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

Jeff Hutton and Richard Koch couldn’t find any fiddler crabs for a late-July sheepshead fishing trip along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Lacking their favorite bait, they settled for hard crabs.

Maybe that explains why they didn’t catch but one sheepshead. But what a sheepshead it was! The fish weighed 19 pounds, 3 ounces, a Virginia record for the species.

Hutton, of Virginia Beach, hooked and landed the trophy while anchored over the rocks at the tunnel end of the Second Island of the bridge-tunnel. The fish was 28 inches long and had a girth of 24 inches, according to Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

The previous record was a long-standing 19-pounder caught Oct. 8, 1979 south of the First Island of the bridge-tunnel by James Boyd of Virginia Beach.

There has been a sharp increase in sheepshead fishing, sending citations soaring as anglers target this species.

LITTLE CHANGES FOR WATERFOWL REGS

Look for little change in Virginia’s waterfowl hunting regulations when the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries sets the bulk of duck and goose regulations during a meeting in Richmond Aug. 19.

States have some leeway in establishing regulations, but must do so within a federal framework. That framework has changed little from last year.

Breeding habitat conditions in some survey areas are not as good as they have been in recent years, but overall the habitat and populations of key waterfowl species are sufficient to justify hunting opportunities similar to last season, federal officials say.

ONE-STOP OUTDOOR SHOW

Need a new hunting license? Need a copy of the new hunting and trapping regulations? Want to purchase a 2004-2005 Virginia Wildlife calendar? Have a question about the new big game license and checking system?

You should be able to take care of these needs in one stop at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ booth in the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman’s Show, Aug. 13-15 at the Showplace in Richmond.

The DGIF will have a strong presence at the popular show, which is sponsored by the Virginia Deer Hunters Association. In addition to the DGIF display, there will be more than 250 other vendors along with workshops and seminars. The 21-year old show has become the kick-off of the hunting season.

See sportsmanshow.com for details.

CHEERS OVER NO CATCH TOURNAMENT

It was an odd fishing tournament last week, the rare kind that can make people happy when not a single fish is caught.

No, we aren’t talking about the Bassmasters Classic. This tournament was a hunt for sneakhead fish in the Potomac River, where prizes were offered to anyone catching one of the undesirable critters.

Some 115 anglers showed up to take part in the challenge, sponsored by the Marine Operations Association of America. Contestants said they spotted two sneakheads, but caught none.

The lack of any fish at the weigh-in doesn’t mean snakeheads aren’t in the river, said an U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman. It could mean that this exotic species is going to be tough -- probably impossible -- to eradicate.

BURTON AND BIG TOM

NASCAR driver Ward Burton and “Survivor” all-star “Big Tom” will be featured at the Return To Nature’s annual fundraising event in Lynchburg Sept. 14. Return to Nature has instructed more than 185,000 Virginia students about natural resource conservation. It is one of the finest conservation organizations in the state.

Tickets to the fundraiser cost $60 and can be purchased at www.ballowx.com. Participants will get the chance to chat with Burton and Big Tom, and participate in raffles and auctions featuring NASCAR items, racing weekend packages, wildlife art and the like. The event will be held at Cattle Annies.

FISHING REPORT

The biggest largemouth of the year has been reported at Briery Creek Lake where a man who gave his name as “Joe” weighed a 13-pound, 6-ounce catch. He said he was about to quit for the day and was reeling in his line when the lunker hit. Buzz Robertson of Chesterfield landed a 9-pound, 6-ounce largemouth from the lake.

Some anglers have been loading up with bluegills while casting crickets at Chickahominy River.

Fishing for sunfish and flathead catfish has been rated “fantastic” in the James River at Richmond by guide Mike Ostrander.

Flathead and blue catfish up to 40 pounds have been taken in Kerr Lake.

Anglers have been hooking as many as 10 walleye per trip by slow trolling at Gaston Lake. Slow trollers at Flannagan Reservoir also are catching walleye, where successful fishermen have been using nightcrawler rigs on lead-core line.

Muskie have turned on in the New River, with the best action occurring late afternoon into the night. Big, surface-disturbing lures have taken fish up to 25 pounds.

While fishing at night, Larry Moody of Petersburg and Phillip Barnes of Richmond caught 37 striped bass at Lake Chesdin. Two weighed more than 20 pounds. The anglers found the stripers attacking shad on the surface.

Bass have been striking a variety of lures and baits on the Potomac River. Top-water lures are productive early in the morning.

Flounder fishing has been good in the Chesapeake Bay and off the piers of Virginia Beach. Offshore fishing has been slowed by storms.

OUTDOOR BRIEFS

>>It now is official. The 92-pound, 4-ounce blue catfish landed from Kerr Lake by William Zost of Roxboro, N.C., has been certified as a state record by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

>>State Forester Jim Garner, of the Virginia Department of Forestry, has announced plans to retire Oct. 1.

