Thursday, December 13, 2007
New law enforcement chief
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
Col. Dabney Watts
The Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has a new chief. Dabney W. Watts, Jr., who joined the department as game warden assigned to Culpepper County in 1987, was promoted to colonel last week and name top conservation police officer in the state.
Watts, 56, replaces Col. Mike Bias, who had announced plans to retire in January, but agreed to stay on as interim director of the agency, following the Nov. 30 firing of J. Carlton Courter III, who had been director for just over a year.
From Winchester, Watts has a degree from Radford University, and has held a number of positions in the law enforcement division. They include: Hunter Education Training Sergeant; recruiting officer; captain of a 20-county area and assistant chief of law enforcement where he held the rank of major.
On the final selection panel was Col. Terry West, chief of the law enforcement of the Georgia Division of Natural Resources; Lt. Col. Bob Northern of the Virginia State Police and Bob Duncan, chief of the DGIF wildlife division.
BILL
BIG STRIPERS IN LOWER BAY
Striped bass in the 30 to 50-plus pound class have moved into the lower Chesapeake Bay where many of the best catches are being taken on live eels. The fishing only should get better at temperatures drop.
Many of the jumbo bass are being hooked from Cape Charles to Kiptopeke State Park where a new technique of drifting eels under floats is working well. Other fish are being landed from the High Rise to the Fourth Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. There are plenty of school-size stripers along the pilings and riprap of the bridge-tunnel.
Trollers are taking stripers up to 40 inches at the mouth of the bay, and some big fish are being landed along the ocean front, but that fishery can be expected to become more active into the New Year.
The daily Chesapeake Bay limit of two stripers has been dropped to one through the Dec. 31 close of the season.
BILL
TURKEY FEDERATION NAMES DIRECTOR
Billy Hall, a long-time National Wild Turkey Federation volunteer, has been named regional director of the federation in Western Virginia. He will oversee 28 chapters, including the Rockbridge chapter where he has applied his talents to help make it the top fund-raiser in the state. The chapter also has been recognized for its outstanding youth work
One of Hall’s big challenges will be to pump life back into the once-vibrant Roanoke Chapter, whose banquet attendance fell to fewer than 30 this year. Shortly after that dismal response, former director David Jones, of Danville, was let go.
Many of the workhorses of the Roanoke Chapter have moved onto other outdoor volunteer work, including Hunters for the Hungry.
There are other challenges for Hall. Some chapters have griped that after exerting the hard work necessary to put on a banquet they don’t receive a fair share of the profits for chapter projects.
With the restoration of the wild turkey pretty well accomplished, the turkey federation must pursue new programs that attract and benefit hunters.
Hall told The Roanoke Times that he will be focusing on the many positive things the federation accomplishes.
BILL
FLW STRIPER SERIES WON’T BE BACK
John L’Heureux of Virginia Beach received at $10,000 check Saturday after his team won the Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series tournament headquartered in Virginia Beach, but he won’t get the opportunity to defend his title.
FLW Outdoors announced that it won’t return to Virginia next year. The past two years, Virginia has been the last stop of the series, as the tournament pauses to take advantage of the great late-season fishing that occurs in the Chesapeake Bay in December.
The FLW striper series will take on a decidedly northern feel in 2008, with two tournaments in New Jersey and one each for Connecticut and Massastuses. The series will end August 9, months before the fall/winter fishing begins in Virginia.
The L’Heureux team won with a two-fish catch that weighed 35 pounds, 10 ounces. Just 5 ounces behind was the Right Hook team captained by Samuel Fisher of Heathsville.
Only artificial lures could be used and the two fish limit had to adhere to the 28- to 34-inch slot limit. The fish had to be released alive to avoid a penalty.
BILL
WEST VIRGINIA BUCK KILL UP SLIGHTLY
Preliminary data from West Virginia reveals that its Nov. 19-Dec.1 buck-season kill is up slightly, the second year of increase. The count is 66,570 compared to 66,115 last year.
When the kill dropped to 56,901 in 2005, more restrictive hunting regulations were imposed and remain in place. Many top deer counties no long have doe hunting.
Biologists said that the bucks killed this season had good body shape and improved antler development.
“Maintaining deer density at levels compatible with existing habitat conditions and within the carrying capacity…will continue to provide healthy deer herds and good hunting opportunities,” said Fred Jezioro, director of the West. Virginia Department of Natural Resources.
