Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

Recent columns

• Hunters and anglers still in the conservation business
• 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?
• Column archive

Bill's Mailbag

• Remembering A. Willis Robertson
• Putting down a bear cub brings complaint
• Mail archive

Bill's Field Reports

• Eagles are up; black rail are down
• A. Willis Robertson great name for new DGIF headquarters
• Field reports archive

Resources

• Trout stocking schedule

Crossbows were a major attraction at the weekend Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show in Richmond. I shutter to think how many crossbows were sold at the show. Arranged under a 20-foot long ceiling banner proclaiming “Crossbow Headquarters,” there were manufacturers’ representatives from Horton, Excalibur, Parker and Ten Point, all answering questions and showing their latest products.

There was a side room with a range where factory representatives would help anyone who was interested in setting up and shooting a crossbow. I must have watched 20 people walk up and shoot a crossbow for the first time in their lives and hit a 3-inch bull’s-eye at almost 20 yards.

Dance’s Sporting Goods had a steady line of customers purchasing their first crossbow, including a friend of mine who opted for the simplicity of a recurved crossbow made by Excalibur.

The solitude of the woods in the early archery season will never be the same.

TALKING TO DGIF BY E-MAIL

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries received 553 comments and two petitions during the early stages of its wildlife and fisheries regulations reviews. Although comments were invited during a serious of public hearings across the state, 88 percent of the contacts from sportsmen came by email through the department’s Web site: dgif.virginia.gov.

The comments were considered by game officials who drafting of a number of regulations proposals that are scheduled to be presented to the DGIF board today in Richmond. Those that receive approval of the DGIF board will be the subject of a series of public hearing across the state beginning later this month. (See last week’s Cochran column)

MENHADEN RESTRICTIONS

Anglers have worked hard, but with little success, to get a cap placed on menhaden catches in the Chesapeake Bay. The menhaden is an important food fish for striped bass and other species. It also is a highly sought commercial fish, with Omega Protein Corp, a Houston-based company, operating a large commercial fishing business out of Reedville.

Omega Protein recently announced that it would put its own, voluntary limit on menhaden catches. It said it would cap the harvest inside the bay at 131,000-metric tons per year through 2009.

Problem is, over the past five years it has averaged 110,000 metric tons of menhaden from the bay, so its offer isn’t that generous.

Supporters of a reduction, or outright ban, of commercial fishing for the species aren’t happy with the company’s offer. Greenpeace activists have been using high-speed boats to chase schools of menhaden from Omega’s fishing nets. Omega officials reported that a helicopter buzzed their ships and an airplane interfered with an Omega aircraft that was spotting schools of menhaden.

Meanwhile, officials are meeting in Alexandria this week to consider putting a cap on menhaden catches.

MUZZLELOADING SEASON FIRES A BLANK

“Am I wrong to think I can’t hunt on my own farm?

That is the question Duane Preston has put to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Preston owns a farm in Southampton County and would like to hunt there during the muzzleloading season. But county officials have blocked the season. There is none. Never mind that hunters can use a muzzlelaoders elsewhere across the state.

Written into the Southampton County Code is the following: “It shall be unlawful to hunt with a muzzleloading rifle at anytime. It shall be unlawful to hunt with a muzzlelaoding shotgun loaded with slugs and any person violating the provisions of this section, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a Class 3 Misdemeanor.”

In a rambling presentation, the DGIF has told Preston that its hands are tied when it comes to forcing the county to honor the black-powder season. But Preston, and his wife Teresa, along with members of the Southampton for 100 Percent Hunting, don’t buy that.

“The board has the tools to effect change, to build a solid foundation of compliant ordinances,” Teresa Preston said. “VDGIF, the Director, the Chairwoman and the Board must muster the courage to tackle this job and make things right if the ‘right to hunt’ is to have any meaning at all.”

The ban on muzzleloading season isn’t because of the scarcity of deer. Southampton is one of the leading deer counties. But it is hound-hunting territory, where big clubs don’t want anything that takes away from chasing deer with dogs.

“Right now, Southampton County is a dog hunting county and Southampton County hunters look at dog hunting as something sacred,” said Richard Railey of Courtland, the DGIF board member who represents the county. Railey also represents the county as a legal representative.

