Richard Formato

Richard Formato is an avid catch-and-release fly-fisherman from Wytheville, Va. When not on the water, he operates a small business there. Formato loves to fly-fish in his native Southwest Virginia because of the great water and wonderful people. He also loves to fish the flats and shallows of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic whenever work and weather permit. He is on the Department of Conservation and Recreation's board of directors and is a trustee of the Shenandoah National Forest and Skyline Drive.

Recent columns

• What about Bob?
• Notes from the Charlotte Fly Show
• A chance meeting
• A wish for Jack

• Column archive
• Talk fly-fishing

As the unofficial spring fishing season begins, our commonwealth has been hard at work

stocking fish in all manners of waters both public and private.

Unless you know The Blue Ridge Parkway and our National Forest like the back of your hand, chances are your first thought for a casual fishing day might include some of the stocked streams in Southwest Virginia.

With 2,000 miles of stocked water and thousand miles of wild waters, Virginia is one of the best states in America for fly-fishing.

We have two problems, though.

Trash and poaching.

I cannot think of one public fishing area in Virginia that I’ve been too that is unspoiled by man.

On Snake Creek two weeks ago, I met the nicest man, Danny Watts.

I was fishing upstream, and a 4-wheeler slowly rode near me. At first, I was a little scared. Was I trespassing? Was there a problem.?

But when I saw his smile, and heard his friendly tone, I knew I was making a nice acquaintance.

With his young daughter riding shotgun up front, Danny said, “we don’t have many fish in here anymore.” When the state stocks, I try and get in the water and “spread them fish all out. The stocking man hadn’t been here in a while, and when word gets out, it don’t take long. They are all gone now.”

Snake Creek runs along farm, meadow and laurel in Carroll County where you can almost see North Carolina.

Even as pristine as Snake is, there were huge sails of black PVC sheeting caught in the brush from a high water flood.

Snake Creek could be and should be the Mossy Creek of Carroll County, and even though it is a special regulation stream, it suffers from the common epidemic of all Virginia fisheries: trash and poaching.

Why doesn’t the commonwealth do something about it?

When I was in Alaska, we flew in to the Chugash National Forest to fish out of a Ranger cabin we rented from the Park Service for the week. The cabin stays rented from July to mid-September almost every week, and you must pack in and pack out everything.

But when I was there, it was like I was Adam in Eden. The only sign of man was a path the river and lake.

Why isn’t the commonwealth like this?

How many times have you been hiking or fishing and encountered a large group of people?

I fish almost every week, and rarely see other people, but I always see trash. And if on a stocked section, I wonder where the all fish went. With a published schedule on Internet, you are never more than an hour a way from six free trout.

Last Christmas, I was scouting a spot to fish on the Holston. I saw a man across the river fishing with corn. We waved, exchanged “how yaw’ doin’s?” and I started rigging up my rod.

As I got ready to slip upstream, he relinquished his position and disappeared up the road.

A few minutes later, I went over to his bank location. Something caught my eye.

I leaned over and next to his empty can of corn, there were three rainbow trout dying in the grass.

This man was catching them and tossing them on the bank to die. I dropped my rod on the rocks and started gently swooshing them in the water, and tried every trick I knew to revive them. They all died.

What is wrong with people?

Please … somebody who reads this, tell me, why do people litter, and do things like this?

Game wardens? There will never be enough game wardens to solve this problem.

There could be enough punishment to deter the problem.

It’s called a “Lifetime Ban.”

If a fisherman, hunter or any citizen of Virginia knew that they would loose their public land admittance and hunting or fishing privileges for life if they were caught littering or poaching, that would make a huge difference.

And if you don’t litter or poach fish, why would you even care if there were a lifetime ban on fishing and hunting privileges?

The only thing that will get people to bend over and pick it up their own trash is a strict rule that will protect Mother Nature against her biggest enemy.

Us.