STRUGGLES

WV Brook Trout

Its tough out there in the real world and getting tougher everyday. Nobody will deny that this is a hard place to make a living. Living is a lot different than existing.

Before I go any farther; all of these photos were taken on October 2, 2014 in the upper-Roaring Creek watershed on the Rich Mountain Battlefield property in Randolph County, WV.

The first photo is one of two brook trout present at the culvert in photo number 2. I could see 2 brook trout, about 6 creek chubs and a few black-nosed dace present. This is the smallest of the 2 trout.

Photo 2

I know that this culvert isn't much of an obstacle and it is more so due to the drought that we are in. The rains we are going to get on Friday should make it passable for the spawning trout. but, still it is an obstacle. It does, however produce some current and mixing of oxygen in the water. The fish were all nosed up to it, before I spooked them.

The next photo, #3 is another culvert farther upstream. There were 2 small trout present there, also. They were probably 5 inches long and darted underneath the mini-waterfall.

Photo #3

If these fish could ever get upstream through this culvert, well they wouldn't have much to look forward to, as shown in Photo #4.

Photo #4

Who was it that once said that life is hard; harder if you're stupid? Yep, the poor little brook trout has a tough existence and it is made tougher by idiots. Think About It.

The trout in this watershed really do have a hard time existing, but exist they do. Many of the headwater tributaries are isolated due to acid-mine drainage. Somehow, the trout continue to survive. They don't flourish but they do manage to hold on; about like the rest of us around here.

(c) 2014 High Virginia Outdoors Photos (c) 2014 High Virginia Images ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Pretty Pictures of Pretty Water



Roaring Creek

 Some people drive down the road of life; believing that every oncoming vehicle is their best friend.  I on the other hand am one to believe that every oncoming vehicle is driven by a drug-crazed moron; yapping on a cell phone.  I could be called cynical; but prefer the label of realist.

Why doesn't anyone post photos of the ugly stuff out there?  If we are not exposed to these things; do they not exist?  Many would like to think so.

This is a photo of Roaring Creek in Randolph County, WV.  It is a tributary of the Tygart River.  Most of you have seen the newspaper and TV ads about beautiful downtown Coalton, WV.  Well, this jewel flows right through the middle of beautiful downtown Coalton. I truly believe that if more people would become concerned with all of the bad stuff we already have; they would pay more attention to the bad things about to happen.  I've said it before, but here we go again; when the water quality is diminished in any way so is the quality of life.  If one just chooses to ignore these things, they just don't go away.  You should remember this photo; everytime you look at a pretty one.  That pretty stream may not be there forever.

Roaring Creek WV and Kettle Creek PA

Roaring Creek

A few years ago, I was watching TU TV and there was a very interesting story about the Kettle Creek Watershed area.  They were discussing a passive restoration system being used to combat acid mine drainage problems in the watershed.  The work was being done on Middle Branch, a tributary of Twomile Run in northwestern Clinton County, PA.  The Kettle Creek watershed and the Roaring Creek watershed in Randolph County, WV are very similar.  They were both reasonably healthy in the headwaters and had a population of brook trout present.  Both watersheds were ravaged by abandoned mine drainage in the lower sections.
I just received the Winter issue of TROUT, the quarterly publication of Trout Unlimited. I am happy to report that after 13 years of work from dedicated volunteers that brook trout have returned the Middle Branch.  Brook Trout are once again naturally reproducing in the stream and benthic populations have increased.
Two years of preliminary data collection has been done on the Roaring Creek watershed.  The paperwork is done and now we can all hope that Roaring Creek can mirror the success of Pennsylvania's Kettle Creek.

Roaring Creek Project-2009

The date is July 10, 1861.Smoke drifts across the Roaring Creek Flats of western Virginia, it hangs like fog in the valley below.  On June 16, Confederate troops; numbering 1300, began building fortifications on the western slope of Rich Mountain which would become Camp Garnett. The troops surely utilized the abundant resources offered by Roaring Creek and its tributaries during their encampment. On this night, a comet passes overhead and is taken; by the soldiers, as an ominous sign. They were right: More than eighty will die - tomorrow.

One hundred and forty-eight years later, we can only speculate about the quality of the fishery present in the Roaring Creek Watershed at that time. We know two things: the fishery does not have the quality of 1861, and it can be improved upon now. Roaring Creek has fought its own battles over the years, it is a survivor. There is hope for recovery. Numerous tributaries of Roaring Creek have populations of brook trout which are isolated, due to water quality issues. Two streams are severely impacted by acid-mine drainage, effectively eliminating downstream life.

