Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 22, 1995 TAG: 9505230020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Andrews, who operates the Bait Place tackle shop near the river, is peeved the media have made it appear that fishing no longer is permitted on any of the Jackson River.
``Nothing has changed,'' she said.
Last week, Alleghany County Circuit Judge Duncan Byrd issued a permanent injunction against a fishing guide from Charlottesville who was arrested in 1992 on a trespassing charge while floating and fishing the Jackson downstream from Gathright Dam.
The ruling was a setback for anglers attracted to the Jackson's growing trout fishery, but Andrews said it doesn't mean fishermen can't cast to the public stretches of the stream.
``You can still fish the Jackson, except on the king's grant properties,'' she said.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has been slower to give advice.
``We aren't saying anything yet,'' said David Whitehurst, deputy director of the department. ``We have just received a copy of the court report and our attorneys are looking at it.
``Until we receive feedback from them, we really haven't provided any additional guidance to our law enforcement people or have we decided what adjustments need to be made to our fisheries management programs.''
James Brewer, a tackle shop operator in Charlottesville, counts himself among the anglers who have been frustrated in efforts to get information on the status of the fishery, which was developed with public funds.
``It is just up in the air,'' he said. ``As I see it, it is a private lawsuit and the state is not a party in this.''
Byrd ruled in favor of the landowners who claimed they have crown grants that give them exclusive rights to fish or wade the river, even though it has been declared navigable.
``We will appeal. That is an automatic,'' said Brewer, who has been a leader in the effort by sportsmen to keep the stream open to public fishing.
``If all judges rule like this judge, it would effectively ban all public fishing on streams and rivers in Virginia because all of them originally had a crown grant,'' he said. ``You couldn't float the James River without stopping every 100 yards and asking permission.''
Brewer said he had contacted a national conservation organization with the idea of suing the landowners in federal court.
A fund-raising banquet is being planned for the fall, he said.
``We figure this is going to be a long, expensive sucker,'' he said.
by CNB