Thursday, October 06, 2005
Dry weather juggles trout stocking
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
One of the driest Septembers on record has lowered the flow of many streams and caused the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to juggle its fall trout stocking program.
“We have some waters we can’t stock due to the dry weather,” said George Duckwall, DGIF cold water hatchery manager. Included are several Category A and delayed harvest streams, he said.
But there are streams with enough water to merit stocking and hatchery managers are aiming their stocking trucks toward them as the fall release program begins.
Any streams that can’t be stocked during the current cycle will be posted on a DGIF list later this month, Duckwall said.
“If that has to occur, we’ll make up any weather postponed stockings when conditions improve,” he said.
One stocking change unrelated to the weather is that Upper Sherando Lake has been changed from a Category A to Category B water, which means the annual number of stockings it is scheduled to receive drop from eight to five per year. Lower Shernado Lake will remain Category A.
THREE MORE CWD DEER FOUND
Three more deer in West Virginia have tested positive for the deadly neurological ailment Chronic Wasting Disease. That brings the total to four for the state out of 121 samples tested.
All have been from Hampshire County just a few miles from the Virginia line. The three deer that most recently tested positive were found within 2.5 miles of the original positive animal.
Based on these findings, West Virginia officials have intensified their deer collection and testing efforts to determine the prevalence and distribution of CWD. Across the border, Virginia officials have established their own surveillance area.
CROSSBOWS GET ABOUT 25-PERCENT OF THE KILL
Crossbow hunting for deer began Saturday, but it will be several weeks or more before officials can determine its impact.
One big game check station, the Hunter’s Den, in Craig County had not checked a deer through the third morning of the season.
“I sold a pile of crossbows, but no one has brought a deer in,” said Ellen Horn, the owner. “I think they are calling them in.”
Hunters using the phone system checked about 1,500 deer opening day of the bow/crossbow season. Nearly 350 of them were crossbow kills. The total phone-in report for Saturday was well above last year’s opening day mark of just over 900 deer.
“I do not see crossbows having a big impact, and everyone tells me that I am dead wrong,” Matt Knox, deer biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said before the season opened.
“I expect we will have between 5,000 and 10,000 crossbow hunters this year, but some or many of these will be archers that put down their bow and pick up a crossbow,” said Knox.
Knox said he hopes that crossbows will have two major impacts. One, that they will be a boost in the urban archery season and (two) that they will retain older hunters. Bowhunting participation drops off rapidly as archers reach about 60 years of age. The crossbow may extend the hunting career of such people.
STREAMS AND LAKES ARE LOW
At the top of these notes we mentioned that many trout streams are running so low that the state’s autumn stocking schedule is having to be reworked. Warm water streams and lakes also are impacted.
The James River is so low that one outfitter, James River Runners near Scottsville, has quit guiding anglers for the season. The James, like several other streams and lakes, has a heavy algae bloom. The New River is running low and clear, and the fishing is slow. The Blackwater and Nottoway rivers are so low it is difficult to launch a boat into them.
Lake Moomaw is reported to be down about 10 feet; Kerr Reservoir 4 feet and Briery Creek Lake 1 foot.
MAST CROP GETS MIXED REVIEWS
Hunters are coming out of the woods with mixed reports on the availability of oak mast, an important food source for deer, turkey, bear, squirrels and even grouse. “Spotty” might be the overworked word that best describes the 2005 crop.
Some hunters report decent white oak mast, a fact that appears to be keeping deer out of the fields and in the woods munching acorns in some areas of the state. Other sportsmen say the mast crop is poor this year.
Mast can impact big game hunting. During lean mast years, deer, bear and turkey often will gather under trees that have produced mast, making the animals easier to pattern and more vulnerable to hunters.
A good mast crop also can enhance wildlife’s ability to survive and produce healthy offspring. In the case of deer, the mast crop one year can impact the quality of both antler development and fawn production the next year. Squirrel numbers also are impacted by the availability of mast.
A surprise finding of a six-year grouse study by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries revealed that following a lean mast year hen grouse have lower body fat levels and the survival of their chicks declines.
MAJOR DEAD ZONE IN CHESAPEAKE BAY
The opening of the striped bass season in the Chesapeake Bay Tuesday came with the bad news that the Bay this summer has had a 125-mile long dead zone that contains little to no oxygen and a much bigger section continues lower than normal oxygen.
“It had to be a tough year for striped bask,” Dave Jasinski told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Jasinski works for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The dead zone, stretching from the Baltimore-Annapolis area to the mouth of the York River, contains oxygen concentrations of .2 parts per million or less. Striped bass like dissolved oxygen greater than 5 parts per million.
The low oxygen is blamed on a combination of heavy rains in the spring, pollution, hot weather and light winds.
The dead zone reached a peak in early August and has been shrinking since then.
BEDFORD FOR BIG BUCKS
Looking for a spot to kill a trophy deer? A glance back to last season reveals that Bedford County remains Virginia’s top spot for trophy bucks, a position it has held for a number of years.
At the Virginia Big Game Trophy Show last week, there were eight Bedford-killed bucks, more than from any other county. Second spot with to Rockingham County, with seven, and third to Southampton County, with five.
While Rockingham and Southampton are proven trophy hunting counties, it should be remembered that they are headquarters for the western and eastern regional competition, and this may skew the contest results.
Tied with four trophy bucks apiece in the contest were Campbell, Pittsylvania and Pulaski counties. Registering three bucks each were Nelson, Sussex and Surry counties.
Last season, Bedford didn’t just account for the most trophy bucks, but the most deer killed of any county in Virginia. The total was 7,748.
