Thursday, June 19, 2008
Upper James hit by fish kills
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
As many as 10 percent of the smallmouth bass and sunfish in the upper James River could be lost to mysterious fish kills, state fish officials have told the Associated Press. Samples taken this spring show that as many as 30 percent of the fish examined either were dead or had signs of illness. Most of these fish had lesions that looked like burns, biologists said.
Similar reports have been coming from the Jackson River and Craig Creek, tributaries of the James. For several years, fish have been dying in the Shenandoah River. Biologists are perplexed as to what is causing the problem. Both fish and water samples have been collected in an effort to determine what is behind the disease and die-offs.
BILLS ADDRESS THE HATTERAS SITUATION
Three North Carolina Republicans -- Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Sen.Richard Burr and Rep. Walter Jones -- have introduced bills that they say will restore much needed reasonable public access to the Outer Banks of North Carolina while providing necessary and adequate protections for shorebirds.
The effort was applauded by the American Sportfishing Association, but an editorial in the Virginia-Pilot said congressional intervention is counterproductive. The job is best left to the National Park Service, the editorial stated.
Several favorite off-road fishing spots were closed to vehicles recently as the result of a lawsuit filed by Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society. The lawsuit contended that adequate protection of nesting birds and turtles was not in place. As a result, a number of access points were closed.
The restrictions have angered surf casters and been an economic burden to the local economy.
BILL
GUNS APLENTY AT NRA BANQUET
I don’t have much success when it comes to winning things, but that wasn’t the case at last fall’s Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet. I came home with a bunch of neat things, including two guns.
Your odds of winning a gun are as good as they get at this banquet. The 2008 banquet, set for Oct. 18 at the Salem Civic Center, is offering prizes that include 25 firearms, according to event chairman Mike Kessler.
Money raised by these events supports shooting spots and safety education, much of it in the banquet's region. Never mind what the title says. This event isn’t staged to dump a bunch of money in NRA.
New this year are reduced tickets ($25) for youngsters 10 to 18. Kids under 10 get in free. For adults, the price is $40 for singles, $70 for couples.
Additional information on the banquet is available from Kessler, 540-884-2917, or Al Milton, 540-563-1422.
BILL
FRESHWATER DRUM RECORD ESTABLISHED
Timothy Davidson was after bass at Kerr Lake when something grabbed his Zoom worm and began fighting harder than any bass he’d ever caught. The Stovall, N.C., angler figured he’d hooked a 30-40 pound catfish.
What he had was a 15-pound, 2-ounce freshwater drum that has been certified as a Virginia state record by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
This is the first drum to make the freshwater record book. In 2007, the DGIF established an 8-pound minimum size to qualify as a record, but until now no one entered a fish that met that mark. Davidsons nearly doubled it.
The fish is one of the few species in the drum family that lives in freshwater. In Virginia, it is native to the Clinch and Powell rivers. How it established itself in Kerr Lake is unknown to officials. Davidson’s fish measured 31.5 inches in length.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>>About 1,100 miles of Virginia's streams have been added to the state’s list of polluted waters in the past two years, bringing the total to 10,600 miles, the Department of Environmental Quality reported this week. Its 2008 water quality report listed about 40 percent of the state’s waters as being polluted. All major rivers and the Chesapeake Bay had what the report called “some impairment.”
>>A 56-pound, 8 ounce golden tilefish landed aboard the charter “Ocean Peal” by Aaron Sledd of Virginia Beach is a pending state record for the species. Caught at the Norfolk Canyon off Virginia Beach, the fish is a few pounds shy of the all-tackle world record and easily tops the state record set last year.
>>Recent unsafe flooding conditions on the Mississippi River have prompted BASS to relocate its June 26-29 Bassmaster Elite Series River Rumble from Fort Madison, Iowa to Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tenn. Kevin Van Dam, the Tiger Woods of bass tournaments, won the past weekend’s Elite tournament, his fourth such victory.
BILL
SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
The first tuna of the season has appeared on the leader board of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, and there are new leading entries in the cobia and spadefish categories. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 87 pounds, 3 ounces, Paul Elliott, Surry, Latimer Shoals (C-2 Buoy). BLUEFISH: 19 pounds, 4 ounces, Richard Brown, Richmond, off Virginia Beach.
