WALHALLA – Every year, the SC Department of Natural Resources stocks trout in a remote inland river: rainbow, brown stream and eastern stream.
But the Chattooga River, which comprises more than 20 kilometers from the northernmost border between South Carolina and Georgia, it is not an easy place to reach. It was declared a “wild and picturesque” river by the US Forest Service decades ago and after that happened, several accesses to the waterway through old logging roads were closed.
That’s where the helicopters come in.
Every year, at that time, wildlife officials with the help of the Forest Service use a helicopter that is normally a firefighting tool to get there.
Instead of pouring water to extinguish the flames, the vessel raises an orange basket full of fish to the most difficult stretches of the stream. The bottom of the “Bambi basket” is synchronized, and the helicopter pilot can release the line that keeps it closed so that fish and water are poured into the stream below.
“It’s an incredible design with all the moving parts that works so well,” said Dan Rankin, chief trout biologist at DNR.
A load in the basket can take 300 to 400 larger fish, Rankin said. Loads of smaller fry that are not yet adults can reach 1,000 per drop.
The trip requires a skillful touch, as the pilot has to carefully maneuver the basket hanging several meters below the helicopter, over pines, hemlocks and oaks and, finally, on top of Chattooga. The annual falls support popular fly fishing spots at Burrells Ford Campground and close to Highway 28. Fishermen who choose other locations on the river must walk there.
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