Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 12, 1994 TAG: 9405120048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Some 75 percent of the trophy fish are tautogs, homely characters that have a Halloween mask for a face and dark blotches on their dull, gray sides. They aren't the sort of catch that sends you trotting to a taxidermist shop.
But togs have some very positive things going for them, too. They are one of the first species to become active in the spring, and they also fight hard and are excellent table fare.
A total of 136 tautogs have been entered in the tournament, including a 22-pounder, the second largest ever recorded in Virginia. The state record is a 24-pound fish landed off Wachapreague in 1987. It also is the world all-tackle record.
The good fishing likely is the result of the unusually warm weather in late March and throughout April, said Claude Bain, the tournament's director. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported April 1994 was the warmest on record in Eastern Virginia.
That sent water temperatures up and got the togs into high gear. Catches continue at the ocean wrecks located near shore and along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
\ CLASSIC BASS: Santee Cooper Lakes in South Carolina have been around for more than 50 years, yet they continue to produce bass like a virile youngster.
O.T. Fears III won the recent Bassmaster South Carolina Invitational at Santee with a three-day catch that weighed 77 pounds, 4 ounces. On the second day of the tournament, Fears, from Sallisaw, Okla., lugged 34 pounds, 4 ounces to the scales. Both figures were records for B.A.S.S. tournaments, which have been around for 27 years.
In second place was - who else? - David Fritts, with a 70-pound, 3-ounce total.
The best entry from a Virginia angler was a 44-pound, 13-ounce total for Rick Morris of Virginia Beach, who finished 21st.
Woo Daves, Virginia's best-known bass fishermen, got off to a dismal start, but landed a 22-pound, 12-ounce final-day catch that vaulted him to 42nd with 37 pounds, 7 ounces. His son, Chris, was 51st with 36 pounds, 5 ounces.
That wasn't good enough for either of the Daves, who live in Spring Grove, to earn a berth in the BASS Masters Classic. The 15 fishermen who qualified for the July 28-30 Classic in Greensboro through the invitational tournament route were Fritts, Ron Shuffield, Shaw Grigsby, Zell Rowland, Denny Brauer, Guido Hibdon, George Cochran, Davy Hite, Kevin VanDam, Jay Yelas, Peter Thliveros, Chet Douthit, Larry Nixon and Dion Hibdon.
Woo Daves still has a good chance to make the Classic via the BP Top 100 route. The final Top 100 event of the season ends Saturday in Lake Norman, N.C. Going into the contest, Daves ranked 15th in the standings. Fishermen in the top 20 will go to the Classic.
\ BRAGGING SIZE: Larry Davis is finding big striped bass a little closer to his Tazewell home.
For years Davis has been one of the most successful striper anglers on Smith Mountain Lake, and now he frequently is stopping off at Claytor Lake. And for good reason. Davis recently took a 26-pound striper at Claytor, which may be the lake record. Claytor also produced a 20-pounder for Gary Lorton of Fairlawn.
An improved baitfish population in the Pulaski County impoundment is helping stripers put on pounds.
Anglers have been reeling in trophy largemouth bass at Philpott Lake. Timmy Chitwood of Bassett got an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass, and Lee Pendleton of Bassett took one that was 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
Striped bass making a run out of West Virginia's Bluestone Lake have been providing action for Virginia fishermen. Most of the catches are reported from the fall of the river, including Narrows Falls, Wiley Falls, Shumate Falls, as well as the riffles below Glenn Lynn and the water north of the islands at Rich Creek.
by CNB