Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

Recent columns

• Drum fishing on Virginia’s Coast comes in two colors
• Elk advocate finally gets his day
• Turkeys are plentiful, so why are hunting regulations so tight fisted?
• Anglers say closure of the point of Cape Hatteras is for the birds
• Column archive

Bill's Mailbag

• Putting down a bear cub brings complaint
• Recommendations for Virginia’s Wild Turkey Management Plan
• Mail archive

Bill's Field Reports

• A. Willis Robertson great name for new DGIF headquarters
• Big striper smashes Optimist tournament record
• Field reports archive

Resources

• Trout stocking schedule

In a damage control effort, board members of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries have collected more than $12,000 to reimburse the state for credit card expenditures that were part of a controversial trip to Africa made by several top DGIF officials. According to Lee Tolliver, of the Virginia-Pilot, all but one of the 10-member board had contributed. Some gave as much as $2,500.

African trip participants Dan Hoffler, chairman of the board, and Bill Woodfin, executive director of the agency, have defended the trip, saying Virginia has much to learn from Africa about law enforcement and wildlife conservation issues. But this has done little to ease the public outcry, which has been getting increasing media attention.

Tolliver quoted Hoffler as saying that the board had established a subcommittee to look into how the agency makes purchases.

DGIF officials had plans to approach General Assembly members in an effort to retrieve funds lost during the budget crunch, but that now could be more difficult. The backlash from the trip also casts a cloud over the agency’s plans to increase hunting and fishing license and boat registration fees.

The agency is under investigation by a state auditor, who has begun making contacts with employees.

GOOSE HUNT IN SALTVILLE

Several years ago I was fishing in the Saltville area of Southwest Virginia and had difficulty concentration on bass because I was so impressed with the waterfowl habitat that I was seeing. During a day of float fishing a guide and I passed several major concentrations of resident Canada geese. I wanted to come back for a goose hunt, but never did.

It appears that the goose population has been growing. There is a flock of 300 in downtown Saltville, about one for every eight residents. The birds have become a problem. There are the expected goose droppings around town and on the ballpark, but worse than that, some of the birds have become a bit aggressive, especially to ladies coming out of the grocery store.

Town officials had hoped someone might come by and trap and cart off the geese, but no one has. So the town, in cooperation with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, has scheduled a goose hunt beginning Jan. 15. The idea is to let 50 hunters, selected by a lottery, thin the flock by 10 percent. Hunting will be done during five successive Saturdays and would-be participants from as far away as Richmond have volunteered.

It won’t be like shooting fish in a barrel. A spokesman for the police department said that the geese are smart. They will take off when the shooting starts. But maybe they will be a little more leery of people in the future and won’t just see them as a would-be handout.

MORE ON THE RECORD STRIPER

Last’s week column was about the 63-pound, 8-ounce state record striped bass caught off Virginia’s Eastern Shore by Paul Kleckner of Greenbackville. Here is more information on the fish:

CORRESTION: The fish was caught on Sunday, Jan. 2, not Monday, Jan. 3, as reported in the early edition of my column.

WHERE: Kleckner pinpoints the point of catch as being about 2 miles off Wreck Island on the Eastern Shore south of Wachapreague.

TACKLE: Kleckner was trolling with 30-pound wire line spooled on a Penn 320 GTI reel that was mounted on a Penn Senator rod.

LURE: The fish hit a pearl-colored rubber shad fished on an umbrella rig.

FIGHT: “He was taking drag, and I was feeling every shake of his head,” Kleckner said.

SIZE: “I knew he was a big fish, but I had no idea it weighed that much,” said Kleckner. “I never thought it would be a state record. In fact, we just kept on fishing.”

ANOTHER GIANT: About 15 minutes after Kleckner landed his fish, his partner, Ryan Terry, landed a 41-pound, 5-ounce striper. That’s a huge striper, but it looked small in comparison to Kleckner’s fish

SEASON: “I have been having good luck with striped bass this season, but nothing like this fish,” said Kleckner. Some of the of the best fishing of the winter season may be yet to come, but overall the winter fishery has been something of a disappointment.

THE MOUNT: Kleckner took his fish to a taxidermist shop. He will try to squeeze the mount into his house, but later may donate it to a museum, maybe the Oyster Museum in Chincoteague.

