Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510190017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Recent samplings at Moomaw, a scenic 2,530-acre stretch of water held captive by Gathright Dam, have turned up exciting news for smallmouth anglers.
``We are finding good numbers of nice smallmouth,'' said Larry Mohn, regional fisheries manager for the department. ``We started picking them up two or three weeks ago. When you only have your nets set for an hour or two and catch a bunch of smallmouth, you know it is a pretty good population.''
Many of the bass are bragging size.
``I don't know that we have caught any 6-pounders, but we have caught a lot of 3-pounders,'' Mohn said.
The research follows reports from anglers that bass fishing has declined in the lake, Mohn said. The nets appear to be telling a different story.
Some of the bass are being caught by fishermen casting top-water lures to the shoreline where water depths are 3- to 4-feet, said Frank Gumm, who runs the Hitching Post, a tackle shop on the Bath County side of the lake.
Most fishermen who tote bass into the Bait Place, a tackle shop on the south side, are closed-mouth about what they hooked their fish on, said Charlotte Andrews, the proprietor.
``These bass fishermen don't tell me anything,'' she said. `` I don't even ask anymore.''
Trout catches at Moomaw appear to be down this season, but Mohn doesn't believe it reflects a population crash. A couple of things may be impacting success. One is a new limit that has lowered the daily take to two fish that must be 16 inches or longer.
In addition, water releases from Gathright Dam aimed at improving trout habitat in the lake may have changed the patterns of trout, and fishermen haven't picked up on that, Mohn said.
``We have the best water quality we've had since they started the downstream cold-water releases,'' he said.
At Claytor Lake, much of the excitement has centered around a 28-pound, 2-ounce muskie landed on a Bomber Model A lure by Samuel Talbot Sr. of Pulaski.
David Terry of Hardy landed a 73-pound tuna and caught and released a sailfish during a trip out of Virginia Beach. He was fishing the Cigar area.
BAIT ISN'T BAD: Dale Arrington is concerned that bait fishermen will be shortchanged when regulations are set for the Jackson River below Gathright Dam. At a meeting of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries in Blacksburg last week, there was a request for more restrictive fishing rules, with emphasis on artificial lures. The rules are needed, supporters said, to protect trout that are being harmed by frequent hooking.
``It is unfair to say that all the problems are with bait,'' said Arrington, who lives in Salem. Bait fishermen are the backbone of the state's angling program and should not be excluded from fishing opportunities, he said. Bait fishing is the way most youngsters are introduced to fishing, he said.
Arrington agrees that angling pressure has become so heavy in the tailrace that trout often bear hook scars, but you can't blame all that on fishermen who use bait.
``I caught one trout that had four flies in its mouth and gills,'' he said.
ALL HORNS: When a big buck approached Robert Reid's stand during a Botetourt County bow hunt the other day, Reid kept saying to himself ``Don't count the points, concentrate on the deer.''
It proved to be good advice. Reid, who lives in Botetourt County, dropped the buck with an arrow, then counted the points. There were eight that stretched to a 24-inch spread.
by CNB