Hundreds of anglers will line the 30 miles of streams on the Cherokee Indian Reservation Saturday, March 31, with the opening of trout season here. Also scheduled is an opening day fishing tournament.

The opening day tournament cost $5. Hundreds of specially tagged fish will be stocked in the streams. These tagged fish can be redeemed for cash prizes ranging from $20 to $500 based on the color of the tag, with $10,000 total in tagged fish being released.

Catching something is pretty much ensured since the Cherokee Fish and Game Management each year adds nearly 400,000 trout to the existing population of fish. These supplemental stockings include rainbow, brook and brown trout of various sizes ranging up to trophy size.

A $10 tribal permit for each person 12 years of age and over is required to fish in Cherokee streams and ponds. Children under age 12 are allowed to fish with a permitted adult. Two, three and five-day permits are available at a reduced rate and a season’s permit costs $250. No other type of fishing license is required nor accepted on the reservation. Throughout the season, fishing is allowed from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Creek limit is 10 trout per day per permit holder.