ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 7, 1997 TAG: 9704080004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
WHEN you think about fishing for trophy trout in crystalline water, streams like the Jackson, Bullpasture and Smith come to mind; seldom the Pigg River. Even the name - Pigg - is a turn-off. The last thing you'd hope to see in a trout stream is a pig rooting up silt, even one elegant enough to spell its name with two g's.
And the Pigg's Franklin County setting, more noted for tobacco than trout, isn't exactly the kind of tall-timber, wolves-singing-to-the-moon, white-water habitat that you associate with wily brooks, browns and rainbows.
Yet the Pigg accounted for 77 of the citation rainbow trout catches registered in the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' trophy fish program last season. That was more than the Bullpasture River, Lake Moomaw and Crooked Creek - all big rainbow producers - combined.
Ed Wagoner is the reason. Wagoner stocks a one-mile-plus stretch of the river with trout that he says measure 14 to 30 inches. He charges fishermen $25 per day to fish it.
The concept of paying to fish a stream stocked with beefy trout began six seasons ago with the opening of a fee-fishing program on Cripple Creek, a twisting piece of water flowing rapidly from the village of Cedar Springs toward Speedwell in Wythe County. The idea was spawned by Jim and Carlene Hilton and their nephew Randy Hilton, who operate a hatchery near Rural Retreat. Since then, pay-fishing has spread so rapidly it is difficult to keep up with all the programs, including several new ones this year.
Wagoner, who operates Walkers Grocery on Old Forge Road in Franklin County, was one of the thousands of fishermen attracted to the jumbo trout being stocked in Cripple Creek.
``I've trout fished ever since I was old enough to carry a trout pole,'' he said. ``I had been looking for a place to stock trout.''
But where?
There certainly was no Cripple Creek near Wagoner's store, but one day he was crossing the nearby Pigg River when he suddenly told himself, ``Ed, right here it is.''
He began stocking a stretch of the river last year, calling his program Pigg River Trophy Trout.
``This is my favorite pay area,'' said Lacy All, of Salem, who has become the guru of fee-fishing, having sampled most of the areas more than once.
``The attraction? Everybody wants to catch a big trout,'' All said, while pausing for a stream-side lunch with his son, Todd. The two anglers had landed several 16-inch plus brook trout that morning.
``Most of my friends would pay $25 just to catch one big fish,'' All said.
Included in that category was Bill Amos of Roanoke, who hooked a chunky rainbow that exposed a pink lateral band as it thrashed the water near some shoreline tree roots.
``My rod hasn't been bent that far for a long time,'' Amos said, as he battled the fish in swift current. ``I've got my $25 worth.''
Much of the booming interest in pay trout streams can be credited to the modest size of the trout being stocked by the game department on public streams, All said. Fishermen yearn to catch big trout, and the pay facilities help achieve a size balance with the state's program. For All, it is more than a balance. It is the only type trout fishing he does.
``I don't even buy a state trout stamp now,'' he said. ``I am sure they don't miss me. I think it [pay-fishing] is the coming thing. We just need more of them.''
The Hiltons changed pay-fishing from a kid's affair to an attraction of the serious angler. Prior to the Crooked Creek program, fee-fishing was done in ponds where customers paid by the pound for the trout they caught. It was akin to buying trout at a fish market, only you had the fun of catching them. The rules were changed by the Hiltons. They stocked a steam and charged $25 a day to fish it, meaning you were on your own as far as success was concerned. Fishermen began showing up by the thousands when they learned that the trout being stocked were well above average size, many of them big enough to send participants knocking on the door of a taxidermist shop.
Last season, Cripple Creek accounted for 732 of the 1,091 brook trout registered in the state's trophy fish program. It yielded 108 of the 517 rainbow trout and 12 of the 57 brown trout.
``I don't know why, but they would rather catch a 2-pound brook trout than a 4-pound rainbow,'' said Jim Hilton. ``It is fine with us, because we are selling weight.''
The Hiltons' trout farm not only grows thousands of trout for its fee-fishing program, but also is a major supplier of several other pay areas, including Lake Back-O-Beyon, located on Glade Creek in Roanoke County.
The Lake Back-O-Beyon program was opened last season by Ray Cox, a Roanoke Times sports writer.
``Seventy-percent of the people who come here have been to Hiltons' Place,'' Cox said.
The daily fee at Back-O-Beyon is $30, but Cox offers discounts for catch-and-release and for fly-fishing. New this spring, is an after-work rate that is little more than half the daily fee. Cox is quick to tell you that he doesn't stock the huge fish you can find at Cripple Creek, but his trout are the size that can make an angler proud.
``What Ray has going for him is location,'' said Jim Hilton.
Even through it is just 15 minutes from downtown Roanoke, Glade Creek, like Cripple Creek, is cold enough to hold trout year-round. Some pay programs, including Pigg River, close during the heat of the summer when temperatures rise and stream flows fall.
Anglers soon learn that pay-fishing isn't a push-over. You can get skunked. The sportsmen who do well are the ones with trout fishing skills. Even then, it can be impossible to get some of the big trout to show an interest in a bait, lure or fly.
That is especially true of the big golden rainbow trout in Meadow Creek, where Paul Beaudoin operates the Big Pine pay fishery in New Castle. When you see them, you seldom hook them, said Beaudoin.
``You catch them when they move in under a rock - out of sight - and start feeding,'' he said.
Most pay operations stock trout in the mornings when the gates open to fishermen, because ``People want to see you stock them,'' said Wagoner. Stocking rates generally depend on how many anglers will be fishing that day. Reservations are required at most areas.
Often a company, organization or group of friends will rent the entire stream, and some of the new pay areas work entirely under that concept. One of them, S&M Trout Fishing, is located on Cripple Creek between two of the fee-fishing stretches operated by the Hiltons. Fly-fishing is popular at most pay areas, and some cater only to fly anglers, often including lodging in a package.
The growing competition hasn't slowed the action at Cripple Creek, Jim Hilton said. Weekends are booked into July on the program's Cripple Creek section and until September on a stretch of Blue Springs Creek.
LENGTH: Long : 127 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: BILL COCHRAN THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. Mike Watkins ofby CNBSpencer heads upstream trailing stringer of beefy trout. He fishes
the Pigg River pay area in Franklin County eight to 10 times each
spring. 2. Big trout that will bow a rod and kick up a wake are the
attraction for Mike Watkins. color. Graphics: Chart by RT:
Fee-Fishing facilities. color. KEYWORDS: MGR