Trout for Cheat's whoppers aren't fish tales
by Joseph Hauger EDITOR, Preston County News & Journal, November 3, 2017 ROWLESBURG — Halloween may be over, but thanks to the efforts of a local group, some monstrous-sized fish are lurking in the Cheat River.
Art George, president of the non-profit Trout for Cheat Inc., said stocking the river with the large specimens helps to attract anglers from all of the states surrounding West Virginia.
“They come here because they want to get the big fish,” George said. “When they comes from other states, it’s a benefit to the county.”
Trout for Cheat is in the midst of its fall stocking schedule, which began with the release of 1,700 pounds of fish into the river a week ago. That’s the standard weight for each of the organization’s stockings, which take place four times each spring and five times in the fall — more than seven tons of trout added annually.
“The ones we released (Oct. 27) were two-to-eight pounds,” George said. “They’re mainly rainbow, but we do put in a few brown and golden.”
The trout are placed in the water in 18-20 places from the Riverview Lounge on U.S. 50 to the Pringle Run area on W.Va. 72. Each stop was handled with military efficiency, due in no small part to the participation of Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy students performing community service projects.
“They do a lot of work to make sure everything is going smoothly,” George said.
When the caravan arrives at a site, a Preston County sheriff’s deputy helps with traffic control where necessary, the cadets quickly exit their vans and a bucket brigade is formed — sometimes over steep and rocky hillsides — to the riverbank. Fish are netted from the Indian Lake Fisheries truck that made the three-hour trip from Elkview, and the buckets are sent to the Cheat’s edge.
When the allotment of trout are placed in that area, the participants scurry back up the hillside, stow their gear, jump into the vehicles, and the convoy heads to the next location.
Each stocking day brings a price tag of $5,525 for Trout for Cheat — around $50,000 annually, George said. He and the other members of the executive committee, Buzz Halterman, Jim White, Jon Hunter, Bo Burnside and Bob Martin, conduct fundraisers, seek donations and find sources of funding to keep the waters teeming.
“We’ve been at it for 16 years, and there’s still plenty to do,” George said.