Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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A 33-pound, 15-ounce blackfin tuna caught earlier this month by William Charlton III isn’t just a state record but the first of the species to make the Virginia record book.

The blackfin was added to the list of species eligible for state record recognition in 1999. None had been registered that met the 20-pound minimum until Charlton showed up with his Norfolk Canyon catch. The 39-inch fish was taken on a spreader bar rigged with plastic squids, according to Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

BASS ANGLERS GRUMBLE

Bass anglers have been grumbling over what they call the declining quality of fishing in several areas of the state. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has been asked to look into the possibility of stocking bass in the Rappahannock and James River. There also have been calls to regulate tournaments during the spawning season.

The production of smallmouth bass appeared to be hurt in many streams by a string of low-water years, which impacted spawning. Fish officials, however, generally do not endorse stocking.

There is growing pressure from some anglers to abandon the slot-limit for bass at Lake Anna. This threatens to become a political issue.

WEEKEND TOURNAMENTS VS. BASS FEDERATION

Fishermen have been debating whether the new ESPN Outdoors Weekend Series will help or hurt the long-standing BASS Federation tournament program operated by the Virginia BASS Federation and other state federations. You can see a bunch of different opinions on chatlines.

The ESPN events will be held on Sundays, an obvious effort to relinquish Saturdays to the Federation. Even so, anglers will have to pick and choose what tournaments they want to fish because of money and time limitations. Chances are the nod will go to the new ESPN circuit, because of its attractive payoff and high profile.

In some instances, both the Federation’s tournament and its conservation efforts already have been slipping. Some say the Federation does not get the support from BASS that it did prior to ESPN buying BASS.

BASS officials will tell you that the importance of the Federation remains strong, and that the new ESPN Weekend series won’t hurt Federation events.

“BASS forged a terrific partnership with the BASS Federation to grow the ESPN Outdoors Bassmaster Weekend Series,” said George McKeilly, BASS communication’s director.

Dean Kessell, vice president of BASS operations said, “We have worked to avoid date conflicts with Federation events” and “priority entry opportunities are planned for Federation members when the series officially kicks off in 2005.”

Kessell said “Many Federation anglers are fishing this series.”

Federation members will get a $25 break when they enter at ESPN Weekend event through what is being called a BASS Pass that comes free with their membership.

NEW PROGRAMS AT MOUNTAIN LAKE

Cross-country skiing is returning to Mountain Lake Resort in Giles County. Many winter sports fans bemoaned the loss of the sport about a decade ago when the resort went to a seasonal schedule. The days of sadness have ended with a new Blueberry Ridge Complex, which includes nine luxury cottages with fireplaces, private decks and Jacuzzi baths.

“With the opening of the luxury Blueberry Ridge Cottages, Mountain Lake is open year-round,” said Linda Staley, a resort spokesperson. She described the cottages as “truly luxurious.”

The resort also is capitalizing on its rich diversity of birds by establishing a birding festival May 20-22. It is conceived as a counterpart to the highly popular Eastern Shore Birding Festival held each October. “The event is expected to attract birders from throughout the Eastern United States,” Staley said.

YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN

My son and I drove to New Jersey this past weekend so I could attend my 56th reunion of Point Pleasant Beach High School. That was Friday night. Saturday, I planned to take my son on a tour of my old hunting and trapping grounds. I am still feeling the shock.

There were no old trapping and hunting grounds. They were all covered with homes -- expensive homes. Many of the farms are gone as folks elbow their way into the increasingly crowded lands.

One of my favorite areas is a state owned wildlife management area. I was surprised to see bowhunters and horseback riders sharing the area. Accidents waiting to happen. I wonder how much the horsey set contributed to the purchase and maintenance of the wildlife area?

Deer are numerous there and the turkey population is growing. There are so many homes one wonders if the deer spend their sleeping time in car ports!

Unfortunately, we are seeing some of the same thing happening in Virginia. Prince George County is well on its way to the change from rural to suburbs and Chesterfield has just about made the transition, but both have a way to go before they equal Jersey.

I know that progress is inevitable -- if you call it that. But we old timers can’t help choke back a few sobs as we see the lands of our youth disappear under turf, homes and shrubs.

