ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 14, 1997 TAG: 9704150011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Q & A - The Inside on the Outside
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
Q. Is there any way you can find out why the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries does not update its web page daily regarding trout stocking as it does its telephone trout line? T.S.
A. For a time, the department's on-line trout stocking report was updated sporadically, but problems have been solved and the report should be updated faithfully late afternoons Monday through Friday, a department spokesman said. You can access the report through Outdoors You Go on www.roanoke.com. Outdoors You Go contains maps of stocked trout streams and a link to the state's stocking list. The state's phone number for stocking information is 804-525-3474. Stocking information also is available on InfoLine (see top of this page).
Sandy River no Briery Creek
Q. I have heard about Sandy River Reservoir, a new impoundment near Briery Creek in the Farmville area. Is it going to produce the type of big bass Briery Creek has in the past? C.B.
A. ``I don't expect it to be another Briery Creek,'' said Dale Wilson, a state fisheries biologist assigned to the management of both lakes. The names of the lakes give you a hint as to why. Briery Creek is full of cover where bass can hide; Sandy River isn't.
``It is pretty clean,'' Wilson said of Sandy River Reservoir. ``It will be a lot easier to catch a fish out of there than at Briery. The older fish will be cropped off a lot quicker. It is a decent fishing lake, but I don't think it will be anything like Briery Creek has been.''
All about Crooked Creek
Q. Would you give me some information on Crooked Creek? J.G.
A. Crooked Creek is one of the state's three pay-fishing trout areas, the other two being Douthat Lake and Big Tumbling Creek. It is a meadow stream flowing through Department of Game and Inland Fisheries property in Carroll County between Hillsville and Galax. About five miles of the stream is stocked several times a week for anglers who pay $4.50 daily to fish. Another two miles is for wild trout fishing.
The creek is wider than typical Virginia trout steams and has a fairly low gradient and gravel bottom. The fishing hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in April, and 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. May through September. The Sept.30 closure represents a longer season this year than in the past, when the pay program ended the day after Labor Day. Crooked Creek receives less fishing pressure than the other two pay areas. It can be reached by turning left off U.S. 58 onto Virginia 620 west of Hillsville.
Saltwater striper season is set
Q. Will there be a spring saltwater striped bass season this year? R.H.
A. There are no fewer than seven seasons, which makes it wise to contact the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and ask it to mail or fax you a fact sheet (757-247-2243).
The bay and tributaries trophy season is open May 1-15 with a one-fish, 32-inch minimum limit, but you can't fish in the spawning areas. A coastal season has the same dates and catch limits. A bay and tributaries spring season is open May 16-June 15 and allows two fish between 18 and 28 inches. The bay and tributaries fall and winter season, the most popular of the seasons, will be Oct. 4-Dec. 31 with a two fish, 18-inch minimum.
Have a question on the outdoors? Contact Bill Cochran, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010; phone, 540-981-3395; e-mail billc@roanoke.com.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB