Trout

Stephanie Taylor, 3, and her father, Sonny Taylor, of Hagerstown, hold a rainbow trout Stephanie caught Saturday during the North American Rod and Gun Club's Kids Trout Rodeo.

Not even a crushed ankle could keep die-hard fisherman Mark Hollinshead of Ortanna, Pa., from his favorite fishing spot at Wilson College along Conococheague Creek in Chambersburg, Pa., on Saturday, the opening day of trout season in Pennsylvania. Marking his 26th consecutive year at his “lucky” fishing hole, Hollinshead, 45, used salmon/peach power bait to catch the five-trout limit.

The Albert M. Powell State Fish Hatchery southeast of Hagerstown stocks about 300,000 rainbow trout across Maryland each year. The following is a rough guideline for the number of trout supplied to bodies of water in Washington County. Amounts may vary each year depending on weather conditions and other variables. - Beaver Creek: 9,000 - Blairs Valley Lake: 5,500 - Little Tonoloway Creek: 500 - Greenbrier Lake: 5,500 - Big Pool: 5,000 - Brownsville Pond: 400 - Pangborn Pond: 250 - Little Antietam Creek: 1,500 - Indian Springs Pond: 1,250 - Licking Creek: 2,200 - Antietam Creek: 3,500 - Israel Creek: 1,800 - Sharpsburg Pond: 400

LEETOWN, W.Va. - Scientists will study ways to produce better farm-raised rainbow trout in a $1 million federal research project at the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture in Leetown. The project was announced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. He added the research project to a federal agriculture appropriations bill as part of a $5.8 million package of West Virginia projects. The research is intended to map the entire gene system of the trout so scientists can learn how to breed healthy, better-tasting fish, said John Crew, area administrative officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.

No matter what the thermometer on the porch is telling you, it's time to start looking at the spring trout stocking schedule. Fishing opportunities for stocked trout in Washington County are among of the most varied in the state. Many folks prefer the lake or impound fishing opportunities in places like Greenbrier Lake, Blair's Valley Lake and Big Pool. If you are a hip book kind of fisherman, there are the very popular streams that include Beaver Creek or Sideling Hill Creek. As has been the case for a number of years now, Maryland will use the process of closing many of the major waters for certain periods for stocking.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Several people piled into their vehicles on Sunday afternoon with more than a couple of trout and sunburn after a weekend of fishing. Some anglers left with cash in their pockets when the 11th annual Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club Trout Derby drew to a close. The two-day derby prompted more than 1,200 fishermen to take to the Conococheague Creek. "It's amazing what happens when you throw $2,500 into the water. It tends to draw a crowd," said Dave Rotz, chairman of the trout derby's organizing committee.

Legend has it that when fly fishing for trout, one needs a precise presentation of floating flies to trout that are zeroed in on a particular insect hatch. This is true in April and May, but for the early season, underwater flies -- nymphs and wet flies -- will take the trout. In most cases, a well presented underwater fly can actually take more stocked trout that the favorite live and commercial baits. All we need is a few warm days and the diehards will be out there dunking baits and flies.

David Rodgers and Don Blickenstaff fish for trout Thursday morning at Devil's Backbone Park.

Dick King fishes for trout Monday near the pond at Pangborn Park in Hagerstown under blooming willow trees.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - When Harry Glass isn't putting trout into the water he spends his time trying to take them out. Glass, 78, of Center Street, has the job of raising 25,000 trout every year at the Chambersburg Rod and Gun Club fish nursery on Franklin Farm Road. Glass, chairman of the club's trout committee, said he spends about 14 hours a week at the nursery. The club pays Glass $100 a month. He gives half of it to Miles Sowers, another trout committee member, who helps care for the rainbow, brown, brook and golden trout.

It was a school of fisherman - not fish - that huddled in one area of Conococheague Creek at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., on Saturday. Those anglers, like all of the others standing in the water, were after one thing - the elusive tagged fish that come with prize money. Every year, thousands of fishermen from the Tri-State area come to Chambersburg for the annual Noontime Lions Trout Derby. This is the 16th year for the event, which offered nearly $50,000 in cash and prizes this year.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church will hold a Vera Bradley/31 bingo event Sunday, April 21, at the Clear Spring Volunteer Fire Co.'s Special Events Building.  The doors open at 11 a.m., the meal will be served at noon and bingo starts at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $25 per person and include 20 regular games and three special games. There will be raffles, a bake sale and specialty tables.  For tickets, call Lucinda at 301-491-6241. Homemakers to meet Clear Spring Homemakers will meet Tuesday, April 2, at 11 a.m. at Windy Hill Restaurant.

