Courtesy of The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot

Despite reduced fishing pressure in 2009, Virginia saltwater anglers still managed to top 5,000 citations for the 10th consecutive year.

Courtesy of Maryland DNR

For the first time, speckled trout were the top catch in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.

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Mark Taylor

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Virginia's saltwater anglers faced wind, cold and a challenging economy in 2009, all of which reduced the time they spent on the water.

But when they got out, they made up for lost time by boating and landing a good number of trophy-sized fish.

Last year saltwater anglers registered 5,191 fish that met minimum length or weight qualifying standards for the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

Although the total represents a drop from the 5,752 citations registered in 2008, the total was still the among the dozen highest in the 52nd year of the tournament, a program of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

A boom or bust year for a certain species can have a big impact on tournament totals and last year was no different.

A year after anglers registered a whopping 1,298 striped bass that were at least 40 pounds or 44 inches long, citations for that species dropped to 761.

Despite the fall, stripers were still the third most popular species in the program.

Taking over the top spot among the 35 eligible species were speckled trout, the local moniker for spotted sea trout.

Anglers registered 849 speckled trout that met the qualification standards of 5 pounds or 24 inches.

Seven of the fish exceeded 10 pounds, with the largest a 13 pound, 14 ounce behemoth pulled from the Elizabeth River by Michael Whittaker of Chesapeake.

The trout total was the second-highest in the program's history, topped only by the 2008 tally of 1,053.

Capture citations

Species Weight Angler Hometown Total capture citation

Black drum 84-12 William T. Brown Hampton 3

Bluefish 19-4 Jason Kelly Colonial Heights 4

Blueline tilefish 23-5* Michael Adkins Sutherland 428

Cobia 105-8 Wes Blow Newport News 229

Croaker 5-3 Nathan Clendenin Richmond 56

Dolphin 39 Robert L. Manus Ark 39

Flounder 12-12 Mike Perron Virginia Beach 348

Gray triggerfish 5-2 Ben Shepherd Chesapeake 11

King mackerel 33-1 Ed Cromwell Jr. Virginia Beach 1

Kingfish (roundhead) 1-12 Bill Pope Norfolk 3

Pompano 2-6 Ben Shepherd Chesapeake 2

Sea bass 8-4 Rob Collins Norfolk 78

Sheepshead 17-14 Wei Zhong Zheng Saranac, N.Y. 85

Spadefish 14-14* Ronald E. Murphy Fredericksburg 47

Spanish mackerel 7-2 Sophia Vella The Plains 7

Speckled trout 13-14 Michael Whittaker Chesapeake 611

Spot 1-2 Chris Brooks Virginia Beach 6

Striped bass 66-8 Pete Johnson Hampton 535

Tautog 21-13 Skip Feller Virginia Beach 79

Tuna (bluefin) 168 Paulette Johnson Uniontown, Ohio 49

Tuna (other) 230 Jeff Creekmore Chesapeake 49

Wahoo 72-4 Lonnie Brock Virginia Beach 26

*State record

Release citations

Species Release citations Total citations Percent released

Amberjack 174 174 100 percent

Black Drum 190 187 98 percent

Blue Marlin 51 51 100 percent

Bluefish 16 12 75 percent

Blueline Tilefish 428 0 0 percent

Cobia 292 63 22 percent

Crevalle Jack 11 11 100 percent

Croaker 59 3 5 percent

Dolphin 39 0 0 percent

False Albacore 2 2 100 percent

Flounder 364 16 4 percent

Gray Triggerfish 16 5 31 percent

King Mackerel 1 0 0 percent

Kingfish (roundhead) 3 0 0 percent

Pompano 2 0 0 percent

Red Drum 505 505 100 percent

Sailfish 95 95 100 percent

Sea Bass 78 0 0 percent

Shark (any) 70 70 100 percent

Sheepshead 114 29 25 percent

Spadefish 57 10 18 percent

Spanish Mackerel 10 3 30 percent

Spearfish 3 3 100 percent

Speckled Trout 849 236 28 percent

Spot 8 2 25 percent

Striped Bass 761 226 30 percent

Swordfish 1 1 100 percent

Tarpon 12 12 100 percent

Tautog 111 32 29 percent

Tuna (bluefin) 57 8 14 percent

Tuna (other) 11 0 0 percent

Wahoo 26 0 0 percent

White Marlin 775 775 100 percent

Totals 5,191 2,531 49 percent