Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

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• 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

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• Putting down a bear cub brings complaint
• Recommendations for Virginia’s Wild Turkey Management Plan
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• A. Willis Robertson great name for new DGIF headquarters
• Big striper smashes Optimist tournament record
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• Trout stocking schedule

The 2007 flounder fishing regulations set Tuesday by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission favor anglers on the Eastern Shore , but no one is gloating. No matter where you fish this season, you will be under more restrictive flounder regulations.

Working with four options, VMRC officials chose Option 2, which is an 18.5-inch minimum size; five fish catch limit and a closed season from today through March 31 and July 23-28.

That option received the most support from anglers who petitioned VMRC.

Virginia Beach anglers, who fish the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, appeared to favor a 19-inch minimum, 6 fish limit with no closed season. The flounder they catch average larger than the ones taken on the seaside of the Eastern Shore .

While the lower minimum size favors Eastern Shore angler, the 18.5-inches length limit still is a far cry from the 16.5 inch limit of last season. Those two inches are going to make a huge difference, resulting in a lot more throwbacks, even with a catch limit that has been reduced from 6 to 5 fish per day.

The closed season has some charter captains on the phone canceling trips that had been arranged for the early season.

The more restrictive regulations were mandated by the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Committee to offset what it calls over fishing and poor spawning results in 2005.

BILL

TOG WORLD RECORD CANDIDATE

At first, Dr. Julie Ball thought she had hooked a giant eel while fishing off Virginia Beach this week. She, Robin Ball and Jake Hiles were probing wrecks, looking for sea bass and tautogs.

At one spot they landed several small bass, and hooked a huge, 10 pound eel that curled up in the lines. When Julie Ball's rod bowed with authority, everyone was thinking, “Oh no, another eel.”

Dr. Julie Ball with pending world record tog.

“I worked him almost to the surface three times, then he would peel the line right back out to the bottom,” she said. “This tug-of-war lasted about 10 minutes, with my crewmates poking lots of fun at my dilemma.”

When the catch suddenly popped to the top, Ball couldn't believe her eyes. It was a huge tog.

“I knew the previous women's 8-pound line class record was a little over 10 pounds, and I could tell this one had it licked,” said Ball, who is on the International Game Fish Association International Committee.

When Hiles got the net under it, Ball said she was so excited “I danced a little jig.”

At Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle, the tog weighed 15 pounds, 10 ounces on official IGFA scales, which means it is a line class world record candidate.

Ball landed citations for 18 species last season and currently leads the gray triggerfish category of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament (see below).

BILL

MORE TOURNAMENTS FOR STRIPER CLUB

The Smith Mountain Striper Club is beefing up its tournament program this season by going from two to three events, encouraging live release, establishing a big fish pool and jazzing up the weigh-ins.

The club's board members believe that the past tournament program has grown “stale and needed change,” said Tom Byrne, a tournament committee member.

If the expanded tournament scheduled catches on the committee said the number of events likely will be increased in the future. The first tournament is set for March 3.

The new tournaments will be centered on teams, rather than individual effort. One boat is a team, with a maximum of six participants. The entry fee will be $60 per boat. The captain must be a club member. The winning team will be determined by the total weight of up to two fish per boat. Payoff will be 75 percent of the entry fees.

There will be non-cash recognition in youth and female categories.

Tournaments will have a big fish pool, funded by a $10 fee from each team. The payback will be 100 percent.

Participants will be encouraged to use striper tubes or have a suitable live well for catch and release. Fish that don't survive will be used in the club's fish fries.

Efforts will be made to spice up the weigh-in to attract more spectators. These events are scheduled for Campers Paradise Marine.

The tournament committee chairman is Ray Hash, 540-493-9892.

BILL

STIFF COMPETITION FOR THE CLASSIC

The Bassmaster Classic competition was fierce. I'm not talking about how Boyd Puckett, of Demopolis , Ala. , out fished 49 other bass experts to win the $500,000 first-place prize on Lay Lake in Alabama . I'm referring to the TV coverage.

