
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 4, 1995                   TAG: 9509060109
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STRIPERS STRIKING AT SMITH

Catching Smith Mountain Lake striped bass often is considered an affair of the spring and fall seasons, but Mike Coley has been reeling in big ones during the heat of late summer.

``I've really done better the past couple of weeks than I did in the spring,'' said Coley, who operates Trophy Striper Guide Service

During a recent outing, Coley's boat accounted for three big stripers, two of them just over 28 pounds and a third that weighed 30 pounds.

``We caught seven fish that day, and broke off another real big one,'' said Coley.

The flurry of late-August success produced seven stripers for Coley that weighed 20 to 30 pounds apiece.

``We've had about three weeks of real good fishing,'' he said. ``They have been bunched up in a small area.''

The catches have come on the Blackwater River side of the lake, where Coley is fishing live shad bait at 30-foot depths.

Trophy smallmouth bass are being reeled from the James River by Larry Trout and friends.

``They have been biting the last two weeks in the late afternoon, from about 7 to 8:30 p.m, said Trout, who landed a 5-pound, 12-ounce smallmouth. Sheila Snead caught a 41/2-pound bass and Michelle Owens got one that weighed 31/2 pounds. All where hooked on hellgrammites.

Smith Mountain Lake isn't known as a white perch habitat, but that's what Tom McClung said his son Marshall and Brooks Allison landed in the lower Blackwater River arm of the lake.

The two youngsters, age 6, were fishing a worm and bobber off of a dock when Marshall called, ``Daddy! Look what I have.''

When McClung looked, he saw a silver-sided fish. ``I have fished Smith Mountain for about 30 years and I've never caught one like it,'' he said. When he keyed the catch to pictures in a fisheries book, he determined it was a white perch. The two youngsters landed four of the fish, and a neighbor reported catching another.

Kerr Lake will be the site of one of Virginia's top-paying bass tournaments, scheduled Oct. 14 and 15 at North Bend Park near South Hill. First place in the $150,000 event will be $30,000.

Called Care-Care 1995 Big Bass Open Classic, the tournament is designed to benefit underprivileged and handicapped children. The entry fee is $350 until Sept. 15, $400 afterward. Information is available from 919-510-5512.

by CNB