Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 24, 1993 TAG: 9305240265
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In April they were staged offshore in huge schools well beyond the reach of Nags Head surf casters, then on warming temperatures they zoomed northward, but few bothered to veer into the bay.
Spring bluefish action always is a hit-or-miss affair along the wind-swept beaches of Outer Banks - more miss than hit - but until five seasons ago you could count on thousands of jumbo blues spending the spring and summer in the Chesapeake Bay. No longer.
The '93 season holds little hope of reversing the multiyear trend that has resulted in disappointing sport for trophy-size blues in the bay. No longer can this drought of fish be blamed on the weather, believes Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.
"We have been through every sort of spring weather regime that you can think of: dry, wet, cold, warm," he said. "And they aren't coming in. Personally I don't think the weather is the reason; it is something else."
Roanokers Frank W. Rogers III, John Robertson and Paul Cord Jr., along with John Burner of Waynesboro, found the blues during a late April North Carolina outing. Fishing with Capt. Charles Cabell aboard the Last One II, a private boat, they ran southeast of Oregon Inlet to the western edge of the Gulf Stream.
When the prospects for dolphin, tuna and other species turned sour, they headed back westward to search for blues reported in inshore water.
"We found a large body of fish 17 miles southeast of the inlet," said Rogers. "There were boats working a square-mile area of these fish, but I am certain the body of fish was substantially larger than that."
The blues were beauties, 10 to 14 pounds, and willing to hit anything tossed their way.
"They were a lot of fun on some of the light tackle we had aboard," said Rogers.
The blues held to their Carolina wintering areas longer than normal and are just now in good numbers off Virginia.
"We didn't get the first bluefish catch at the Light Tower [off Virginia] until the first of May," Bain said. "Usually about the 10th of April we get our first bluefish catches around the Tower."
Bain believes the initial wave of migrating blues moved by Virginia, and the fish now being caught are a secondary group.
"We still are at the point right now where the offshore population is just coming into its own."
Because the same can't be said of blues in the bay, anglers are learning to go after other species.
"They just kinda have focused their efforts in other directions," Bain said. "There is a lot of tog [tautog] fishing; a lot of flounder fishing. We usually have something we can go fishing for. We are lucky in that regard."
Through last week, anglers had registered 136 citation-size tautog. The first black drum catches of the year had been taken off Cape Charles, including an 80-pounder. The initial red drum of the season - a 45-pounder - had been wrestled from Hunting Creek.
While only a couple of flounder citations have been reported, the fishing for this popular species is showing promise of building on the comeback started last season. Bain and five companions recently landed 100 flounder - 36 of them take-home size - during an Eastern Shore outing.
"You have a reasonable chance of getting a limit of 10 fish 14 inches or better," he said. "The odds of going out there and catching 3-, 4-, or 5-pound fish aren't very good, but there are a pretty darn good number of fish in the 14-to 18-inch range. It is nice steady fishing."
Also showing promise are croaker, which have suffered a population decline for a number of seasons. Catches of half-pound size croaker have been enjoyed by bottom fishermen along the bay's western shore tributaries.
"By late summer, you very well could see fish that are a pound, pound-and-a-quarter," said Bain, who expects 3-pounders in a year or two. The prospects of citation-size croakers in the near future is exciting to him.
"Due to the decline of blues and gray trout, people fishing the Chesapeake Bay have not had many citation targets," he said.
Striped bass also are receiving star billing in the bay, a species that has rebounded to the point that anglers can reel in excellent late-summer and early-winter catches.
"There is a tremendous number of stripers in the bay right now," said Bain.
So many, in fact, that some anglers believe the decline in blues may be tied to the upsurge in stripers.
License information
If you are planning a trip to the Chesapeake Bay, remember you may need a $7.50 Virginia-issued fishing license. Some anglers either unaware of the new requirement or out to circumvent it have found themselves in court.
"We've been writing tickets since the law went into effect January 1," said Charles Jones, of the Virginia Marine Patrol.
Not everyone needs a license. Those under age 16 and those age 65 and older don't, but it is a good idea for such people to carry proof of their age.
Fishing piers, charter boats, headboats and boat liveries have the option of purchasing "blanket" licenses to cover all their customers. When using such services, make certain the pier or pay boat you are on is covered.
by CNB