ROWLESBURG — The Cheat River was running high and cold Friday, but the rainbow trout being released into it didn’t seem to mind.
“This is the first of four fall stockings,” said Art George of Trout For Cheat, Inc. “Each stocking is approximately 1,700 pounds of trout. The trout range in size from 2 to 6 pounds.”
The nonprofit has been stocking the Cheat about 16 years. It was created by fishing enthusiasts after the State Division of Natural Resources refused to stock the river, saying the banks were too steep for anglers to go down and the water quality wasn’t good enough to support fish.
As a former state senator, Jon Hunter helped obtain state money to contribute to buying the fish. Now all the costs are covered by donations and fundraising. Each stocking costs $5,525, and eight are done each year, half in the spring and half in the fall.
And it’s good seed money for the Preston County economy, Hunter said Friday.
“You go up and down the road after today, you’ll see cars from Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland. I mean they come from all over,” Hunter said.
The anglers keep coming back, he said, because of the quality of the fishery.
“They love the fact that we’re doing this and that there are so many big trout,” Hunter said. “It’s one stream within three or four states where they can really get big trout.”
Because of the distance some anglers travel, some will ask when the stockings are scheduled, Hunter said. Trout For Cheat never reveals the exact day, though it may tell anglers which week stocking will be done.
The fish are bought from Indian Lake Fisheries of Elkview, in Kanawha County.
The Preston County Sheriff’s Department escorts the caravan of stocking vehicles along W.Va. 72, and Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy cadets muscle the large plastic buckets of flopping, frisky fish from the road to the river, where they are released at several spots.
Donations to Trout For Cheat, Inc., can be sent care of Art George, 200 View St., Kingwood, WV 26537.