BLUEFIN TILEFISH: 18 pounds, 12 ounces, Dr. Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.
COBIA: 71 pounds, 8 ounces, Jay Barefoot, Hampton, Bluefish Rock.
CROAKER: 3 pounds, 5 ounces, David Richards, Williamsburg, lower York River.
DOLPHIN: 49 pounds, 7 ounces, Edward Pickett, Portsmouth, Norfolk Canyon.
FLOUNDER: 10 pounds, 8 ounces, Thomas Horsley, Gloucester, off Cape Charles.
GRAY TROUT: 9 pounds, 8 ounces, Joseph Hudgins, Jr., Chesapeake, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (4th island).
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 9 ounces, David Davis, Portsmouth, Sandbridge surf.
SEA BASS: 7 pounds, 8 ounces, Reggie Myrick, Portsmouth, off Virginia Beach.
SPADEFISH: 13 pounds, 15 ounces, Donald Knight, Chesterfield, Wolf Trap Light.
SPECKLED TROUT: 9 pounds, 15 ounces, David Hester, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 73 pounds, state record, Frederick Barnes, Chesapeake, off Virginia Beach.
TAUTOG: 20 pounds, 6 ounces, Michael Shreve, Glen Burnie, Md., Monroe Wreck.
TUNA: 80 pounds, Bryan Johnson, Virginia Beach, Cigar.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Sherwood Archers Traditional Rendezvous shoot for recurved and longbows, June 21 and 22, Sherwood range in Roanoke county, information from R.D. Brookshier, 540-384-7376 or stykbow59@comcast.net.
Hunters for the Hungry 5th annual sporting clays benefit shoot at Edmund Farms in Halifax, June 21-22, information form Clarence Morris, 434-572-6986, ext. 268 or 434-575-5493.
Triangle Archers 3D tournament, June 22, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from James Overfelt.
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, 7 p.m., July 11, Moneta Center, Jeff Meeks on trolling tactics.
Shenandoah River Rodeo, July 19, Bentonville’s Low Water Bridge Campground, $40, to benefit Shenandoah Riverkeepers, pig roast, bluegrass, fishing, canoeing, camping information from Shenandoah Riverkeepers, P.O. Box 405, Boyce, Va. 22620.
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, 7 p.m., Aug. 1, Moneta Center, presentation by Ken Mitchell, manager of the Brookneal striper hatchery.
Triangle Archer’s 3D tournament, Aug. 17, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from Triangle Archers 3D tournament, June 22, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from James Overfelt.
Eastern Regional Big Game Championship, Sept. 13 and 14, Southampton County Fairgrounds, Franklin, sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association, more information from Kenneth Pickin, P.O. Box 1860, Williamsburg, Va. 23187-1860; 757-229-0490. This is the contest for deer, bear and turkey killed east of the Blue Ridge. Additional information from vpsa.org.
Triangle Archer’s 3D tournament, Sept 14, Blacksburg, fee $12 or $25 per family, information from James Overfelt.
Third annual WSLS 10 Hunters for the Hungry banquet, 6 p.m. Sept. 27, Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi, Salem, tickets $20 singles; $35 couples, kids 12 and under free, to benefit the organization’s feed-the-needy program, tickets from Jeff Fletcher, 540-985-6523 or Fred and Phyllis Wells, 540-992-3874 or may be purchased at Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi, additional information from hunt4hungry@cs.com.
Western Regional and State Big Game Championship, for deer, bear and turkey killed west of the Blue Ridge or advanced from the Eastern Championship, Sept. 27 & 28, Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Harrisonburg, more information from Jon Ritenour, 2041 Spaders Church Road, Harrisonburg, Va. 22801, 540-434-8028. Additional information from vpsa.org.
Fall Optimist Club of Cave Springs Fishing Tournament, Oct. 3-5, Smith Mountain Lake.
Saltwater striped bass tournament opens Oct. 4.
Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 18, Salem Civic Center, $40 single, $70 couple, special prices for kids, 25 firearms for prizes, money goes to support shooting sports and education, information and tickets from Mike Kessler, 540-884-2917, and Al Milton, 540-563-1422.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