In some areas of the state, large herds of does could be spotted in roadside fields during the buck season. You have to wonder how long that hoped for carrying capacity balance can be maintained when all those animals produce still more deer.
BILL
NATIONAL FOREST WELCOMES VOLUNTEERS
A Nov. 15 Cochran Field Report told the story of how volunteers, most of them from Dominion, a power company headquartered in Richmond, built a handicap accessible fishing pier on the Jackson River below Gathright Dam. The donation of time and materials by volunteers was valued at nearly $11,500, according to officials of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.
The Forest Service always is looking for volunteers to tackle projects like the pier, said Sharon Mohney, James River District Forester.
“Each year, volunteers dedicate thousands of hours to conserve resources and provide recreation and visitor services,” she said. “We try to match the interest and abilities of volunteers with work that needs to be done.”
Information is available from Mohney at 540-962-2214.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>> The Climate Security Act, co-sponsored by Sens. John Warner, R-Va. and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., is moving quickly through the U.S. Senate and the media is beginning to look at its mandated reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. What is being overlooked, the measure would provide billions of dollars to benefit wildlife, and that has wildlife agencies and conservation organizations excited.
>> The Shenandoah Riverkeeper, the Potomac Riverkeeper, and their resource organization, Waterkeeper Alliance, filed a Notice of Appeal to an agreement between the commonwealth of Virginia and the town of Broadway that would allow pollution at a wastewater facility to enter the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.
>> Most anglers release what they catch, according to research by AnglersSurvey.com. Sixty percent of he anglers participating in the pool said they release most of the fish they catch while 18 percent said they release all the fish they catch. Only 21 percent kept most of their catch.
>> If you are a bass angler youth, where would you rather go, to the Bassmaster Classic or the BASS Federation Nation Championship? No contest: the Classic. So little wonder there has been an uproar following an announcement by BASS to switch the Junior Bassmaster World Championship from the Classic to the Federation Championship.
>> RV sales have slowed after five straight years of record growth, according to the Recreational Vehicle Association. An up-tick is expected in 2008 and in succeeding years because of more retirees coming into the market and the success that the industry is having in attracting younger buyers.
>> Some 98 percent of the participants in a USA Today poll said “yes” to the question, does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?
VIRGINIA SALTWATER TOURNAMENT
Don’t anticipate changes to the leader board of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament from now until the contest ends on Dec. 31. Nearly 5,200 fish have been entered in the state-sponsored contest this year. The major attraction now is striped bass fishing, but the biggest of these fish are taken the first several weeks of the New Year. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 95 pounds caught by James Tran of Virginia Beach in Lynnhaven Bay.
BLUEFISH: 21 pounds, 5 ounces, Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach. 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, 8 ounces, Harry Garrett, Newport News, 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, 14 ounce, Lawrence Tanksley, Chesapeake, 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: 96 pounds, Robert Manus, off Virginia Beach.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 15-Jan. 5.
Reopening of western zone Canada goose season, Dec. 15-Jan. 14.
Book signing by hiking-naturalists author Leonard Adkins, noon-4 p.m., Barnes and Noble, Valley View Mall, Dec. 16.
Book signing by hiking-naturalists author Leonard Adkins, 6-9 p.m., Barnes and Noble, Valley View Mall, Dec. 20.
Reopening of Atlantic Zone Canada goose season, Dec. 21-Jan. 26.
Back Bay Canada Goose season, Dec. 24-Jan. 26.
The 2007 American Striper Association national championship, Pirate’s Cove Marina, Manteo, N.C., Dec. 27-29, $25,000 in prizes, information from fish.ASA.com
Reopening of western zone Canada goose season, Jan. 15-Feb. 15.
Board meeting of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Jan. 22, Richmond.
Fredericksburg Outdoor Show, Fredericksburg Expo Center, Feb. 8-10 Info@woodsandwatersmagazine.com.
Western Virginia Sport Show, Feb. 15-17, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, westernvasportshow.com
The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, Feb. 15-17, 2008, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, vasportsshow.com.
The Greater Virginia Sports and Big Game Show, Feb. 15-17, 2008, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, www.vasportsshow.com.
The Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen’s Classic, Feb. 22-24, Roanoke Civic Center, vaoutdoorsportsmensclassic.com.
Youth spring gobbler day, April 5
Spring gobbler season, April 12-May 17.
Seventh Annual David H. Horne Memorial Hunters for the Hungry Golf Tournament, May 7, Birkdale Golf Course, Richmond, contact Braxton Bell, 804-739-3010.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
