Roanoke Times

& World-News

Sports: Monday, April 8, 1996

• LEARNING LESSONS FROM 23 BOATERS WHO DIDN'T DOCK
• SALEM GOES THE DISTANCE AVALANCHE DISPLAYS RESILIENCY IN EARLY GAMES
• CANNONS SHOOT DOWN AVALANCHE WITH 16 HITS
• HOKIES EARN A-10 SWEEP IN BASEBALL
• IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT
• WOODS IN IT FOR LONG DRIVE-THROUGH
• JOB SEARCH AT MARSHALL CONTINUES
• NICKLAUS PICKS UP 100TH WIN LEGEND ACQUIRES 4TH TRADITION TITLE
• A BROKEN TRADITION NO OPENING DAY, BUT THEY GATHERED ANYWAY | BY BILL COCHRAN/OUTDOOR EDITOR CHUCK JONES (LEFT) AND PHILIP GILES SAY THEY WANT OPENING DAY BACK.| A BROKEN TRADITION HE FISHERMEN HAD PARKED THEIR RVS AND PEGGED THEIR TENTS AT JELLYSTONE PARK IN BOTETOURT COUNTY, BUT THERE WEREN'T MANY HAPPY CAMPERS IN THE GROUP. ``I HAVE TALKED TO ABOUT 15 PEOPLE THIS WEEKEND, AND THEY SAY THEY WON'T COME BACK OVER HERE IN BOTETOURT COUNTY,'' SAID PHILLIP GILES OF THAXTON. THE COMPLAINTS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CAMPGROUND OR ITS TRANQUIL SETTING, WHERE MIDDLE CREEK FLOWS COLD AND CLEAR FROM REMOTE HOLLOWS THAT FINGER INTO TIMBERED RIDGES. ``I HAVE BEEN COMING TO THIS AREA FOR 25 YEARS, AND I HAVE BROUGHT MY KIDS,'' GILES SAID. ``WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, MY FATHER BROUGHT ME OVER HERE, AND MY BROTHERS. FOR US, THIS IS LIKE A TRADITION, TO COME EVERY YEAR.'' GILES, WHO HAD PARKED HIS TRAVEL TRAILER ON HIGH GROUND ABOVE THE CREEK, SAID THE TRADITION WAS BROKEN WHEN THE STATE DID AWAY WITH THE OPENING DAY OF TROUT SEASON IN FAVOR OF A YEAR-ROUND SEASON. YOU COULD HEAR MUCH THE SAME ARGUMENT FROM MANY OF THE 200 PEOPLE IN THE CAMPGROUND, WHICH CAME AS NO SURPRISE TO DEBBIE AND DANNY RICKMAN, OWNERS OF JELLYSTONE PARK. LACKING AN OPENING DAY, THE RICKMANS SCHEDULED A SPECIAL ``YOGI BEAR'S FIRST ANNUAL TRADITIONAL FISHING WEEKEND.'' IT WAS AS MUCH PROTEST AS CELEBRATION. UNTIL THIS SEASON, OPENING DAY HAS BEEN A HUGE ATTRACTION, EVER SINCE DANNYRICKMAN OPENED THE CAMPGROUND 18 YEARS AGO. AS MANY AS 600 CAMPERS WOULD CROWDINTO THE FACILITY. FISHERMEN WOULD BE STANDING THREE ABREAST IN LINES LEADING TO THE STORE'S HOT DOG STAND. NO LONGER. ``A GOOD ESTIMATE, OUR BUSINESS IS OFF AT LEAST 50 PERCENT,'' SAID DEBBIE RICKMAN. ``WHEN EVERYBODY LEFT LAST YEAR, THEY SAID THEY WERE SAD THAT TRADITION IS OVER AND ASKED IF WE COULD WORK SOMETHING OUT SO THEY COULD CALL IT THEIR OWN OPENING DAY.'' SO THE RICKMANS SET A DATE AND ESTABLISHED A BIG-TROUT CONTEST, AND THE OLDCROWD GATHERED. BUT MANY SAID IT WASN'T THE SAME. NO TROUT FOR ONE THING, SAID CHUCK JONES OF BOTETOURT COUNTY. ``I HAVEN'T SEEN A FISH COME OUT OF THE CREEK SINCE WE HAVE BEEN HERE,'' HE SAID. IT HAD BEEN A COUPLE OF WEEKS SINCE THE HATCHERY TRUCK HAD VISITED THE MIDDLE CREEK-MCFALLS CREEK-NORTH CREEK-JENNINGS CREEK AREA, THE RICKMANS SAID. ``WE TALKED TO THE GAME WARDENS AND THE BIOLOGISTS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES AND EXPLAINED TO THEM WHAT WE WERE DOING AND ASKED IF THEY COULD JUST STOCK ONE CREEK THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK BASED ON WHAT WE WERE DOING,'' SAID DEBBIE RICKMAN. ``IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.'' ``OF COURSE WE DIDN'T THINK WE WOULD GET ANY RESPONSE, AND WE DIDN'T,'' SAID DANNY RICKMAN. ``WE HOPED WE WOULD LUCK OUT AND HIT THE WEEKEND THEY STOCKED, BUT WE DIDN'T.'' THE FIRST SEVERAL HOURS OF THE BIG-TROUT CONTEST FAILED TO TURN UP A CATCH, THEN JAMES CAMPBELL OF ROANOKE ENTERED A 131/2-INCH FISH THAT WON THE $50 FIRST-PLACE PRIZE. SOME OF THE CAMPERS SAID THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO TAKE THE FISHING SERIOUSLY. SEVERAL PLAYED A GAME OF PICKUP BASKETBALL, ONE WAS USING A METAL DETECTOR IN THE CAMP PLAYGROUND AND OTHERS RELAXED AROUND SMOKY CAMPFIRES WHERE THE CONVERSATION OFTEN TURNED TO THE ``GOOD OLD DAYS.'' ``I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE MY TROUT LICENSE TODAY IF MY WIFE HADN'T GONE AND BOUGHT THEM. I DON'T LIKE IT,'' JONES SAID OF THE YEAR-ROUND SEASON. ``I HAVE TALKED TO HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. NOBODY REMEMBERS BEING SURVEYED ABOUT THIS AS TO WHETHER THEY WANTED IT OR DIDN'T