ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603270089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: bill COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
Last season, Briery Creek Lake became a trophy bass factory, turning out spectacular numbers of wall-hanging largemouths, including a 16-pound, 3.2-ounce giant that missed the state record by a fraction of an ounce.
So many bass were taken from the 845-acre, state-owned impoundment you had to wonder if there was a drop in the water level when they were gone. Certainly, there were days when it was difficult to find parking space at the boat ramp.
Just how many big bass were registered from the lake? Anglers got the answer last week when the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries released the results of its Angling Recognition Program. Briery Creek Lake accounted for 56 largemouth awards - or citations, as they were called in previous years.
There was another shocker in the figures. Briery Creek wasn't the No.1 producer of largemouth-award fish. It didn't even place second. Or third. It was tied for fifth.
Lake Anna was the leader, with 102 largemouth awards. Western Branch Lake had 84; Lake Chesdin 74; and - get this - Smith Mountain Lake was fourth, with 63.
In past seasons, the number of largemouth citations from Smith Mountain often could be counted on one hand.
Can it be said that 1995 was the best big-bass year of the '90s?
The bass fishing was impressive, all right. For several seasons, more restrictive fishing regulations and the practice of catch-and-release have been increasing the population and size of bass, especially at Smith Mountain Lake.
But another factor played a role in largemouth awards more than doubling statewide, from 648 to 1,551. For the first time, a catch could qualify for trophy status by length. In the past, anglers have had to weigh their fish on certified scales to make the citations list, and it took an 8-pound fish to earn recognition. Often that left no chance to release the fish.
Last year, a length of 22 inches won an award, which meant a fisherman could land, measure and release a fish without leaving his boat. Some fishermen also discovered the 22-inch requirement lowered the old standard, because a skinny 7-pound largemouth often will measure 22 inches.
Of the 7,191 awards presented in last year's program, 2,505 were entered by length, said Nancy Archer, the program's coordinator.
Bass fishermen appeared to lead the way in length entries. At Smith Mountain, only eight of the 63 largemouth awards were for fish that had been weighed.
All this skews the data from the awards program, making a comparison of the 1995 season with previous seasons an apples vs. oranges deal. But fishermen appear to be happy with the new program, said Charles Sledd, a department spokesman.
``The angling community really has responded favorably,'' he said. There has been little backlash against a new rule that charges participants $4 to enter a trophy fish, he said. Last year's awards outnumbered the previous year's citations by nearly 700 entries.
``I think the numbers speak for themselves,'' Sledd said.
Smallmouth bass awards also took a significant leap, from 124 to 419. Trophy smallmouths from the James River jumped from 21 to 141, the New River from 33 to 81. The James and New ranked first and second, respectively, in smallmouth awards.
Brook trout awards went in the other direction, dropping from 1,226 to 587.
``I have had fishermen tell me they weren't going to pay $4 for a citation,'' said Jim Hilton, who operates the Cripple Creek pay program near Rural Retreat. ``For the price of about six citations, they can fish here an extra day,'' he said.
Cripple Creek was the state's top producer of trophy brook and rainbow trout, and ranked third, behind Lake Moomaw and the Roanoke River, in brown trout numbers. It accounted for a total of 437 awards.
Sunfish awards declined significantly, falling from from 1,916 to 776, but yellow perch increased from 161 to 650.
Striped bass stayed about the same, with 217 awards in 1995, including a 45-pound, 10-ounce state record landed from Smith Mountain Lake in mid-February. Smith Mountain had 147 of the state's striper awards, 10 more than the previous season. It also was the leader in the walleye category, registering 37, compared to three in 1994.
While Briery Creek Lake, near Farmville, didn't account for the most largemouth awards, it did turn out the lion's share of the very biggest, including several 12- to 14-pounders. Many were caught in March and April, a fact that has had numerous fishermen probing the lake in recent weeks.
``One pretty day the lake was full - it was just full of fishermen,'' said Sandra Fore, who operates Worsham Grocery, a rural store where many of the big fish are weighed.
Even though there have been only a handful of ``pretty'' days, some trophy bass have been caught, although not at the pace of last year, Fore said.
``The biggest we have seen is 11 pounds, 10 1/2 ounces,'' she said. ``They are just beginning to surface. Last week we had a gentleman who fishes all the time say he had hooked a 12-8 and another 12-something, but he weighed them closer to the lake so he could release them.''
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: 1. map Trophy Hot Spots. color ROBERTby CNBLUNSFORD/STAFF
2. chart Top Catches of '95 color