Tuesday, April 08, 2003
OUTDOORS
Eaton's bass officially sets record

By MARK TAYLOR OUTDOORS EDITOR

   Donnie Eaton wasn't hoping for much when he cast a big spinnerbait into the swirling green waters of the New River the afternoon of March12.

    What he got was a place in the record books.

    The smallmouth bass Eaton connected with on that cast was just approved as a state record by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The 8-pound, 1 1/2 -ounce bass easily eclipsed the previous record, a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass pulled from the New by John Justice in 1986.

    The approval of Eaton's record application is the latest chapter in the feel-good fishing story of the year.

    Eaton, a husky, humble factory worker from Pembroke, has gained an amazing - and deserved - amount of admiration not so much for catching the big bass. Rather, he is being praised for going to great lengths to keep the fish alive, then releasing it.

    The story has other heroes.

    Eaton got a lot of help in keeping the fish alive at the Pembroke Stop & Save while waiting for a game department biologist. One friend ran to get river water for an aquarium and others took turns with Eaton holding the laboring bass upright.

    Biologist John Copeland, who works out of the department's Blacksburg office, also deserves kudos. When he got word of the catch, Copeland dropped everything, found a baby sitter for his kids and hustled to Pembroke to certify the catch.

    Those efforts helped set the stage for the next chapter - the fish apparently was caught again a couple of weeks later.

    That time, 13-year-old Russ Moser of Pembroke was fishing with a live minnow in the same area where Eaton made his catch when he hooked a huge smallmouth. He hauled the fish to Pembroke Shop & Save, where the bass measured the same as Eaton's fish, but weighed about two ounces less. Employees at the store said the bass had the same distinct markings seen on Eaton's trophy.

    When the folks at the shop told the youngster he could get a replica mount of the bass, he also agreed to release the fish. Moser released the fish in a different location than where he caught it.

    Moser deserves praise for his action and he's getting it. Eaton is the one receiving the most attention, which makes sense, seeing as he's the record-setter.

    I've heard nothing but kind words regarding Eaton from the region's fishermen. Many of those folks are going on record with their comments, writing them out on Internet bulletin boards. I've gotten a big kick reading all the comments on Riversmallies.com, a great site dedicated to smallmouth fishing and conservation.

    Some Riversmallies regulars have even taken it upon themselves to help pay for Eaton's replica mount, which will cost nearly $400. About 20 posters have already signed on for the effort.

    Officially, Eaton's bass goes on the books as 8 pounds, 1 ounce. That's because the scale at Pembroke Stop & Save was certified only to the ounce so the game department's record fish committee decided to play it safe and round the submitted weight down to the nearest whole ounce.

    DEER, TURKEY, FISH GALLERIES: Way back in November, in an effort to solicit pictures for our Internet whitetail gallery, I resorted an old trick: bribery. I promised to enter the names of hunters who submitted pictures into a drawing for hunting-related prizes.

    Now that deer submissions have slowed to a crawl, I just held a third and final drawing. The winner is Frank Sherman of Roanoke. He'll get a copy of the "Truth 10 Big Bucks" deer video set, and the Lil' Can doe bleat call, both donated by Primos Hunting Calls.

    The whitetail gallery eventually grew to 115 pictures and was among roanoke.com's most popular features last fall.

    With the onset of spring, it's time to kick off our Internet gobbler gallery. I'll accept pictures of turkeys taken in Virginia and beyond. My primary requirement is the birds must have been taken under legal, fair chase hunting conditions.

    We also plan to launch a fishing gallery soon, so I also need good fish pictures.

    The best way to submit pictures is to e-mail digital pictures - preferably in jpeg format - to me at the address below. Traditional prints may be mailed to me at The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491.

    You can find the galleries by pointing your Web browser to the outdoor section of roanoke.com. The shortcut Web address for the whitetail gallery is deaddeer.com.

Let any elected or appointed official know what you think and how you feel by CLICKING HERE.