On July 25, 2009; representatives from the National Mine Land Reclamation Center, DEP and members of the Mountaineer Chapter of Trout Unlimited converged upon the Roaring Creek Watershed. The goal for the day was collecting low water flow data to compare with data collected from the April 18th monitoring workday. Selected sites were electro-fished to determine if fish were actually present in the watershed. Data collected includes: pH, dissolved oxygen content, conductivity, temperature and presence of metals. A flow-meter is used to determine the volume of water flowing at each site. The information from this data will be used to design a passive treatment system to improve the quality of the watershed.

Seven sites were electro-fished; brook trout were collected at 4 locations. One site proved to be too deep and wide for effective sampling, one unidentified, fleeing fish was seen at this location. Fish collected at 3 sites included a healthy mixture of black-nosed dace, mottled sculpin and brook trout. One location had brook trout only in its lower section and was possibly impacted by in-stream obstructions. The other two streams are known to have trout populations in the 1970s and are possible candidates for limestone sand treatment in their headwaters.

Late-afternoon storm clouds rolled in from the south as the four groups finished the day’s fish and data collection. The only attacks came from angry yellow jackets and “sewer bombs” in downtown Coalton. The day was a huge success; we have documented proof that the watershed of Roaring Creek is not dead. With the help of dedicated individuals, the watershed can recover and become productive once again.

A Deer Fly Float Trip

Fly Fishing - Small Stream Brook Trout

The clear-cut bakes, in the afternoon sun. Jewelweed wilts. A doe arises from her bed. She is thirsty and heads toward her favorite water source; a spot where water drips from a rock outcropping. She doesn’t have her pair of fawns to worry about. They were consumed by coyotes shortly after birth. She carefully moves downhill, through a blackberry thicket. Stopping near the edge of the logging road, she allows a trio of four-wheelers to pass. They disappear, she hurries across the road, nearing the sound of a swift flowing stream. She doesn’t water here, the water smells odd and has an acrid taste. She crosses the hemlock- shaded shallows. Deer flies swarm around her, she makes her way across the water. One fly is stunned by her flicking tail. The fly lands on its back and begins a downstream journey.

The northward flow takes her through swift, boulder strewn rapids. She emerges from the hurried current and swirls into a deeply shaded pool. She can see a patch of blue sky, as it peeks through the hemlock canopy. Onward she bobs, through a series of pools and rapids. Floating in the cool water, bobbing and swirling, she has by now been on her journey for a mile downstream. Riding the swift flow, she shoots between two huge rocks and glides into a long deep pool. The depth of the pool is nearly 10 feet deep, even at the summer’s low flow. She floats onward , seeing nothing except the shimmer on the water and an occasional water strider. She is stuck in a small mat of hemlock needles. The water’s velocity picks up; she starts into swifter water. The gradient is less now, her last quarter of a mile is through gently flowing riffles. The stream is getting wider and slightly warmer. She passes the legs of a Great Blue Heron, a muskrat sits on the muddy bank. The water course is changing directions, flowage is hitting her from the east, as she is being carried to the north. Slurp! She is consumed by a baby smallmouth .

Why was the journey of our fly so lengthy? The fly’s travels were in Roaring Creek, a tributary of the Tygart River, in Randolph County, WV. Roaring Creek is dead. Downstream from Coalton, aquatic life is nonexistent. I can remember, stories from old-timer’s of the past; they were “old-timer’s”, in the 1960’s. Stories of 16-inch native brook trout and meals of crayfish from the Roaring Creek waters. The water that once provided sustenance is no longer a producer of anything, except acid mine drainage to the Tygart River.



The Roaring Creek drainage area is the western slope, on the northern end of Rich Mountain, Randolph County, West Virginia. This area is also home of the Rich Mountain Battlefield civil war site. Native brook trout are present in some of the tributaries and some sections of Roaring Creek, above the community of Coalton. The lower section, downstream of Coalton, has the appearance of a quality trout stream. The only thing lacking is water quality. The fact that trout are present in the upper sections; leaves hope that Roaring Creek is not a lost cause. The stream could be a poster child for reclamation. The WVDEP,CVI, WVDNR and Trout Unlimited, could combine their efforts to bring back a waterway that has been in its grave for a century. What an accomplishment and story that would be. Deer flies wouldn’t have a extensive journey, prior to consumption either.

This article first appeared in Tale of the Pool. The newsletter for the WV Chapter of Trout Unlimited, in 2008.