Thursday, February 08, 2007
"Freshwater Fishes" back in print
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
“Freshwater Fishes of Virginia,” a book that has been selling for as much as $300 a copy when you can find one, is back in print. The 1,080-page volume, written by Robert Jenkins and Noel Burkhead, was published in 1994, and has been out of print in recent years.
The American Fisheries Society is reprinting the book for a list price of $110 per copy. It can be ordered from afsbooks.org/55020c.html.
“This will be most welcome,” said Paul Bugas, a Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist. The “Virginia Chapter of AFS still gets requests for this excellent book, but we are out of copies.”
The book describes 210 species and 20 subspecies of fish found in Virginia.
Jenkins is a soon to retire biology professor at Roanoke College and an avid fly angler. Burkhead was a student at Roanoke College who returned to help write the manuscript.
While the book is scientific in nature, Jenkins’ keen eye and love of the outdoors and fishing show through in antidotal reports that can delight all anglers.
BILL
DUELING OUTDOOR SHOWS
“Want to meet me at the outdoor show?”
If someone asks you that, better make sure you know which show he or she is talking about. There are two next week in the Shenandoah Valley that will be dueling for the same outdoor audience Feb. 16-18.
One is the Western Virginia Sports Show, which has drawn thousands of sportsmen to Expo in Fisherville the past 19 years. It packs in outdoorsmen suffering from cabin fever, giving them the first look at trophy deer killed during the recent season along with a host of other exhibits, experts and equipment.
A new show, The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, is scheduled for the same time period just up the road at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg. This is site of the annual state big game show held each September.
Promoters of both shows are trying to put a positive spin on the competitive situation, saying the setup gives outdoorsmen a chance to visit two shows the same weekend. Truth is, the new show is being promoted by a vendor who had issues with the original show. You have to wonder if the conflict will spread thin the available number of trophy deer.
No question, the novelty of having two shows the same weekend has drawn attention to both events, not that the Western Virginia Sports Show needs more publicity. It can be tough to find breathing room in that one, but a 50 percent increase in space has been promised.
Ever notice how Roanoke is one area where there is a drought of outdoor/big game shows? They have been tried in the past and have fizzled. Look for a new attempt Aug. 10-12 when an advertising agency is scheduled to promote the Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen’s Classic in the Roanoke Civic Center.
The result is still another conflict. The August dates are the same as for the Virginia Outdoors Sportsman Show, the huge event sponsored by the Virginia Deer Hunters Association in Richmond. This one draws a couple hundred or more trophy deer heads and thousands of observers. Will there be any left for Roanoke?
BILL
TAGGING PROGRAM SETS RECORD
The next time you catch a saltwater fish, don’t be surprised if it has been tagged. Recreational saltwater anglers caught and tagged a record 16,509 fish last year, part of a state-sponsored program designed to help scientists better understand the movement of fish. That was a huge jump over the 10,250 caught and tagged the previous year and almost double the number tagged the year prior to that.
Some 1,904 of the fish caught by participants already had tags.
Red drum was the big catch. Participants caught and tagged 4,124 of them, which was 29 percent of all red drum tagged since the program began in 1995, according to Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing program. Bain heads the tagging effort, which is co-sponsored by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Funding is provided by the sale of saltwater fishing licenses.
Bain called the participation and results outstanding. “Not only did we have 87 anglers earn conservation awards for tagging 25 or more last year, but 37 of them tagged more than 100 fish.
In addition to the big take of red drum, there were 1,909 speckled trout tagged and 2,070 tautogs tagged.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY UPDATE
>Game wardens are going to get a new name. Most likely by the second half of the year their official title will be “conservation police officer.”
A bill, HB 1867, that makes the change has cleared both the House and Senate without a negative vote. It has the support of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, whose officials say the word “police” better reflects what the wardens do, not to mention better gets the attention of the public.
>Attention non-resident hunters! Expect to pay more for your Virginia hunting license in the future, but not as much as some would prefer. A bill, HB 1981, that gives the DGIF authority to increase nonresident hunting license fees as much as $50 every three years has cleared the House and Senate. A measure that would have set the increase at $100 has failed.
>A tough bill that would abolish the long-held right of hunting dog owners to come onto private land to retrieve their dogs without the permission of the landowners has passed the House 96-3. That’s something of a surprise. Less surprising is the success of a Senate bill that simply would require hunters retrieving their dogs from a landowner’s property to identify themselves when requested by the landowner. That one, SB 884, has cleared the Senate.
>A Senate bill, SB 882, that would establish a state policy that there will be no net loss of public lands on which to hunt has passed the Senate 39-0.
>A measure, SJ 444, that confirms the appointment of J. Carlton Courter III as executive director of the DGIF has passed the Senate without a negative vote and is expected to do the same in the House. Courter was hired by the DGIF board as executive director last year.
Search all these bills and their status at the General Assembly Legislative Information System site.
BILL
OUTDOOR NOTES
>The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Franklin County have teamed up to construct a fully accessible, 100-foot fishing pier at Smith Mountain Lake Community Park on the southern side of the lake near Scruggs. DGIF will be using $80,000 in Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration funds, the county will provide $45,000.
>A fly fishing tournament to benefit Project Healing Waters, a program that helps injured veterans rehabilitate physically and mentally through fly fishing and fly tying, have been set for the Rose River Farm May 20. Information on Rose River Farm, a pay-trout fishing facility, can be found on www.roseriverfarm.com.
>No joke: Comedian Jeff Foxworthy has been named honorary chairman for this year's National Hunting and Fishing Day, set for Sept. 22.
BILL
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Western Virginia Sports Show, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, Feb. 16-18, information from Mark Hanger, 540-337-7081 or westernvasportshow.com.
The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, Feb. 16-18, Rockingham County Fairgrounds in Harrisonburg. More information from vasportshow.com.
Richmond Ducks Unlimited Wild Game Feast, Feb. 21, Science Museum of Virginia, 3:30 p.m., $85, includes DU membership, information from durichmond.com.
Southwest Virginia Boat Show, Feb. 23-25, Roanoke Civic Center.
CITGO Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 23-25, Birmingham, Ala.
The National Wild Turkey Federation’s 2007 National Convention and Sport Show, Feb. 22-25, Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville, Tenn.
Dixie Deer Classic, March 2-4, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. info from dixiedeerclassic.org.
Shenandoh Valley Sportsmaj’s Alliance banquet, March 3, details from Myron Reedy.
Bedford Outdoor Sportsman Association Sport Show, March 10, Bedford Armory, information from Steve Grant, 540-586-3807.
Celebration of American woodcock, March 11, 1-5 p.m., Canaan Valley State Park, W.Va. $25 donation, panel of experts, information from Dennis LaBare, 304-358-3154.
Virginia Mountains Chapter of Ruffed Grouse Society sportsman banquet, March 16, Wyndam Roanoke Hotel, 6 p.m., tickets $50, include membership, $75 couple, information from Brandon Harper, 540-537-6275.
Hooked For Life banquet, April 20, Roanoke, will feature bass fishing pro Jay Yelas, information from www.hookedforlife.org.
BASS Elite Series, June 7-10, 2007, Smith Mountain Lake, information from bassmaster.com.
Outdoor Writers Association of America conference, June 16-19, Hotel Roanoke.
The Western Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 8-9, Rockingham County Fairgrounds near Harrisonburg, information from vpsa.org.
The Eastern Region and State Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 22 & 23, Southampton County Fairgrounds in Franklin, information from from vpsa.org.
DGIF meetings
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, March 27, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, June 5, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, July 17, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Aug. 21, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Oct. 16, 9 a.m. at agency’s headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
