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WV Trout Streams in “Good Shape”
Despite Dry Summer

By Philip J. Heald
June 29, 2007
A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of
Natural Resources tells westvirginiatroutfishing.
com that trout streams across the Mountain State
are flowing with plenty of cool water, and
conditions for catching trout should be good for
the next few days. According to Mike
Shingleton, trout management official for the
WVDNR, “recent rains have area streams
rebounding from low levels earlier this summer.”
Shingleton added that the dry conditions and
warm temperatures have not been severe enough
to cause concern about the health of West
Virginia trout populations. “But,” he said, “it’s
probably been harder on the fishermen than the
fish this summer,” alluding to the fact that trout
tend to get cautious and elusive in low, clear
water conditions. “But, with streams running at
more favorable levels, the conditions should be
good for trout fishing during the next few days.

Alarming Fish Kills Plaguing Potomac and its
Tributaries
   By Matt Cooke

   In the spring of 2002, local anglers began reporting kills of
large numbers of smallmouth bass and sunfish in the South
Branch of the Potomac River . Since then, fish kills have
continued each spring on the South Branch; and in recent
years, the fish kills have spread to other rivers in the
Potomac drainage, including the Cacapon, Shenandoah,
James, Cowpasture, and Maury Rivers.   Although some fish
kills affect only small numbers of fish, the cumulative effect
of many kills borders on the catastrophic. From 2004-2005,
for example, about 80 percent of the adult smallmouth bass
population in the North and South Fork Shenandoah Rivers
were killed.
   In addition to the kills, numerous other abnormalities are
affecting fish in the Potomac drainage, including an intersex
condition in which male smallmouth develop eggs. Fish
covered in lesions and sores are also common. In a portion
of the Shenandoah drainage, between 80 and 100 percent of
the smallmouth sampled were affected by the intersex
condition.
   Despite spending over $500,000 in Federal, State, and
local funding, investigators still do not know for certain what
is causing these conditions. Possible causes of the fish kills
and the other abnormalities include chemicals used in
agricultural land use, compromised immune systems, or the
effects of some unknown pathogens.
   But what is for certain is that one of the eastern United
States ’ great smallmouth fisheries is at risk. The Potomac
River Basin drains 14,670 square miles in four states and the
District of Columbia , with about 75 percent of the basin’s
population living in the Washington , D.C. area. Much of the
basin is affected. The intersex condition and fish kills have
been reported from Washington D.C. to as far as 200 miles
upriver of D.C.
   For more information about Potomac River fish kills, visit
the West Virginia Rivers Coalition at http://www.wvrivers.
org/fishkills/index.html

What's wrong with this picture?

New westvirginiatroutfishing.com contributor Dan Berger
goes on a righteous tirade about his little corner of the
Mountain State.

Almost Heaven...

As I walked to “my” secret spot on the North Fork of the
South Branch, it came shockingly apparent to me of the
total disregard some folks have for our beautiful part of
God’s country.

What should have been a pleasant stroll from my truck to
the glistening river was a nightmare of numerous
proportions. I use the word numerous because of the
amount and volume of litter I stepped on, over, around
and by… ranging from empty Dr. Pepper cans to discarded
salmon egg jars to trout-hook packaging, and of course my
all time pet-peeve, cigarette butts. How hard is it for a
person to pick up after oneself? Litter is not only an
eyesore but awful for the environment. Seriously, it ain’t
calculus.

We must all, myself included, take an active roll in
protecting our mountains, rivers, forests and streams that
we all enjoy, and many times, take for granted.

I angrily turned around and walked back to my truck,
placed my rod into the bed and grabbed an old plastic bag
from Target and went back along the narrow trail and
picked up trash. The medium-sized bag ballooned and
overflowed before I even got halfway to the river.

When enjoying the great outdoors that we have here in
Grant County, please, for all the things holy and just,
please do not leave your trash and litter behind. In fact,
take a piece or two left by the previous dolts that have no
respect for our piece of heaven.

--Dan Berger