ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606030128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Some of the gang at the Fishing Hole, a tackle shop in Northeast Roanoke, wonder how the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries can call its trout program a year-round season when the stocking stopped Friday.
``They assumed the year-round season was going to be year-round stocking,'' said David Webb, an owner of the shop.
But Friday pretty well wrapped up the spring stocking season, and anglers shouldn't expect additional trout before fall, said George Duckwall, the state trout cultural supervisor.
Webb said he had been trying to educate his customers that the hot, dry weather of summer can lower stream flows and raise water temperatures to the point that trout will belly up.
``It is not feasible for the state to put money into summer trout stockings for this area,'' he said. ``This is the first year of the year-round season. Fishermen will get used to it.''
What are the likes and dislikes thus far?
Anglers welcomed the opportunity to go trout fishing in February and early March, periods that were closed under the old third-Saturday-in-March opening day.
``In February and March we had plenty of people saying they were catching lots of trout,'' said Derrick Hines of the All Huntin-N-Fishin Store in Salem.
Fishermen complained about the small size of the trout stocked, especially early and late in the winter-spring stocking period. At other periods, trout size often was positive. Look for overall improvements as hatchery officials adjust to the year-round season.
Anglers liked the fact that some streams were stocked as often as twice a month during the spring season, but they complained that the number of fish released often was less than in the past.
``We are providing more fish than the program ever has, and we will continue to try to do that,'' Duckwall said.
The state's trout line, where fishermen could receive a phone recording of the latest stockings, was extremely popular. It attracted 150,000 calls, Duckwall said.
There were complaints that retired fishermen got the first chance at freshly stocked trout, and that anglers following hatchery trucks remained a problem, even though state officials had hoped the year-round season would change that.
``There still seems to be a fairly loyal band of hatchery truck followers, particularly at Paint Bank, but we have them come to all trout hatcheries,'' Duckwall said. ``I think to them it is part of the ball game; part of the chase. They probably will never change.''
Some fishermen question why spring stocking ended May 31 when water flow is excellent and recent temperatures have been cool. Why not at least expand stocking into early June?
It is impossible to make short-term adjustments to the spring schedule, Duckwall said.
What if the weather had turned hot and dry? ``We would be going into next week with water that really wasn't suitable for stocking, and we would have fish in the hatcheries that we wouldn't have room to keep through the summer,'' he said.
Even without additional spring stockings, fishing should be good the next several weeks, he said. ``With all the rain we have had, the fish will be spread out. There should be fishing into July.''
Fishermen like the idea of larger fall stockings, which started last year. ``We are stocking almost three- to four-times more trout in the October-through-January period than we did when we had a closed season,'' Duckwall said.
Officials hope to begin fall stocking early October, but that will depend on water flow, Duckwall said. If water conditions favor trout, there is a chance fish could begin rolling from hatcheries as early as mid-September.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB