Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 26, 1991 TAG: 9103260008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We had gone fishless most of the morning, aboard Capt. Don Kuykendall's charter, the Don-El. That afternoon, Kuykendall eased his 48-foot craft toward the Great Wilcomico River, dropped anchor and we began catching blues, two at a time.
Big fish on light tackle! Some on fly rods.
When hooked, often they would leap skyward like back-home smallmouth bass, their mouth agape, their red gills flared, the sun glittering on their writhing bodies. With startling speed, they would rip gobs of line from our begrudging reels, their strength and stamina amazing.
Back home, I reported that the annual season for catching jumbo bluefish had begun.
In reality, it was a dying gasp. Fishing for big blues has been poor to non-existent ever since.
Kuykendall was in Salem last weekend, attending the Old Dominion Big Buck Classic and predicting that the good old days may be about to return.
Until two seasons ago, an angler from Western Virginia could travel to the Reedville or Deltaville areas of the bay and just about be guaranteed an excellent catch of bragging-size blues.
Kuykendall had it down to a science.
"Each spring, 21 days after the fish hit Nags Head [N.C.], I could expect to catch them at Reedville."
Then two years ago the big fish suddenly started avoiding the bay, shooting straight up the coast on their spring migration instead of diverting westward.
Everyone from weekend fishermen to marine scientists have voiced theories for the sudden change. Kuykendall's is as good as any.
He traces it to the freak snowstorm of May 6. The water temperature dropped five degrees in a matter of hours.
"And they [the bluefish] turned their nose."
The last couple of seasons, fishing has been for small stuff. Charter boat bookings have declined.
"Of course, the smaller blue is a much better table fare," said Kuykendall. "But most people still like the fight of the bigger fish."
Schools of big blues are being spotted off Nags Head again. A few have hit the surf. Kuykendall is about to begin his 21-day countdown. But will the fish return to his home waters?
"If we get that group of fish to come into the bay, we are going to be fishing for the 12- to 16-pound fish. If they miss us again, as they did last year, then we expect to be fishing for the same year class of fish that we fished for last year. With a year's growth on them, we are talking about 4- to 8-pound fish."
So either way, Kuykendall anticipates a good season, much better than the past two.
Cold water shouldn't be a barrier for the bay this year.
"We have had the highest water temperature this winter of any year since I have been fishing," he said.
One of the most popular skippers on the bay with Western Virginia anglers, Kuykendall will be happy just to be aboard the Don-El this time. Toward the end of last season, he had a persistent sore throat.
"I just put it off and put it off. I tried to finish off the fishing season, and then had it checked, and it was cancer."
Following radiation treatments throughout the winter, Kuykendall says he appears to be cured.
"The doctor said all I need to do is some fishing."
So Kuykendall is watching Nags Head a little closer than ever, and he hopes the latch will be unhooked and the light on when the blues reach the bay sometime late April.
\ WINNERS: Michael Patsell of Hardy had the biggest buck in the Old Dominion Big Buck Classic. It scored 193] under Boone and Crockett measurements. The winners of the archery competition were Bobby Goad of Mount Airy, mechanical release, and Wiley Greer of Salem, finger release.
by CNB