Easy Catch!

By Susan M. Thigpen © 1992

Issue: May, 1992

From the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries came this story:

During a recent in-season trout stocking in Shenandoah County, a number of fishermen were on hand to fish for the newly stocked trout.

One angler accidentally snagged a 4-pound rainbow trout in the dorsal fin. The fisherman played the fish until it was tired enough to safely remove the hook.

He released the fish while onlookers shouted, "put it on your stringer and keep it," and others said, "put it back in the water!"

After the trout was released, it swam closer to the other embankment where it stayed. One of the "sportsmen" yelling to keep the fish, went over and attempted to snag the fish himself. When he couldn't snag it, he got down on all fours and attempted to retrieve it by hand.

A man standing nearby said, "leave him alone, he'll be okay." The fisherman said, "Yea, he'll be okay when I get my hands around him," and grabbed and removed the trout from the water.

The man standing nearby happened to be Game Warden Frank Mundy in plain clothes who charged the subject to the applause of surrounding fishermen.