Thursday, June 28, 2007
Smith Mountain Lake stripers making a recovery
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
There are indications that the striped bass population in Smith Mountain Lake is making a recovery, but it has a long way to go to return to the “good old days.” Samplings of fingerlings stocked last year show very good survival, according to Dan Wilson, biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
This follows two years of poor survival.
Last week the 2007 stockings were completed in both Smith Mountain and Leesville lakes. Smith Mountain received 400,000 fingerlings; Leesville 80,000.
“There was a 50,000 increase for Smith Mountain Lake this year over what was originally planned due to poor survival from the 2004-2005 year classes,” Wilson said.
“We are seeing some rebuilding of the larger fish, but at the same time there has been a reduction in fish less than 26 inches, the lower end of the slot limit,” he said.
New regulations are in place to lower the numbers of smaller fish, “but not to the extent we have seen,” said Wilson.
Parasites still are present in the striped bass.
“We still see 100-percent of the adult striped bass with parasites, but the infection is very irregular with some fish having many while other very few,” Wilson said.
Just why that is the case is uncertain, but by fall Wilson hopes to have additional information as to how the parasites are affecting the health of striped bass. If parasites persist, it will be difficult to restore trophy-size fish to the extent that fish officials and anglers would like, he said.
BILL
OFFICIALS WANT TO MUZZLE DOG SITUATION
Bob Duncan plans to call a truce in the battle over hunting deer with dogs, an issue that has sharply divided sportsmen and flooded the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Web site with comments.
When DGIF board meets July 17 in Richmond, look for Duncan, the agency’s wildlife chief, to propose bringing stakeholders together to deal with the issue. The format, he said, would be much the same as the one that developed the state’s successful deer and bear management plans.
Houndsmen feel threatened and landowners want their privacy, said Duncan. A common thread in the debate is that while hunting deer with dogs in Virginia is a long-held and honorable tradition, it is being abused by some hunters who do not respect landowners.
A recent poll by the Virginia-Pilot in Norfolk asked “Should Virginia restrict the use of dogs to hunt deer to protect neighboring landowners? The results: 66.83 said yes; 31.49, no; 1.68, undecided.
Denny Quaiff, an executive of the Virginia Deer Hunters Association, said the dog hunting issue has become even more volatile than the Sunday hunting issue.
Nine states currently allow deer hunting with dogs in some form. Several of these recently have enacted more restrictive regulations to govern the sport.
A taskforce could have regulations ready for introduction in the 2009 General Assembly, but some legislators may not be willing to wait that long.
BILL
NEW LAW DEALS WITH DOG COLLARS
Hunting dog owners are applauding a new law designed to deal with the growing problem of people removing electronic or radio transmitting collars from dogs with the intent of preventing or hindering the owner from locating the animals. Passed by the 2007 General Assembly, the law goes into effect July 1.
“I think this is a good statue. It breaks new ground,” said Bob Kane, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners’ Association.
Kane has asked the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to publicize the new regulation, and DGIF officials said they would; however, the agency’s new hunting law digest is at the printer and Kane’s request comes too late to include the new regulation in it.
The unauthorized removal of a collar is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor under the new law. In addition to that charge, a court could order a defendant to pay as restitution the actual value of any dog lost or killed as a result of removing its collar. The court may also order restitution to the owner for any lost breeding revenues.
BILL
LOTS OF GRINNING ABOARD ‘HEALTHY GRIN’
Ken Neill of Virginia Beach named his boat well when he called it “Healthy Grin.” There’s been a whole lot of grinning going on aboard her this year.
Like in late April, when Roger Burnley of Virginia Beach landed a 49-pound, 9-ounce state record snowy grouper. That was the initial record for the species.
Less than six weeks later, Bob Manus of Ark, Va., caught a 65-pound, 8-ounce snowy grouper that wiped Burnley out of the record book.
Manus caught his grouper in more than 90-feet of water near the Norfolk Canyon. He was fishing with -- you guess it -- Neill aboard the Healthy Grin. Manus has field papers with the International Game Fish Association for world all-tackle record status.
BILL
STRIPER CLUB RESULTS
Posting a winning catch of 21.38 pounds in the recent Smith Mountain Striper Club tournament were Carlos Brown, Dave Eleen and Peter Flategraff, who call themselves Team Brown.
Twenty teams composed of 54 anglers participated in the member/guest Smith Mountain Lake tournament which limited each team to two fish.
