Friday, April 10, 2009
Tallying up the trophy take in 2009
Private waters produced many citation-sized fish, but anglers fishing public waters also tangled with some monsters.
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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If you are a fisherman, you have a fantasy pond.
You know, that 2- or 3-acre little gem on a local farm you drive by from time to time.
Looking longingly at banks littered with fallen trees, and coves covered with lily pads, you figure the pond has to be filled with massive bass, slab-sided crappies and sunfish the size of dinner plates.
You're probably right.
Private ponds were the 2008 stars of the Virginia Angler Recognition Program, the state-sponsored program that rewards fishermen for trophy-sized freshwater catches.
Of the 6,251 certificates awarded last year, private ponds collectively produced 1,073 fish that met minimum weight or length requirements to qualify for citations, as they are called.
The program's results aren't scientific, as many anglers who catch trophy-sized fish don't bother applying for awards, each application for which carries a $4 fee. Still, the results do help track basic trends of fishing hot spots and hot species.
The dominance of fish from private ponds isn't a recent phenomenon.
Every year private ponds pace the program, and that doesn't take into account the many private waters that are operated as fee fisheries for trout.
Of course, anglers who don't have access to a prime private pond or don't wish to pay to for access to private trout water still pull in plenty of trophies from public waters.
In 2008, the same large public waters that traditionally do well were back up on top again, too, although there were some shifts in trends.
Angler surveys always find that largemouth bass are Virginia's most popular freshwater quarry, and that trend continues to be reflected in citation numbers.
Anglers registered 1,051 largemouth bass that were at least 22 inches long or weighed at least 8 pounds. Of those, 658 came from private ponds.
The largest of the 276 bass entered by weight was a 14-pound, 14-ounce bass pulled from -- where else? -- a private pond by Lonnie Barr of Warrenton.
Briery Creek Lake, a relatively small Farmville-area reservoir owned by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, was the top public water for trophy largemouths. But the aging lake, which was once by far the state's best trophy bass lake, is seeing its dominance fade.
In 2008 it produced 44 citation bass. That was the best in the state, but not by much. The surprising runner-up? Smith Mountain Lake, which had 40 citations.
In the smallmouth bass category, which featured 451 awards, there was little doubt about the state's best water -- the New River.
Of the New's 276 citations, 196 were for smallmouths of at least 5 pounds or 20 inches long.
The James River, as usual, followed the New in the smallmouth category, with 72 citations.
As usual, the rivers were also the top two waters for muskellunge.
Only 75 muskies weighing at least 15 pounds or 40 inches long were registered with the program. Granted, that number represents just a fraction of the trophy muskies caught, as many anglers didn't bother registering their fish.
Of the muskies that were registered, the New accounted for 43 awards, well ahead of the 13 citations issued for James River muskies.
Crappies are another of the program's more popular species, with anglers registering 456 fish that were at least 15 inches long or weighed 2 pounds or better.
Most came from private ponds, but several public waters fared well, too. The best, as usual, was Buggs Island Lake. It had 74 citations, including several crappies topping 3 pounds.
Lake Anna had 46 trophy crappies, while Smith Mountain Lake produced 38 citations.
Sunfish, a category that covers many different species of panfish, had 530 citations. Again, private ponds were big producers of fish weighing at least a pound or measuring 11 inches or longer.
Among public lakes, by far the best were a trio of water supply reservoirs in Suffolk.
Lake Prince led the way with 109 citations, with Western Branch Reservoir close behind with 97. Lake Meade had 40 sunfish, and also an impressive 27 yellow perch.
On the yellow perch front, there was a somewhat surprising passing of the torch.
For years Lake Moomaw has been the state leader in the category, usually by a long shot. That changed in 2008, when the lake produced only 44 citation perch of at least 114 pounds or 12 inches
Moving to the top of the category was the Pamunkey River, a tidal stream that had 47 citations.
Another tidal river -- the James below Richmond -- was responsible for another huge chunk of the awards.
The river produced 470 citations for blue catfish of at least 30 pounds or 38 inches. The James also was the state's top flathead catfish water with 79 awards for fish of at least 25 pound or 40 inches.
Smith Mountain Lake's comeback from a devastating striped bass kill in 2003 continues, with the lake firmly regaining its place as the state's top water for trophy stripers at least 37 inches long or weighing 20 pounds or more.
Last year anglers registered 46 stripers from the lake that met those requirements.
The biggest registered striper came from the same system, but downstream. Troy Dunn of Rustburg had a 46-pound striper from Leesville Lake, which produced only four other striper citations.
Rainbow and brook trout accounted for 1,249 total awards, or 20 percent of the total.
The vast majority of those fish came from commercial fee fisheries, which charge anglers -- usually about $50 per day -- for access to streams and ponds kept well stocked with farm-raised trout.
The heaviest brook, brown and rainbow trout all came from commercial fee operations. The top brown trout exceeded the state record, but fish from commercial operations aren't eligible for state record consideration.
Most state-stocked public waters produced a couple dozen trout citations each.
