In the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia small streams tumble through hollows choked with hardwoods and laurel. In the valleys, creeks are born at gurgling limestone springs. Generations ago there were trophy-sized native brook trout here. But as our nation grew the health of these creeks and these trout was an afterthought. Man’s impact damaged trout streams and trout populations. …
Look in the mirror. What you see is a champion.
TU’s Dean Finnerty fishing the Sandy River as a teenager. By Sam Davidson Ten years ago, on a river revered for its huge wild steelhead, more than a ton of dynamite reduced a 47-foot high dam to rubble. The dam was named after a whistling rodent and the river after a big sandbar early European…
By Mark Taylor The local river is a trout river. Sort of. From October through May the state dumps thousands of hatchery-reared rainbows and brookies into it. By summer those fish are long gone, caught and creeled by locals who are both dedicated and skilled. Then the river is back to what nature intended, which…