ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Douthat Lake has been getting bathtub warm during the summer months, which may be good for swimming, but it is tough on trout.
Warm water temperatures have disrupted the lake's popular pay trout fishing program four of the past five summers. State fish officials say that's enough.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has proposed eliminating pay fishing and the frequent trout stockings that come with it at Douthat June 15 through Sept. 15.
The proposal is one of several that would bring changes to Douthat, as well as the pay programs at Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling Creek.
Officials are recommending that the opening of the pay program at the three areas be delayed until the first Saturday in April, rather than beginning the third Saturday in March. No fishing would be permitted in the areas five days preceding the opening. This would give officials time to carry out stocking.
``Without a short closure, trout stocked for the opening could be heavily creeled before opening day,'' now that the state has a year-round season on most streams, said Gary Martel, the department's fish division chief.
While the pay season would be shortened on the front end, officials are recommending extending it on the back side to take advantage of improved water conditions of autumn. At Crooked Creek, near Galax, and Big Tumbling Creek, near Saltville, the season would run until Sept.30. It currently ends Labor Day. At Douthat, near Clifton Forge, it would go until Oct.30, which would provide an extra month of pay fishing.
The package of proposals also calls for establishing ``children-only'' fishing sections at Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling. Douthat already has that option.
``The proposed change will allow the department to either establish children only areas at any of the other fee fishing areas or to provide the opportunity to host a single-day children's only fishing event,'' said Martel.
The elimination of pay fishing for trout at Douthat during the summer months shouldn't be viewed entirely as a loss, said Martel. In fact, fishing activities have intensified the past summers when pay fishing has been disrupted by high water temperatures, he said. Families using the park can go after warm-water species without paying the daily $4.50 fee.
``Douthat has good populations of warm-water game fish that can provide good angling opportunities during the summer months,'' Martel said.
If you have a couple of kids and are spending a week at the park, the $4.50 daily trout fishing fee can burn into the vacation budget, he said.
With that in mind, officials also have proposed exempting children 12 and under from the fee requirement at Douthat during the pay program. The youngster would be required to fish with a licensed adult and the adult/child daily limit would be six trout.
Some of the regulars who fish at Douthat and know how to work the narrow band of water that has the proper temperatures and oxygen content for trout, aren't happy over the idea of giving up the pay program.
If you are wondering why Douthat doesn't appear to have the kind of quality trout habitat it once did, maybe you need look no farther than the 60-acre lake's siltation problem, said George Keller, a Douthat regular who lives in Roanoke. Silt has decreased the water depth, Keller told Granger Macfarlane, a game department board member from Roanoke. Money for dredging the lake is expected to be requested in the next state budget, Macfarlane said.
The public will get the opportunity to offer input on the pay proposals during 10 public hearings across the state. They include meetingsSept.4Sept.5 Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Roanoke (County Administration Building, 5204 Bernard Dr.).
Also being considered are proposals to end bait fishing in the Jackson River below Gathright Dam; to raise the minimum catch size on trout in the Hidden Valley special-regulations section of the upper Jackson from 12 to 16 inches; and to make fishing with a bow and arrow legal at night.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB