Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Going wild,'' is the way Hugh Hamby describes the action. Hamby operates a store at Castle Heights where many anglers come to weigh catches.
Two fishing hot spots are the areas between Buoys 6 and 13 and the section between the railroad bridge and the mouth of Bluestone Creek. Many of the fish are being hooked on live bait and Red Fin plugs.
The stripers are reacting to pre-spawn urges that cause them to feed actively and head upstream toward spawning grounds in the Dan and Roanoke (Staunton) rivers.
So far, only a few males have arrived in the two rivers, said Steve Arthur, manager of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' hatchery in Brookneal.
``There's not much water,'' he said.
On Monday, Appalachian Power Co. is scheduled to begin a 45-day release of water from Leesville Dam to augment the flow of the Roanoke River in behalf of the spawning fish, Arthur said.
``I'm hoping that will get them started up the river,'' he said.
Fishermen at Smith Mountain Lake have landed a number of 20-pound-plus striped bass. Ed Olszewski of Goodview hooked one that weighed 32 pounds, 8 ounces on a 3-inch shad. Craig Williams of Roanoke got a 23-pound, 12-ounce striper and, David Sines of Moneta landed one that weighed 22-pounds, 6-ounces.
One of the biggest, a 30-pound, 8-ounce trophy, won the Smith Mountain Striper Club's spring member-guest tournament for James Dooley of Eagle Rock. The tournament, which attracted 63 entries, accounted for 24 fish that met the 26-inch tournament requirement, said David Talbott, a club spokesman.
Briery Creek Lake continues to turn out jumbo-size largemouth bass. Bruce Lee of Fredericksburg has caught and released three that weighed more than 10 pounds.
Trout streams are starting to run low, but fishermen have been pulling out trophy catches. Bob Conner of Roanoke used a minnow to land a 6-pound, 5-ounce brown from Potts Creek. Earlier in the season, Conner caught a 7-pound, 1-ounce brown from the creek.
Annett Saunders of Roanoke County landed two citation-size rainbows from the Roanoke River along Wiley Drive. They weighed 4-pounds, 13-ounces and 4 pounds.
``I was going to quit,'' she said. ``I had caught a hornyhead and a perch. I decided to cast one more time.''
She was using meal worms for bait.
Ricky Goss of Christiansburg believes fish officials are using bad judgment by stocking trout in small streams during low-flow periods.
``I witnessed first-hand what it accomplished in my area for the people who like to snag fish,'' he said. ``Wouldn't it have been better if they were to have stocked the bigger streams and waited until we received more substantial rain fall, then stock the smaller streams?''
Low water conditions appear to be slowing smallmouth bass fishing success on the New River, but there have been some outstanding catches on the lower James River, where two 6-pounders were weighed.
Trophy largemouth bass are being landed at Lake Gaston, where Bobby Colston, a tackle shop operator, said he had heard of one 11 pounder and several 9-pound bass being caught.
Claytor Lake is producing hefty crappie and smallmouth bass. Kenneth Hyte of Radford landed a 2-pound, 5-ounce crappie. Ralph and Curtis Burkett of Pulaski caught a pair of smallmouths that weighed 5 pounds, 2 ounces and 4 pounds, 2 ounces. Limit catches of crappie are being reported at Gatewood Lake.
If the weather is cooperative, Easter holiday fishermen at the Outer Banks of North Carolina should find speckled trout up to 4 pounds in the Nags Head-Kitty Hawk area and red drum at Hatteras.
WILDFLOWER WALK: The Blue Ridge Wildflower Society has scheduled an identification trip Saturday at Dry Run Branch in Catawba. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at the Homeplace Restaurant parking lot on Virginia 311. Call 384-7429 for more information.
by CNB