Celebrations more Outdoors Printable version. Email this to a friend. The fishermen who make midwinter pilgrimages to West Virginia s stocked trout ponds offer some sage advice to newcomers. If you can t stand the cold, they say, you d best stay home. Those who can stand the cold, on the other hand, get to enjoy some of the most consistent stocked-trout fishing the state has to offer.
Trout are cold-water fish.
Near-freezing water temperatures might slow them down a bit, but won t keep them from feeding. The fishing is pretty consistent, says Joe Mansfield of Barboursville, a regular at the lake in his home village s municipal park. I usually come out on Saturdays and Sundays during the stocking season and I usually catch trout every time I m here. If I can keep my face and my hands warm, I m usually OK, he says. For the rest of the body, it s just a matter of piling on enough clothes and socks.