Although the calendar says it’s spring, you’d be hard pressed to prove it by looking around West Virginia this week. Some mountain counties received more than a foot of snow since Sunday with more on the way.
The weather is always a problem for the DNR in the early spring as they attempt to keep up with the trout stocking schedule. All of Monday’s stockings were cancelled and some of the most remote streams like Upper Shavers Fork, West Fork of the Greenbrier, Williams River, and Spruce Knob Lake have been unreachable for several weeks.
“There are still some places we’re not able to get into and hopefully we’ll be able to get into soon,” said DNR Trout Program leader Mike Shingleton.
The agency has been stocking trout since January. The stockings ramp up in March and continue on a full tilt until the end of May. The size of the fish tends to increase the deeper into the season they go.
“Right now they’re running in the 11, 12, 13 inch range,” said Shingleton. “The size sill increase as we go into May as more room is freed up in the hatchery.”
So far, the conditions have remained adequate for fish to survive although they may not readily bite when water temperatures are in the 30’s.
“They’re in pretty good shape. These fish come out of water in the mid to low 50’s and right now our water temperatures are still in the 30’s and that can be quite a shock.” Shingleton said. “That will knock them off their feed and they won’t bite very well. Also every time we get a snow melt it lowers the pH and sometimes that will keep them from wanting to feed too much.”
Shingleton advised anglers who are on the streams braving the elements to fish slowly and be patient. The numbers of fishermen are directly correlated to the temperature as well. Shingleton said those numbers will increase when the weather breaks and the sun comes out.
The DNR will make up any missed stockings due to weather. Shingleton said it will come with increased poundage of trout on some stocking runs or additional runs to insure all waters get the allotted numbers of trout during the spring schedule.
“Beginning in April we start getting days in the 40’s and 50’s,” he said. “Water temperature begins to warm up and activity starts to pick up quite a bit.”