Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
First, Campbell couldn't get the huge walleye he hooked on the New River into his landing net, then, when he did, he couldn't find a state biologist to verify his catch.
But everything worked out when the mail carrier brought an official-looking letter to his door in Ivanhoe. It was from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and it said the 14-pound, 2-ounce walleye he hooked two days before Christmas had been established as the official state record for the species.
Some of his friends might have said, ``It's about time,'' but most of them were thinking more cordial thoughts. If anyone deserved to be in the record book, one said, it was Campbell. He had earned it.
Campbell's fish exceeds the record, a 12-pound, 5-ounce walleye caught by Chris Thomas on the South Fork of the Holston River on Feb.2, 1990.
If you think you see a pattern there - both catches during cold-weather periods - be aware that in 1973, R.G. Barrett was credited with catching a 22-pound, 8-ounce walleye from the New River in August. That fish was landed before the current record-keeping system, so it is classified as the historical record and Campbell's catch is the official record.
For Campbell, the most productive walleye fishing is found November through January.
``They seem to bite better during the winter months,'' he said Wednesday.
When walleye are on the prowl, Campbell will stay after them six to seven days a week.
``He knows where they are at, and he goes after them hard,'' said his fishing companion, Roy Smith.
Even Christmas doesn't slow his efforts.
``I caught two Christmas day, one about 5 pounds, the other about 3 pounds,'' Campbell said.
Since then, Campbell hasn't landed a fish. He hasn't even been on the river. It is not because he doesn't want to be there, during what he considers a prime time. The water has been too high.
``The current is so high you can't get your bait to the bottom,'' he said.
A recent check of the river by Campbell revealed the water is beginning to clear, which gives him hope he may be back in his johnboat by the end of the week.
That is, ``if it doesn't rain,'' he said. ``They are calling for rain.''
Campbell has had plenty of time to reflect on the ways his record catch nearly became another tale of the big one that got away. How its toothy snout became tangled near the rim of the net and he had to free the fish, then reel it back again. And how he couldn't find a biologist from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to verify the catch because everyone appeared to be on holiday leave.
Joe Williams, a state fish biologist, said there never was a danger the fish wouldn't make the record book because of a lack of verification. There just were some missed signals that made it appear that way.
Campbell is proud of the fact he is a record-holder, but you get the feeling what really counts right now is for the river to fall enough for him to get back on the water.
FEED THEM PORK: Jackie Mize believes cold-weather bass want a mouthful when they feed, and they don't want to do a lot of chasing to get it.
That's why a jig-and-pig combination has been working well for the Bassett fisherman at Philpott Lake. While many streams and impoundments across the state report slow action, Mize has been reeling in red-hot catches.
On a recent outing, he landed and released 11 bass while probing water depths of 5 to 25 feet with his No.11 Pork Frog and a leadhead jig combination. Mize, who works the lure painfully slowly along the lake bottom, said he missed as many as he hooked.
by CNB