Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``I was expecting it to be 9,000 and was hoping for 10,000,'' said Gary Norman, a game research biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. ``It was a little bit below expectations.''
The previous record, 8,331, was set last year. This year's success likely was retarded by a poor 1992 turkey hatch. It is the 2-year-old birds that provide most of the action for hunters.
Winter ice storms also may have impacted success, Norman said.
``I think there were some places turkey hunters couldn't get to because there were a lot of downed trees,'' he said.
The spring season was one of mostly mild weather, with few of the kind of raw days that can greatly reduce hunting success. Some sportsmen actually complained the weather was too hot and the season opened too late.
Norman may get the boost he hoped for in the spring kill next year. For one thing, the 1993 hatch was above average, which should mean excellent numbers of 2-year-old birds to challenge hunters.
In addition, this spring's hatching efforts have been favored by positive nesting conditions.
``The number of poults we are seeing is real encouraging,'' Norman said.
An abundant food supply sent hens into the breeding season in good health, and mild, dry weather has helped assure the survival of young chicks. Year-old birds, called jakes, make up about 20 percent of the spring kill.
The top county this spring was Bedford, with 249 toms reported killed. Second was Buchanan, with 212.
Buchanan County has been experiencing better than a 50 percent annual increase in its spring kill. In 1986, only nine birds were reported killed.
``It is growing like that for one single reason, and that is the fact we don't have a fall season in that county,'' Norman said.
The other counties in the top 10 and their respective kills were: Westmoreland, 194; Bath, 187; Franklin, 187; Scott, 177; Pittsylvania, 172; Amherst, 163; Rockbridge, 162; and Albemarle, 159.
BIG CAT: When Larry Clarkson takes a vacation, he doesn't go to the beach or to the mountains. He stalks big catfish in the lower James River and its tributary, the Appomattox.
During a recent week off from his plaster and dry-wall business in Newport News, Clarkson caught a 66-pound, 8-ounce blue catfish on the Appomattox that is a candidate for state-record status. He also landed catfish that weighed 52 pounds and 42 pounds. By the end of his vacation, he estimated he had caught and released 600 pounds of catfish.
The 66-pound, 8-ounce fish was a hefty 9 pounds heavier than the current state-record fish, landed from the Rappahannock River in 1993. All potential records must be certified by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' record committee.
MOOMAW TROUT: Fishing at many impoundments across the state has been hampered by hot weather and heavy recreational boating traffic, but that hasn't kept anglers from reeling in some nice trout at Lake Moomaw.
Larry Andrews of the Bait Place, near the southern end of the lake, has weighed a number of browns in the 5- to 7-pound class. Some were caught trolling; others were taken at night on minnows.
by CNB