Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407220101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For Randy Arm, it meant catching a citation tuna in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament. At least, that's what his fishing buddy, Bob Gerndt, is saying.
Arm and Gerndt were fishing for tuna in the 26/21 Mile Hills area off Wachapreague, where a couple of lumps on the ocean floor are a hot spot for big fish.
The two anglers from the Roanoke Valley were aboard Capt. Sam Parker's charter, called the Scorpion. They had trolled during the early part of the day, then Parker had cut the engines and tossed out some butterfish bait and chum. This new tuna fishing technique, called chunking, paid off with an impressive number of tuna catches last season, when it was in its development stages.
``We had caught a couple of 50-pounders,'' Gerndt said. ``About 1:30 [p.m.] or so we got another run. Randy got to the pole just about a half-second before I did.''
The catch was a 125-pounder Arm registered as a yellowfin tuna when he returned to Wachapreague. That would make it the top yellowfin in the 1994 tournament, but somehow, when the citation form reached tournament headquarters in Virginia Beach, it was listed as a bluefin. The tournament's top bluefin is a 159-pounder.
Gerndt and Arm, along with tournament officials, hope to get the correct species verified. If it is a yellowfin, Arm will take the lead in that category, which is a pretty rare spot for a Western Virginia angler.
Kurt Gamer of Blacksburg has earned a citation in the tournament for a 32-pound dolphin he caught at Norfolk Canyon.
ON BOARD: Gov. George Allen has appointed two new members to the Board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Charles Cunningham of Virginia Beach was named to represent the second Congressional District. He replaced Walter Conrad Jr. of Chesapeake, who was the board chairman and eligible for reappointment. Cunningham is director of voter education for the Christian Coalition. Before that, he was on the staff of the National Rifle Association.
Russell Garrison of Colonial Heights was appointed to represent the Fourth Congressional District, replacing Omar Ball of Powhatan. Garrison is a paving contractor who has a strong interest in quail and quail hunting.
Elected chairman of the board was Laurence Jahn of Vienna, a retired wildlife biologist and past board chairman of the Wildlife Management Institute.
OVER THE RAINBOWS: Lake Moomaw suddenly has turned into a rainbow trout lake after producing good catches of brown trout earlier in the season. Roger Ruff of Radford landed one rainbow weighing 61/2 pounds and another tipping the scales at 41/2 pounds. James Skidmore of Covington caught a 51/2-pounder. Most of the trout are being caught on minnows fished deep.
Bob King caught a 25-pound striped bass at Smith Mountain Lake, where he operates a guide service.
BIKE CHAMP: Jesse Davis of Durham, N.C., got some help from Gunnar Shogren in winning the Virginia State Championship Mountain Bike Series. Shogren didn't show up for the final event.
Shogren won the title last year and was expected to repeat, but a national race diverted the Morgantown, W.Va., bike shop operator to California. That gave Davis the most points and the title in the five-event series.
CROSSBOWS ON TARGET: State game officials have approved Virginia's first crossbow hunting season, but it will limit participants to hunting on their own land during the season. Participants also must have a written statement from a physician declaring they are incapable of holding and drawing a conventional bow.
by CNB