THE FUTURE: Lots of 55- to 58-pound striped bass have been caught this winter, and there are good numbers of big fish still along the Virginia Coast, says Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. So Kleckner better enjoy his fame while he can, because his fish, as big as it is, really isn’t big enough to stand the test of time.

NRA NAMES HUNTING AFFAIRS LIAISON

Politicians give lip service to hunters every election year, but often pay little attention to them during the legislative process. In an effort to change that, the NRA has created a new position called Manager of Hunting Policy and Dawson R. Hobbs has been named to fill it.

Hobbs, who has been with the NRA since 1998, will serve as the principal liaison for hunting related legislative issues at both the congressional and state level. Since 2001, he has been a NRA lobbyist for state and local government issues where he helped put 16 pro-gun bills through the Virginia General Assembly last session.

Sportsmen are seeing their hunting opportunities reduced and their costs increased, the NRA stated when it announced Hobbs’ appointment.

FISHING REPORT

>The first jumbo-size largemouth of the New Year has been pulled in at Briery Creek Lake. The fish weighed 11.5 pounds.

>Mike Gizara caught four walleye at Lake Gaston that weighed up to 4.5 pounds apiece. He said he lost twice that many. He was using a silver spoon. Gaston also is producing good numbers of bass, stripers and crappie.

>The James River blue catfish bite remains excellent, with catches reported up to 55 pounds. Larry and Chris Hodson from Hopewell landed four citations weighing 35, 43, 47 and 50 pounds while fishing with guide Mike Ostrander. The Chickahominy River is yielding catfish in the 40-pound class.

>Chickahominy Lake is producing good bass and pickerel fishing along with some fine late-season duck hunting.

>John Keuther of Williamsburg caught two stripers, 25 crappie and four bass while fishing Little Creek Reservoir.

>Bass, stripers and catfish action has been brisk in Kerr Lake, and crappie are being caught shallow.

>Anglers at Smith Mountain Lake have been finding striped bass shallow during the early morning -- even pre-dawn -- hours. Small bucktail jigs and lures are hooking fish. Many of the fish have a heavy dose of parasites.

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>The BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water is looking for new locations to become lending sites for its free Life Jacket Loaner Program. The program loans children's life jackets from readily accessible sites such as marinas to boaters who have a temporary need for a kid's life jacket for the day or weekend. There is no cost. Application forms can be found on BoatUS.com/Foundation/LJLP.

>Some Yamaha Outboard dealers are offering a Boat Show Bonus of up to 3 years of extended service free of charge for certain two-stroke and four-stroke models.

>In a letter to the Washington Star, Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said this about his organization’s objectives: “At the top of our hit list are bear baiting, the shooting of animals in captive settings, the stocking of animals for live target practice and trophy hunting. We'll also be continuing our work to combat other forms of cruelty, such as animal fighting, the killing of animals for their fur, the exotic animal trade and puppy mills.

>When Portsmouth proposed a public bowhunt to help control the deer at its Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, the idea caused such a stir from PETA that it was dropped. But that didn’t solve the deer problem. So city officials now are considering culling the herd by hiring police sharpshooters.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

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

50th annual Virginia Boat Show, Jan. 21-23, The Showplace, Richmond, royalshows.com.

Bassmaster University, where pro 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, and Mike Auten. Information from 866-732-BASS.

Richmond Ducks Unlimited Wild Game Feast, Feb. 3, Tredegar Iron Works, $75, information from durichmond.com.

Mid-Atlantic Sport & Boat Show, Feb. 5-13, The Pavilion, Virginia Beach, 757-446-2655.

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

Washington Boat Show, Feb. 9-13, Convention Center, Washington, D.C., 301-468-6701.

Tidewater Fresh & Saltwater Fishing Show, March 11-13, Virginia Beach Pavilion, information from 575-437-7616.

National Capitol Boat Show, March 10-13, Dulles Expo Center, Chantilly, Va. 804-425-6556.

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 wfa.net.

Tidewater Boat Show, April 1-3, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, Va. 804-425-6556.

Youth day spring gobbler hunt, April 2.

Spring gobbler season, April 9-May 14.

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