Thursday, October 07, 2004
New ESPN weekend tournaments slight Virginia
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
Some of the excitement building over the new ESPN Outdoor Bassmaster Weekend Series was dashed for Virginia anglers when BASS announced this week that only two of the events will have weigh-ins in Virginia.
The series is scheduled to begin next year, and will offer 86 one-day (Sunday) tournaments that are designed for fisherman who may be unable to fish the pro circuit. The total purse for a full field of anglers is $4,252,500.
Tournaments headquartered in Virginia are scheduled March 20 at Lake Gaston in South Hill and July 10 on the James River in Williamsburg.
The Virginia events are part of a Virginia/North Carolina Division and a Maryland/Virginia Division. There are a total of 16 divisions.
In addition to the March 20 tournament at Gaston, the Virginia/North Carolina Division includes the following tournaments: April 3, Kerr Lake, weigh-in at Henderson, N.C.; May 8, Kerr Lake, Henderson; July 17, High Rock, Salisbury, N.C.; Sep. 11, Kerr Lake, Henderson, N.C.
The Maryland/Virginia Division, in addition to the July 10 James River tournament, has events scheduled April 17, Potomac River, Marbury, Md.; May 22, Potomac River, Marbury; June 19, Kerr Lake, Henderson, N.C.; Sept. 11, Potomac River, Marbury. Note, there are two tournaments on Sept. 11, which means anglers fishing the two so-called Virginia divisions will have to pick and choose.
Anglers with a knowledge of Kerr Lake and the Potomac River will have a distinct advantage in the two Virginia divisions. These division have a total of 10 tournaments, with four on Kerr and three on the Potomac. A big surprise is that Smith Mountain didn’t get chosen, even though tourism organizations in the lake area are spending big bucks to sponsor a BASS Northern Open tournament Oct. 14-16 (See Cochran Column).
The entry fee for the ESPN tournaments will be $200 for boaters and $100 for nonboaters. First place will be $6,000 for boaters and $3,000 for non-boaters, based on a full field of 200 boaters and 200 nonboaters.
A blind drawing will be used to pair boaters with non-boaters. Participants must be BASS members. Boaters will be allowed to weigh a limit of five bass; non-boaters will be allowed to weigh three plus share the weight of their boating partner.
Anglers who do well in division tournaments will advance to regional tournaments, where the payoff is $50,000 for the boater and $25,000 for the non-boater. This will be followed by a championship for the top 100 anglers. The winning boater will receive $100.000; the non-boater, $50,000.The boating champ will qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
Look for some stiff competition in the registration lines. Online registration is set to begin Mid-November on Bassmaster.com.
NEXT WEEK: Will the new ESPN circuit hurt Federation Tournaments?
BILL
BABY SNAKEHEAD BAD NEWS
A juvenile northern snakehad fish taken from a Potomac River tributary confirms that this undesirable species has had a successful spawn, according to Virginia fisheries biologists. The 3-inch fish was discovered by Jack Ferris of Alexandria who spotted it flopping around in a clump of hydrilla at his subdivision’s boat ram on Dogue Creek. Ferris nicknamed the fish “Skippy” and kept it in a Gatorade bottle until he could show it to Virginia authorities.
Nineteen snakeheads have been found in the Potomac drainage during the past four months. This was the first juvenile, which means it is the most troubling catch yet.
Biologists say it is proof that this Asian predator is successfully breeding and will be nearly impossible to eradicate. It could pose a major threat to native fish, including smallmouth bass, a highly regarded sportfish in the Potomac.
BILL
DUCK SEASON BEGINS TODAY
Virginia’s early duck season opens today (Oct. 7) for a four-day stand. A major target during the October dates are homegrown wood ducks. Often resident mallards also are taken.
Habitat conditions in Virginia have been generally favorable this year, according to waterfowl biologist Gary Costanzo. Frequent rains helped wood duck production and the mallard population is promising, he said.
Recent rains that have swelled rivers will challenge hunters, spreading out the ducks. I’m not seeing that many using ponds and small streams. It could be they have been attracted to the extra flow on major rivers.
The October waterfowl dates have a new twist. Traditionally they have run Wednesday through Saturday. This time they are Thursday through Monday (no hunting on Sunday), so hunters will be able to take advantage of the Monday holiday.
Other portions of the duck season are Nov. 20-Dec. 4 and Dec. 11-Jan. 29. There will be a youth day Oct. 23.
The daily bag limit is five ducks. Species limitations apply, such as no more than two wood ducks or four mallards. Only two of the mallards may be hens.
BILL
BOWHUNTERS LET THEIR FIINGERS DO T HE WALKING
The bowhunting season opened Saturday, so how are bowhunters doing? Normally guys like me would get the answer by visiting or calling several big game checking stations. But not this year.
Many successful hunters are bypassing check stations to check their deer by the new telephone system. It appears to be getting heavy use, according to Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials.
By mid-week, more than 800 bow-killed deer had been check, along with 35 crossbow taken deer.
BILL
A RISKY CATCH
The Virginia Department of Health has issued warnings about eating certain fish from six waterways across the state because of potentially harmful levels of mercury. Included is Lake Whitehurst, a Norfolk drinking-water supply and a top producer of citation-size fish. Health officials have warned against eating carp from the lake.
Warnings also have been posted for Lake Trashmore in Virginia Beach; Mattaponi River in King William and King and Queen counties; the Pamunkey River in Hanover and King William counties; Herring Creek in King William County and Lake Gordonsville in Louisa County.
Details are available on www.vdh.virginia.gov/.
