Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

Recent columns

• Drum fishing on Virginia’s Coast comes in two colors
• Elk advocate finally gets his day
• Turkeys are plentiful, so why are hunting regulations so tight fisted?
• Anglers say closure of the point of Cape Hatteras is for the birds
• Column archive

Bill's Mailbag

• Putting down a bear cub brings complaint
• Recommendations for Virginia’s Wild Turkey Management Plan
• Mail archive

Bill's Field Reports

• A. Willis Robertson great name for new DGIF headquarters
• Big striper smashes Optimist tournament record
• Field reports archive

Resources

• Trout stocking schedule

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is expected to begin construction next month on a new headquarters building in the Richmond area. Bob Duncan, the agency’s executive director, has suggested it be named after A. Willis Robertson. That’s a great idea!

In 1916, while serving in the Virginia Senate, Robertson cosponsored legislation to create the department. He served as its director from 1926 to 1933.

Those were tough times. Funding for wildlife work was scarce. Popular game species, including deer, turkey and bear were, in short supply. The department didn’t have a single fish or wildlife biologist on its staff. Hunting and fishing regulations were dictated by the General Assembly.

Robinson helped establish the foundation for what would become one of the finest wildlife agencies in the country. His most meaningful work, however, came in the U.S. Senate. It was there that he cosponsored the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, best known to sportsmen as the Pittman-Robertson Act. This year marks its 75th anniversary.

The act has pumped billions of dollars into wildlife work through an 11-percent excise tax on hunting gear. A companion bill passed in 1950 works the same way for fisheries conservation. Agencies like VDGIF would have a tough time staying in business apart from these programs. They have helped make hunters and anglers the greatest of conservationists.

All this makes Duncan’s proposal to name the new headquarters after Robertson a worthy consideration. At a meeting of the agencies last month, Duncan told board members to give the idea some thought before their June meeting. Robertson’s son, Dr. Pat Robertson, of Christian Broadcast Network fame, is delighted with the idea, Duncan said.

The building site is in Hanover County, about 12-miles north of the current headquarters located on West Broad Street in Richmond. The setting is Northlake Business Park, just off I-95. Nearby are major commercial outdoor outlets, Bass Pro Shops, Greentop and Gander Mountain.

The project has an estimated 10-month completion time, said Larry Hart, DGIF infrastructure director. The principal cost must he held to under $10 million.

Robertson particularly enjoyed hunting in the Gathright area of Bath County, where he was known as a crack wing shot. He is buried in Lexington.

Outdoor briefs

• The Botetourt Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation presented its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award to Joe Coggin, a retired Department of Game and Inland Fisheries research biologist. Coggin did pioneer worked with turkeys, grouse and other species while living in Botetourt County. He now resides in North Carolina. The chapter also awarded scholarships to Meredith Evans, of Lord Botetourt High School, and Haily Cook, of James River High School.

• The past week, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries stocked 125,000 one- to two-inch largemouth bass in 25,000-acre Back Bay near Virginia Beach. From Alabama, the fish were F-1 hybrids, a cross between the northern and Florida strains of largemouths that has produced trophy catches in Florida and California. The stocking is part of a three-year project to restore the Bay’ bass fishery. In the 1980s, it was producing more than 200 bass citations annually.

• In a 5-to 4-vote, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission ended the practice of purse seining, a method used to catch menhaden, a primary food source for sport fish.  The action received praise from the Coastal Conservation Association, an angling organization that has expressed concern about declining menhaden numbers. Boats from Reedville, Va. have worked North Carolina water. 

• The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has recognized expert and master anglers of the 2011 season. Last year, 21 anglers registered six or more species of fish that were citation size. This qualified them for the Virginia Expert Saltwater Angler award. Jamal Esfahani of Hampton led the way with 12 citations. Julie Ball of Virginia Bach had 11. There were 12 new Master Anglers, who have registered 25 citations in five different species.

