Have you ever been fishing at a Virginia State Park? If so, did you catch something other than what you expected? Well, Jim Kirk and his wife were shocked when they caught a rare leucistic catfish at Bear Creek Lake State Park on May 19, 2023.

Hooked a rare one

Mr. Kirk has been fishing for 70 years and loves that his wife and grandchildren can now accompany him on these trips. He likes to get out with the family and enjoy every moment of retirement in the beautiful Commonwealth of Virginia.

He has an Annual Pass for Virginia State Parks, which he takes advantage of by visiting each park, especially Bear Creek Lake, and fishing as often as he wants. Lately he and his wife have been traveling to different parks to fish at least every other week, but in all his years of fishing, he has never caught anything so rare.

The magic happened on the park’s pier where the Kirks, a retired couple from Midlothian, were on what they originally thought was a normal fishing trip.

“We’ve caught a little bit of everything from a fishing pier, but as soon as I began to reel the fish in, I could tell the color was odd. I got excited to see what it was as I pulled it closer. Once I had the fish in my hands, I asked my wife to find a park ranger who could help identify the fish.”

Lucky for the couple, Park Manager Joey Dayton was on patrol nearby and was able to help the couple figure out more about the rare fish.

“I was patrolling the picnic area when Mr. Kirk's wife approached me to tell me about her husband catching a yellow catfish, so I went down to the pier to check it out,” said Dayton. "I have never heard of one being caught in the 16 years that I have been at Bear Creek. It was a rare treat for all of us.”

Upon further research, the fish was determined to be a rare leucistic catfish. It was nearly 18 inches long and a photo was snapped of Mr. Kirk and the fish right before he tossed it back into the lake.

Why is the fish rare?

Leucism is a wide variety of conditions that result in the partial loss of pigmentation in an animal—causing white, pale or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticles, but not the eyes. Often confused with albinism, leucism is a genetic mutation resulting in a partial loss of pigmentation, causing Kirk's catfish to be an orange-yellow color instead of a typical gray/brown color.

I spoke to Hunter Hatcher, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) aquatic biologist, who gave me some insight about how the lake is supplied with fish.

“Bear Creek Lake is stocked annually with channel catfish every fall, typically in October," explained Hatcher. “Fish are stocked at advanced sizes (approximately eight inches on average) at a rate of 10 fish per acre. Bear Creek Lake supports productive fisheries for largemouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, bluegill and red-ear sunfish. Genetic mutations are rare, but possible.”

Hatcher also stressed that guests can report an odd or rare catch to park staff on location or to Virginia DWR.

I also spoke to Dan Michaelson, a scientist for DWR, who is familiar with the fish that are stocked at Virginia State Parks.

“We’ve seen a fair number of leucistic fish in the Staunton River, but I have never seen them in Bear Creek Lake,” stated Michaelson. “We annually stock there so it was likely part of our stocking, or someone brought it there from another body of water, I’d assume. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason the fish showed up here, but it was a very rare sighting indeed.”

Fishing at Bear Creek Lake

Mr. Kirk and his wife had so many compliments for the park and were truly blown away by their experience on their visit. He plans to come back and fish a lot more this summer with his wife and grandchildren.

“The park is always so clean, the staff is very friendly and it’s a great place to fish because you never know what you’ll catch,” said Mr. Kirk.

If you want to fish at Bear Creek Lake State Park, be sure to get your fishing license. A hardware store in the Cumberland Courthouse area sells licenses, and they are available via the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. 

For a list of upcoming fishing programs, or for more events, visit the Virginia State Parks events page.