Thursday, February 24, 2005
Bill Cochran's Field Reports: Love him or hate him
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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On the cover of the March issue of Field & Stream there is this teaser: “World’s Most Hated Bass Pro.”
I pretty well knew who the inside article would be talking about even before I turned to it. Mike Iaconelli.
Iaconelli is described as being cocky and tattooed, a guy who pumps his fist and yells like a stuck hog when he catches a bass. A lover of rap music, he is known to break-dance on the casting platform of his bass boat as he plays to the crowd and camera.
There is little of the aw-shucks humility that generally goes with being a bass pro. So you hate him or you think he is the new face of bass fishing, the savior that will take the sport to the new generation.
I confess. I harbored negative thoughts about Iaconelli from what I had read about him and seen on TV.
Then last fall I got to talk to him at the BASS tournament on Smith Mountain Lake. He was most cordial. He took time to answer my questions in detail. I ended up walking away from him instead of him walking away from me. I was impressed, with his fishing skill and with his kindness to an aging outdoor writer who obviously grew up in the era of Roland Martin and Bill Dance.
Nice kid, that Ike. Different, but nice.
BILL
FALL HUNTING A LOST ART?
Two weeks ago I wrote about the surprising low turkey kill the past fall and winter. Several readers responded that the declining kills of recent years are related to what they believed is a diminishing number of fall turkey hunters.
With this in mind, Freddy McGurie, who edits a Virginia turkey hunting Web site has asked his readers to respond to a questionnaire that asks participants if they are hunting less in the fall now than in the past, and why.
The survey can be found on http://vaturkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=176.
BILL
RESTRICTING DOE HUNTING
I noticed that the deer population was low last year on our farm in West Virginia. Friends who have permission to hunt there killed few deer. I figured that was because it had been hunted hard during recent years in an effort to abate deer damage.
In reality, the deer population in the entire county, which is Pocahontas, is down. It is the same in 12 other counties in West Virginia, according to Department of Natural Resources officials.
With that in mind, wildlife officials have proposed that doe hunting be eliminated in 13 counties next season. Under the state’s deer management plan, the population has fallen below management goals, officials say.
“We don’t need the population to be any lower,” said one official.
Counties where a ban on doe hunting is proposed include Boone, Clay, Fayette, northern Greenbrier, southeastern Kanawha, Mercer, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Randolph, Raleigh, Tucker, southern Wayne and Webster.
This is an unusual trend. In most states, deer populations continue to climb, sometimes to the point of causing problems. Officials in Virginia are considering forcing hunters to kill more does by requiring them to earn the right to kill a buck by killing a doe.
BILL
FISHING REPORT
The lower James River has been producing blue catfish in the mid-30-pound range. Kerr Lake also is hot spot for cats, with fish in the 20- to 30-pound class being caught. William Zost, of Roxboro, N.C., landed one that weighed just under 41 pounds. He holds the state record for blue catfish (see this week’s Cochran column). Fishermen at Lake Gaston are landing blue catfish in the mid-20-pound range.
Largemouth bass fishing is improving at Kerr, with good numbers of 3- to 4-pound fish being caught. Productive lures are the Lucky Craft 100 and the new Papala X-Rap.
Anglers are doing well with rock bass on the Nottoway River. Using Rapalas, one angler caught nine weighing from 1 pound, 5 ounces to 1 pound, 9 ounces. Shellcrackers are also biting on the Nottoway.
Briery Creek Lake is living up to its name as a big-bass producer. David Brant reported catching a 12-pounder on a minnow. A second bass just over 10 pounds also was reported.
The word from Camper’s Paradise on Smith Mountain Lake is that quite a few striped bass weighing 5 to 14 pounds are being landed in the upper reaches of the lake by anglers using live bait fished deep.
Striped bass fishing at Claytor Lake is on a roll, according to John Zenius at Big Z’s Tackle Shop in Radford. Look for peak action in Peak Creek about noon to 3 p.m., Zenius said. One angler said he caught 15 over 15 pounds in one sitting. Stump Jumpers are the hot lures.
Walleye are hitting at night in the Hiwasee/ Foster Falls area of the New River, where XPS plugs are favored in this rocky water. One angler caught a 44-inch muskie from the New while using an inline spinner. Another angler settled for a couple of nice smallmouth bass.
JACK RANDOLPH
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
>Congressman Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, is the House co-sponsor of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The legislation is designed to protect law-abiding firearm manufactures from reckless, predatory lawsuits. Cliff Stearms, R-Florida, is the other sponsor. The bill, H.R. 800, is a companion to S. 397 introduced in the Senate by Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Max Baucus, D-Mt.
>The word I quickly think of to describe Bud LaRoche is “professional.” That is the term his peers used when members of the Virginia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society named him the Professional Biologist of the Year. LaRoche has been a fisheries biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries since 1977. He has had an impact on numerous fisheries and environmental efforts in Virginia.
>If you have an interest in the world’s great wildlife reserves and the animals they hold and the best time to visit them, then grab a copy of “Nature’s Strongholds the World’s Great Wildlife Reserves.” Laura and William Riley took 10 years and nearly 700 pages to tell the story in words and pictures. Princeton University press publishes the $50 volume.
>Protecting the imperiled arroyo toad will cost landowners, builders and the real estate industry in Southern California $1 billion over the next two decades, according to a new federal study released this week.
BILL
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Western Virginia Sports Show, Feb. 25-27, Augusta Expoland, Fisherville, information from westernvasportshow.com.
Smith River Trout Unlimited meeting, 7 p.m., March 3, Rania’s Restaurant in downtown Martinsville (147 E. Main St.), dinner, program includes Shane Pinkston demonstrating how to make furled leaders and Larry Townsend on tying Smith River Bandit and Townsend Beetle. Guests welcome. Information from Pinkston, 276-638-3757.
Southwest Virginia Boat Show, Feb. 25-27, Roanoke Civic Center.
Appalachian Highlands Chapter Ruffed Grouse Society Banquet, March 5, Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, Bristol Convention Center, Bristol, Va., information from B.G. Young, 423-534-6542.
Tidewater Fresh & Saltwater Fishing Show, March 11-13, Virginia Beach Pavilion, information from 575-437-7616.
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, 7 p.m., March 4, Moneta Community Center.
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.
The 2005 Virginia Ducks Unlimited State Convention and Banquet, March 18 and 19 at the Kingsmill Marriott in Williamsburg.
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, 7 p.m., April 1, Moneta Community Center.
Tidewater Boat Show, April 1-3, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, Va. 804-425-6556.
Youth day spring gobbler hunt, April 2.
Cave Spring Optimist Club Tournament, Aprils 29, 30 and May 1, Smith Mountain Lake.
Spring gobbler season, April 9-May 14.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s American Outdoor Experience, Bristol Motor Speedway, May 13-15, information from americanoutdoorexperience.com.
Wilderness First Aid, May 17-18, Blacksburg, an 18-hour, two-day class that results in a two-year certification, $160, registration/information from wfa.net.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net