• Jim Hemby, a Lake Anna fishing guide, credits what he calls “off the chart” bass fishing in the lake to the warm spring. Tournaments have seen five-fish limits weighing nearly 28 pounds, he said. He recommends fishing with top-water lures. Striped bass limits are being landed, some of the fish weighing 20-pounds and more. Check www.JimHemby.com

• Your chances of winning a gun at the annual Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA Banquet are pretty good. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the event is scheduled to give away more than 50 guns in raffles, drawings, auctions and games, according to Chairman Mike Kessler. Money raised goes for shooting programs in the region. For more information, contact Kessler at mkessler@gala-industries.com.
    
Saltwater fishing tournament

Flounder fishing has been a bit of a disappointment for many anglers. The season started out early and brisk, then faded in May, the time you’d normally expect it to peak. The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has registered but three flounder.

There is a new leader in the tournament’s black drum category, an 86-pound fish landed south of Fisherman’s Island by Matthew Hamay of Gloucester.

Here are the tournament standings:

• Black Drum: 86 pounds, caught by Matthew Hamay, Gloucester, off Fisherman’s Island, three citations entered for the species.

• Blueline Tilefish: 19 pounds, 4, Donald Caldwell, Midlothian, at the Norfolk Canyon, 131 citations registered

• Flounder: 8 pounds, 10 ounces, Daniel Kee, Chesapeake, Triangle Wrecks, three citations

• Red Drum: 38 releases

• Speckled Trout: 14 pounds, 1 ounce, Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River, 316 citations

• Striped Bass: 74 pounds (state record) Cary Wolfe, Bristow, off Virginia Beach, 729 citations

• Tautog: (state record) 24 pounds, 3 ounces, Ken Neill, III, Seaford, Morgan Wreck, 63 citations

• Tuna (Bluefin): 321 pounds, Jay Barefoot, Hampton, off Sanbridge, 149 citations

Total citations, 1,431

Meetings, seasons and events

• Virginia Hunters Skills Weekend, May 18-20, Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, Appomattox, detailed lessons on hunting skills, firearms, bird dogs and more, $105 includes instruction, meals, lodging, May 4 signup deadline, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries one of the sponsors, information and register on www.holidaylake4h.com/upcoming.php.

• Archery Field and Hunter Spot Shoot, May 20, 28, Triangle Archery, 10 a.m. shotgun start, range 1250 Burley Lane, Blacksburg, information form www.VFAA.org.

• Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, June 1, 7 p.m., Moneta Community Center, program on reel care and maintenance.

• Spring squirrel hunting season in Virginia, June 2-16.

• Sport Fishing School, June 3-7, Hatteras, N.C., sponsored by NC State University, classroom and Gulf Stream instruction, information from www.ncsu.edu/cpe/fishing.html

• Smith River Trout Unlimited meeting, June 7, 6:30 p.m., Rania’s Restaurant, Martinsville, program by Mary Dail of Virginia Department of Environmental Quality on the scarcity of insect life in Smith River and what is needed to change that. Guests welcome. Information from chapter president Darrin Doss, admin@dossphoto.com.

• Virginia Field Archery Open Championship, Triangle Bowhunters Range Blacksburg/Christiansburg, June 9 & 10, 10 a.m. shotgun start each day, hunter and field targets, National Field Archery Association membership required, information from www.VFAA.org.

• Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, June 29, 7 p.m., Moneta Community Center, program on fishing lines, boat knots and bait net casting.

• Triangle Archery and Whitetail Outfitters 3D archery shoot, New River Valley, July 8, registration 9 a.m. to noon, $12 singles, $25 family, $6 kids, $15 money division, ends 3:45 p.m., range at 1250 Burley Lane, Blacksburg, information from Whitetail Outfitters, 540-381-9790.

• Triangle Archery and Whitetail Outfitters 3D archery shoot, New River Valley, Aug. 12.

• Friends of the NRA Banquet, Aug. 25, Salem Civic Center

• Eastern Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 8 and 9, Southampton County Fairgrounds, Franklin, information from www.vpsa.org.

• Triangle Archery and Whitetail Outfitters 3D archery shoot, New River Valley, Sept. 16, registration 9 a.m. to noon, $12 singles, $25 family, $6 kids, $15 money division, ends 3:45 p.m., range at 1250 Burley Lane, Blacksburg, information from Whitetail Outfitters, 540-381-9790.

• Western Regional Championship and State Championship of Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 22 and 23, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, check www.vpsa.org for additional information, questions to Jon Ritenour, 540-434-8028.

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