Friday, April 11, 2008
The James is still king
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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When it comes to producing trophy-sized freshwater fish, the James is still the king.
As it does every year, the big river with its diverse habitat led the way in the Virginia Angler Recognition Program, its 836 citations far more than any other public water in the state.
The program, which is administered by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, had no major surprises in 2007.
Most traditionally productive public lakes came through with solid numbers, while private ponds and commercial fee fishing operations also produced their usual high number of awards.
Citations, which are awarded for fish meeting minimum weight or length requirements, climbed slightly from 5,536 in 2006 to 5,648 in 2007.
Total numbers actually fell slightly at many larger public waters, but a big jump in citation numbers at a couple of popular fee fishing areas more than made up for the decline.
Not surprisingly, largemouth bass were the most popular species in the program, with 1,008 citations awarded for fish that were at least 22 inches long or weighed 8 pounds or more. Of those, 648 came from private ponds.
Other than a couple of years when the popularity of blue catfish was exploding on Virginia's tidal rivers, largemouth have traditionally been the program's leader.
Blue cats are still way up there, accounting for 838 citations. Of those, 627 came from the James River. The river also had the year's biggest blue cat, an 89-pounder caught by Andy Self.
The number of blue cat citations has actually fallen substantially the past few years, but that trend likely has little to do with the quality of the fishing.
Raising the minimum qualifying standards to 30 pounds or 38 inches eliminated some citations. Also, many James River catfishing regulars don't even bother applying for awards anymore.
The novelty of receiving a certificate for a big catch has also long since worn off for many regulars at private fee fisheries, where customers pay from $30 to $50 a day to target fat farm-raised trout.
The $4 citation application fee, which was implemented after trout from fee fisheries began to overwhelm the system, has cut down on applications.
Still, fee fisheries continue to account for a significant number of awards processed. Just how many is hard to say because at least two popular fee fishing operations are on streams -- Cripple Creek and the Pigg River -- that also have public sections stocked by the state.
One of the fee areas, Hemlock Springs Trout Farm in the Shenandoah Valley, produced the year's heaviest brook, brown and rainbow trout registered with the program.
Jerry Bartley of Port Republic had both the top rainbow and the top brown. In all, Bartley received 61 citations for trout he caught at the farm.
Kevin Colvin of Crimora had the top brook trout, which weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces. Although the trout was much heavier than the state record, fish from commercial operations are not eligible for state record consideration.
State-stocked trout waters were far more frugal, but most popular put-and-take streams and lakes produced at least a few trout meeting citation minimums.
Among natural fisheries, the New River was a solid second to the James, with 232 total citations, nearly 50 more than in 2006.
As usual, the New was by far the state's best water for smallmouth bass and muskellunge.
One of those muskies -- a 45 12-pounder caught June 1 by Shannon Hill -- was the only new state record last year.
The New also accounted for 146 citations for smallmouth bass measuring at least 20 inches or weighing more than 5 pounds. The river nearly doubled its nearest smallmouth rival, the James, which had 75 citations.
However, the James' small mouth citation total was encouraging and actually up slightly from 2006 despite a fish kill on the river last year. The James also produced the year's heaviest smallmouth, a 7 12-pounder caught by Mary Barksdale of Rustburg.
The James' variety was excellent, with awards for 14 different species, second-best in the state.
The best?
Smith Mountain Lake, with 172 awards spanning 15 species -- some expected, some not.
The lake was the state's top for striped bass. With 38 striper citations, the lake isn't near the totals it reached in its glory years, but the numbers are proof that the lake is recovering well from the 2003 fish kill.
Smith Mountain Lake's downstream neighbor, Leesville Lake, produced only seven striper citations, but three of those took the top three spots among all weighed stripers.
Smith Mountain Lake's 33 awards for crappies helped make it the second-most productive public water in the state for the popular panfish. Only perennial leader Buggs Island Lake, with 66 citations, was better.
Interestingly, seven brook trout citations were reported from the lake, which is not stocked with trout.
Claytor Lake also featured good variety, with 12 species responsible for its 77 total citations. Channel catfish led the way with 16 citations, making Claytor among the top waters in the state for channel cats.
