Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 12, 1992 TAG: 9203120047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Rain was lashing out of a putty-colored sky and a nasty wind was sending windrows of angry whitecaps across the water. Farley, from Radford, was beginning to question his sanity.
What kept him there for three hours was the fact that the bass had gone mad; no question about that. He might have stayed longer, but an overaggressive cast sent his lucky lure into the side of a boat dock and it was worthless after that.
Much the same thing was happening at other impoundments across the state: Anna, Kerr, Gaston, Smith Mountain, Philpott. If you were at the right place, the right time, with the right lure, you could load your boat.
"The fish were in three-to-five feet of water and were going crazy," Farley said.
His catch included a 6-pound, 9-ounce largemouth. He also caught smallmouths that weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces; 3 pounds, 10 ounces; and 2 pounds, 8 ounces. He added two spotted bass that were estimated to be 1 1/2-pounds apiece.
"I lost two fish that were just as large as the others," Farley said. "That was the most productive three-hour span I've had in my fishing."
Every fish struck a crawfish-colored Rat-L-Trap plug. When Farley smashed it against a dock, he couldn't buy a strike on another lure. Not even a Rat-L-Trap of a different color.
Farley wasn't the only angler on a roll at Claytor. Bob Peaslee of Dublin caught a 5-pound 11-ounce smallmouth on a jig and Tommy Brown of Dublin used a minnow to hook a 5-pounder. The scales at Lakeside Marine Supply were busy weighing striped bass up to 18 pounds and white bass to 2 pounds, 6 ounces.
Rat-L-Traps, along with jig-and-pigs and plastic worms, also were grabbing bass off the windy points of Gaston Lake.
At Lake Anna, the people at Anna Point Marina reported the largemouth fishing was "about as good as it gets." One four-fish stringer weighed 19 pounds. The bass had made their first real push into the shallows, but they were staying there for only short periods.
At Philpott Lake, Mike Helms at Rakes Sporting Goods in Bassett, was telling about one fisherman who caught and released 40 bass on top-water lures. Helms weighed a 9-pound, 5-ounce largemouth and a couple more over 7 pounds, along with plenty up to 6 pounds. There were some smallmouths smashing the scales to the 3-pound mark.
Alec Turner of Huddleston caught an 8-pound largemouth at Smith Mountain Lake and Bobby Barnett of Lynchburg got one that weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Several striped bass in the 20- to 22-pound range were caught. Mike Fosbre of Roanoke landed a 2-pound, 9-ounce white bass.
Down at Kerr Lake, an 8 1/2-pound largemouth was the lunker in a Red Man tournament, but grabbing the spotlight was the outstanding crappie fishing. A couple of anglers in a contest entered 50 crappie that weighed 71 pounds.
The cold front doubtlessly pushed many fish back to their winter depths, but they should grow active again when the weather turns springlike.
\ Even before this week's cold front sent temperatures plunging and carried a heavy cargo of snow to the mountains of Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia, the 1991-92 ski season had been declared a success. Now, it is going to be remembered with even more fondness in West Virginia.
Atop Cheat Mountain, home of Snowshoe and Silver Creek resorts, Wednesday's midday temperature was 8 degrees and 9 inches of natural snow had fallen. Snow guns were operating around the clock.
At Snowshoe, all 33 runs were open. As the snow piled up the prices were coming down - 50 percent off on lift tickets; 30 percent off on lodging.
Snowshoe expects to operate through April 5, said Joe Stevens, public relations manager.
Resorts in Virginia and North Carolina have closed, as has West Virginia's WinterPlace. North Carolina's Appalachian Ski Mountain and Sugar Mountain say they will reopen for the weekend.
by CNB