BILL
FISHING REPORT
>Don’t write Smith Mountain Lake off as a striped bass hot spot. Bobby Fowler of Campers Paradise found himself in the center of a huge school of breaking fish. Using bucktails and Red Fins, he caught and released 30 stripers, four of them over 10 pounds.
>Briery Creek Lake has been Virginia’s best jumbo largemouth bass producer, but this has been a spring fishery—until recently. The past week, bass weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 8 pounds, 5 ounces were caught.
>A heavy flow of water thundering through Kerr Dam is attracting big striped bass and catfish to the tailrace. Stripers weighing more than 25 pounds and catfish up to 30 pounds have been caught.
>Fishermen at Lake Anna have been hooking bass on topwater lures early and late in the day. Look for structure to cast to, such as docks, stumps and brush piles, say the experts. Some of the bass are in the creeks and coves, even in the very back of such areas. Lures doing the job include the XPS Slim Dog, Z-Pop and Cordell Red Fin.
>Citation red drum have been caught from the Cape Charles area. Tog also have been active.
>Speckled trout have been turning on around Gwynns Island, in Mobjack Bay (Ware River) and the Piankitank River.
>Excellent fishing for bass, pickerel and bluegills is being enjoyed at Chickahominy Lake. An example: George Rowe of Richmond caught a dozen bass to 3 pounds, along with three pickerel and a bowfin. He was using plastic worms. Some fishermen are having equal success with spinnerbaits.
>Little Creek Reservoir is providing excellent fishing for small striped bass. Mike Fowler of Williamsburg landed 30 to 9 pounds.
BILL /JACK RANDOLPH
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Recent floods in Southwest Virginia wiped out several Appalachian Trail footbridges. The Roanoke AT club has schedule a work day beginning 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 9 to fix a bridge on the Andy Lane Trail in Botetourt County. Bridges also were damaged at Trout and Big Stony Creeks.
>The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has switched its Oct. 21 meeting from Richmond to Virginia Beach, where the board is scheduled to discuss department strategic goals and objectives, that likely will include a hunting and fishing license increase. The meeting is set 9 a.m. at the Armada/Hoffler Tower Center, the business headquarters of board chairman Dan Hoffler.
>Should barracuda be a new species in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament? That one of several topics that is scheduled to be discussed by the contest’s tournament committee 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at Marina Shores in Virginia Beach. Public comment will be taken at the beginning of the meeting, then the committee will discuss potential changes in the event’s format.
>PETA has objected to a planned bow hunt in Portsmouth, calling it cruel and unnecessary. The city proposed the hunt following complaints of deer damage. PETA said deer could be controlled with fences and hedges that deer do not eat.
>Oct. 10-16 is National Wildlife Refuge Week. The refuge system has had a pivotal role in the protection and recovery of several wildlife species across the country. Special events are scheduled at various refuges. Details on http://www.fws.gov/.
>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has signed a four-year agreement with the Archery Trade Association, the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance and Arrowsport to increase archery and bowhunting opportunities, building on the continued support for wildlife conservation by bowhunters.
>Sage grouse populations have declined so rapidly since the 1990s that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing requests to make it an Endangered Species.
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
Brisk late-season spot fishing has produced a new leader for the species in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 95 pounds, Joseph Roub, Baltimore, Md., Hog Island Bay.
COBIA: 103 pounds, 8 ounces, Vince Ainsley, Aylett, lower-western 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, 6 ounces, Patrick Quisenberry, Mechanicsville, upper-western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 13 pounds, 12 ounces, Walter Kellum, Hayes, Mobajack Bay.
SPOT: 1 pound, 10 ounces, Wilson Haynes, Wake, lower Rappahannock 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): 180 pounds, 4 ounces, Okey Bolling, Pasadena, Md. off Eastern Shore.
TUNA (OTHER): 241 pounds, Mike Wolf, Sterling, off Virginia Beach.
WAHOO: 107 pounds, Chris Miles, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
BILL
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Smith Mountain Striper Club fall tournament, Oct. 9., information from Rex Smith, smithrex@charter.net.
Bowhunting bear season, Oct. 9-Nov. 6.
Citgo Bassmaster Open tournament, Oct. 14-16, Smith Mountain Lake.
Chesterfield Ducks Unlimited 25th Anniversary dinner and auction, Oct. 14, 5 p.m., Holiday Inn Select, Kroger Center South, Midlothian Turnpike, $65 single; $85 couple, greenwingdrake@aol.com.
Author Leonard Adkins will be signing copies of “The Best of the Appalachian Trail Day Hikes” and “The Best of the Appalachian Trail Overnight Hikes” at the following Roanoke locations: Oct. 15, Barnes and Noble, 1-3 p.m.; Oct. 16, Ram’s Head Book Store, 1-3 p.m. Both books are out in new Second Editions.
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.
Board meeting of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 9 a.m. Oct. 21, Armada/Hoffler Town Center, (222 Central Park Ave.) Virginia Beach. Emphasis to be on planning and goals.
Grouse season Oct. 25-Feb. 12
H.C. Edwards Chapter of Ruffed Grouse Society Banquet, 6 p.m., Oct. 29, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, info and tickets from Matt Smith, 540-459-3559 or 540-432-7732.
Muzzleloading deer season east of Blue Ridge, Oct. 30.
Rabbit season Nov. 1-Feb. 14.
Muzzleloading deer season west of Blue Ridge, Nov. 6.
Quail season Nov. 8-Jan. 31.
Firearms deer season Nov. 13.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net
