limited by the number of big trout available and the quality of the water during hot, dry weather, Hilton said.
Some areas have gone out of business because they couldn't meet fishermen's expectations.
So far, the Patrick County pay areas are pulling in repeat customers.
``You can't please everybody,'' Handy said, ``but when you please them, they will come back.''
Memo: ***CORRECTION***