Friday, April 03, 2009
Outdoors notebook: Busy day for trout anglers comes Saturday
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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Randy Whittaker spent the night before last year’s Trout Heritage Day with his feet hanging out the window of his compact pickup truck.
The uncomfortable night paid dividends when Whittaker pulled a 11 1/2-pound brown trout out of Roanoke’s Tinker Creek shortly after the opening bell rang for Trout Heritage Day, an annual event on several Virginia waters that captures some of the excitement and chaos anglers used to experience on the trout season opener.
This year’s Heritage Day hits Saturday on 17 waters the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will stock today and that will be closed to fishing until precisely 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Heritage waters are: Beartree Lake and Clinch Mountain Fee Fishing Area, Washington County; Bark Camp Lake, Scott County; Cripple Creek (Ravens Cliff), Wythe County; Crooked Creek Fee Fishing Area, Carroll County; Douthat Lake Fee Fishing Area, Bath County; Jennings Creek, Botetourt County; Lake Witten and Lincolnshire Lake, Tazewell County; Liberty Lake, Bedford County; Middle Fork Holston River, Smyth County; Passage Creek, Shenandoah County; Pedlar River (upper), Amherst County; Pigg River, Franklin County; Robinson River and Rose River, Madison County; Tinker Creek, Roanoke.
Although fishing is not allowed until 9 a.m., many anglers arrive much earlier to stake out their preferred fishing spots.
Anglers are required to have the necessary fishing licenses and trout licenses. The daily creel limit is six fish.
Changes coming for Greenways Gallop
Spend any time on Roanoke Valley’s greenways and you’ll see that families with youngsters are out on the paths in force.
Organizers of the upcoming Gallop for the Greenways have added a new wrinkle to the event to encourage even more family participation, having added a kids fun run to the May 9 event.
“I think it adds a fun piece to this family-friendly event,” said race director Gretchen Weinnig.
The 1-mile kids race, which starts at 4:30 p.m. and is for kids 14 and under, will be two laps around Elmwood Park, which is the home base for the event. The format will make for easy viewing for spectators, and easy navigating for the young runners. All participants will get a T-shirt, and all finishers will get a medal. The entry fee is $20.
The Gallop also includes a 1-mile family walk, along with the main 5-kilometer race.
Weinnig said the 5K course had to be modified due to planned road work on part of the course.
The final course should include about 11/2 miles on roads, and about 1 1/2 miles on the Roanoke River Greenway. The entry fee for the run is $25 through Saturday, rising to $30 after the date. The race also offers a fundraising option for runners, with those raising at least $100 receiving a refund on their entry fee and a special gift.
Last year’s 5K drew 525 runners and raised $35,000. More information, including entry forms, are available online at gallop4thegreenways.com.
—Mark Taylor
The uncomfortable night paid dividends when Whittaker pulled a 11 1/2-pound brown trout out of Roanoke’s Tinker Creek shortly after the opening bell rang for Trout Heritage Day, an annual event on several Virginia waters that captures some of the excitement and chaos anglers used to experience on the trout season opener.
This year’s Heritage Day hits Saturday on 17 waters the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will stock today and that will be closed to fishing until precisely 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Heritage waters are: Beartree Lake and Clinch Mountain Fee Fishing Area, Washington County; Bark Camp Lake, Scott County; Cripple Creek (Ravens Cliff), Wythe County; Crooked Creek Fee Fishing Area, Carroll County; Douthat Lake Fee Fishing Area, Bath County; Jennings Creek, Botetourt County; Lake Witten and Lincolnshire Lake, Tazewell County; Liberty Lake, Bedford County; Middle Fork Holston River, Smyth County; Passage Creek, Shenandoah County; Pedlar River (upper), Amherst County; Pigg River, Franklin County; Robinson River and Rose River, Madison County; Tinker Creek, Roanoke.
Although fishing is not allowed until 9 a.m., many anglers arrive much earlier to stake out their preferred fishing spots.
Anglers are required to have the necessary fishing licenses and trout licenses. The daily creel limit is six fish.
Changes coming for Greenways Gallop
Spend any time on Roanoke Valley’s greenways and you’ll see that families with youngsters are out on the paths in force.
Organizers of the upcoming Gallop for the Greenways have added a new wrinkle to the event to encourage even more family participation, having added a kids fun run to the May 9 event.
“I think it adds a fun piece to this family-friendly event,” said race director Gretchen Weinnig.
The 1-mile kids race, which starts at 4:30 p.m. and is for kids 14 and under, will be two laps around Elmwood Park, which is the home base for the event. The format will make for easy viewing for spectators, and easy navigating for the young runners. All participants will get a T-shirt, and all finishers will get a medal. The entry fee is $20.
The Gallop also includes a 1-mile family walk, along with the main 5-kilometer race.
Weinnig said the 5K course had to be modified due to planned road work on part of the course.
The final course should include about 11/2 miles on roads, and about 1 1/2 miles on the Roanoke River Greenway. The entry fee for the run is $25 through Saturday, rising to $30 after the date. The race also offers a fundraising option for runners, with those raising at least $100 receiving a refund on their entry fee and a special gift.
Last year’s 5K drew 525 runners and raised $35,000. More information, including entry forms, are available online at gallop4thegreenways.com.
—Mark Taylor
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