Thursday, October 18, 2007
Bill Cochran's Field Reports: Dry weather slows trout stocking
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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Virginia’s trout program is falling behind schedule as drought conditions disrupt the October stocking schedule.
“Over 90 percent of the trout streams we have would be unstockable,” said Gary Martel, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries fish chief.
Many trout that should have been stocked this month remain in hatcheries, and that creates a double whammy. When streams are low, hatcheries water sources also are in short supply, Martel said. The result is a need to move trout out of hatcheries with few places available to accommodate them.
“When we get the rain we will catch up on the October stockings,” said Martel.
BILL
NEW HUNTING DOG GROUP
Still another new hunting dog club has been organized in the wake of plans by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to form its own shareholders group to examine the tradition of hound hunting.
The new organization is called Commonwealth Hunting Dog Heritage Group. Its major goal is to preserve, protect and defend the rights of all hunting dog owners, said Tim Perry of Campbell County, one of the organizers.
The group will be working with, not against, the DGIF, said Perry, who was handing out information at a DGIF board meeting in Richmond Tuesday.
Perry can be reached at 434-609-3156.
BILL
UNPLUGGING SHOTGUNS
The three-shell limit for shotguns used in hunting, which has been around for decades, is being changed Oct. 26. On that date, you can remove the plug on your shotgun and stuff it with as many shells as it will take when hunting non-migratory game.
The new regulation came on a tight 5-to-4 vote of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board members Tuesday.
While a number of regulations approved by the board will take effect in the 2008-09 season, this one got a hurry-up date.
Just as board members were divided on the issue, so were hunters who made comments to the DGIF’s Web site.
“If you have shot three times and missed, why do you need to shoot again?” said one hunter.
“There are no limits on rifles, why should shotguns be any different?” said another.
Board members discussed the safety issue. After decades of being limited to three shells will safety be a factor when suddenly five or more shells are in the gun, asked John Montgomery, board member from Sandston.
Member William Greer of Norfolk didn’t like the idea.
“I think the only people you are going to make happy are the folks who make the shells,” he said.
An unplugged gun only can be used in the pursuit of non-migratory game, such as deer, turkeys, grouse, quail and rabbits, not migratory birds like doves, ducks geese or woodcock.
While the regulation does not authorize hunting migratory birds with an unplugged gun, it does leave the door open to allow that should federal officials authorize it. There has been some talk that this could occur for hunting nuisance Canada and show geese.
BILL
BAN ON CAMPFIRES
A campfire to knock off the October chill or provide heat for a meal can sound like a romantic idea if you are a backpacker, camper or hunter, but it is a “No-No” on land owned by the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Both agencies have implemented a ban on solid fuel fires on their property because of the extremely dry weather. This applies to the backwoods as well as developed campgrounds and picnic areas. The use of liquid and gas fuels in camp stoves is permitted.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>As you head into the hunting season, it is reassuring to know that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Hunter Education Program has certified more than a half-million men, women and youth since it began in 1988. Firearm-related hunting injuries have declined 25 percent in that period.
>John Powell, one of the pioneers in the modern bass fishing movement, died recently at his Alabama home at age 78. Powell was talented at fishing money tournaments, wining the first BASS event ever held at Lake Eufaula in 1969. He qualified for the Bassmaster Classic six times. But he was best known for teaching others how to catch bass on a plastic worm, which was a novelty at the time.
>The NRA has announced that on Nov. 1 it will launch a new Web site devoted to hunters’ rights.
>It is a certain bet that a woman contender will be included in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic. Beginning next year, the top woman from the Women’s Bassmaster Tour will earn a berth in the prestigious Classic. The Classic will be expanded to 51 slots to include the woman entry.
>The fishing world lost an accomplished angler and multi-world-record holder with the recent death of Gene DuVal of Richmond. She was an International Game Fish Association representative.
>The beginning of a trend? The International Game Fish Association, the keeper of world record catches, said once its current obligations have been fulfilled it no longer will sponsor fishing tournaments.
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
The first true albacore of the season has been entered in the Virginia Saltwater Tournament, along with a new leader in the Spanish mackerel 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: 99 pounds, 8 ounces, Richard Norman, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Coast.
CROAKER: 8 pounds, 11 ounces, Norman Jenkins, Portsmouth, off New Port Light.
DOLPHIN: 53 pounds, 9 ounces, Greg Welch, Charlotte, N.C., ocean off Virginia Beach.
FLOUNDER: 13 pounds, 7 ounces, Dennis Curcio, Philadelphia, Pa., lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 10 ounces, Geoffrey Filer, Chesapeake, ocean off Virginia Beach.
GRAY TROUT: 9 pounds, 9 ounces, Claude Shifflett III, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
KING MACKEREL: 63 pounds, 1 ounce, state record, Susan Smith, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 12 ounces, Kasey Price, Virginia Beach, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay..
POMPANO: 3 pounds, 5 ounces, Shane Walker, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, David Howard, Leesburg, ocean off Virginia Beach.
SHEEPSHEAD: 14 pounds, Andy Thompson, Virginia Beach, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pounds, Mark Ottarson, North, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 5 pounds, 13 ounces, Ryan Price, Newport News, off Virginia Coast.
SPECKLED TROUT: 12 pounds, 10 ounces, Michael Tomesch, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 8 ounce, Wayne Rickman, Mechanicsville, 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.
TRUE ALBACORE: 53 pounds, George Wilkinson, Edgewater, Md., off Virginia Beach.
BLUEFIN TUNA: 573 pound state record, Bo Haycox, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.
TUNA: 241 pounds, Eric Kuester, Ashland, off Virginia Beach.
WAHOO: 93 pounds, Louis Biro, Norfolk, off Virginia Beach.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 20, Salem Civic Center, tickets $40 single, $70 couple, tickets or information from Mike Kessler, 540-884-8917; Al Milton, 540-563-1422 or Harvey Bulaski, 540-343-9040.
Youth waterfowl hunting day, Oct. 20.
Eighteenth annual H.C. Edwards Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society Banquet, Oct 27, 6 p.m. Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, tickets $55 individual or $75 couple from Matt Smith, 540-459-3559.
Woodcock season Oct. 27-Nov. 10; Dec. 22-Jan. 5.
Snow goose season, Nov. 1-Dec. 1; Dec. 8-March 10.
Opening of Atlantic zone Canada goose season, Nov. 17-Dec. 1; Dec. 21-Jan 26.
Reopening of duck season, Nov. 17-Dec. 1.
Western zone Canada goose season Nov. 17-Dec. 1; Dec. 15-Jan. 14; Jan 15-Feb. 15.
Atlantic brant season, Nov. 24-Dec. 1; Dec. 8-Jan. 26.
Tundra swan season, Dec. 1-Jan. 31.
Reopening of duck season, Dec. 8-Jan. 26.
Reopening of western zone Canada goose season, Dec. 15-Jan. 14.
Reopening of Atlantic Zone Canada goose season, Dec. 21-Jan. 26.
Back Bay Canada Goose season, Dec. 24-Jan. 26.
Reopening of western zone Canada goose season, Jan. 15-Feb. 15.
The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, Feb. 15-17, 2008, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, vasportsshow.com.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
