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All in a day’s work
Scott Poore, manager of the Walhalla Fish Hatchery, oversees a team that releases up to 650,000 trout each year to meet recreational fishing demand.
Photo by Michael Banks
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Visitors welcome
Built in the 1930s, the Walhalla Fish Hatchery is open to visitors daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except on Christmas Day or during inclement weather.
Photo by Michael Banks
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Walhalla Fish Hatchery
Go behind the scenes of the Walhalla Fish Hatchery in this video from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Video by SCDNR
Nestled deep in a green valley in the mountainous Upstate near the borders with North Carolina and Georgia, the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery is a facility of critical importance to the trout that swim in area streams and the anglers who seek them.
The Walhalla hatchery is one of five public fish hatcheries operated by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, but it is the only one raising trout, says hatchery manager Scott Poore. Because South Carolina is at “the southern-most extreme of suitable trout habitat, we’re really limited in the number of streams that we can stock. It is a unique fishery for being this far south.”
Currently, two trucks depart five days a week with an allotment of ready-to-catch rainbow, brown and brook trout to stock streams and rivers in Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties as well as the tailwaters of lakes Hartwell, Jocassee and Murray. In a typical season, the hatchery releases 600,000 to 650,000 trout to meet recreational fishing demand.
“There are so many anglers that target trout, if we were not able to supplement the existing populations or where populations are very limited, I think you would see angling pressure possibly decimate the fishery in some streams,” Poore says. “I think eventually it would come to a point where angling for trout in South Carolina would become nonexistent.”
The facility, which dates back to the 1930s, is open for public tours daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no charge for admission and hatchery employees are available to answer questions.
“The kids love to come in and see all the varieties of fish,” Poore says. “During our peak time, we can easily have 1.2 million fish on hand.”
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Get There
The Walhalla State Fish Hatchery is located at 198 Fish Hatchery Road (Hwy. 107 North) in Mountain Rest.
Hours: Daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Christmas Day and during inclement weather.
Admission: Free.
Details: Call (864) 638-2866 or visit hatcheries.dnr.sc.gov/Walhalla.
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