THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030159
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
The sun burst through the clouds in divine fashion, the sunbeams appearing to direct the way to an area off the Eastern Shore known as the 26-mile hill.
But this day on the water would not be blessed. It would, however, bring witness to the extreme powers of Mother Nature.
This was to be a fishing excursion for bluefin tuna, and the 26-mile hill has, in the past, been a popular haunt for these tasty battlers.
As the charter boat Therapy closed in on the hill - a large mound that rises from the ocean's bottom - vital signs looked promising. The water temperature pushed 80 degrees and the color was a dark turquoise.
Dr. Jim Wright - skipper of the Therapy and host of the regional fishing show ``Fishing with Dr. Jim'' - liked what he saw.
``Water looks great,'' he said. ``Just look how the sun is shining through the clouds. It's hitting just right where the hill is.
``Maybe it's a sign.''
Wright knows how to read signs. Lately he has been hot on the tuna. Several days earlier, he had jumped into the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament lead with a 131-pounder taken along with several other big bluefins.
And during the days between that trip and this one, he had been in close communication with son David Wright, skipper of the High Hopes. There were bluefin to be had, and a spotter plane had seen several large schools surfacing over the hill.
Everything indicated that this would be a good opportunity to experiment with a style of tuna fishing popular with the fleet out of Wachapreaque on the Eastern Shore.
We would be ``chunking'' for tuna - a method in which cut pieces of butterfish are tossed in the water, forming a slick and a trail of food for the tuna to pick up on.
Once a substantial amount of bait is in place, whole butterfish are hooked and allowed to drift with the chunks - hopefully attracting a tuna or two.
Once tuna begin to follow the bait up to the boat, it provides an exciting spectacle. Fish flash behind the boat, pumping up the anglers' adrenalin. And when one of these big boys hits at such close range, it's as good an angling experience as there is.
But before we began chunking, we had to establish that tuna were in the area. So we employed the standard method of trolling cedar plugs and ``Green Machine'' lures as a location method.
The action started rather quickly, the crew first boating a keeper-sized dolphin (the fish kind) right off the bat.
Then it happened: a good knock-down of a line off the outriggers and the unquestionable hard run of a tuna.
Unfortunately, a five-minute fight ended as quickly as it had begun, with the fish pulling free.
While a disappointing loss, the hook-up provided the kind of information we needed.
Tuna were on the hill.
It was time to chunk.
As mate Bill Cook brought in the trolling baits and rigged up for chunking, the process began. Butterfish were cut in four strips and several were tossed over the side. Once they drifted out of sight, several more were tossed in.
Unfortunately, this is when Mother Nature decided to join in on the fun.
``I don't like the looks of that storm over there,'' Wright announced.
Neither did the rest of the crew, noticing a blackened sky highlighted by frequent bolts of lightning.
We made a run to the back side of the storm, where we followed it back to where we had been chunking.
But another storm was brewing, and it, too, chased us from our hot spot. This time, we could not escape the wrath of rain, high winds and lightning.
As the seas began to swell and the winds blew, we made the decision to make the long run back to Lynnhaven Inlet - tuna-less and with no real chunking experience.
But that, as you know, is why it's called fishing and not catching.
Short-lived lead: Wright's bluefin lead in the saltwater tournament didn't last long, as Michael St. Clair of Williamsburg scored with a 137-pounder a few days later.
Ironically, St. Clair caught his fish in the same area where storms blew out Wright and his crew - the 26-mile hill.
Drum beat: Black drum fishing remains hot around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. During the past week, 23 citations have been recorded. Of those, two were kept and weighed. Both topped 70 pounds.
Jack of all trades: Professional surfer Wes Laine of Virginia Beach proved he was truly at home on the water when he recently scored a blue marlin release at the Norfolk Canyon with skipper Trick Standing.
For the record, Laine is an avid angler who lately has been spending more time fishing than surfing.
Speaking of jacks: Amberjack fishing is heating up around coastal towers, especially the Southern Tower where Dawson Sterling, Leonard Richardson, Addison Richardson, Kurt Schroeder and Eddy Theisz (all of Virginia Beach) scored release citations. Roy Pallette Jr. of Virginia Beach scored at the Chesapeake Light Tower.
New warden: Game warden recruit Arnold Smith Jr. took up shop in Southampton County on Friday.
The 28-year-old native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., previously worked as an interpretive ranger for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He has also worked as a park ranger in the Shenandoah National Park and at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. by CNB