60 HIKES WITHIN 60 MILES OF RICHMOND
I’ve never thought of the Richmond region as a neat spot for hiking, but Nathan Lott has changed my mind about that. As the child of an Air Force officer, Lott has lived and traveled in the U.S., Europe and the Near East. His parents instilled in him an appreciation for history, culture and the natural world where ever he stopped.
Lott recently turned his attention to Virginia, particularly the Richmond, Petersburg, Williamsburg and Fredericksburg area. The result is a neat book titled “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Richmond.”
It is a 250-plus-page volume with loads of pictures, maps and written text that underscore the rich heritage of hiking in a region often overlooked even by experienced hikers. The publisher is Menasha Ridge Press: www.menasharidge.com.
Lott liked the area so well that he stayed as a public relations person for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
FISHING REPORT
Crappie fishing is beginning to turn on in several areas. Anglers working standing timber at Beaverdam Reservoir in Gloucester are doing well with this popular panfish.
Crappie weighing a pound each are being caught in the Intercoastal Waterway of Virginia Beach. At Kerr Lake, bridge pilings are a hot spot for crappie.
The tidal James River continues to turn out big blue catfish. Sam Jackson of Lexington landed cats that weighed 30, 34 and 40 pounds.
Little Creek Reservoir is producing striped bass that weight in excess of 20 pounds. Willie Weber of New Kent got one that was 21.5 pounds. Kent Williams of Hanover boated one just under 18 pounds. Both fish were caught on live herring.
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Reports that an estimated 80 percent of the smallmouth bass in the Shenandoah River have died has resulted in a planned day-long conference at James Madison University, beginning 9 a.m. Oct. 24. The event will be hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Pure Water Forum. Information and on-line registration is available from www.purewaterforum.org/.
>The National Shooting Sports Foundation has provided the Ruffed Grouse Society $10,000 in grant money to be distributed to its chapters for the foundation’s “Step Outside” program, which is designed to introduce newcomers to hunting and shooting sports.
>Want to buy a piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway or maybe a wildlife refuge in Eastern Virginia? A bill has been introduced in Congress requiring the Interior Department to sell 15 percent of the federal land it controls to fund Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
>Members of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club are scheduled to help carry the equipment of a movie crew to McAfee Know Sunday, a 3.5-mile climb in Roanoke County.
SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has a new leader in the cobia category. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 93 pounds, 9 ounces, Willie McWhite, Jr., Richmond, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
COBIA: 96 pounds, Michael Goodove, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 4-pounds, 8 ounces, Elliott Souldourian, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
DOLPHIN: 52 pounds, Willi Fenske, Hopewell, ocean off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 17 pounds, 2 ounces, Hopie Firth, Poquoson, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 12 ounces, James Daughtrey III, Suffolk, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 14 ounces, William Flipin, Hayes, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
KING MACKEREL, 47 pounds, Frank Riganto, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 15 ounces, Pete Ballo, Stamford, Conn., off Virginia Beach.
POMPANO: 3 pounds, 2 ounces, Mark Ottarson, North, Mobjack Bay.
SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Chad Stoker, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 16 pounds, 8 ounces, Steven Hord, Williamsburg, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 12 pounds, 8 ounces, Jerry Carnell, Jr. Oxford, N.C. upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 9 pounds, 2 ounces, Bob Tolhurst, King George, upper western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 11 pounds, 3 ounces, Brain Pomije, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Robert Richardson, Richmond, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 63 pounds, 8 ounces, state record, Paul Leckner, Greenbackville, Bradford Bay.
TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Larry Larue, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
TUNA (BLUEFIN) 158 pounds, Eric Holum, Silver Springs, Md., ocean off Eastern Shore.
TUNA: 90 pounds, 8 ounces, John Mackey, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
WAHOO: 83 pounds, 3 ounces, John Hamilton, Norfolk, ocean off Eastern Shore.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Second portion of the dove season opens Oct. 8 with all day hunting and a 12-per day limit.
Fall member/guest fishing tournament, Smith Mountain Striper Club, Oct. 8, club president is Ron Curis, rcurt11@peoplepc.com.
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 15, Salem Civic Center, $30 single, $50 couple, 27 firearms and other items to give away, proceeds go to grants and programs for youth and sports shooting programs, information from Chris Kessler, 884-3259.
Meeting of the tournament committee of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament to discuss trends and potential rule changes, Oct. 17, 6:45 p.m., Oceans East Tackle Shop, Virginia Beach. Public comments will be received.
Conference on the smallmouth bass die-off in the Shenandoah River, James Madison University, 9 a.m. Oct. 24, hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Pure Water Forum, information and registration from www.purewaterforum.org/.
Final action on proposed hunting, fishing, trapping, boating and non-game proposals by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Oct. 27, 9 a.m. DGIF headquarters, 4000 West Broad Street, Richmond.
H.C. Edwards Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society banquet, Oct. 28, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, $55 individuals, $75 individual and guest, information from Matt Smith, 540-432-7732 (W) or 540-459-3559 (H).
Fall turkey hunting season, Oct. 31-Nov. 12; Nov. 24 and Dec. 12-Jan. 7.
Primitive Skills Weekend at Holiday Lake (near Appomattox), Nov. 4-6, for youth and adults, $85 includes meals and lodging, information from Mike Hayslett, 434-248-5444 or www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/holiday/.
Muzzleloading season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 5-18.
Wilderness First Aid class, Nov. 5 and 6, Blacksburg, 18-hour, two-day study, cost is $160, registration and information from http://wfa.net.
Muzzleloading season west of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 12-18
Woodcock season Nov. 12-26 and Dec. 17-31, three per day limit.
Deer hunting season west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Dec. 3
Deer hunting season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Jan. 7
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Nov. 29, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Dec. 16, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.
Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 17-Jan. 7.
Got an event? Let us know: xtails@earthlink.net.