When ESPN/BASS moved the annual Classic from the heat of summer to the tag end of February, it placed the TV coverage in stiff competition with heavy hitters that included late-season basketball, NASCAR and, on the final day, the Oscars.

Neither ESPN nor BASS made it convenient for would-be viewers to find the TV schedule on their Web sites. Newspapers like the Roanoke Times provided information on rodeos, lacrosse, cycling and winter spots in their sports telecast schedule, but not fishing. When you did fine the Classic schedule, you discovered you had to get up early or stay up late to view it. Live coverage of the weigh-in was missing this time, except online.

My thinking is that the coverage of the 2007 Classic made little headway in hooking new viewers on competitive fishing, something that ESPN and BASS desperately want to do.

BILL

ZUMBO SUDDENLY CALLED ‘DUMBO'

People who write blogs or have Web sites live in glass houses. When you write something for the Internet in haste or anger or without much thought, and probably lacking an editor to question what you say, you can get into deep trouble.

That happened to Jim Zumbo, one of the best known writers of magazine articles and blogs on the subject of hunting and sports shooting, and host of Jim Zumbo Outdoors on the Oudoor Channel.

On his Outdoor Life Blog, Zumbo recently wrote that he didn't think AR and AK rifles have a place in hunting. He called them “assault” rifles, then went a step farther and called them “terrorist” rifles.

These are semi-automatic guns, but they have the appearance of a military weapon and they have become popular with some hunters, especially those who shoot prairie dogs.

“Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting,” wrote Zumbo.

The noise you heard was the volley of shots taken at Zumbo by those who are unbending when it comes to gun rights. As a result, Outdoor Life dropped him. NRA said he'd never sell another article to them. Remington said it was pulling sponsorship of the Outdoor Channel show. Cabela's said it was severing ties.

Suddenly, Zumbo is a Dumbo, an outcast. Never mind that he wrote about hunting and shooting in a positive way for 42 years. He's gone. His apology—this was “the biggest blunder in my 42 years of writing hunting articles”--wasn't accepted.

It is a bit unsettling that anyone can go so quickly from friend to foe.

BILL

FAST START FOR SALTWATER TOURNAMENT

The 2007 Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament is fast out of the gate, with about 700 citations being registered through February. Striped bass are leading the way, with approximately 550 citations, thanks to some of the finest winter fishing in memory.

The leading striper is a 58-pound, 6-ounce entry by Chuck O'Bier of Lottsburg. At least one 60-pounder has been reported caught, but none that size has been registered at this point.

The citation count isn't just huge, but involves nine different species, an unusually high number for this early in the season.

Striped bass still are available, although fishing pressure has dropped. Limits of 20- to 40-pounders continue to be reported, according to Dr. Julie Ball.

“These fish are not planning on going anywhere, except back up into the rivers to spawn in a few weeks,” Ball said.

Tautog anglers are on a roll with catches of big fish, some more than 9 pounds (see above the report on Ball's potential world record).

Black sea bass are offering plenty of offshore action for fish 4-to 5-pounds, and sometimes more than 7 pounds.

Blueline tilefish are being targeted by a handful of skippers who are learning the secrets of this species.

Speckled trout are being found in the Elizabeth River , and often these catches are garnished with puppy drum.

Here are the tournament standings:

BLUEFISH: 16-pounds, Peter Carey of Fredericksburg , caught in lower Chesapeake Bay .
BLUEFIN TILEFISH: 15-pounds, 15-ounces, James Hodge, Chesapeake , ocean off Virginia Beach .
FLOUNDER: 10 pounds, 9 ounces, Josh Garrison, Virginia Beach , lower-western Chesapeake Bay .
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 3 ounces, Dr. Julie Ball, Virginia Beach , off Virginia Beach .
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, David Howard, Leesburg, off Virginia Beach .
SPECKLED TROUT: 11 pounds, 5 ounces, Daniel Peters, Chesapeake , Elizabeth River .
SPOT: 1 pound, 1 ounce, Joe Few, Virginia Beach , along Virginia Beach .
STRIPED BASS: 58 pounds, 6 ounces, Chuck O'Bier, Lottsburg, along Virginia Beach .
TAUTOG: 11 pound, 10 ounces, Justin Wilson, Virginia Beach, lower-western Chesapeake Bay .

