Thursday, June 21, 2007
Fishing, near and far
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: Our family recently took a trip to the island of St. Maareten. While there, we had to take advantage of the spectacular offshore fishing. We went for a half a day and caught a barracuda, two mahi-mahi and a 52-pound wahoo. Can’t wait to do it again.
MARK, SANDRA AND ALLAN SHAY
BILL: I heard that one of the fishermen from Virginia in the recent national bass tournament on Smith Mountain Lake was caught for cheating and was disqualified. I didn’t see that reported. Can you provide details?
M.U.
M.U.: Rick Morris of Virginia Beach had his first-day catch of 15 pounds, 1 ounce disqualified in the Bassmaster Elite Blue Ridge Brawl on Smith Mountain Lake. Tournament officials charged him with breaking Rule 14, which states that a contestant is not to depart from his boat to land a fish or to reach a fishing spot.
Morris is protesting the ruling, even though the account of his boat partner differs from his.
Morris said he hooked a 4-pound bass in about 6 feet of water while using a top-water lure. The lure became snagged on a rope.
Morris went into the water to retrieve the fish, but said he kept his hand on the boat to satisfy Rule 14. His boat partner, Brandon Pedigo, said Morris did not maintain contact with the boat.
A committee is handling the appeal.
BILL
NOTE: Last week’s Mailbag contained a letter with pictures of a couple Chesapeake Bay anglers who rescued a deer they found swimming well off shore. Robert Harper sent me the account, and since Robert is a friend who often fishes the Bay, I mistakenly throught he had made the rescue and taken the pictures.
That wasn’t the case. The account and pictures were the work of Chad Campbell. Harper simply was passing along Campbell’s input. My apologies to Harper and Campbell. (The references have been corrected.)
BILL
