Quantico Will Host 2 Trout Fishing Events

By Mike DiCicco
The Quantico Sentry 

QUANTICO, Va. — Fishing season is around the corner, and parts of upper Chopawamsic Creek will be stocked with trout on four occasions during March and April. Spring will also be marked with two trout fishing events, one for Wounded Warriors and another for Marines and their families.

The Wounded Warrior event will be on March 24 in the Secon Pool on the middle branch of Chopawamsic Creek, where fishing is normally limited to children 12 and under. Fishing waters will be closed the day before while the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries stocks them, and Wounded Warriors and their families will be invited that Saturday to enjoy a morning and afternoon of fishing, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Tim Stamps, the base’s head of Fish, Wildlife and Agronomy, said fishing equipment will be provided to those who need it during the event, and the Quantico Injured Military Sportsmen Association will provide lunch.

This is the base’s first Wounded Warrior fishing event. “It will be a new event and a new experience, Stamps said.”

Fishing waters will be closed and stocked again on April 6, in preparation for Heritage Day on April 7, when Marines and their families will be invited to do some angling in all the areas of the creek that are stocked. Again, fishing equipment will be available for use by anyone who needs it for the day.

Years ago, Stamps said, the trout fishing season used to close between February and the first Saturday in April, and opening day was a big affair. “It would be a major social event,” he said, adding, “Some patrons complained that they missed the appeal of the opening day event.” So last year, the base started hosting Heritage Day on what would have been the opening of the season.

There will be one other, unannounced fish stocking in early March and another in April, Stamps said.

Stocked areas of the creek are at Secon Pool, which is open only to children, and a portion of the creek downstream from the pool, as well as the stretch between Breckenridge Dam and Gray’s Reservoir, both of which are open to all ages. All of these areas are expected to be stocked four times in March and April.

The base has a “put-and-take” trout fishing program, meaning the state puts trout from hatcheries into the creek, expecting that they will all be caught, Stamps said. “So anglers can go out and catch them and then have a trout dinner.”

In past years, Virginia has put about 1,000 fish into the stream at a time, but Stamps said the larger trout resulting from a renovated hatchery this year may mean fewer fish, if they’re stocked by weight. “The hatcheries produce rainbow, brown and brook trout,” he said. “Last year we used exclusively brook trout, but most years we use a combination of all three species.”

Throughout the year, fishing on the base is open to anyone. Anglers 16 and older must have a Virginia trout license and a Virginia freshwater fishing license, and those aged 16 to 64 must also have a base fishing license. Base fishing licenses are sold at the Sporting Goods Counter in the Marine Corps Exchange and cost $10.