The question, if Southampton County can block state-supported seasons and other outdoor regulations, what is to keep other counties from doing the same when a bunch of sportsmen selfishly decided they don’t want something? If the big dog clubs don’t like muzzleloading season, then they can block it on the property they own or lease and let others decide for themselves if they will use a muzzleloading rifle.

FATHER OF STRUCTURE FISHING DIES

Buck Perry taught anglers that if they were casting to the bank then they had their back on most of the fish. “A fish spends the greater part of his life in the deepest water in the area being fish,” was Perry’s advice.

More than anyone else, Perry got anglers to look deep for bass, and for that effort he is known as the “Father of Structure Fishing.” Perry used a lure he crated, called the Spoonplug, to reach those deep-holding bass. It made him one of the most renowned angles, lure makers and writers in the world of sport fishing. Perry’s death was reported this week. He was a longtime resident of Hickory, N.C.

NEW QUAIL ORGANIZATION

Pheasants Forever has announced it is extending its approach to pheasant conservation to another beloved upland bird species, the quail. It is developing a Quail Forever program that will include local chapters, habitat work, national publicity and advocacy.

The announcement says little about the fact that there already is a national quail organization called Quail Unlimited. Headquartered in Edgefield, S.C. Quail Unlimited says it has spent $8.3 million on habitat improvement projects. Its website lists seven chapters in Virginia, but some are inactive.

Pheasants Forever reports that it has completed more than 300,000 habitat projects that have benefited 3.4 million acres of wildlife during its efforts to promote pheasants. It says it will apply its current organization model to Quail Forever, which will include localized-decision making with a lean, low-overhead central administration.

Quail Forever has set a goal of forming 50 chapters and recruiting 12,000 members to work on quail habitat projects. Information is available from Jim Wooley at jwooley@lisco.com.

FISHING REPORT

Catfish are a blue-collar species that keeps on working even in intense heat. In the world of fish, if you were a roofer or highway construction worker, you’d likely be a catfish.

Thank God for catfish! They have been providing much of the Dog Day fishing action. The Chickahominy River has been producing plenty of pan-size catfish, plus some bragging-size fish up to 27 pounds.

Catfish have been dominating the fishing scene at Lake Gaston where John Losher of River Ridge had one that weighed 31 pounds.

In saltwater, the blue-collar fish is the bluefish. Better than average catches of blues up to 5 pounds have been delighting anglers in the Chesapeake Bay. This fishery isn’t anything like it was 20 years or so ago when you could catch a boatload of blues weighing up to 16 pounds and more, but it is a marked improvement.

>Trout up to 4 pounds have been an attraction of anglers at Lake Moomaw, but dominating the fishing recently has been excellent bass fishing offering limit catches of smallmouths and largemouths.

>Striped bass are hitting at a number of lakes, including Little Creek Reservoir where anglers have been taking multiple catches of fish up to 22 pounds. Kerr and Anna Lakes are other striper-fishing spots. Both lakes have been producing surface fishing, but at Kerr the big action is deep fishing around Buoy 6. Anglers in this lower-lake area are jigging with lures such as the Crippled Herring. Others are casting Flukes. Still others are trolling with downriggers or led-core line, and some are using bait. The sale of goldfish indicated what the top bait happens to be.

>Fishing for jumbo-size flounder has remained strong throughout the summer in the lower Chesapeake Bay. As many as 70 citations have been registered in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament some weeks. Prime locations for these fish include the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Cape Henry Wreck and the Cell/Buoy 42 area.

>A popular lure for bass at Claytor Lake/New River is the Jolt. Black is the choice color.

>Huge numbers of croakers continue to be caught in the Chesapeake Bay and in the Oyster area of Eastern Shore.

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>Board meetings of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries had declined to four annually under director Bill Woodfin. With Woodfin dethroned, meeting now are being held every month. New ones on the docket include Sept. 22, Nov. 29 and Dec. 16. They are set for 9 a.m. at DGIF headquarters in Richmond.

>Since 1993, Friends of the NRA functions have provided more than one-half million dollars, not for the NRA, but for grants and programs that benefit youngsters and shooting sports facilities. The Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet is set for Oct. 15 and the Salem Civic Center. Information is available from Chris Kessler, 884-3259.