The tournament results were delayed several days because of what Steve McCallum, club president, called “some issues to resolve.”
Twenty-three stripers weighing 169 pounds were entered. The big fish weighed 13.06 pounds and was weighed by Jay Shoffner.
BILL
CANADA BOASTS WORLD-RECORD RAINBOW
When Adam Konrad of Saskatoon, Canada, reeled in a potential world record rainbow trout no body from his part of the world had to ask, “Who the heck is Konrad?”
Konrad and his twin brother, Sean, had been making headlines in their home area by breaking provincial records at the rate of four in less than one year. Officials say the Konards have reportedly caught and released more than 200 rainbow trout exceeding 20 pound each from Lake Diefenbaker. More than a dozen weighed in excess of 30 pounds.
Then came the biggest catch of all, a 43.6-pound rainbow headed for the world record book. It measured 38.75 inches.
The current International Game Fish Association all-tackle record is a 42.2 pound rainbow landed at Bell Island, Alaska in 1979.
Konrad tells about his catch on this Web page.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS >Following his recent eighth-place finish in a Bassmaster Elite tournament on Smith Mountain Lake, John Crews of Salem placed 46th in the Elite series tournament at Grand Lake in Grove, Okla. Winner was Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., who reeled in $100,000 with a 59-pound, 13-ounce catch. Crews took home $10,000.
>More than 40 snakehead fish reportedly have been caught in the Potomac River this year, bringing the total to 800 since the unwanted native of China was first discovered in the river in 2004.
>The Washington Post reported that after five years of tests, more than $600,000 in government money and uncounted numbers of dead fish it remains anybody’s guess as to what the problem is on the fabled Shenandoah River. Fishing guide Bob Cramer is quoted as saying: “To me, it’s just an embarrassment. We live in such a beautiful place, and have such terrible water quality.”
>Seven new conservation police officers recently graduated from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Basic Law Enforcement Academy. They were sworn in by Col. Gerald Massengill, former interim director of the agency.
>Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach provides a popular spot for bank/wade fishermen, but police have been enforcing “No swimming or wading” regulations. Virginia Beach officials say currents in the area make it dangerous for waders, but bank fishermen say it is a case of boaters being favored. Nearby launching and mooring facilities create heavy boating traffic.
>The National Wildlife Federation, joined by wildlife agencies from across the country, has called on Congress to shut the door on alien animals. “The United States is under attack from invasive species, and it’s time for Congress to take a stand to protect America’s fish and wildlife, economy and way of life,” said federation official Corry Westbrook during a meeting of the Outdoor Writers Association of America in Roanoke last week.
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
The first pompano of the season has shown up on the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament leader board and there is a new leader in the spot category. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 95 pounds caught by James Tran of Virginia Beach in Lynnhaven Bay.
BLUEFISH: 16 pounds, Peter Carey of Fredericksburg in the lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
BLUELINE TILEFISH: 20 pound, 7 ounce, Robert Holtz, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.
COBIA: 80 pounds, Blake Michael, Poquoson, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 3 pounds, 8 ounces, Calvin Taylor, Prince George, lower York River.
DOLPHIN: 25 pounds, 8 ounces, Scott Wade, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 11 pounds, 13 ounces, Barbara Sabol, Petersburg, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 10 ounces, Geoffrey Filer, Chesapeake, ocean off Virginia Beach.
POMPANO: 1 pound, 15 ounces, Sammy Hatley, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, David Howard, Leesburg, ocean off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 12 pounds, 8 ounces, Alan Bunnell, Virginia Beach, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pounds, Mark Ottarson, North, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
SPECKLED TROUT: 12 pounds, 10 ounces, Michael Tomesch, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounce, Edward Farrah, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
STRIPED BASS: 62 pounds, 1 ounce, Wayne Rickman, Mechanicsville, off Virginia Beach.
TAUTOG: 22 pounds, 2 ounce, Lester Johnson, Newport News, off Virginia Beach.
TUNA: 144 pounds, 8 ounces, Shad Hamilton, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
17th annual Antique and Classic Boat Weekend, Smith Mountain Lake, Aug. 10-12, Mariners Landing, information from woodenboats.net.
The Western Regional Championship of the Virginia Big Game Show, Sept. 8-9, Rockingham County Fairgrounds near Harrisonburg, information from vpsa.org.
Hunters for the Hungry banquet, Sept. 8, Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi dealership, Salem, inquire about tickets at Hunt4hungry@cs.com.
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, 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.
