Recent rain won’t damper Opening Day
February 28, 2018
Charlea Estes-Jones
While the waters might be a little murky tomorrow at Opening Day, the rain over the weekend didn’t do damage that couldn’t be quickly fixed. According to Roaring River State Park Hatchery manager Paul Spurgeon, any flash flooding only did minimal damage and it didn’t impact the staff ’s schedule for the beginning of trout season this week.
According to Spurgeon, waters at the bridge at the park reached the five foot mark on Saturday. He said, “We had some damage to the stocking roads in the lower end of campground 3. We repaired all of the washed out places along there and cleaned up the debris.”
Staff and DNR worked to clear the paths and remove debris quickly after the water rushed in on Saturday. While the rain came in heavy for a few hours on Saturday, it left and hasn’t rained with any severity since.
He added, “There was no damage in the river itself, so we should be in good shape as of right now.”
Spurgeon had delayed the stocking at Roaring River until this Monday, February 26, because of the rain forecast. Staff stocked the waters with 6,000 trout throughout the day Monday. That schedule didn’t change from the rain damage.
He also complimented the Department of Natural Resource’s quick and effective response. “DNR and everybody has done a really good job cleaning everything up. Everything is as it needs to be for Opening Day. Business as usual.”
He did comment that he anticipates the water will be a bit murky for anglers wanting to cast their lines tomorrow, but other than that, it should be a good day.
Roaring River’s trout season begins Thursday, March 1, at 6:30 a.m. The park is anticipating around 1,800 tags to be sold tomorrow.
Charlea Estes-Jones
While the waters might be a little murky tomorrow at Opening Day, the rain over the weekend didn’t do damage that couldn’t be quickly fixed. According to Roaring River State Park Hatchery manager Paul Spurgeon, any flash flooding only did minimal damage and it didn’t impact the staff ’s schedule for the beginning of trout season this week.
According to Spurgeon, waters at the bridge at the park reached the five foot mark on Saturday. He said, “We had some damage to the stocking roads in the lower end of campground 3. We repaired all of the washed out places along there and cleaned up the debris.”
Staff and DNR worked to clear the paths and remove debris quickly after the water rushed in on Saturday. While the rain came in heavy for a few hours on Saturday, it left and hasn’t rained with any severity since.
He added, “There was no damage in the river itself, so we should be in good shape as of right now.”
Spurgeon had delayed the stocking at Roaring River until this Monday, February 26, because of the rain forecast. Staff stocked the waters with 6,000 trout throughout the day Monday. That schedule didn’t change from the rain damage.
He also complimented the Department of Natural Resource’s quick and effective response. “DNR and everybody has done a really good job cleaning everything up. Everything is as it needs to be for Opening Day. Business as usual.”
He did comment that he anticipates the water will be a bit murky for anglers wanting to cast their lines tomorrow, but other than that, it should be a good day.
Roaring River’s trout season begins Thursday, March 1, at 6:30 a.m. The park is anticipating around 1,800 tags to be sold tomorrow.