ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
John Wyatt was casting a tube jig around sunken brush at Briery Creek Lake the other day, hoping to catch a crappie, when his tranquil outing suddenly turned into a tug-of-war.
Wyatt, who lives in Mosley, hooked a pot-bellied, 11-pound, 10 1/2-ounce largemouth bass. It was Briery Creek's first trophy of the season.
Bass fishermen started wondering: Is the 845-acre state-owned lake about to turn into a trophy bass factory, like last spring when it produced two dozen largemouths that weighed 8 to 16-plus pounds?
A single catch doesn't a season make, but even if the bass fishing peaked last year, the lake should be good for several citations this spring. Maybe even a state record.
Scott Moss came close last spring when he used a 6-inch Carolina-rigged worm to catch a 16-pound, 3.2-ounce bass. The state record is a 16-pound, 4-ounce Lake Conner catch taken in 1985.
When you look to this spring's fishing, you've got to wonder how badly last year's fishing pressure hurt the big-bass population. There were days in April when as many as 150 boats combed the lake for bass. Fortunately for the bass, as well as bass fishermen, several anglers practiced catch-and-release. Bruce Lee, of Fredericksburg, reportedly released three 10-pounders. You have to wonder if that was matched anywhere in the country.
THE THAW IS ON: Water temperatures have eased up just enough to stimulate improved fishing. If you look hard, you can find 50-degree temperatures at Kerr Lake. Lake Smith, a tidewater impoundment, has 52-degree water. Lake Moomaw remains winter locked with temperatures in the high 30s.
The James River near Richmond has produced several smallmouth bass that weigh more than 4 pounds apiece. Chickahominy Lake gave up two citation largemouth bass, one 8 pounds, another 8 pounds, 2 ounces.
Striped bass fishing has picked up at Smith Mountain Lake, but is far from being a sure thing. Steve Martin was trying out his new center console boat on the Roanoke River side of the lake when his fishing partner, Jay Bumgarner, caught a 15.20-pound striper on a trolled lure.
Lake Gaston holds lots of muddy water, but the Pea Hill area is clear and producing bass on Speed Shads and C.C. Shads. The level of Kerr Lake is 302 feet, two feet above full pool. A few crappie and bass are being caught.
Trout anglers are turning up bragging-size fish in stocked streams. Rainbows in the 3- to 4-pound class have been landed from Smith River. Big Stoney Creek produced a 5-pound, 2-ounce rainbow.
Judy Helms of Rakes Sports Center in Bassett said Smith River anglers appear to be enjoying better success with salmon eggs this year than last. Salmon egg suppliers - Atlas-Mike's Bait Inc. is a major one - have faced stiff competition from Berkley Power Bait. Mike's has spiced up its offerings with a new garlic-flavored egg. The company also is touting Dancing Egg, an imitation egg with a tail that creates a dancing action.
IF YOU LIKE MEETINGS: The Roanoke area hardly is a hotbed of fox hunting, yet the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has scheduled a meeting Monday, 7 to 9 p.m. at Cave Spring High School, on proposals to regulate fox hound training preserves. Other hearings are set for Bowling Green and South Hill.
In case you like to attend meetings, there's one Tuesday at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg where the game and fish department will hear public comment on hunting, fishing, boating and non-game regulations. This has nothing to do with the department's biennial regulation-setting meetings, when new hunting and fishing laws are proposed.
The Tuesday meeting comes out of Gov. George Allen's Executive Order Fifteen, which, among other things, considers ``what alternative approaches, other than that taken in the regulation, also exist which satisfy the essential functions and any applicable mandates; how were the alternatives considered, and what the reasoning is by which alternatives were endorsed or rejected.''
There are six meetings across the state, and you have to believe all this effort by the already haggard game and fish staff could be better spent.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB