Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Maybe that was an angler's exaggeration, but the stringer of bass he toted was big enough to make a dent in the water. He and his companions, Jim Taylor and Tony Self, had landed eight largemouths that weighed a total of 40 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch included an 8-pound, 1-ounce citation taken by Taylor.
"It is the largest stringer of bass I've seen since I've been here," said Steve Murdre, who began operating Anna Point Marina after moving from Salem in 1985.
There's more. Monday, the day after the big stringer was caught, Green reeled in a 9-pound, 4-ounce Anna bass. It was the third 8-pound-plus bass in a week that had been wrestled into his boat. Every one has been released.
All of a sudden, Anna has appeared to recapture its youth. For several years, the 13,000-acre lake east of Charlottesville was the dominant producer of citation-size largemouth in Virginia. It yielded many of them in February, a time when other lakes often shut down. Then, in recent years, Anna began to lose some of its magic as a hot spot for long-john largemouth.
Murdre can't explain why the lake suddenly is going full throttle again. Instead of pondering about it, he is catching bass. After Green's catch, he and a friend landed six bass Tuesday up to 4 pounds in weight. They were taken in 10 to 14 feet of water along deep banks in creeks, he said.
The lures working for champion fisherman Green have been the Guido Bug and Sassy Shad. The Sassy Shad is a well-known, minnow-shaped plug, but the Guido Bug is new to many fishermen. Created by Guido Hibdon, the 1990 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year, it is a plastic, crawfish-type bait fished on a lead head. Hibdon credits it for much of his recent success, which includes winning one of the BASS Masters Classics on the James River at Richmond.
Largemouth bass also are reported to be on the prowl at Chickahominy Lake-River. The river produced an 8-pound, 1-ounce bass for Larry McCoung of Lanexa, who was casting a gold-colored Rat-L-Trap plug in 5 feet of water. Wade Conway of Sandstone caught two bass in the lake that were about 6\ -pounds apiece. He was casting a crankbait.
Bass fishing is reported to be slower at lakes like Briery Creek and Philpott, but Leslie Jarvis of Stuart did take a 4-pound, 5-ounce smallmouth at Philpott.
Barry English of Motley landed a 37-pound striped bass from Leesville Lake while working a Rebel plug. Charlie McDaniel of Colonial Heights got a 23-pound, 7-ounce Leesville striper on a jig.
While the lake's production of jumbo striped bass doesn't come anywhere near matching that of its upstream companion Smith Mountain [20 citations vs. 286 last year], prudent fishermen know that big Leesville fish aren't a fluke. Last year, Jerry Betterton of Gretna landed the largest striper of the year, 41 pounds, 8 ounces, from Leesville.
Striped bass catches have been lean at Smith Mountain the past week. The cold, the wind and the rain probably have dealt more harshly with fishermen than fish, said Melvin Crewson, who operates a tackle shop at Hardy.
But the fish also have been impacted. Crewson talked with one angler who found stripers in 2 feet of water one trip and in 20 the next.
The Roanoke River walleye run in the Brookneal area is yet to peak.
"Everybody is trying to figure out what is going on," said tackle shop operator Mike Guthrie. He has weighed a few big fish at his shop, but overall success is reported to be slow.
Sea bass and tautog are being caught along the coast, where fishermen are awaiting the arrival of Boston mackerel. The mackerel were in Virginia waters last year by January, but this winter they don't appear to have come south of Cape May, N.J., said Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament.
Bain expects the mackerel fishing in Virginia to peak around the last two weeks of March.
by CNB