Sunday, April 06, 2008
Early anglers get the Heritage Day spoils
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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The blackness of night was slowly inching toward the gray of dawn Saturday when the hordes began descending on Tinker Creek.
They came to stake claim to their favorite pools, riffles and runs for Trout Heritage Day, the special event that's as close to a trout season opener as we have in Virginia.
Fishing isn't legal until 9 a.m. on the 16 Heritage Day waters, but no one was going to beat Randy Whittaker to his hole.
"I got here about 7:30 last night," Whittaker said with a tired-but-triumphant grin.
Whittaker, a husky 30-year-old who lives in Newport, made due in the cab of his compact pickup, a well-worn 1989 Dodge Ram 50.
"I had my feet hanging out the window," he said. "With my blanket and my pillow."
Tim Turman was one of the seven hardy men who pulled an all-nighter there next to the creek.
"You've got to get here early to get a spot," said Turman, whose fishing rod rested on the creek bank at the same place where he's spent the past several Heritage Days. "I've come here every time.
"And I catch a big one every time."
Steve Orange thought he would be in good shape when he rolled up to the creek shortly after 6 a.m.
"I thought I would just sit on my rock with my biscuit and wait," said Orange, a 48-year-old contractor from Moneta. "I came off the hill this morning and seen all those guys there.
"I couldn't believe it."
Roanoker Todd Hartman just laughed.
"I learned my lesson last year," said Hartman. "I came early and it wasn't no use."
So this year he took his time and got to the creek with just enough time to get his stuff ready for the 9 a.m. start.
A couple hundred yards down the creek, Greg Mullen didn't worry about getting too early of a start, either, much to the chagrin of his sons Bryce and Gavin, who are 8 and 6, respectively.
Bryce's rod was already baited and the boy was jumping around like it was Christmas morning.
"They're ready to go," Mullen, of Vinton, said of his sons. "They've been ready to go since last night."
As eager as the campers were to get started, they knew better than to try an early cast, figuring the area was under surveillance.
In fact, a conservation officer had paid them a visit the previous evening.
"He came down and made sure we knew the rules," Whittaker said. "He was just doing his job."
Otherwise, they were left alone.
"Any other night they're going run you out," Turman said, adding that it was different on Heritage Day eve. "They aren't going to say nothing, as long as you're not drinking and carrying on."
So why this hole and not another on the mile-long stocked section of the creek?
In part because when state stocking trucks showed up on Friday there were plenty of scouts there to watch the action. So it was no secret some huge trout were swimming around out there in this particular spot.
"They put one in that was 28, 30 inches," said Jeff Davis, who lives in Blacksburg.
As the morning wore on the men checked their watches and cell phones for the time. With each passing minute the anglers inched closer to the creek.
By 8:59 a.m. all 40 of the fishermen made their final approach.
"They're easing up," said Jimmy Carico of Floyd.
Then, at exactly 30 seconds before the hour, a lure landed in the middle of the creek with a plop.
"There it goes," Carico said.
And the onslaught was on, with lures and bait dimpling the surface of the pool.
On his third cast, Whittaker felt something bump his silver Mepps spinner.
When the fish rolled on the surface, everyone else stopped to stare.
Whittaker had hooked a monster brown trout.
Easing up the bank, Whittaker tried to hoist the trout toward shore. His buddy Robbie Huffman waded in made a grab for the fish.
"Get a net," someone yelled.
But Huffman didn't wait, grabbing the trout and wrestling it to the bank.
Whittaker pounced on his prize, hoisting the trout for all to see.
"I got him!" he shouted as bystanders gasped. "Hell yeah, boys!"
Whittaker pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
"Dad, I just caught a big 'un, about 10 pounds," he said.
"I'm all tore up."
In fact, the brown weighed 11 12 pounds.
That long, cramped night in his truck?
"It was worth it," Whittaker said, shaking. "Totally worth it."
