Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On opening day, Old Mill Grocery, a check station in Fincastle, registered 50 bucks; Sunset Market near Eagle Rock had 30; and Northside Supply in Bedford County had 30. These numbers aren't far off the pace you'd expect for opening day of the modern firearms season.
The bragging-size bucks included a 10-pointer killed in Pulaski County by Jeff Linkous and an eight-pointer killed in Botetourt County by Frank Benard of Fincastle. Benard's deer weighed 182 pounds.
Bucks appear to be carrying large bodies this season, but their antler development often has been disappointing, which runs contrary to predictions.
``The racks are a lot smaller than last year, for some reason, but the bodies are big,'' said Dewayne Linkous, a taxidermist in Blacksburg.
``Most have real small racks,'' said Lewis McClung of Sunset Market.
But the season is early.
``You don't get your pretty racks early,'' said Robert Karnes of Northside Supply. Even so, Karnes said he had checked some dandy bucks this week, including an eight-pointer and a 13-pointer.
SKIING AT SNOW-SHOE: With temperatures dipping below freezing during the past weekend, Snowshoe Mountain Resort began a snow-gun assault on lofty Cheat Mountain, belching enough artificial blizzards to open its 1995-96 ski season.
The gates opened 10 days earlier than the projected Nov.17 start, but skiers shouldn't expect all slopes and lifts to be in operation. It is a modest start - one run, Skidder, is in service - but it is a start.
With the guns producing 1,500 tons of snow per hour under ideal conditions, the resort anticipates having top-to-bottom skiing by the weekend.
Snowshoe is the first ski area in the Southeast to open, but its starting date isn't the earliest on record, said Joe Stevens, of the resort's public relations department.
``They opened in late October before - way back when - but they had to close'' when the weather turned warm, Stevens said. ``We have been open by Thanksgiving Day every season since 1985.''
This week, Snowshoe has been selling lift tickets for $10. When top-to-bottom skiing is available, the price will jump to $19.50 on weekdays and $27 on weekends. Those rates will hold until Dec.15, when prices will increase again.
STRIPERS STARTING: It is like old times along the surf of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Surf and pier fishermen have been hooking huge fish, some 20-pounders, some even big enough to snap lines. We aren't talking about jumbo-sized bluefish, which haven't shown up. The excitement centers around striped bass, a species that has been extremely scarce in the surf since the early 1970s.
The appearance of stripers is surprising and significant, said Damon Tatem, who operates a tackle shop in Nags Head. Catches have been taken from most of the piers in the region. Other stripers are in the sound, he said.
North Carolina hasn't set its striper seasons, but Tatem predicts opening day for surf fishing will be Nov.15. Until then, it is catch-and-release.
In Virginia, colder weather is stimulating the fishing for Chesapeake Bay striped bass. It likely will be a couple of weeks before reliable fishing can be expected, but smaller fish are being caught.
``I had a friend who caught 25 - 14 to 18 inches - in the James River,'' said Capt. Russell Firth, a charter boat captain who works out of Poquoson. ``They are starting to catch a few fish at the [Chesapeake Bay Bridge]-Tunnel.''
The Virginia season opened in October and extends through the end of December. Unlike last season, fishing is permitted seven days a week. The daily limit is two. Late November and early December should produce peak fishing for larger stripers.
by CNB