They must be received by May 20. Crip-ple Creek, Goin' on the run. Virginia has more than 2,800 miles of trout streams, not to mention several ponds and lakes that hold trout. Last season anglers registered 849 trophy trout catches with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Now hold onto your fishing cap.
Cripple Creek is a fast-moving meadow stream south of Rural Retreat in Western Virginia.
It pretty much has been that way every season for nearly a decade. Hilton will tell you the count would be much more, were it not for the fact that many fishermen no longer enter their bragging-size fish in the state's trophy program. Since Hilton's venture in the trophy trout business, several other pay programs have been established, but none as successful. Last season, Pigg River was runner-up in the brook trout category, with 33 trophies registered, and in the rainbow trout category with 17. Jennings Creek placed third in the brook trout category with 33 fish.