Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990                   TAG: 9006150023
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BEATING THE CROWD TO A STOCKED CREEK PAYS OFF BIG

It totaled 734.

That is a personal record. His count last year was 603; the previous season it was 524.

A couple of weeks ago, Smith got a generous boost when the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was late sending its weekly stocking list to the media.

Smith, a Roanoker, happened to learn that Potts Creek at Paint Bank had been stocked, a fact not revealed to the general public until a couple of days later. By then, he had caught 234 trout from the Craig County creek.

"I got there about 10:30 in the morning the day after they stocked," he said.

Smith stopped at a Paint Bank store and saw a fisherman he knew.

When Smith asked him, "Any luck?" the man said he had landed 83 trout from a single hole in a three-hour period.

"I'm gone," Smith said.

Smith fished the same pool, an elongated hole that bobs along a rock bed and is easy to reach for the hatchery truck.

"Nobody was there," Smith said. "I fished up to 7:30 that evening. I caught 112 trout. I went back the next day with a buddy and caught 105.

Smith said he used 25 dozen minnows for bait, which cost him $25.

"It was well worth it," he said. "I love to fish."

Sure, the limit is six trout a day, but Smith is a catch-and-release advocate. Smith is certain he catches many of the fish several times. Some that he lands already have hook holes in their mouths.

"You almost always get them right in the lip," he said of his minnow-fishing technique. "You catch and release them and they might not hit anymore that day, but you go back the next morning and you will catch them."

Smith chooses minnows that are about two inches long, presenting them with what he calls a jigging method.

"I don't just throw it in there," he said. "I jig my minnow all of the time. I let it sink close to the bottom then twitch it about every two seconds. I will jig it a couple of times, then crank; jig it a little bit more and crank again."

He uses four-pound line and clips a split shot about 10 inches above the minnow to keep it near the bottom. The technique works in still and fast water.

"As soon as they tap it - then tap it again - you set the hook," he said.

Elsewhere, warm-water anglers have been setting their hooks on a variety of fish, but with some difficulty.

Several of the fishermen practicing for the June 28-30 Wrangler/B.A.S.S. Federation National Championship on Smith Mountain Lake have found fishing tough. The practice cutoff day was Wednesday.

At Claytor Lake, striper and catfish action is reported to be best for fishermen using alewives as bait.

Shad fishermen are catching most of the striped bass at Leesville Lake, where Randy Colbert of Hurt landed a 21-pound, 6-ounce trophy.

The level of Kerr Lake is falling after a period of high water. Worm fishermen are enjoying the best success. At Gaston Lake, several bass in the 6- to 8-pound range have been caught.

South Holston Reservoir is turning out crappie, and at Lake Moomaw, channel catfish are grabbing the attention of fishermen like Joan Smith of Nora, who landed a 12-pound, 7-ounce fish.

Lake Robertson, near Lexington, is making itself know as a walleye impoundment with catches passing the 8-pound mark.