NEW PRESIDENT FOR SMITH RIVER TU

Shane Pinkston is the new president of the Smith River Trout Unlimited Chapter. The chapter has scheduled a meeting 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Rania’s Restaurant in downtown Martinsville (147 E. Main Street). Guests and potential members are welcome as the chapter addresses the future of the Smith River trout fishery. The vice president is Al Kittredge; Ralph Mueller is the new secretary and Ted Tomczak moves from president to treasurer. Pinkston’s phone number of 276-638-3757.

FISHING REPORT

>Fishing for bass and pickerel has been productive at Chickahominy Lake. Danny Grattan and Jack Huster of Richmond used spinnerbaits to catch 20 largemouth bass up to 4.5 pounds apiece. They also landed 10 pickerel to 3-pounds.

>At Kerr Lake, schools of striped bass have been offering top-water action from Buoy 16 upstream. Crappie are being caught in good numbers in 12- to 14-feet of water, and some big catfish are being hooked and landed.

>Walleye are being taken at Flannagan Reservoir by trollers working the cliffs with nightcrawlers or rigs with no weight.

>Lake Anna is producing catches of largemouth bass, stripers on top-water lures and crappie.

>Kevin Canter of Caroline landed a 56-pound, 2-ounce blue catfish while fishing the Rappahannock River.

>There is decent striped bass fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, but near the mouth of the bay many anglers have turned their backs on stripers and are fishing for big flounder as they migrate out of the Bay.

JACK RANDOLPH/BILL

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>BASS is moving its headquarters from Montgomery, Ala. to central Florida next spring. The new headquarters will be in Celebration near Walt Disney World Resort. Disney is the parent company of BASS, ESPN and ABC. A small staff will be left in Montgomery to handle BASS magazine subscriptions.

>The big news recently has been the discovery of snakehead fish in the Potomac River drainage. Now comes word from fish biologists that male bass in the South Branch of the Potomac are producing eggs. Scientists believe this inversion of nature is caused by pollution, but say they aren’t certain what the source is.

>Roanoke has announced plans to spend $80,000 to hire a firm to kill deer in the city. City officials rejected the recommendations of a citizen’s task force to handled nuisance deer with an urban archery season. The season would have cost the city nothing; in fact, it could have raised money through hunting fees.

>The Portsmouth City Council has backed off from a planned bow hunt for deer in the Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve after the idea received complaints from citizens and PETA. The Hoffler Creek Foundation had proposed the hunt on a 142-acre area to help control damage from deer.

>Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have left an indelible mark on recreational boaters from Louisiana to Florida's Atlantic Coast, and even as far north as some Great Lakes states. According BoatU.S., the damage to recreational vessels from these four storms totals $680 million.

>An angler fishing Chicago’s Burnham Harbor caught an 18-inch fish so strange that he posted a picture of it on the Internet. Biologists recognized it as a northern snakehead, a voracious import that has been found in Virginia and Maryland waters.

>The Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia has arranged special $25 weekday and $30 weekend room rates at the Days Inn at the Beach for its members fishing the fall-winter striped bass run in Virginia Beach.

>The recent third annual David H. Horne Memorial Hunters for the Hungry Golf Tournament raised $22,700.

VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT

There are no changes this week in the standings of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:

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.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

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.

Meeting of Smith River Chapter Trout Unlimited, 7 p.m. Nov. 4, at Rania’s Restaurant in Martinsville (147 E. Main St.), information from Shane Pinkston, 276-638-3757.

Muzzleloading deer season west of Blue Ridge, Nov. 6.

Wilderness First Aid Class, Nov. 6 and 7, Blacksburg, 18 hour, two-day class, visit wfa.net. Additional classes, Nov. 13 & 14, Richmond; Dec. 4&5, Alexandria.

Quail season Nov. 8-Jan. 31.

Firearms deer season Nov. 13.

Virginia Ducks Unlimited Rockfish Tournament, Dec. 4, Bluewater Yacht Sales on Sunset Creek in Hampton, rules and other information from vadurockfishshootout.site-101.com.

Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show, 50th anniversary, Feb. 5-13, State Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, Pa., features Jimmy Houston, reported to be the largest consumer show of its kind.

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