Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Using jig-and-pig lures, the two fishermen cast to boat docks and reeled in a 30.2-pound string of bass to win the 16th annual Spring Partners Bass Tournament at Smith Mountain Lake.
"The bass were anywhere from 3- to 6-feet deep," said Smith, who lives in Forest. "I bet we caught something close to 40 fish."
The jig-and-pig, which is a lead-headed bucktail with a strip of pork rind attached, is a deadly early season, cold-water lure. It also was the lure of choice for the second-place team, Rory Dunn of Madison Heights and Jim Coleman of Amherst. Their catch was 30 pounds.
You never know where bass will be this time of the year, said Smith, but it is a safe bet that some will be hanging around boat docks, where they can find shade, cover and food. So Smith and Wilson, who lives in Glasgow, went dock-to-dock in a 3-mile stretch of the lake.
The tournament's biggest fish was a 61/2-pound bass entered by Curtis Talbot of Forest. The average catch was 2.10-pounds, said Dave Hollyer, a tournament official. Sponsored by the Smith Mountain Ruritan Club, the event attracted 72 teams, almost twice the number of last year.
"The fishing has started off earlier this year, and it has started off better," said Smith.
Along with the bass, stripers have moved into the shallows and are hitting well. Dale Wilson, a Smith Mountain Lake guide, has reported catching and releasing as many as 20 to 30 stripers a day. Often there will be smallmouth bass eager to hit the same lures as the stripers.
"We have caught eight smallmouth over 4 pounds," Wilson said.
This is the time of the year you can't be certain what will latch onto your lure. Olin Morgan of Radford landed a 3-pound, 2-ounce citation white bass while casting a deep-running Rebel near Beaver Dam Creek.
TROPHY TROUT: When the trout restocking program got under way this week, one irate angler told George Duckwall that all the fish were being caught the day they were stocked. Duckwall, the fish cultural supervisor for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, didn't agree.
Every one knows how crowded Jennings Creek was on opening day, he said. You'd think that any fish not caught would be trampled to death. Yet the next day, wardens apprehended a fishermen with three limits (18 fish) of trout.
Some fishermen, particularly along the Roanoke River and Tinker Creek, expressed disappointment in the size of the trout after being told to expect big ones. But there was no complaint from Bob Conner of Roanoke, who used a minnow on 4-pound line to catch a 7-pound, 1-ounce brown at Potts Creek.
Brent Hedrick, 14, of Roanoke caught a citation 2-pound, 1-ounce brook trout, along with five other fish, at Jennings Creek. It was his first trout-fishing trip.
NEW FEE AREA: Carl Handy of Patrick Springs has enjoyed the Cripple Creek fee-fishing area in Wythe County so much that he decided to open his own on the Mayo River in Patrick County. Handy is stocking fish in about a 1-mile stretch of the creek and charging anglers $25 per day to fish.
"We run it just the same way as Jim Hilton [of Cedar Springs Sportsman Lodge at Cripple Creek],'' he said.
Most trout are in the 1- to 11/2-pound range, but there will be a dozen or so in the creek that will weigh 3 to 5 pounds, Handy said.
Information is available from Handy at 703-694-8038.
by CNB