THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270524
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: 30 lines
Just when it looked like there wouldn't be much of a run of big bluefish off Virginia this season, offshore boats began loading up on choppers.
``We're fishing for (bluefin) tuna, but we're catching big bluefish right along with the bluefins,'' said one charter boat skipper who sails from Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach.
Blues are on the Southeast Lumps, about 30 miles southeast of Rudee Inlet, as well as just east of the 26-Mile Hill, so named because it's 26 miles southeast of Wachapreague Inlet on the Eastern Shore.
In fact, it looks as though you can catch choppers anywhere from 8 or 10 miles off the coast to the edge of the Continental Shelf.
Trouble is, practically no one wants them.
It's a big change from the early days of sport fishing at Rudee Inlet, back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the bluefish was greatly responsible for the inlet being dredged and opened to boat traffic.
Then, anglers flocked to the resort city to participate in a tremendous fishery. During Jimmy Carter's presidency, the chief executive twice came to Rudee to fish for - and catch - bluefish.
Why the downturn?
The fishery became too dependable, too predictable, too everyday. Anglers became too spoiled. For most, the challenge has evaporated. Now, they'd rather catch bluefin tuna. by CNB