Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303210030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WINTER COATS, GLOVES AND FEW TROUT ON OPENING DAY
The calendar said it was the first day of spring, but for trout fishermen celebrating opening day of the season Saturday, it was more like the marriage of Old Man Winter and April Fool's Day.The water was high, the morning temperatures low, and snow drifts spilled out of the wooded hollows to cover parking spots along favorite streams. Old-timers couldn't recall another first day quite like it.
The trout were lethargic, too, spread far and wide by surly water, their spirits dashed by the rivulets of snowmelt that invaded their home. Many apparently decided not to feast on the banquet table of worms, salmon eggs, minnows, Power Bait, spinners, cheese and other objects that came raining their way. Few catch limits were reached.
Some fishermen didn't bother to show up for the annual celebration; others were headed home an hour after the 9 a.m. starting time, blowing on hands that were the color of shrimp salmon eggs.
"I'd say the crowd is off by one-third," said Lacy All, who keeps a close eye on the Roanoke River from his tackle shop in Salem.
There were some places, however, where death by loneliness wasn't a risk. The big hole in Jennings Creek above Arcadia was ringed by more than 60 fishermen, swaddled in puffy down coats, hoods and even gloves.
Danny Walkup of Blue Ridge came wading out of the creek 10 minutes into the season, his empty stringer jingling along his leg like wind chimes.
"I've never seen it this slow," he said. "Last year, I had my children with me and we all caught fish."
Eric Smith, patrolling the creek in a green Jefferson National Forest Jeep, was wondering if a good portion of the trout had washed down into the James River. Jennings was stocked March 5, just before the high water came roaring off the timbered ridges.
"The fish in Jennings Creek were so scattered that I didn't see many limits," said Lt. Dennis Mullins, a state game warden. "Several limits came off North Creek where we just stocked on Friday."
If any anglers were missing along Roaring Run in Botetourt County, Richard Pauley of Daleville said he didn't notice.
"I think it was more crowded than last year."
Pauley and his two teen-age sons, Michael and Robert, took limit catches by pinching an extra split shot onto their line to get their baits to the stream bottom. One of the rainbows Michael landed measured 16 inches.
Laurence Carr of Salem caught a 17-inch, 2.19-pound citation brook trout at Barbours Creek in Craig County, where many anglers found the fish to be closed-mouthed.
"I could see seven fish in the hole, and I caught three of them. Nobody else caught anything."
One of the better catches of the day was by John Kemp of Roanoke, who landed a 6.87-pound citation brown trout while casting a Joe's Fly in the shadows of Interstate 581 bridge over Wiley Drive. Lacking a net, Kemp had to beach the 25 1/2-inch fish on the bank, where Walter Andrews pounced onto it with a death grip.
Jim Mowles of Salem landed a 6-pound brown on a Joe's Fly in the Salem area of the Roanoke River. Paul Einhellig of Roanoke got a 5\ -pound brown on a spinner in the Wiley Drive area of the river.
While snow drifts made parking difficult in some areas - Patrick County, for example - it wasn't the problem fish and forest officials had feared.
"At 6 o'clock this morning, people were coming into Maggodee Creek [in Franklin County] so they could get a parking place," said Lt. Karl Martin, a state game warden.
There was little discussion about postponing opening day, said David Whitehurst, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' fish division chief.
"These kind of challenges will excite some people and keep other people home for a few days," he said.
Hatchery trucks were able to reach most streams before opening day, Hunting Creek in Bedford County and Gullion Fork Creek and Gullion Fork Ponds in Wythe County exceptions.
"The fish that were to have been stocked in Hunting Creek for opening day will be put in there during in-season stockings," said Capt. John Heslep, a state game warden. "The creek won't just lose them."
In-season stockings begin Monday. That could mean fish going in on top of fish.
"There are plenty of trout in the streams; they just weren't hitting that well," Martin said.