Ridge Fish Hatchery, once West Virginia's only bass fish hatchery, now produces nearly 70,000 pounds of trout a year. It opened in 1931 through the influence of two local men, Vernon Johnson, chairman of the Fish and Game Commission, and state fish culturalist Ted Fearnow, who selected the location along Breakneck Run because of its springs. Brook and rainbow trout spend about 18 months there before being stocked in nearly 30 different waters from nearby Cacapon State Park and Opequon Creek to Tomlinson Run State Park in the northern panhandle. The cycle begins with eggs arriving from other hatcheries in late fall. They are housed and fed five times a day in 16 hatcheries, where fry emerging from eggs are still fed a pudding-like mixture of ground beef liver for the first month before switching to commercial feed because the exceptional cold spring water requires this sturdier food source. By mid-April, fingerlings are placed in outdoor raceways, then moved to the big rock-walled pools by June, where they remain for nearly a year and are fed twice a day. Flowing water is essential, with an impoundment dam for the springs and water from Breakneck Run; after passing through the hatchery, the water empties into Sleepy Creek and eventually the Potomac River. Because cold water holds more oxygen, aerators are used during warmer months. Dark brook trout and lighter rainbow trout can be seen in the pools, often clustered head-first into the entry pipe where the water has the most oxygen, beneath surrounding oak and pine trees.
