ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
A few balmy days near the end of February lured fishermen to trout streams like it was opening day of the season.
Only there is no opening day this year, because there was no closing of last season. Trout fishing has become an eternal affair, without beginning or end, thanks to Virginia's first year-round season. This explains the flurry of action in February, when you could go trout fishing without getting busted by a warden.
``In the past, about all you could do this time of year was go out and ride around and see if they had been stocked,'' said Larry Mohn, a regional fisheries manager for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
This time, you can do more than look and dream. You can wade in and cast power bait, salmon eggs and Joe's Flies. If you are skillful - or lucky - you can hook trout and land them and even parade up and down the bank with a stringer full of fish dangling at your side.
A few fishermen have done that all winter, but their ranks swelled during the February thaw. The angler enthusiasm had state fish officials pointing with pride to what they see as a major benefit of the year-round season, a chance to catch trout during the balmy days of late winter. That opportunity made the state's trout-stocking information line more popular than a call home.
``Does `skyrocketing' sound like a good adjective?'' said George Duckwall, describing the sudden explosion of interest in winter trout fishing. Duckwall is the trout cultural supervisor for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
There were 16,200 calls to the stocking report line from the time it was established in the fall through Jan.1. By the end of February the number had reached 25,000. Duckwall estimates it will swell to 35,000 by the end of March.
``I am guessing even more than that,'' he said.
For the first time in modern history, the trout fishing masses won't be denied the warm days of February and early March. They can go trout fishing when they get the itch, and they can expect to find fish when they do go, said Duckwall. It makes trout fishing less of a carnival and more of a sport, he said.
That thought has helped ease the controversy that swirled around the idea of doing away with a tradition as strong and festive as opening day. ``No opening day? Will Santa Claus be the next to go?'' some anglers had asked.
``I am hearing very few complaints about opening day right now,'' said Duckwall. ``People now can go out and fish and they are saying, `Hey! This wouldn't have been available to me last year or the year before, now it is and it is kind of neat.'''
There are anglers who already have caught more than 200 trout, and well before the third Saturday of March, which was the traditional opening date.
And the best is yet to come, said Duckwall. This month and next, the stocking schedule shifts into high gear, with more streams getting fish more often, some every other week on average.
``We are going to flood the water,'' said Duckwall. ``March and April will be our two biggest months.''
Even so, there remain fishermen who pine for the fascination of opening day, and they may vote their preference by simply not buying a trout license.
Fish officials won't be surprised to see a modest decline in license sales, but Duckwall believes anglers who give the year-round season a chance will be able to wash their soul in the riffles and pad their creel with trout. Even on the third Saturday of March.
``There are so many fish out in the water right now, and we are doing so much stocking in March, that someone who goes out the third week of March to catch a mess of trout, they should be able to,'' he said.
Duckwall isn't certain how many trout have been stocked this season, but the count was 290,000 by the first of the year, compared with previous fall releases that would total about 75,000.
``I would guess that by the end of February the number was around 400,000,'' he said.
At times, it has appeared the weather man is the biggest foe of the year-round season. Fish often have been stocked - and caught - during the misery of floods, snowstorms and below-zero temperatures.
``We didn't pick the best year to go to a year-round season,'' said Mohn.
The first warm days in March should change that, and there will be no waiting when that occurs.
GETTING A LINE ON TROUT
804-525-3474: This is the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries trout stocking line. It is updated weekdays at 4 p.m.
981-0100: This is the Roanoke Times Infoline. When it answers, enter Infoline Code 3016.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. & 2. ERIC BRADY/Staff John Chambers bows his fishingby CNBrod during an outing on the Roanoke River. Brian Wirt was fishing
nearby, and that's his limit (below). color
3. Randy Booth checks his bait during a Roanoke River outing when
warm temperatures made it look a bit like opening day. color