>>James River fishing guide Mike Ostrander has expressed surprise at how quickly the river rises and becomes unfishable behind this summer’s frequent storms. One day when he portaged around Williams Dam, water was flowing vertically down the face of the dam. Three hours later it was raging over the dam at nearly a 45-degree angle, covering boulders that had been evident a short time before.

>>Fee fishing and trout producing operation in Virginia have bounced back from the hard times in 2002 when drought cut production, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. In many instances, prices charged for trout have increased, the bureau said.

>>The Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation has launched a VoteYourSport.com Website designed to represent the interests of hunters and shooters in the fall 2004 elections.

>>Shimano American Corporation won the Overall Best of the Show Award for its Chronarch B Series reel in the recent ICAST 2004 new product show.

>>The recent Animal Rights 2004 Conference in Northern Virginia was boycotted by several groups that have been key players in the past. The riff is reported to be caused by a disagreement about campaign tactics, including those that use outrageous stunts and violence.

>>Roland Martin received the BASS Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2004 Bassmaster Classic in Charlotte. Rick Clunn won the honor in 2002 as the first recipient. Ray Scott was last year’s winner.

VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT

Here are the standings in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament:

BLACK DRUM: 95 pounds, Joseph Roub, Baltimore, Md., Hog Island Bay.

COBIA: 88 pounds, James Neill, Lanexa, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

CROAKER: 5 pounds, Jarvis Taylor, Richmond, lower York River.

DOLPHIN: 43 pounds, 6 ounces, Steve Richardson, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

FLOUNDER: 14 pounds, 4 ounces, Betty Smith, Chesapeake, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 4 pounds, 1 ounce, Gary Costanzo, Williamsburg, lower-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

GRAY TROUT: 12 pounds, 12 ounces, Greg Thayer, Gloucester, upper-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

KING MACKEREL: 21 pounds, 8 ounces, Chuck Riddleberger, Joppa, Md., off Eastern Shore.

KINGFISH: 1 pound, 14 ounce, Bobby Smith, Portsmouth, lower-western Chesapeake Bay.

POMPANO: 1 pound, 10 Ounces, Varnell Williams, Virginia Beach off Virginia Beach.

SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 14 ounces, Mark Fueller, Rio Grande, N.J., off Virginia Beach.

SHEEPHEAD: 19 pounds, 3 ounces state record, Jeff Hutton, Virginia Beach, lower eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPADEFISH: 13 pounds, 10 ounces, Jake Mapp, Franktown, upper-eastern Chesapeake Bay.

SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, Ann Barse, Cambridge, Md., off Eastern Shore.

SPECKLED TROUT: 13 pounds, 12 ounces, Walter Kellum, Hayes, Mobajack Bay.

SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Gilbert Smith, Charles City, lower Rappahannock River.

STRIPED BASS: 63 pound state record, Carolyn Brown, Virginia Beach, off the Virginia Coast.

TAUTOG: 22 pounds, 9 ounces, Julie Ball, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

TUNA (BLUEFIN): 164 pounds, Matthew Abell, Pocomoke, Md. off Eastern Shore.

TUNA (OTHER): 207 pounds, William House, Virginia Beach, off Virginia Beach.

WAHOO: 80 pounds, Alex Hazel, Riva, Md., off Eastern Shore.

MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS

Wheelin’ Sportsman Benefit to teach disabled how to enjoy the outdoors, Aug. 13 and 14, Clarion Hotel in Williamsburg, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops in Hampton and Colonial Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, information from Doug Smith, 757-262-5217.

Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show, Aug. 13-15, The Showplace, Richmond, www.sportsmanshow.com.

Virginia Field Archery Association 2004 Championship, Triangle Archers, Aug. 14 and 15, Blacksburg, open to all NFAA members, handicap card required, you may john NFAA prior to registration, registration fee $20 or $45 maximum per family, shoot starts 9 a.m. each day, registration at range 6-10 p.m. Aug. 13 and prior to 8:30 a.m. Aug. 14. Information from James Overfelt, 540-320-0924 or 540-552-8023.

Department of Game and Inland Fisheries board meeting, Aug. 19, 9 a.m. at department headquarters, 4000 W. Broad Street, Richmond.

Mother-Daughter Outdoors Event, Aug. 20-22, Appomattox, opportunity for women 9 and up to learn outdoor skills. Information from www.dgif.state.va.us/events/index.html.

The Triangle Bowhunters of the New River Valley three 3-D archery events on its property between Christiansburg and Blacksburg: Aug. 22 and Sept. 19. Information from vfaa.org or from Jim Overfelt, jimo@vt.edu.

Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival, Sept. 17-19, Richmond/Petersburg, information from dugof.com.

Mother-Daughter Outdoors Event, Aug. 20-22, Appomattox, opportunity for women 9 and up to learn outdoor skills. Information from dgif.state.va.us/events/.

Virginia Outdoors Weekend, Sept. 17-19, for families, Westmoreland State Park, information from dgif.state.va.us/events/.

Smith Mountain Striper Club fall tournament, Oct. 9., information from Rex Smith, smithrex@charter.net.

CITGO Bassmaster Open tournament, Oct. 14-16, Smith Mountain Lake.

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