close

Gold in the Mountains: West Virginia DNR to hold fourth annual Gold Rush

By Ben Moyer for The 4 min read
1 / 2

Ben Moyer

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is sponsoring the fourth annual Gold Rush. DNR will stock 50,000 golden trout in 62 West Virginia waters. Anglers who catch a tagged fish will be eligible to win prizes. These golden trout were raised at Laurel Hill Trout Farm, a private commercial hatchery near Somerset.

2 / 2
GoldRushLogo-01_full

It would be a stretch to call it a case of man improving on nature, but the West Virginia golden trout does catch the eye. So, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is sponsoring Gold Rush 2021 to promote outdoor tourism and trout fishing in the Mountain State. Between March 23 and April 3, the DNR will stock 50,000 golden trout in 62 streams and lakes and invite West Virginians and visitors alike to try and catch them.

One hundred of the golden trout will carry numbered tags. Anglers who catch a tagged trout can enter the number in a drawing to win prizes. First prize is a three-night stay in a cabin at Blackwater Falls State Park near Davis, West Virginia. Second prize is an overnight stay at any state park, and the third-place winner will receive a gift card good for use in West Virginia state parks. Fourth prize is an assortment of Gold Rush clothing, stickers, and gear.

There is a true golden trout, but the West Virginia version isn’t it. The original golden lives only in clear streams of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and is California’s official state fish.

Hatchery workers at the West Virginia DNR’s Petersburg hatchery developed the West Virginia golden trout in the 1950s and ’60s. They spotted one rainbow trout fingerling swimming in their raceways with a mutant gold spot. They isolated that fish and used it to selectively breed offspring with more golden color. By the early 1960s, they had thousands of entirely gold descendants of the original mutant.

In 1963, West Virginia was looking for novel ways to celebrate its centennial as a sovereign state, having declared itself independent from Virginia 100 years earlier during the Civil War. The golden trout developed at Petersburg became known as the Centennial Golden Trout and were stocked all over West Virginia. Anglers were smitten by the garishly colored fish.

Today, most states with trout hatcheries, including Pennsylvania, produce their own strains of the golden novelty. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission refers to their version accurately as the golden rainbow trout. Genetically speaking, that’s what it is. Though almost entirely gold, the fish do continue to show the red stripe that betrays their origin as rainbow trout.

A lot of serious trout fishermen harbor some disdain for the golden trout because it is so, well, unnatural. They prefer the earthy tones, spots, and stripes of typical rainbow, brown, and brook trout. There is no way the West Virginia golden could have sprung from nature and thrived on its own. It is impossible to miss one in a stream, so any bear, otter, eagle, or osprey with a taste for fresh fish would have gleaned them out of nature as fast as they appeared.

Still, West Virginia merits credit for capitalizing on the attention these fish attract to sell the state. Once anglers visit in search of a golden trout, they are sure to return. West Virginia holds some of the most alluring streams in the country, mysteriously overlooked except for the unique acclaim of the golden trout.

Many anglers from our area fish in West Virginia streams every year and will recognize nearby waters to receive golden trout during the Gold Rush event. Nearest are Coopers Rock Lake near Bruceton Mills; Mason Lake, west of Morgantown; and the Blackwater River near Thomas in Tucker County.

One personal anecdote conveys some of the allure of golden trout. When I was a boy, my Uncle Max Furin took his son Doug and I fishing in West Virginia often. Once, we were camping on the Cranberry River and fishing it hard. A huge golden trout was darting about beneath a boulder in a deep hole. But no matter what fly, lure, or bait Doug and I tried, we could not get that gaudy fish to strike.

We tried for hours, until a tousled kid, younger than Doug, emerged from the woods with a battered rod-and-reel and threadbare overalls hanging off his shoulders. We wondered where he’d come from. For miles, there was no road or trail on that side of the river, only steep mountainside. The kid seemed to appear out of nowhere. But he surveyed that pool, spotted “our” golden trout, made one cast, and hooked it. The last we saw him he was dragging the fish, flopping, back up into the woods.

If Gold Rush excites your inner angler, you can find all the information about this year’s event at www.wvdnr.gov. Click on “Gold Rush” under Fishing. A West Virginia fishing license and trout stamp are required, available at the same site.

Ben Moyer is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today