THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610060193
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: 136 lines
With less than two weeks before the opening, many Virginia anglers are awaiting the striper season with the excitement of a kid awaiting Christmas morning.
``I'm ready, really ready,'' said Richard Welton of Virginia Beach, president of the Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia, a recreational fishing group.
Local tackle shop operators report that they already have seen an upswing in sales of gear designed to catch striped bass.
Malcolm Pine of Sandy Point Tackle in Norfolk and Jim Henley of Princess Anne Distributors in Virginia Beach, popularly known as the 17th Street Tackle Shop, said anglers are fast getting ready.
``Some of these guys are so excited I'm not sure they're going to make it through another couple of weeks,'' said Pine.
Virginia's Chesapeake Bay striper season opens at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 17, running through the remainder of the year. The bag limit is two fish a day, with an 18-inch minimum size.
Anglers should have little trouble filling their limits, according to Jack Travelstead of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
``We should have another outstanding season,'' said the agency's chief fishery manager. ``In fact, it should be even better than it was a year ago, and 1995 was certainly a good year.''
Travelstead said anglers should see a lot of stripers between seven and 10 pounds, plus good numbers just meeting the minimum. ``We don't have a lot of really big fish,'' he said. ``But that's the only part of the picture that isn't bright.''
N.C. STRIPERS: The North Carolina striper season opened Thursday in ocean waters, where there is also a two-fish bag limit but a 28-inch minimum.
However, anglers who fish for stripers in North Carolina sounds probably will have to wait until Thanksgiving week to keep any rockfish. So says Harrell Johnson of the state's division of marine fisheries.
``We're proposing that the season open just about when it did a year ago,'' Johnson said, adding that the minimum size was being proposed at 21 inches.
But to hear from Tar Heel state anglers, a series of public meetings has been scheduled over the next two weeks.
The first will be Wednesday at the College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, Building B, Room 202. The next will be Oct. 15 at the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo and the third Oct. 16 at the fire station at Buxton-on-Hatteras. All will begin at 7 p.m.
There's a quota of 14,250 pounds for this season, Johnson said, and anglers will be allowed to keep rockfish until this quota is reached. Then the season will be closed.
STRIPER SEMINAR: A free seminar on fishing for stripers will be offered Oct. 16 at the BOAT/U.S. retail store at 6600 Virginia Beach Boulevard, Norfolk.
Open to anyone, it'll run from 6 to 10 p.m. and will be taught by John Johnson, store manager and an accomplished angler.
While the class is free, participants must register in advance. For details: 461-3601.
BASSIN' NEWS: Ivan Morris of Virginia Beach was the top Virginian in the recent Bassmaster Virginia Eastern Invitational on Lake Gaston.
He finished 24th in the field of 330 and won $1,900 with a three-day catch of nine bass weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces.
Morris was the only Virginia angler to finish in the money in the $196,000 contest. It was won by David Ashcraft of Bismark, Ark., who pocketed $35,000 in cash and prizes with a catch going 37-2.
Rick Morris, Ivan's brother, was 80th at 12-13, while Jim Sumrell of Virginia Beach tied for 117th at 10-1 and Curt Lytle of Suffolk was No. 150 at 7-14.
Meanwhile, Tom Hubbard of Fredericksburg has claimed the Virginia title in the Big Bass World Championship and will advance to the finals in Oklahoma Oct. 18-19. The winner will collect $50,000, a new pickup and a fully-rigged bass boat.
Hubbard's winning largemouth weighed 15.5 pounds and was pulled from Berkley Creek Reservoir. It's one of the state's all-time heavyweight bass.
The first $1 million purse in the history of bass fishing has been announced for the 1997 FLW Tour. The money will go to contestants in the Forrest Wood Open on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota next June.
The seven-stop FLW Tour is named in honor of Forest L. Wood, founder of Ranger bass boats.
RECOMMENDED READING: If you enjoy wildlife in any manner, from hunting to watching, you should enjoy a new book, simply titled ``Elk'' and subtitled ``Behavior, Ecology, Conservation.''
It is one of the most beautiful wildlife books you'll ever see. It was written by Erwin Bauer and photographed by him and wife Peggy of Montana. With more than 40 years of experience each, they are among the country's foremost nature and wildlife artists.
Like nothing before it, ``Elk'' is a thorough source of details of this shy, majestic creature, once abundant throughout Virginia but now extinct in the wild in the state.
Published by Voyageur Press, the book is available at bookstores or may be ordered direct by calling 1-800-888-9653. The cost is $35, plus $2.95 shipping and handling.
SMALLER BUT GOOD: Noted outdoor writer Vlad Evanoff of Florida has just published a much smaller book that should be valuable to legions of anglers.
It's titled ``Saltwater Bait Fishes,'' contains 64 pages and sells for only $6, postpaid.
It's small in size but big in information, especially if you use baitfish for saltwater fishing, as so many anglers do today.
It covers most of the popular species and touches on such topics and how to catch them and how to rig them.
It's available from: Catchmore, Box 770036, Coral Springs, Fla. 33077.
GETTING IT STRAIGHT: To erase any confusion about new tuna regulations recently approved by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries:
The agency has eliminated the 22-inch minimum it had for yellowfin and bigeye tuna. This means the federal minimum of 27 inches will be enforced.
``It was a bit confusing,'' said Jess Hawkins, spokesman for the agency. ``The federal minimum will be recognized, regardless of where the fish is caught.''
Federal waters begin 3 miles offshore and extend seaward to 200 miles. States regulates fisheries within three miles.
The minimum is the ``curved fork length'' method, measured from the tip of the nose, down the curved side of the fish to where tail forks.
SHORT CASTS: Roam Perrel of Suffolk has earned a citation award from the Virginia Fresh Water Fishing Program with a 1-pound, 3-ounce bream. . . . Commercial fishing and mariculture in the Northeast, including Virginia, yielded $983.1 million in 1995, up eight percent over 1994 and 11 percent over 1993. . . . Carl Herring of Suffolk will talk on speckled trout fishing at Monday's 7 p.m. meeting of the Tidewater Anglers Club. Open to anyone, it'll be at the Marina at Marina Shores off Great Neck Road near Shore Drive in Virginia Beach. . . . Richard Hickey of Virginia Beach has been named ``Kingfisher '96'' by the 71st Street Anglers of Virginia Beach. . . . Effective immediately, there is no minimum-size limit on bluefish caught in North Carolina. It has been 12 inches. . . . Some 80 six-person teams are expected for the annual Nags Head Surf Fishing Tournament which opens Wednesday and continues through Saturday. Most squads are from Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina. by CNB