It’s the Magic Time!

At least those were the words chosen by my good buddy Dustin Wichterman of Trout Unlimited.

 With about 12 hours to go before the deadline for this article, I climbed out of my tree stand and headed down to Mountain Table in Renick for some liquid inspiration. On Tuesdays, owners Alex and Nadine provide locally sourced dinners, cooked to perfection. The food there is incredible- it’s a must visit.

I digress… After downing a couple Hawk Knob ciders, I was fortunate to run into a good buddy and Conservationist Dustin Wichterman of Trout Unlimited. Dustin is very active in native trout restoration, wild habitat protection, and he’s the dude that helped me get into fly fishing!

Well, one thing led to another- as they do in West Virginia- and the next thing you know, we were in the middle of the woods, sitting around a fire and talking about all things fishing, hunting, and conservation. Mike Butrill of Bootstrap Farms supplied the Monroe Co. mead (Iron Wolf), and Ben Luckett of Appalachian Headwaters supplied the guitars. We had a good ol’ Fall party in the woods.

Didn’t I mention: it’s Magic Time?!

Read on for some highlights from our conversation.

Patrick: It’s November! Tell us what you’re doing these days.

Dustin: This is the magic time, right? Around Halloween, the first two weeks in November, is the rut, full on rut! It’s rut for everything- brook trout, brown trout, bucks… everything’s moving around. So, it’s kind of this weird situation where you wake up in the morning- Do I fish today? Do I hunt? Chase Turkey? Squirrel? Find redfish and trout down at the Chesapeake? Find native brookies in our local streams?

This time of year, you want to be careful and cautious about spawning fish. So, there are fish that are not spawning right now, and there are fish that are. The native brook trout in the state are teed up and about to go on full spawn. They’ll be at the backs of the pools, building little nests, you know, which are just those little concave areas where they’re mating and depositing their eggs. So, you do want to be kind of cautious. Each angler and biologist are going to have their own position on where they stand with how hands off to be with the spawning trout.

 This drought was rough on the fish though. So, this is a year that we might consider being a little more sensitive. But you can go to southern West Virginia and catch wild rainbow trout all day long. You can go to Pendleton County and do the same in places like Seneca. There’s plenty of fish that aren’t in spawn. Brown Trout also are teed up right at the same time. The wild fish, not so much.
You want to understand the elevation of the watershed that you’re in. In certain places fish will be spawning, but other places- in the lower elevation areas- not so much.

P: Talk us through all the work you do with Trout Unlimited. I know you do some incredible stuff.

 D: So, Trout Unlimited has one of its biggest offices in the nation here. In West Virginia, we have at least 15 full time people working every day that have a variety of different skill sets. From engineering, street design, to fisheries, biology, and the folks doing the work on the ground. That work consists of replacing undersized culverts and stream crossings with properly sized, flood resilient span bridges. We build fences along streams where you know livestock and farms are, trying to protect the riparian areas. We plant 1000s upon 1000s of trees every single year, along with putting in water trough systems for the livestock, finding funding… it’s a big business here.

P: If you could give one piece of advice about being a conservationist and taking care of our water, what would it be?

D: I’ll say this: West Virginia waters are some of the most amazing, naturally reproducing trout populations and watersheds that we see south of Maine, including the Adirondacks. We have something truly valuable, truly special right here. I think a lot of folks miss what’s right in their backyard, and maybe take for granted or don’t understand the volume of trout resources that we have.

 There’s 1400+ wild trout streams in the state! There’s 1000s of miles of wild trout water right here! We live in a special place. Latch onto that.

Realize that fish don’t come from a truck, nor should they ever really. I mean, that’s the truth.
I come from a family of coal miners, timber folks, union folks, metal folks, laborers… I come from the people that live here and worked on this land. But these things don’t need to be mutually exclusive. With trout populations we can work together and be on the same page.
Thank you, Dustin, for taking the time to chat with us, and for a night full of fun, fire, fiddles, and friends. Let’s do it again soon!

Remember folks: Fishing and Hunting go hand-in-hand with Conservation. We are truly blessed to live in such a wild and wonderful world in West Virginia. It is truly special. Take care of it. Get outside and enjoy it!

 So, what are you going to do today? Fish? Hunt? Whatever it is- good luck and stay safe!