The new West Virginia fishing regulations for 2008 feature three minor changes that sportsman should note.
The first of those changes comes at the Pedlar Wildlife Management Area in Monongalia County. The Pedlar WMA features a pair of fishing lakes. Mason Lake is a 14-acre impoundment that allows for electric motor boating and an access ramp. The smaller of those, Dixon Lake that is approximately 7-acres, will come under new restrictions for this year as a 100-percent catch and release impoundment for all species.
"We’re designing that for a family-friendly fishing opportunity," said Brett Preston, chief of warm water fisheries for the West Virginia DNR. "We want to get this lake off to a good start."
The new regulations for 2008 at Dixon Lake include the catch and release regulation along with a ban on barbed hooks and a prohibition on boating.
The second change in the West Virginia fishing regulations for 2008 includes a slot limit on fish at two impoundments where the DNR hopes to create a walleye fishery. Montcove and Charles Fork Lakes will now have a 24-inch minimum size and two-per-day creel limit on walleye.
"We’re trying to establish a brood stock source for our walleye program so that we can be a little more independent in getting fish to stock in state waters,” said Preston.
The final change in the 2008 regulations is the removal of a restriction on fish at East Lynn Lake in Wayne County.
"It’s a removal of the 12-to-16 inch slot limit," said Preston. "That’s been in effect for a number of years, but what we’ve found is there wasn’t any difference in catch rates and growth rates and size distribution. The slot limit really wasn’t doing what we had hoped it would do."
The new regulations are now published and available at all license retailers in the state and at the DNR’s website.