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
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• A. Willis Robertson great name for new DGIF headquarters
• Big striper smashes Optimist tournament record
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The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has released information on the 19,000-acre tract in Dickenson County that will be available to public hunting under a new lease program called PALS, for Public Access Land for Sportsmen.

The PALS program, which was authorized by the 2004 General Assembly, will allow the DGIF to manage this tract of private land for public hunting, fishing and trapping. A $12.50 permit, in addition to regular hunting licenses, will be required of users. The permits will be available beginning Oct. 1 and can be purchased at the DGIF regional office in Marion.

The property is owned by Heartwood Forestland Fund IV and managed by The Forestland Group, LLC.

This is the first land agreement that DGIF has made under the PALS program. DGIF officials say they hope it is just the beginning.

The new hunting area, located between Virginia 63 and State Route 600 (Frying Pan Creek Road), will be called the Coalfield PALS Area.

The Forestland Group, LLC manages the property for forest products, using sustainable forestry techniques. This includes best management practices and wildlife management activities.

The property reportedly offers excellent turkey and grouse hunting, as well as good deer hunting.

Under the PALS agreement the landowner receives a portion of the permit fee.

For additional information call the DGIF at 276-783-4860.

CHECK-OFF FOR HUNTERS FOR THE HUNGRY

When my wife and I went to our local Wal-Mart store to purchase her hunting license, the clerk there forgot to ask if we wanted to check-off $2 for the Hunters for the Hungry program. We also forgot to request the check-off.

Forgetfulness is a huge problem with the check-off option, which began last year. Hunters fail to remember and license clerks often don’t remind them.

Reversing that trend is one of the major tasks of Gary Arrington, who recently joined the Hunters for the Hungry staff. Last year the check-off brought in about $20,000. Arrington believes that figure easily could be doubled if buyers and clerks remember the option when a license is sold.

Arrington is looking for volunteers to remind license agents of the check-off option. That is a huge task, because there are more than 700 license agents across the state. Arrington has his eye on Wal-Mart stores, which sell more licenses than any other distributor.

Last year, 308,274 pounds of venison was donated to the Hunters for the Hungry program. This provided 1.2-million servings of low-fat, high-protein meat for the needy.

The goal this year is 325,000 pounds. To achieve that, hunters will have to donate 6,510 deer and contributions of money will have to reach $227,000.

FISHING REPORT

>Extra water being released from Kerr Dam, sometimes for as much as 8-hours-per day, has stimulated tailrace striped bass fishing. Stripers to more than 25 pounds are being caught on Pencil Poppers and bucktail jigs.

>Huge largemouth bass continue to be caught from Briery Creek Lake. A recent catch weighed 11 pounds, 12 ounces.

>Nearly 150 kids showed up at Staunton View Park on Kerr Lake to take part in a Catfish Showdown Kids Fishing Contest.

>Striped bass and largemouth bass fishing have been brisk at Lake Anna. Stripers are staying shallow and breaking water throughout the day. It took nearly 20 pounds to win a recent black bass contest on the lake.

>The Rappahannock River is producing big blue catfish, including recent caches of 43, 28 and 27 pounds.

>Casting to grass beds in the Potomac River has been the trick to catching good numbers of bass.

>Cobia fishermen have had a rather lackluster season, but don’t try to tell Vince Ainsley that. While fishing the York Spit with an eel, he landed a 65-inches, 103-pound, 8-ounce fish.

SMITH RIVER REPORT

I fished the lower end of the Special Regulations Section of the Smith River with a good friend and a very accomplished fly fisherman on Monday. We didn’t exactly slay them, but we did catch three rainbows and 16 browns.

Between some gentle ribbing when one or the other missed a fish or almost fell in, we also had several serious conversations, which resolved many of the world’s problems.

We might have done better if my partner had not kept changing flies. He soon learned not to argue with success and settled on the old reliable Allieworm nymph. All 19 of our fish were fooled by this bead-head, black body, red butt creation.

