Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But Greg Mundy can tell about the big one he let get away on purpose.
``We messed up,'' is how his fishing partner Roger Dixon describes their outing on Lake Moomaw.
The two anglers, and a third partner, Timmy Maiden, all from Roanoke, were fishing for trout.
``We had caught a couple of fish that morning and then my buddy, Greg, hooked a yellow perch,'' said Dixon.
It was a huge perch, measuring 15 1/2 inches long. On a pair of Zebco portable scales it weighed 2 1/4 pounds.
``Right there is a citation,'' said Dixon.
Under Virginia's new Angler Recognition Program, you can earn a citation simply by measuring a fish. If it meets a certain minimum length requirement - 13 inches for a yellow perch - your buddy can verify the length and the fish can be released. You no longer have to weigh it.
So Mundy put the perch back.
On the way home, the three anglers stopped at the Bait Place in Alleghany County to fill out a citation form. They learned that the store had the pending state record in a freezer and they could take a look at it.
``We got kind of a sick feeling in our stomach,'' said Dixon. ``We looked at the fish and the one Mundy released dwarfed it.''
The pending record is a 2-pound, 3-ounce perch landed from Moomaw by Donald Crouse Jr. of Alleghany County. It measured 15 3/4 inches and is expected to be certified as a Virginia record by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The record is 2-pound, 2-ounce perch landed from the New River by Roderick Elliott in mid-March, 1986.
Crouse caught his fish on a artificial grub while crappie fishing. It is one of three citation yellow perch he has registered this spring.
As for Mundy's fish, ``We know where it is,'' Dixon said.
TURKEY TALK: Big turkeys just seem to be attracted to Charles Dailey. Seldom does the Roanoke hunter miss getting a couple of 20-pound-plus birds during the spring season.
This year, Dailey killed toms that weighed 21 1/2 pounds and 20 1/2 pounds. Both had 10 1/2-inch beards. He called in an 18-pound bird for his friend, Joe Wheeler.
The spring season was marred Monday when Oris Rainey, Jr., a Dinwiddie County Deputy Sheriff, was shot and killed while turkey hunting in Dinwiddie County.
STRIPERS SCATTERED: Low temperatures have been like a dash of cold water on the love life of striped bass. The Roanoke River at Brookneal dropped to 58 degrees following the rain earlier this week.
``It has to get up several more degrees before we see fish really schooling,'' said Steve Arthur, manager of the state's hatchery at Brookneal. ``There are plenty of fish in the river, but they are scattered.''
At Smith Mountain Lake, stripers are being caught in the lower reaches of the lake, including the Cedar Key section where spawning fish gather annually. It is illegal to fish with artificial lures in Cedar Key through May 31. Some fishermen are using planer boards to get bait to the fish.
Limit catches of striped bass are reported at Leesville Lake. Claytor Lake continues to produce citation smallmouth bass. Joe Ratcliff of Radford landed one that weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces.
BOATER HONORED: If you have taken a boating safety course in the Roanoke or Smith Mountain Lake areas, chances are Paul Howell has had something to do with it.
The Roanoker recently was honored as the U.S. Coast Guard Division VIII Auxiliarist of the Year. Howell has preached boating safety for 30 years as an auxiliary volunteer. He is a boating safety coordinator for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
by CNB