Bill Cochran

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Record high gas prices and a slow economy caused saltwater anglers to cut back on the number of fishing trips they took last year; even so, they posed the eighth highest total of trophy fish citations in the 51-year history of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. Some 5,752 trophy fish were registered.

“Clearly the availability of large numbers of trophy-sized speckled trout and striped bass played a role,” said Lewis Gillingham, director of the state-sponsored tournament. Both of these species weren’t just abundant, but close-in enough that catching them didn’t require a long, gas-guzzling boat ride.

But Gillingham points to another reason why the tournament’s citation count has been excelling to the point that eight of the top 10 years have occurred from 20000 to 2008. It is the Internet!

Internet blogs and their chat lines provide instant fishing information. Say there is a red drum blitz off Kiptopeke State Park. Details are going to be posted on the Internet the very day it occurs. Most likely there will be information on exactly where the fish are biting, how deep they are, what bait they are hitting and what techniques are working.

The Internet, said Gillingham, helps anglers “adjust to boom or bust fishing conditions,” thus increasing their productivity.

Here’s a look at some of the highs and lows of the 2008 tournament:

STRIPED BASS: The fall and winter run of striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic provided another season of world-class fishing that was a huge boost to tournament numbers. Anglers registered 1,298 citation stripers in 2008, which represented 23 percent of the tournament’s total. That was the second best striper count in the history of the tournament. Only 2007 was better, when 1,400 striper citations were tallied. Stripers must weight 40 pounds or measure 44 inches to earn citation status.

The abundance of striped bass wasn’t the only thing impressive; the top size of the fish was stunning. There were eight that weighed more than 60 pounds, including a 73-pound state record. Some 102 stripers weighed 50 pounds or more.

Fishing for stripers along the Virginia coast has continued to be productive well into January, which means the 2009 tournament count already is underway big time. Three stripers weighing 60 or more pounds have been registered during the New Year.

SPECKLED TROUT: The 2008 saltwater fishing season just may be remembered as the year of the speckled trout, said Gillingham. The citation count of 1,053 was more than double the next highest total of 476 citations set in 2007. Consider this:

• Eight of the citation trout topped the 10-pound mark; 60 weighed 8 pounds or better.
• Speckled trout accounted for 18 percent of all the tournament’s citations.
• Never mind that speckled trout are delicious table fare, nearly 30 percent of the citation catches were released.
• The Elizabeth River is the state’s speckled trout hotspot, providing trophy catches well into the New Year.
• The big count occurred during a year when some anglers thought the Eastern Shore trout fishery was a bit disappointing.

RED DRUM: The 551 citations for this species reflect a good year. In fact, it was the seventh best on record and accounted for 10 percent of the tournament’s total. Red drum fishing has been on a rip, with nine of the 10 highest citation counts occurring the past 10 years.

FLOUNDER: The 475 founder citations were above the tournament’s long-term average, but a significant decrease from the 2007 count of 667 citations.

“In particular, the early portion of the flounder season saw very few flounder registered, possibly a result of cooler than normal water temperatures, and the catch never recovered,” said Gillingham.

Many flounder fishermen were frustrated with the demanding 19-inch size limit, said Gillingham. “If we had a 14-inch size limit it would take about a dozen casts to catch a limit,” he said.

BLACK DRUM: Anglers registered 448 black drum, meaning it was a decent year, the third highest recorded since 1975. But the count was a significant drop from the 2007 season when 633 citations were registered. On the positive side, 98 percent of the black drum were released.

DISAPPOINTING: A bunch of popular species provided disappointing fishing. Among them:

• The 70 spadefish citations was the lowest number since this species was added to the tournament in 1995. Gillingham isn’t convinced the decline was a lack of big fish. There were plenty of spadefish, anglers could see them, but they were reluctant to bite, he said.
• Sheepshead citations fell for the third straight year. The count was a disappointing 49.
• Spot citations took a nosedive in 2007 and catches remained low in 2008. Only five citations were registered. Smaller spot weren’t that scarce, said Gillingham. It takes a 3-year-old-plus spot to have a shot at a citation. “To have numbers of 3-plus year old fish you need a very strong year class and or low mortality,” he said.
• Gray trout once were abundant and a delight to anglers, but they have fallen on such hard times only two citations were recorded. The steep decline is a puzzlement to both anglers and scientists. “We just are not seeing any numbers of 1-year-old-plus fish,” Gillingham said. Someday they will bounce back, but not the next couple of years.