ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Outdoors
February 1 may not be circled on your calendar, but it is a red-letter day for anglers. It is the day the trout season didn't close.
In the past, the season has ended Feb.1 and reopened the third Saturday in March. Under the state's new year-round season, trout fishing has no beginning or end.
That already has resulted in significantly heavier stockings during the fall and early winter, with more to come.
``Our fall stockings have been just a little shy of 300,000 fish,'' said George Duckwall, trout cultural supervisor for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. ``Normally, it had been around 80,000 catchable trout in the fall. So there are a lot of fish out there in a lot of water.''
Hatchery trucks will keep on rolling in February; in fact, stocking will intensify mid-February through March, Duckwall said.
Heavy snows, cold temperatures and floods have made reaching some streams and ponds a challenge for both hatchery trucks and fishermen, said Duckwall.
``But we have been sticking pretty well to the schedule,'' he said. ``If we can carry out stocking this year, the way the weather has been, we can do it anytime. Right now, our plans are to stock everything that is scheduled unless we just can't physically get to the water. If we can't, of course, the fishermen can't either.''
A hatchery truck had to turn back this week after an unsuccessful attempt to reach High Knob Lake in Wise County. Several George Washington and Jefferson National Forest roads remain closed following the January flood. Others are in such bad shape that forest officials are urging people to avoid using them. Questions about roads should be addressed to district ranger stations.
Chip Scharm of Rockbridge County is among the anglers who wonder if high water has washed all the recently stocked trout downstream.
``Am I going to have to go to Richmond to find trout?'' he said.
``As far as the high water is concerned, I think what it has done is distribute the fish quite well,'' said Duckwall. ``Usually when the trout are stocked and you get flooding conditions, they just go down to the bottom of the stream behind a rock or in quiet water. It should provide a lot better distribution, so if we do get some nice weather everybody would get a shot at them.''
High water at the Coursey Springs and Montibello hatcheries damaged roads, fences and raceways, and washed away several thousand trout, Duckwall said. The trout that were swept away should be in Spring Run, downstream from Coursey Springs, and in the Tye River, below Montibello, he said.
``We were fortunate,'' said Duckwall. ``If it had rained three more hours, the entire facility at Coursey Springs may have been in jeopardy.''
Ralph Cleek, who operates a mile-long stretch of the Jackson River north of Hot Springs as a pay area for fly fishermen, said the flood flushed a number of trout into his section of the stream.
``It already had a lot of trout in it,'' he said.
The river remains high, but it is fishable, said Cleek. ``What you have to do is fish in the eddies next to the bank. The biggest trout I caught last year was in January.''
Cleek charges anglers $20 a day. For details and reservations, call, (540) 839-2759.
Jack Compton plans to re-open his Klondike Valley pay trout program Saturday on a two-mile stretch of Walker Creek in Bland County.
``We are going to cut it down to 12 fishermen per day and have fly-fishing only Wednesdays and Sundays,'' Compton said. ``With two miles of stream, that many fishermen shouldn't even see each other.''
Compton said he will stock several times a week, specializing in 2- to 4-pound fish. The daily fee is $25. Reservations can be made by calling (540) 988-5446 weekdays or (540) 688-4519 nights and weekends.
TALKING TURKEY: Hearl Kelly won the National Wild Turkey Federation contest held in Roanoke. The Rockbridge County resident will advanced to the national finals in Atlanta. Wil Strickland of Hillsville won the junior division and Brian Carter of Vinton the novice division.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB