October 17, 2007
Roanoke River stocked with trout, others too low for fish
Fellow sports department staffer Katrina Waugh just called in to say hordes of anglers were on the Ronaoke River at Wasena Park, a sure sign that the river had been stocked recently with trout. It actually got fish yesterday, which means today will probably be the best day for fishing.
Because of the drought, the Roanoke River is among a fairly small number of waters that actually is in good enough shape for fish. Other streams, even those top-level "Class A" waters, are just trickles. They're probably cool enough for trout, but there's just not enough flow for a decent fishing experience.
Trout stocking crews have had to focus on the decent waters. The question is, what will they do when they've hit all those streams and ponds once? Gary Martel, head of the Fisheries Division at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said his team is working on possible solutions. One option includes veering from the normal stocking protocol and hitting the better waters again.
Adding to the dilemma, water levels are also suffering at hatcheries. So it's not like the agency can just put stocking on hold and keep the fish. They have to get rid of some of them.
An easy option would be to dump the excess fish in a big reservoir. That wouldn't do anything toward the program's mission of spreading fish around to provide fair and equitable recreation.
With rain in the forecast, we can only hope low water becomes less of a concern in coming weeks.
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