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

Come Thanksgiving Day, it is a tradition for many anglers to head for the Outer Banks of North Carolina where bluefish, striped bass and red drum frequently are substituted for turkey.

But this year’s holiday is destined to give some visitors indigestion. Being served along with Thanksgiving Day dinner is a 650-page environmental impact statement released by the National Park Service that would put about 40 percent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore off-limits to beach vehicles.

This will give beach drivers year-round access to about 28 miles of the 67-mile long national seashore. Another 13 miles will be open seasonally.

The final draft is more restrictive than what was proposed earlier this year, which would have closed 16 miles of beach, rather than the currently proposed 26 miles.

Environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, wanted to place as much as 40 miles of seashore off-limits to vehicles.

The issue has been an ongoing, polarizing battle for years and the new rules aren't likely to settle disputes between environmental activists and anglers. Anglers who dive the beach to reach a favorite fishing spot have been following a long-held tradition on this narrow, windswept finger of land that pokes into the Atlantic. Businesses say off-road angling is a boost to the local economy.

But some environmentalists have worked to remove a large portion, if not all, of the beach from vehicular access in the name of maintaining a pristine seashore and protecting birds and other wildlife.

Users have been under temporary restrictions since April 2008, awaiting the final plan. The new plan is expected to be in place by next spring.

SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT

Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament as it heads toward its final month when striped bass will be the most active species.

BLACK DRUM: 90 pounds, James Johnson, Jr., Gloucester, Mobjack Bay Reef.

BLUEFISH: 20 pounds, 8 ounces, Ray Bryan, Lowry, Triangle Wrecks.

BLUELINE TILEFISH: 21 pounds, 12 ounces, Pete Knott, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.

COBIA: 107 pounds, 6 ounces, David Otts, Elizabeth City, N.C., Fourth Island Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

CROAKER: 3 pounds, 14 ounce, Michael Whitaker, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.

DOPLHIN: 43 pounds, Robert Foley, Virginia Beach, Triple Zero’s.

FLOUNDER: 12 pounds, 10 ounces, Pete Knott, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 8 ounces, Bill Perron, Virginia Beach, First Island Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

GRAY TROUT: 9 pounds, 8 ounces, Eric Cafini, Suffolk, Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

KING MACKEREL: 38 pounds, Ed Boekestyn, Jasper, Canada, Dump Site Buoy off Virginia Beach.

KINGFISH: 2 pounds, Devin Kanusek, Dinwiddie, Virginia Beach Pier.

POMPANO: 1 Pound, 10 ounces, Theodor Rau, Erie, Pa. Virginia Beach Pier.

SEA BASS: 5 pounds, 9 ounces, Byron Farlow, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

SHEEPSHEAD: 14 pounds, 10 ounces, Virgil Lipumano, Virginia Beach Seagull Pier, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

SPADEFISH: 11 pounds, 12 ounces, Joshua Proffitt, Manassas, Chesapeake Light Tower.

SPANISH MACKEREL: 5 pounds, 8 ounce, Buddy Sylvia, Reedville, Windmill Point.

SPECKLED TROUT: 12 pounds, 6 ounces, Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.

SPOT: 1 pound, 2 ounces, John Guthrie, Sutherland, lower York River.

STRIPED BASS: 64 pounds, Michael Collier, Sandston, off Sandbridge.

TAUTOG: 16 pounds, 14 ounces, Alexander Thompson, Deale, Md., Chesapeake Light Tower.

TUNA (bluefin): 196 pounds, Brian Davis, Virginia Beach, Cigar.

TUNA (other): 220 pounds, Henk Vandergiessen, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.

WAHOO: 70 pounds, 3 ounces, Jeffrey Spurgeon, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Canyon.

MEETINGS, SEASONS AND EVENTS

Smith River Trout Unlimited meeting, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Rania’s Restaurant, Martinsville, guests welcome.

Seventeenth annual Rockfish Classic, Dec. 4 and 5, Norview Marina, Deltaville, $175 entry fee, top prize up to $8,000, presented by the Coastal Conservation Association and Green Top Sporting Goods. Entry forms from the marina or Green Top in Richmond, tournament director David Nobles, 804-966-5654.

Youth deer hunt and workshop for ages 12 to 17, Dec, 10 and 11, Claytor Lake State Park. The session begins with a Friday seminar on deer management and hunter safety, followed with a muzzleloader hunt on Saturday. Contact Jim Mootz, 804-367-0656.

Late muzzleloader season, Dec. 11-Jan. 1

Dec. 11-Jan. 29 late portion of Virginia’s duck season.

Saltwater Sportsman 2011 National Seminar Series, Jan. 22, Virginia Beach

Spring gobbler season April 9-May 14.

North Carolina State University Sport Fishing School, June 5-9, Hatteras, N.C.

Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.