Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Shortly after Smith Mountain Lake was impounded, the Cave Spring Optimist Club determined that a fishing tournament might be a way for the organization to raise funds for its youth scholarships and sports activities. It would beat selling Christmas trees, said one of the organizers.

That was 37 years ago and the tournament remains an annual fixture at the lake. In fact, it probably is the oldest and largest freshwater fishing tournament in the state.

This year’s contest is set for April 29, 30 and May 1 with headquarters at Foxport Marina. Prizes and awards of up to $15,000 are being offered.

Many of the annual participants have been part of the tournament for years and even set their vacation by it. Still, it remains a low-key, fun affair rather than a serious contest. A duffer is as apt to do well as a pro. There are categories for the largest largemouth bass, muskie, crappie, smallmouth bass, catfish and walleye.

Entry forms and rules are available at many businesses in the lake region, or you can get then from the Optimist Club of Cave Springs, P.O. Box 1276, Salem, Va. 24153. The entry fee is $35, plus 50-cents for handling.

I covered the tournament for more than 30 years. Now I am honored to be part of it. The Optimist Club will have a new youth tournament this time and have named it the Bill Cochran Youth Tournament.

It will be held Saturday, April 30 and is free to youngsters age 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult entered in the main tournament. The kids will be fishing for carp, and sunfish. Prizes will include saving bonds of up to $100.

6,736 TROPHY FISH CITATIONS IN 2004

You can pick up some interesting tidbits of fishing information by studying the results of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ Virginia Angler Recognition Program. Last year the program awarded 6,736 citations. That amounts to 6,736 fish tales and tips.

I have written about the outstanding blue catfish fishery in Virginia, so it should be no surprise that this species led in the number of citations, accounting for 1,521. But what species would you guess had the second highest number of citations?

It was rainbow trout, with 1,049. Most of these came from privately operated fee-fishing facilities, namely Cedar Springs Sportsman Lodge on Cripple Creek near Rural Retreat. Fee areas also produced many of the brook and brown trout citations, including a 14-pound, 12-ounce brown trout from Cedar Springs. That one would have equaled the state record, but the DGIF does not recognize records from private water.

Where do the bulk of the public-water trout citations come from? Maybe the Jackson River or Smith River? No. Barbours Creek in Craig County (23 brook trout citations) and Jennings Creek in Botetourt County (17 brook trout citations). Lake Moomaw yielded the most brown trout citations, 11.

There were two state records established last season. One was for a 92-pound, 4-ounce blue catfish caught from Kerr Lake. The other received less attention, a 16-pound, 8-ounce bowfin from Lake Cohoon.

It will be tougher to earn a blue catfish citation this year. The minimum size has been boosted to 39 pounds or 38 inches. In the next year or two, look for a 100-pound blue cat to be caught.

Kerr produced the most citation crappie, no surprise there, but it didn’t account for the largest. The best crappie was a 3-pound, 10-ounce Smith Mountain fish, one of just 11-citation crappie from the 20,000-acre impoundment.

Smith Mountain yielded a scant seven striped bass citations, an indication of how this once great fishery has declined. Don’t expect that fishery to rebound anytime soon.

Never overlook private ponds as a place for citation catches. Last year ponds produced the largest carp, chain pickerel, and white perch.

The 2004 season was a pretty good one for muskie and walleye. Some 63 muskie citations were entered and 111 walleye. Both the best muskie (29-pound, 10-ounce) and best walleye (11 pound, 14 ounces) came from the New River. The New also was the top smallmouth bass stream, accounting form 139 citations, including the largest, a 6-pound, 8-ounce trophy.

It was another year of hard times for white bass anglers. Only 14 citations were recorded. I can remember when a single day on the South Holston River would produce that many.

Here’s a surprise. The top rock bass (2 pounds, 8 ounces) and top sunfish (2 pounds, 8 ounces) were Bullpasture River catches. (There was another 2 pound, 8 ounce sunfish from Fort Pickett Reservoir.

CROSSBOWS AT CROSSROADS

Modest number of sportsmen have turned out for public hearings that address a crossbow hunting license proposed by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. This has not been a hotbed issue, except in the minds of a handful of sportsmen, so it is very likely the license will be approved. If so, crossbow hunters will be afield sharing the woods and fields with bowhunters this fall.

A public hearing at Verona, in the Shenandoah Valley, drew the largest crowd when about 40 sportsmen showed up. Less than 20 attended a hearing in Lynchburg and even fewer than that in Richmond.

The license has received support from a number of people. It greatest critics are bowhunters who say they aren’t opposed to crossbows, they just don’t want them to be part of their bow season.

The final debate and vote is set for June 23 when the issue will be decided by DGIF board members in Richmond.

Two additional public hearings are scheduled 7 p.m. on April 21, at Wytheville Community College and Wytheville and at the DGIF Regional Office in Williamsburg.

