UPPER JACKSON RIVER
Because of a quality fishery and access issues, the Lower Jackson below Lake Moomaw receives much notoriety. But the upper river above Moomaw sports a marvelous fishery in its own right. The special regulations section extends from the United States Forest Service (USFS) swinging bridge (located just above the mouth of Muddy Run) upstream three miles to the last ford on FS 481 D.

The Upper Jackson receives stockings of catchable-sized trout several times a year. I have visited this area as late as August and found trout present even then. Regulations are the same as they are on the special regulation section of the Pound River.

TROUT HERITAGE STREAMS
This year, the now annual Trout Heritage Day falls on Saturday, April 7. Heritage Day is a celebration of the traditional trout opener the first Saturday in April -- an event that was much looked forward to for generations of Virginia anglers -- before year-round trout fishing became the norm.

As a budding angler growing up in Salem, the first Saturday in April meant going with my school chums to trout streams in the area. In fact, my favorite stream from that time in my life is one of the 16 bodies of water on the Heritage list -- Jennings Creek in Botetourt County. Other noteworthy Trout Heritage Waters include Passage Creek in Shenandoah County, the upper Pedlar River in Amherst County, the Pigg River in Franklin County, the Rose River in Madison County, and Tinker Creek in Roanoke County.

The state’s three fee-fishing areas make the lineup (Clinch Mountain, Crooked Creek and Douthat Lake) as do such lakes as Beartree in Washington County and Bark Camp in Scott County. Fee-fishing areas are closed to angling from April 2 through 6 and all Heritage Waters are closed on April 6. These streams and lakes are a wonderful place to bring a kid or a novice angler -- or for an older angler to re-experience the opening day atmosphere of his youth. For more information, consult the VDGIF Web site at DGIF.Virginia.gov.

SOUTH FORK HOLSTON RIVER
Number seven on our trout fishing card is the South Fork of the Holston River in Smyth County. The special regulation section is situated between Marion and Sugar Grove off Route 16 -- a major road in far western Virginia. The section itself covers about four miles, from 500 feet above the dam at Buller Hatchery upstream to the Jefferson National Forest boundary above the crossing of the Appalachian Trail.

Both rainbows and browns in great abundance fin this area. The regulations are the same as on the Pound and Upper Jackson special sections.

The South Fork of the Holston has the look of a mountain stream, with rhododendron-covered banks and densely vegetated shoreline, but it lacks the plunge pools of a highland rill. That’s because in reality the South Fork flows through a Smyth County valley. Plenty of 10- to 14-inch trout thrive in the stream, as do a fair number of bigger fish.