The water was slightly stained and there were leaves floating by to distract your eye as you tried to keep track of your strike indicator. Very little surface activity was observed.

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>Virginia will become the first state in the country to complete a statewide wildlife-viewing trail with the Sept. 30 dedication of the Central Piedmont phase of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, a program of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

>Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton signed historic documents creating the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the nation’s 58th national park. The new park is in Southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

>Two BASS tournaments, the CITGO Bassmaster Southern Open and the Bush

Shootout, have been postponed because of Hurricane Ivan.

>The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will honor film icon Clint Eastwood for his efforts in conservation. Eastwood is scheduled to receive the Foundation’s next week in New York.

BILL

VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT

Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:

BLACK DRUM: 95 pounds, Joseph Roub, Baltimore, Md., Hog Island Bay.

COBIA: 88 pounds, James Neill, Lanexa, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

CROAKER: 5 pounds, Jarvis Taylor, Richmond, lower York River.

DOLPHIN: 50 pounds, Jereme Wilson, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.

FLOUNDER: 14 pounds, 4 ounces, Betty Smith, Chesapeake, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 12 ounce, Justin Hurst, Suffolk, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 12 ounces, Greg Thayer, Gloucester, upper-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

KING MACKEREL: 52 pounds, Cecil Smith, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

KINGFISH: 1 pound, 14 ounce, Bobby Smith, Portsmouth, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.

POMPANO: 3 pounds, 6 ounces, Arlon Stith, Petersburg, lower James River.

SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Mark Fueller, Rio Grande, N.J., off Virginia Beach.

SHEEPHEAD: 19 pounds, 3 ounces state record, Jeff Hutton, Virginia Beach, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPADEFISH: 13 pounds, 10 ounces, Jake Mapp, Franktown, upper-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, Ann Barse, Cambridge, Md., off Eastern Shore.

SPECKLED TROUT: 13 pounds, 12 ounces, Walter Kellum, Hayes, Mobajack Bay.

SPOT: 1 pound, 8 ounces, Susan Davis, Petersburg, lower Your River.

STRIPED BASS: 63 pound state record, Carolyn Brown, Virginia Beach, off the Virginia Coast.

TAUTOG: 22 pounds, 9 ounces, Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

TUNA (BLUEFIN): 164 pounds, Matthew Abell, Pocomoke, Md. off Eastern Shore.

TUNA (OTHER): 241 pounds, Mike Wolf, Sterling, off Virginia Beach.

WAHOO: 107 pounds, Chris Miles, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival, Sept. 17-19, Richmond/Petersburg, information from dugof.com.

Virginia Outdoors Weekend, Sept. 17-19, for families, Westmoreland State Park, information from dgif.state.va.us/events/.

Triangle Bowhunters of the New River Valley three 3-D archery competition on its property between Christiansburg and Blacksburg: Sept. 19. Information from vfaa.ogr or from Jim Overfelt, jimo@vt.edu.

Western Regional and State Championship of Virginia Big Game Contest, Sept. 25 and 26, for deer, bear and gobblers taken during the most recent hunting seasons, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, information from www.vpsa.org.

Pentagon DU Chapter banquet, 6 p.m. Sept. 25, Fairfax Volunteer Fire Department, Farifax, $55 single; $95 couple; $15 junior, tickets from Ray Kinsley, fourkinsleys@earthlink.net.

Striped Bass Show & Super Seminars, Sept. 25 and 26, Airtime Watersports, Virginia Beach, proceeds fund CCA VA programs, admission $3.

Smith Mountain Striper Club fall tournament, Oct. 9., information from Rex Smith, smithrex@charter.net.

CITGO Bassmaster Open tournament, Oct. 14-16, Smith Mountain Lake.

Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA Banquet, 5:30 p.m., Oct. 16, Salem Civic Center, $30 single, $50 couple, mail ticket requests to Roanoke Valley FNRA, P.O. Box 463, Daleville, VA 24083, information from Dennis Mizack, 540-774-2289. Special bonus for purchasing tickets prior Sept. 13.

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