Contrary to years passed, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources announced the trout stocking locations and days.
The waters will be stocked on Fridays and Saturdays, so that families will have time to plan their trips. The weekend stocking schedule may also provide a better opportunity for children to fish.
The announcement includes more than 100 stockings, including ones at Canaan Valley and Blackwater Falls State Parks.
“Historically, they don’t announce when and where they are going to be,” Blackwater Falls Superintendent Matt Baker said. “It’s typically a random thing.”
The announced schedule may generate more interest and subsequent financial benefit for the state park system.
Blackwater Falls is scheduled for stocking next weekend, March 10 and 11. Pendleton Lake will receive fish as well as Blackwater Canyon. The stretch of river along Camp 70 was stocked last weekend.
According to Baker, the canyon section of the Blackwater River received 30,000 brown trout fingerlings last year. This distribution was intended to help generate a population of brown trout in the Blackwater Canyon.
Baker sees this as an asset to the park. “My ideal long term for the Blackwater Canyon is that it becomes a destination, and that it would have a fish to provide that unique fishing experience,” Baker said.
Baker mentioned that, in the future, he would like to see a fishing guide lead anglers into the canyon, and that the park may offer up accommodation packages to accompany the experience.
The DNR scheduled stockings distribute brown, brook, rainbow, and golden rainbow trout species in the state’s waterways. In early April, state DNR stocks waters across the state with 25,000 golden rainbow trout, as part of an event known as “West Virginia Gold Rush.”
In 1963, golden rainbow trout were bred by West Virginia DNR as a part of the state’s centennial celebration.
A valid West Virginia fishing license is required to fish in any state parks or forests.