Elaine Ingram took this nice trout from the Jackson River below Gathright Dam. Photo by Bruce Ingram.

With a succession of fish kills slamming the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers and their tributaries since 2002, when I learned that some positive news exists for the watershed, I understandably wanted to check it out. Colby Trow, who along with his brother, Brian, operates Mossy Creek Outfitters in Harrisonburg, had invited me to experience the comeback of the South River, a major tributary of the South Fork of the Shenandoah.

“The problems began in the 1950s when DuPont buried mercury waste byproducts in the ground,” Trow said. “A lot of the Shenandoah Valley has karst topography, so whenever rains would come, the mercury leached into the ground water. Mercury problems were experienced all the way from Waynesboro where the plant was to Front Royal on the South Fork.

“But mercury wasn’t the only problem. The South River would turn red with dye from the textile plants in Waynesboro. And throughout where the river runs through the town, the buffer zones were removed.”

Mercury is an insidious compound, settling in the substrate. Aquatic insects accumulate it in their systems and so eventually do predator species, such as trout and smallmouth bass. The higher up the food chain a fish is, the greater the concentration of mercury in its body. For example, a 10-year-old game fish will have more mercury in its system than a 2-year-old one will.

Even today, a fish consumption advisory exists on the South River because of that long ago disposal of mercury. Children and pregnant women should be especially concerned about consuming fish from a stream under such an advisory.

Today, continued Trow, DuPont has spent a great deal of money in cleaning up the river. Dominion Power helped build an access park for anglers, and the buffer zones have been restored in many places. The South River, given a second chance, already had many positives. The South is a freestone valley floor stream that has a number of springs feeding it, some even in downtown Waynesboro.

These springs help to cool the river; Trow speculates that if the river were just a few degrees cooler the trout would naturally reproduce. And numerous tributaries of the South River are either stocked trout streams themselves or are native brook trout waters in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.

J-hooks have also been constructed along the South River. J-hooks reroute the current away from a bank where it is eroding, and thus direct the flow toward the main channel, deepening the channel and providing cover for trout.

“Now, the South River is a very good place to trout fish,” confirmed Trow. “Local industry has done a lot of work to clean up this stretch of river.”

The river offers a delayed harvest section from the Second Street Bridge in Waynesboro upstream 2.4 miles to the base of Rife Loth Dam. From Oct. 1 through May 31, only artificial lures may be used and all fish must be released unharmed. From June 1 through Sept. 30, general trout regulations are in effect. A trout license is required from Oct. 1 through June 15. Catchable-sized trout are stocked in fall, winter and spring.

Upstream near Ridgeview Park, the South River is a Category A stream, which means that it is stocked once in October, once in either November or December, once in January or February, twice in both March and April, and once in May.