LAUREL CREEK — It isn’t easy to get upstream, although anglers who appreciate pristine trout waters are finding their way to the sweet spots along Elliott County’s Ed Mabry-Laurel Gorge Wildlife Management Area.

There are now three places for the public to get into the 750-acre cliff-lined stream and surrounding land, although Fred House says, “I’m sure that there are more that local anglers know about.”

“It is just a beautiful stream and the fall is a great time to see it,” said House, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Northeast District Fisheries biologist. “It is definitely a quality stream.”

House said the effort to stock brown trout has been ongoing since the early 1980s “because the temperature was ideal.”

They started transplanting brown trout eggs into the stream, although that effort failed, he said. Biologists then tried stocking up to 500 of the brown trout in the stream each year, and later switched their strategy and supplied roughly half that number scattered along the creek by volunteers carrying 15 to 20 fish in backpacks and releasing them at different points.

The effort to establish a brown trout population seems to be working, House said, later adding he and others were once shocked to catch a 24-inch brown trout weighing more than 5 pounds while performing a survey along a 5-mile section of Laurel Creek.

“It was absolutely huge! It completely flabbergasted us. We thought it was a carp at first,” House said, enthusiastically remembering the catch.

Rainbow trout have also been stocked at the Cold Springs access point on a regular basis, with plenty of notice to fishermen.

“We put them in and hopefully the anglers take them out,” House said, explaining anglers are also notified about brown trout being stocked, although they aren’t told exactly where and when the fish will be released.

Public Lands Wildlife biologist Rick Mauro said he has enjoyed taking his wife, Karen, “who is a very new angler,” and their 9-year old granddaughter Kaitlyn Adkins, to fish for rainbow trout from Laurel Creek.

“They both did very well,” he added.

Mauro said the distinctive habitat surrounding the Ed Mabry-Laurel Creek WMA are a major factor in the quality of water and wildlife there.

“If you start from the low-water bridge you will see a lot of hemlock, mountain laurel, rhododendron and yellow poplar. That is very important to the water quality and helps keep a cold-water habitat for trout,” Mauro said, adding the many cliffs and overhangs along the narrow stream also provide homes for many forms of life.

“There are up to 27 of what we call ‘species of greatest conservation need’ — 11 amphibians, eight mammals and eight amphibians,” Mauro said, noting a 2005 survey identified birds, including the Kentucky Warbler, Swainson’s Warbler and Cerulean Warbler, as well as two bats on the federal endangered species list, Indiana bats and Virginia Big-Eared bats.

The land is also likely home to the Allegheny Wood rat and possibly black bears, he said.

While the upper reaches of the preserve aren’t easy to access, Mauro said people are encouraged to enjoy the area preserved by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.

“We want people to use it and appreciate it. There are no developed trails, but we encourage hiking, bird watching, fishing, hunting and other low-impact forms of outdoor activities,” Mauro said, adding ATVs and horseback riding is not permitted there.

“It is a natural area with a lot of unique features,” Mauro said. “We want people to enjoy the property, but try to do so responsibly.”

The area is now designated with small plastic signs, and larger signs are expected to be installed by next spring.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.