TOG OFFERS FISHING FOR KIDS

If outdoor traditions are to survive, and that includes fishing, then kids must be involved. That’s the objective of a group of sportsmen in the Roanoke Valley called TOG, which is short for Tomorrow’s Outdoor Generation.

Started in 2001 by Sam Austin and Jason Reger, TOG has scheduled a major event 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 23 at Lock Haven Lake in Roanoke County. The free program will feature fishing and other activities for youngsters ages 4 to 15. You can register on togkids.com.

CWD MOVES CLOSER TO VIRGINIA

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) moved closer to Virginia when captive deer in two facilities in Central New York tested positive. The feared disease originally was confined to western states, then in 2002 it was discovered that it had crossed the Mississippi River and was found in Wisconsin deer.

That same year, Virginia wildlife officials took some of the most aggressive steps in the nation to prevent its introduction in the Old Dominion. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has a ban on elk introductions and deer farming. CWD is viewed by state biologists as a major threat to native deer populations.

Matt Knox, the VDGIF deer biologist, said he as not surprised that CWD was discovered in New York.

“Any state with a major captive deer industry has a high CWD risk,” he said.

New York is reported to have 433 establishments raising 9,600 captive deer. There are 23 such facilities in Virginia that possess 550 captive deer, officials say. Most of the Virginia holdings are zoos, nature parks and wildlife exhibits.

NEW GAME WARDENS

Look for a new game warden in your neighborhood. The first class of wardens out of the new Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Training Academy has graduated and been assigned following an intensive 32-week training program. Here are the wardens and their assignment:

Zachary Adams -- Campbell County

Michael Austin -- Pittsylvania County

Ashley Barnett -- Rockbrige County

Clarence Booden -- Greensville County

Steven Bottomley -- Franklin County

Wesley Breeden -- Hanover County

Thomas Chapman -- Dinwiddie County

John Coffman -- Essex County

Jason Culbertson -- Rappahannock County

Adam Keeter -- City of Virginia Beach

Richard Landers -- Loudoun County

Kenneth Mauk -- Louisa County

Francis Miano -- Chesterfield County

Krista Myers -- Northampton County

Jonathan Simmons -- Culpeper County

James Sympson -- Southampton County

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>Opening week of the spring gobbler season has not been kind to most hunters. Sportsmen afield say toms aren’t doing much talking, although there always are exceptions, and the weather has been less than ideal.

>When it comes to good fishing, don’t overlook Lake Orange. That is the advice of John Odenkirk, a biologist with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. He calls it the best small lake in the region for just about everything, including bass, catfish, crappie and bluegill. During a recent trap-netting study he tagged 650 crappie that were 9 inches and above. He also observed an 8-pound walleye. In 1989, the lake produced a world record 6-pound, 13-ounce white bass.

>The Maryland Natural Resources Police recently charged two Eastern Shore juveniles with 35 hunting violations and five theft charges after a lengthy investigation concluded when officers stopped the pair on a simple traffic violation. Police had received reports of illegal hunting activity and waterfowl decoy thefts.

>Managing wild striped bass on the Atlantic Coast as game fish for recreational/personal use fishing and replacing the commercial harvest in the marketplace with fish raised through aquaculture would boost the U.S. economy by $1.78 billion and support more than 14,400 new jobs, according to a study commissioned by Striper Forever.

SALTWATER TOURNAMENT

Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:

SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Chad Stoker, Chesapeake, caught off Virginia Beach.

SPECKLED TROUT: 11 pounds, 3 ounces, Brain Pomije, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.

STRIPED BASS: 63 pounds, 8 ounces, state record, Paul Leckner, Greenbackville, Bradford Bay.

TAUTOG: 15 pounds, Vernon Wilson, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Virginia Fly Fishing Festival, April 16 & 17, Waynesboro, information from vaflyfishingfestival.org.

Kids fishing outing sponsored by TOG, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 23 at Lock Haven Lake in Roanoke County. Activities for youngsters ages 4 to 15. Register on togkids.com.

Virginia Ducks Unlimited State Gun Dog Championship, April 23, 10 a.m., Ruritan Park in Hanover Courthouse, information from Jeff Ford, swampdog112@aol.com.

Cave Spring Optimist Club Tournament, Aprils 29, 30 and May 1, Smith Mountain Lake.

Basic trapper education class, April 30, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Bedford Moose Lodge, bring bag lunch drinks provided by Virginia Trappers Association, information from Jim Swanson, JSWANY56@aol.com, 540-586-2688.

Wildflower program by Leonard Adkins at Byrd Visitor Center, Milepost 51, Shenandoah National park, May 7, 1 p.m. Adkins will introduce his latest book, “Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.”

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.

Western Division of Virginia Big Game Contest, Sept. 10 and 11, Rockingham County Fairgrounds near Harrisonburg, see vpsa.org for details.

Eastern Division and state finals of Virginia Big Game Contest, Sept. 24 and 25, Southampton County Fairgrounds, Franklin, see vpsa.org for details.

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