Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wythe County lawman is fishing champ
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
Jeff Freeman, a 35-year-old Wythe County deputy sheriff from Max Meadows, made a quick transition from the back seat of the boat, to the front seat, to the catbird’s seat by winning the BASS Federation National Championship the past weekend.
The victory was big, but even bigger Freeman earned a coveted berth in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 22-24 on Lake Hartwell out of Greenville, S.C.
Freeman’s three-day total of 27-pounds, 11-ounces from Florida’s Lake Tohopekaliga was the best catch in a field of 55 amateurs. He won a Triton boat package valued at $50,000 along with an invitation to the Bassmaster Elite Series and the Classic entry. The Elite series is the top-tier circuit of pro fishing.
In June, Freeman placed first as a co-angler at the Bassmaster Elite event on Smith Mountain Lake. That is the back-seat, tag-along, gee-whiz level for anglers who aspire to be pro fishermen. Freeman fully is in the front seat now.
BILL
WHAT’S WITH THE JUMBO STRIPERS?
Anglers along the coast of Virginia are waiting for the fall/winter run of jumbo-size striped bass, but when the migrating fish hit Virginia water will they pause long enough to offer spectacular sport? That is the concern of Chris Snook, who operates Chris’ Bait and Tackle on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
Colder weather is necessary to send the fish southward, but during a recent 10-day period, the water temperature dropped from 71 to 51, and that may be too much, said Snook. She is concerned that when the migrating stripers hit the wall of cold water in Virginia they will keep on trucking.
The water temperature, fortunately, is heading back up this week, reaching the mid-50s. So far, very few jumbo-size stripers have appeared in Virginia.
“I’m hearing about some, but I haven’t seen any,” said Snook.
There are plenty of young, school-size stripers, especially along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, where they hold to pilings and rip-rap. These fish run about 18 to 24 inches and are hitting surface and shallow-water plugs along with bucktails.
BILL
PIER FOR DISABLED ON JACKSON
It is not often you find a handicapped fishing pier on a wild trout stream, but that will be the case on the Jackson River above Covington if things go as planned. About 40 workers are scheduled to complete the pier today, a project funded by Dominion as part of its “Putting our Energy to Work for the Environment.”
Dominion volunteers from Buena Vista and the Bath County Pumped Storage Station have joined forces with the U.S. Forest Service, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Trout Unlimited and the Izaak Walton League to construct a 16-foot wide pier with wheelchair access near Natural Wells, according to Dan Genest, a Dominion spokesman.
The project “will allow anglers with disabilities to enjoy fishing one of Virginia’s best wild trout streams,” said Genest.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Officials in Bath County are investigating what they are calling the first deer hunting fatality of the young season. Radcliffe Vernon, 36, of Hot Springs, died after being shot in the arm opening day of the western muzzleloading season, officials report. No charges have been filed. Vernon was found dead near Lake Moomaw.
>Pro-gun candidates did well in last Tuesday’s elections, according to the NRA. Some 210 of the 235 candidates the NRA endorsed in Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia were elected, a staggering 89 percent success rate.
>Dr. Julie Ball of Virginia Beach is credited with two new world record fish catches in the latest listing of the International Game Fish Association. They are for a 7-pound, 9-ounce spadefish in the 8-pound line class and a 14-pound, 14-ounce tautog in the 12-pound line class. Both were taken in Virginia water. A third record posted from Virginia is a 14-pound spadefish for Mark Ottarson in the all-tackle category.
VIRGINIA SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
Not many changes in the weekly report of the Virginia Saltwater Tournament this time of year, but there is a new leader in the kingfish category. Here are the standings:
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: 2 pound, 2 ounces, Ben Justis, Parsley, Bradford 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: 6 pounds, 13 ounces, Emmett Boyd, Jr., Charles Town, W.VA. upper-western Chesapeake Bay.
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.
SWORDFISH; 233 Pounds, Walter Clark, Virginia Beach, 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
Workshop addressing land protection and the Green approach to natural resource conservation, Nov. 16, Virginia Department of Forestry office, Charlottesville, $25 fee, information from shenandoahrcd.org, funded by the US. Forest Service and Virginia Department of Forestry.
Nov. 17 opening of the general firearm’s deer season.
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.
CCA/Green Top annual Benefit Rockfish Tournament, Dec. 1, Norview Marine, Deltaville, $225 per boat entry fee, call 804-346-1926.
Atlantic brant season, Nov. 24-Dec. 1; Dec. 8-Jan. 26.
Tundra swan season, Dec. 1-Jan. 31.
Late archery season Dec. 3-Jan. 5.
Smith River Trout Unlimited Chapter meeting, 7 p.m. Dec. 6, Ranias’ Restaurant, Martinsville. More information from Al Kittredge.
Reopening of duck season, Dec. 8-Jan. 26.
Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 15-Jan. 5.
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.
Board meeting of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Jan. 22, Richmond.
The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, Feb. 15-17, 2008, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, vasportsshow.com.
Youth spring gobbler day, April 5
Spring gobbler season, April 12-May 17.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
