Railroad stockings resume on Upper Shavers Fork

CHEAT BRIDGE, W.Va. — The steel rails screeched as the Dakota pickup truck lurched forward dragging a cartload of trout. Earlier this month the Division of Natural Resources resumed trout stocking on the railroad section of Upper Shavers Fork, much to the delight of many anglers.

“It’s been several years.  We’ve had to delay it for the construction of the project here,” said Tom Oldham with the DNR’s trout program. “It’s a very popular question, ‘When are we going to resume the stockings.'”

For the last three years it’s been impossible to get to the river with the fish. Heavy equipment hauled up the rails worked to build new fish friendly structures within the main channel of the river and at three different feeder streams rebuilt the culverts under the railroad and required the rails to be removed while the work was done.

Now that the project is complete, the stockings along the rails will only be made between Lambert Run and Beaver Creek.

“At one point in time we were going all the way to Spruce, but we decided there was enough of a wild fishery there,” said Oldham. “We want to start featuring the native brook trout in the area.”

The work done on the upper reaches of Shavers Fork is also aimed at fostering the native brook trout by enhancing their habitat and restoring water quality. Developers believe it will take several years before the natives establish a health fishery, but its certainly on its way.

The region isn’t easily accessible.  If you want to enjoy the isolation, you’ll have to work for it just a bit.

“You can drive to it at some access points, but a large part of it requires some foot travel,” Oldham said. “We want to provide an opportunity for the fisherman that’s a little different than just by the bridge or along the road.  Plus it adds to the experience up here.”

The rail stockings on Upper Shaver’s Fork are done twice a year, once in April and again in May.





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