Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 11, 1995 TAG: 9506120037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Booth was smart. You realize that when you point the bow of your boat up the 630-acre water supply impoundment and savor a backdrop of tranquil mountains, watch a clutch of fuzzy, young mallards paddling after their mom and spot a fish swirling at a cicada, all this just 30 minutes or so from the heart of the city.
Some old-time Cove users gave up these joys when the city posted regulations that sent launching fees soaring, from $6 in 1993, to $9 in 1994 to $12 this season. They felt the prices were unreasonable, and they didn't like the idea that they pretty much would have to limit the use of their boat to the Cove - and then only after it was inspected before each launch.
What's more, they would have to give up aquatic bait, such as minnows for crappie fishing. Some, who happened to live in places such as Craig or Franklin counties, were told they no longer were welcome.
It was the city's way of dealing with the fear of an invasion of zebra mussels. The concern was that these fingernail-size critters might hitch a ride on someone's boat launched from another body of water. If so, they could clog the waterworks at the Cove, a water source for 160,000 area residents.
``I'm not going to be treated like a criminal,'' said one longtime cove user who called it quits. ``I'm not going to be searched.''
So there have been fewer vehicles in the parking lot and fewer boats on the water, and this has made the Cove even more of a recreational oasis for the survivors. This year, an increasing number of people have decided the $100 annual launching fee is a worthwhile investment if you are going to launch 10 times or more. Fees are less for craft with engines of 10 horsepower or under, or no motor at all.
In addition to native species, such as largemouth bass and sunfish, the Cove still has striped bass and walleye, but you have to wonder how long they will be around. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which has stocked 750,000 fish of eight species during the past two decades, no longer manages the lake's fishery.
The agency can't, because Roanoke officials have turned it into a semiprivate pond by limiting fishing boat use to residents of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Roanoke, Bedford and Botetourt. The game and fish department only manages water that rightfully is open to everyone. The agency wanted the city to defend against zebra mussels by adding new technologies as part of the updating and enlargement of Roanoke's water treatment facility.
Instead of doing that, the city now posts an inspector who asks Cove users to sign a declaration before launching their boat stating the craft has been in no other water for the past 21 days. That means you pretty well must marry your boat to the lake. Users also have to prove they own the boat and reside in one of the specified localities.
The threat of zebra mussels isn't to be taken lightly, but you have to wonder if the city has chosen a defense that weighs too heavily on the recreational use of a delightful resource. You have to believe that, especially in view of the fact that over the years the city seldom has grasped the vision that the Cove can enhance the quality of life in this region beyond being a water source.
Fishermen like Booth will testify to that.
by CNB