Last week when my family fished the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel there were massive schools of striped bass ripping into baitfish, much to the glee of thousands of gulls diving into to the foray. But the stripers were disappointedly small, many of them 16 to 20 inches in length.

This late into the season you expect larger fish, and there were some big ones in the area. A couple of anglers purchased eels for bait at Chris’s Bait and Tackle and landed two 40-pound stripers. But they were the rare exception.

We had fished a month earlier and caught considerably larger stripers. As a rule, the later the season, the bigger the stripers, because colder water puts the big ones on the prowl. Certainly the cowfish are yet to arrive in large numbers. That’s not likely to happen until late December into early January.

GOOD BYE COWS; SO LONG DOVES

A front-page story Nov. 17 in the Roanoke Times told of the last dairy operation closing in Roanoke County. In fact, dairy farms are on the decline across Virginia and elsewhere.

What does this have to do with outdoor sports? Plenty, if you are a dove hunter. Dairy farms traditionally are an attractive place to dove hunt. Their silage operations provide food for doves and places for hunters to establish early season hunts. The state had 965 commercial dairy operations in 2000. That number now is 832.

Let’see. That’s 133 fewer places to hunt doves.

SMITH RIVER DATA WANTED

If you fish the Smith River in Henry County, Matt Buhyoff has some questions for you. Buhyoff is one of several researchers who has been looking into way to restore the once outstanding big brown trout fishing in the stream located near Bassett.

Buhyoff has created an on-line survey that he hopes anglers will respond to and give him data that he can use in his study. Click here to fill it out.

CASH FOR LIFE JACKET PICTURES

Life jackets save lives, so why don’t more boaters were them?

One of the main reasons is because the media -- TV, newspapers and magazines -- don’t show outdoor enthusiasts wearing life jackets. That’s according to a study by the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water.

"We aim to change that," says Chris Edmonston, a foundation official. "We're developing a new photo library for the media that promotes on-the-water life jacket wear by hunters, anglers and boaters."

You can help. The foundation is requesting outdoor photographers to send in their best images depicting outdoor enthusiasts wearing a life jacket. Any photos selected for the new photo library can earn the photographer up to $100 per image. The deadline to submit photos for consideration is June 1, 2005, but purchases have begun on a first-come, first-serve basis. Early submissions are encouraged because funding is limited.

To download an entry form and full submission guidelines, visit BoatUS.com/foundation/sportsman

FISHING

>Striped bass fishing is reported to be red hot in Kerr Lake, from Grassy Creek up to Bluestone Creek. Most of the fish are 8 to 10 pounds, but some larger ones also are being taken.

Nick Czernonka with a 34-pound James River blue catfish.

>Catfish action in the upper tidal section of the James River has been excellent. Bill Jackson of Charlottesville landed blue cats that weighed 66 and 47 pounds. Keven Lampkin of Bedford caught blue cats that weighed 51, 40.5 and 35 pounds.

Nathan Long, Fred Gray and T.J. Allistock, from Norfolk, caught and released four big catfish while fishing with guide Mike Ostrander. The catch included blue catfish that weighed 40, 24 and 21 pounds and a flathead cat that weighed 23 pounds. Brothers Nick (age 11) and Daniel (9) Czerwonka of Richmond landed blue catfish that weighed 34, 32 and 22 pounds.

>Wilkes Lake, an often-overlooked impoundment near Farmville, is gaining the reputation of being a producer of jumbo crappie. A 19-inch crappie that weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces was landed there recently.

>Brain Holland of Franklin County and a buddy landed several walleye at Philpott Lake. One weighed 7 pounds and two were over 5 pounds apiece. The fish hit shad on a slip sinker.

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>Fish Fishburn, the popular emcee at BASS events, including the recent CITGO Bassmaster Northern Open at Smith Mountain Lake, has parted ways with BASS, according to BassFan.

>High fashions that are promoting a comeback of fur use have boosted trapping activities. The price for some pelts has more than doubled the past three years.

>Author Tom Kelly, known as the "poet laureate of turkey literature," has released his 1995 classic, “The Season,” as an audio CD. The four CD unabridged version was recorded in the woods of Alabama. Check tomkellyinc.net.

>Ray Scott, founder of BASS, has scheduled a 10-day trip to entertain troops in Iraq beginning Nov. 23.

>Bloodworms are selling for as much as $10 a dozen in some saltwater sections of Virginia, according to fishing report compiler Jack Randolph.

>PETA, a Norfolk-based animal-right’s group that has opposed fishing, has begun a campaign to get people to stop eating fish, stating that fish are smart and sensitive.

VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT

The citation count in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament is 6,724, which puts the tournament on a record pace. Last year at the same time, the count was 6,710. In 2002 it was 6,416. The 2002 season ended with a record number of citations, and last year’s tournament was the second best in history.

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: 5 pounds, Mike Barboza, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

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

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

SaltWater Sportsman Magazine National Seminar Series, Virginia Beach, Jan 15, 6 hours of instruction at Virginia Beach Convention Center, nationalseminarseries.com.

Bassmaster University, where pros instruction anglers on bass fishing, Jan. 22-23, Wyndhan Hotel Richmond Airport, Richmond, instructors include Kevin VanDam, Denny Brauer, Shaw Grigsby, Woo Daves, Zell Roland, Mike Auten. Information from 866-732-BASS.

Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show, 50th anniversary, Feb. 5-13, State Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, Pa., features angler Jimmy Houston and hunter Chuck Adams. Reported to be the largest consumer show of its kind, easternsportshow.com.

Wilderness First Aid Class, March 12-13, Blacksburg, 18 hours of hands-on instruction and study that results in a two-year certificate, coast $160, visit http://wfa.net.

Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.