The national outdoor magazine Field & Stream has recognized Doug Hutzell of Hagerstown as a Hero of Conservation for his restoration efforts on behalf of Beaver Creek as part of the Beaver Creek Watershed Association. On Saturday, Field & Stream will join the restoration association and local volunteers at Beaver Creek to help with the restoration work as part of the magazine's Hero for a Day program. “We need to take care of our streams because they are a living organism,” Hutzell said.

Edgar Cromwell Trout Jr., 86, of Martinsburg, W.Va., died Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. The family will receive friends Monday from noon to 1 p.m. at Calvary United Methodist Church. The service will be Monday at 1 p.m. at the church. The military graveside service will be in Rosedale Cemetery, Martinsburg. Arrangements are by Brown Funeral Home, Martinsburg.

1. It's a frenzy of good fishin' MIHI Fishin' Frenzy will be Saturday, June 16, at Pangborn Park, 530 Pangborn Blvd., Hagerstown. 8 a.m. registration; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. fishing. Awards for largest fish caught and smallest fish caught, largest trout caught and largest five trout caught. Open to ages 12 and younger and 65 and older and those with disabilities. Call 301-745-6444. 2. 'Gods and Generals' -   extended The extended director's cut of the epic Civil War movie "Gods and Generals" will be shown  at 4  p.m. Saturday, June 16, at Bridge of Life church, 14 S. Potomac St., downtown Hagerstown.

The 15th annual Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club Trout Derby hooked fishermen from as far away as South Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey, but it was a Franklin County, Pa., man who took biggest fish honors. Kenneth Wink of Waynesboro, Pa., caught a trout weighing 2 pounds, 9 ounces at almost 19 inches long. That netted him $1,100. Proceeds from the two-day trout derby, which drew 1,100 anglers, benefit Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club's vision initiatives and other local charitable causes.

If you want to be one of the 1,100 fishermen whose lines will hit the water Saturday morning for the start of the largest trout derby in the region, it's not too late to register. The Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club two-day fishing contest begins on Saturday at 6 a.m. and ends Sunday at 4 p.m. Derby Chairman Todd Shearer said there's still plenty of time for anglers to register. Last-minute registration runs Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the CVS parking lot in Chambersburg, and again on Saturday from 4 to 6 a.m., Shearer said.

Jean Cotten was born 12 years after her aunt, Jessie Bruce Trout, died. So, she never learned firsthand the ordeal her aunt endured as one of the 713 survivors of the R.M.S. Titanic. But that didn't stop her from hearing plenty of stories. “The family talked about it all my life,” Cotten said. “We were told everything that you read about. We heard all the gory stuff about how frightened she was, how dark, how cold it was and of seeing the lights as the ship went down.” Cotten said Jessie's lifeboat, No. 9, was about a half-mile away when the Titanic sank in the Atlantic on a moonless night 100 years ago Saturday.

Dust off your fishing gear and grab some bait - Saturday is the first day of trout season in Franklin County beginning at 8 a.m. Along with Franklin County, Saturday also will be opening day of the trout-fishing season in 17 other Pennsylvania jurisdictions, including neighboring Adams, Cumberland, Juniata and Perry counties. April 14 is opening day for the rest of the state. Trout fishing season ends on Labor Day. The two-week early start to trout season in the 18 counties has a lot to do with water temperature, said state Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Franklin/Adams/York.

Images of fish circle the edge of a lampshade in the room and a picture of a brook trout graces a clock on the wall. On the opposite wall, a mounted 16-inch golden trout stands as a testament to Art Overcash's fishing prowess. Overcash tells a story of how his fishing buddies were unable to land the elusive fish in a Pennsylvania stream, but he managed to hook it one day while depending on murky water to mask his presence. Above a work table is a big picture of a blue marlin.