Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993 TAG: 9301210047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOORS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SPORT, COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN CLASH AT NAGS HEAD
Jack Smith and two fishing buddies traveled 12 hours, round trip, from their homes in Fairfax to Nags Head, N.C., just for the chance to speak three minutes on how they feel about the recent clashes between sport and commercial fishermen."We're awaiting a signal from you folks as to whether you want us to sit at home and eat the fish these guys [netters] ship up to us or come down here and spend our money to catch fish on our own," he told Nags Head officials during a public hearing.
Other sport fishermen came from as far away as New England. The commercial netters where there, too, more than 300 people in all.
"We find it incredulous that commercial fishermen can continue to intimidate, harass and flaunt their `get out of my way attitudes' to the sport fishermen," said John Newbold of Virginia Beach, who represented the 4,000 members of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association.
The commercial netters, most of them Outer Banks natives, said they have a right to fish the surf, an activity that helps put groceries on their table.
"No we cannot compete with the dollars visitors spend in Dare County each year, but we are an important and historic part of the economy," said Terry Rogers, whose family has fished the area for four generations.
Some recommendations that got serious attention:
A ban of beach haul seines at Nags Head from Oct. 1-Dec. 31, the period that large bluefish are most likely to be in the surf.
No netting Fridays through Mondays, when sport fishermen are most numerous.
Zones along the beach to divide the activities of sport and commercial fishermen.
No decisions came out of the hearing, a fact that caused tackle shop operator Damon Tatem to say afterwards: "We have a long way to go and many battles ahead."
\ NEW 3-D RANGE: Bowhunters have a new place to shoot three-dimensional targets, a fast-growing division of their sport that some archers say is the next best thing to hunting.
The old ball field along Virginia 311 in Craig County has been turned into a 3-D range by three archers who are scheduled to provide competition every Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Exceptions are Super Bowl Sunday, Mother's Day and Easter.)
It is called Two Flags 3-D Archery, said Charles Graybill of Roanoke, who owns the facility along with Bob Exley and Dick Sutphin.
Graybill said Two Flags isn't designed to compete with the 45-year old Sherwood Archers Club in Hanging Rock, where he is an active member. Sherwood sponsors a wide variety of indoor and outdoor matches that include one 3-D shoot per month during the winter. It is a Virginia Bowhunters Association affiliate.
"We just like to do some 3-D shooting every weekend," Graybill said.
The new facility, affiliated with the International Bowhunters Association, is composed of 24 animal targets made of realistic foam. Many are placed in natural habitat along Craig Creek.
A round, which costs $8, consists of two shots at each target. Two Flags is 12 miles north of Hanging Rock on 311.
\ BIGGER BUCK: The newest Boone and Crockett record book shows that the largest non-typical whitetail deer from Virginia in the national records is the 28-point Rockingham County trophy killed in 1990 by Jeffery Hensley of Shenandoah.
Hensley's buck replaced the previous leader, a 38-pointer killed in Buckingham County by James Shumaker of New Canton in 1986. (On Sunday's Outdoor Page, we listed the Shumaker trophy as the top buck.) Hensley's buck scored 249 6/7; Shumaker's, 232 4/8.
The 31-point Warren County buck killed the past season by Jim Smith of Front Royal is expected to get into Boone and Crockett at about 259. All this points to the fact that Virginia sportsmen live in the "good old days" of trophy hunting, with half of the state's top 16 bucks killed the past seven seasons.