>You can purchase your Federal Duck Stamp directly from Ducks Unlimited at dustore.org. Each stamp is $15 plus shipping and handling. The stamps are required of waterfowl hunters and -- most people don’t know this -- are a season pass to any National Wildlife Refuge. The new online purchase method will benefit outdoorsmen living in areas where Duck Stamps often are difficult to find at small post offices.

>A new report by the National Wildlife Refuge Association cites an urgent need to implement strategies that conserve lands outside national wildlife refuges. The report found that lands and waters surrounding refuges, called buffer zones, actually have more agriculture, subdivision and other human activity than the national average.

SALTWATER TOURNAMENT

There are new leaders in the dolphin and bluefin tuna categories of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Here are the standings.

BLACK DRUM: 93 pounds, 9 ounces, Willie McWhite, Jr., Richmond, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.

COBIA: 89 pounds, Mark Shaffer, Fredericksburg, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.

CROAKER: 4-pounds, 8 ounces, Elliott Souldourian, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.

DOLPHIN: 47 pounds, 1 ounce, David Deyoung, Des Moines, Iowa, ocean off Virginia Beach.

FLOUNDER: 17 pounds, 2 ounces, Hopie Firth, Poquoson, lower western Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 4 ounces, Keith Trewick, Virginia Beach, lower western Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 14 ounces, William Flipin, Hayes, upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.

KING MACKEREL, 47 pounds, Frank Riganto, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.

KINGFISH: 1 pound, 12 ounces, Damon Moore, Sterling, off Virginia Beach.

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

SHEEPSHEAD: 16 pounds, 2 ounces, Bob Lee, Portsmouth, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPADEFISH: 12 pounds, 8 ounces, Jerry Carnell, Jr. Oxford, N.C. upper eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPANISH MACKEREL: 8 pounds, Charles Lewis III, Pasadena, Md., ocean off Eastern Shore.

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

SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Robert Richardson, Richmond, Elizabeth River.

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

TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Larry Larue, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.

TUNA (BLUEFIN) 129 pounds, Andrew Kidd, Richmond, ocean off Virginia Beach.

TUNA: 90 pounds, 8 ounces, John Mackey, Virginia Beach, ocean off Virginia Beach.

WAHOO: 76 pounds, 3 ounces, Barry Jones Saint Michaels, Md., ocean off Eastern Shore.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Aug. 18, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad St., Richmond.

Inaugural Highland Drummer Chapter Ruffed Grouse Society banquet, Aug. 27, Brier Inn, Lewisburg, W.Va. $45 per person, $65 for couple, ticket information from Todd Spencer, 304-645-7039.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Aug. 29, Virginia Highland Community College, Abingdon

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Aug. 31, Northside High School, Roanoke

Virginia’s dove season opens Sept. 3.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Aug. 30, Wytheville Community College, Wytheville

Dove shoot sponsored by the Kanawha Valley Chapter of Ruffed Grouse Society, Sept. 3, Mountain Meadows Hunting Preserve, Greenville, W.Va., $100, contact Larry Rodgers, 304-206-3303 or Steve Cale, 304-757-6465.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 6, Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors Meeting Room, Woodstock

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 7, Augusta County Government Center, Verona

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 8, Izaak Walton League Building, Centerville

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

Urban archery season, Sept. 17-30 and Jan. 9-25.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 19, Madison Fire Department Fire Hall, Madison.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 20, DGIF Headquarters, Richmond

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 21, Halifax County High School, South Boston

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 22, Holiday Inn, Suffolk

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

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries public hearing on hunting, fishing and wildlife proposals, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 26, Rappahannock Community College, Warsaw

Bowhunting/crossbow season, Oct. 1-Nov. 18 and Dec. 5-Jan. 7.

Roanoke Valley Friends of NRA banquet, Oct. 15, Salem Civic Center, $30 single, $50 couple, 27 firearms and other items to give away, proceeds go to grants and programs for youth and sports shooting programs, information from Chris Kessler, 884-3259.

Fall turkey hunting season, Oct. 31-Nov. 12; Nov. 24 and Dec. 12-Jan. 7.

Muzzleloading season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 5-18.

Muzzleloading season west of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 12-18

Deer hunting season west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Dec. 3

Deer hunting season east of Blue Ridge Mountains, Nov. 19-Jan. 7

Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Nov. 29, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.

Board meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Dec. 16, 9 a.m., DGIF headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.

Late muzzleloading season, Dec. 17-Jan. 7.

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