CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources hopes you’ll have the weekend free so you can go fishing. In fact, if you can get free, it is free. Saturday and Sunday are designated Free Fishing Days in the Mountain State. Nobody, whether in-state or out-of-state, will need a fishing license to fish public water in West Virginia. All other fishing laws still apply, but no license is required.
“It’s just a way to promote fishing across West Virginia. We want to give folks an opportunity to get out there who may not do it very often. They may not be very experienced or they may not have gone in a while, we just want people out there enjoying themselves,” said Dave Wellman, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
Along with hoping to get adults back into the fishing fold, Wellman said it’s also an opportunity to encourage parents to take their youngsters and go fishing together.
“There have been stories told to me about my dad taking a playpen down to the river and me being in it while he was fishing. But some of my best memories are out fishing with my dad and it’s a great way to enjoy yourself, whether you’re with your family or even if you’re fishing alone,” said Wellman.
The agency sponsors two longtime kids fishing events to give children an opportunity to learn. One event Saturday is at the Bowden Trout Hatchery in Randolph County and the other is at Little Beaver Lake State Park in Raleigh County. Both events have been ongoing for three decades. The events are free and children will get an opportunity to fish. If parents are unsure of what to do there will be plenty of experienced adults around to offer advice and help with things like tying on hooks and bobbers, hooking up bait, or unhooking fish.
Anglers are an extremely important factor in conservation. Revenue from the sale of fishing license and excises taxes paid on fishing equipment is the largest source of funding for fisheries management in West Virginia and the United States. Continuing the sale of fishing license is critical to the future of the activity since users pay the freight.
“That’s exactly right and it’s something I hope anglers and hunters take note of. It’s really pay for play, we don’t use general revenue funding, it’s all through the sale of fishing license and on excise taxes paid on fishing tackle and motorboat fuel,” Wellman explained.
The revenue from those sources helps construct and maintain things like boat ramps, fishing piers, operations of hatcheries, water quality work like the lime applied to acidic streams, and for law enforcement. All of those are paid for with fishing license dollars.
Finally, Wellman said West Virginians are fortunate because the state offers a very diverse fishing opportunity. You can pursue native brook trout in the highest reaches of the state’s mountain streams or trophy catfish in major navigable rivers.
“We’re considered a headwater state and we have diverse opportunities. We don’t have as much water as other state,s but we make up for it in diversity. We have great smallmouth rivers, lakes with largemouth, bluegill, crappie, walleye, and musky. We have big blue catfish or flathead catfish, trout, we run the gambit of all the fish species you can enjoy,” he said.
The DNR has been stocking channel catfish in about 50 public ponds around the state in recent weeks in anticipation of the free fishing weekend. The hope is folks will enjoy fishing so much on Saturday and Sunday, they’ll buy a license and return to do it again next weekend.