BILL

OUTDOOR NOTES

>More and more hunters in Virginia are using the telephone checking system to register the deer they kill. The past season, 124,000 deer were checked by phone, which was 56 percent of the total kill. The previous season was 51 percent and before that, the first year it was tried, it was 44 percent.

>The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed eliminating general enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program, one of the most successful conservation programs in the country. Part of the Farm Bill for 20 years, it pays landowners to set aside land for protection of soil, water and wildlife. The program has embraced some 36 million acres of land.

>More than 42,000 people attended the National Wild Turkey Federation annual convention and sport show in Nashville , Tenn. last week. That was a record number and included several from the Roanoke Valley .

>All-terrain vehicles are off limits in the sand along the Virginia Beach oceanfront, but the Virginia Beach City Council is making an exception so the vehicles can be used to rescue stranded sea turtles from Rudee Inlet to the Cape Henry House.

>Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have announced that lifetime memberships are now available for dogs for a donation of $500.

BILL

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Tidewater Boat Show, Hampon Roads Convention Center , www.agievents.com

Dixie Deer Classic, March 2-4, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, Raleigh , N.C. info form www.dixiedeerclassic.org .

Meeting of the Smith Mountain Striper Club, 7 p.m. , March 2, Moneta Community Center , BBQ meal and swap meet, president is Steve McCallum, SMSC@hughes.net.

Shenandoah Valley Sportsman's Alliance banquet, March 3, details from Myron Reedy, MREEDY88@aol.com .

Smith Mountain Striper Club tournament, March 3, Smith Mountain Lake .

Public meeting on the Smith River trout fishery, March 7, 7 p.m. , Henry County Administrative Complex, Martinsville , sponsored by the Smith River Chapter of Trout Unlimited, will feature a number of federal and state officials.

National Capital Boat Show, March 9-11, Dulles Expo Center , Chantilly , www.agievents.com .

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.

Farmville Ducks Unlimited Banquet, 6 p.m. , March 16, Fuqua Lower School Gym, tickets/information from Chris Dowdy, 804-399-8282.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, March 27, 9 a.m. at agency's headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street .

Smith Mountain Lake Striper Club meeting, April 5, 7 p.m. , Moneta Community Center , president is Steve McCallum, SMSC@hughes.net .

Hooked For Life banquet, Aprils 20, Roanoke , will feature bass fishing pro Jay Yelas, information from www.hookedforlife.org .

Seventh Annual Virginia Fly Fishing Festival and Wine Tasting, April 21-22, Waynesboro , www.vaflyfishingfestival.org .

Botetourt Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, April 28, 6 p.m. , Lord Botetourt High School, $45 for single; $60 for couple, includes meal and membership, tickets from Richard Pauley, 540-992-1883 and Ed McCoy, 540-473-2741.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, June 5, 9 a.m. at agency's headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street .

BASS Elite Series, June 7-10, 2007 , Smith Mountain Lake , information from www.bassmaster.com .

Reedville Bluefish Derby, Buzzard's Point Marine, Reedville www.reedvillebluefishderby.com .

Outdoor Writers Association of America conference, June 16-19, Hotel Roanoke.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, July 17, 9 a.m. at agency's headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street .

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Aug. 21, 9 a.m. at agency's headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street .

The Western Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 8 & 9, Rockingham County Fairgrounds near Harrisonburg, information from www.vpsa.org .

The Eastern Region and State Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 22 & 23, Southampton County Fairgrounds in Franklin, information from www.vpsa.org .

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Oct. 16, 9 a.m. at agency's headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street .

Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net .