ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Dale Wilson's eyes popped when he crossed the bridge over the Roanoke (Staunton) River in Altavista one morning this week. Rains had sent a heavy slug of discolored water surging down the stream, giving spawning striped bass from Kerr Lake easy access upstream.
``The stripers are going to be up here,'' said Wilson. ``I've got to be on the river in the morning.''
During springtime high water, stripers often will push farther upstream than during low-water periods, many of them moving past Brookneal and some reaching Leesville Dam, a distance of 70 miles.
These big fish can magnify the mystery that always has lurked around every bend of a river or beneath every set of riffles. Where you would expect to find catfish, suddenly you can be knee-deep in thick schools of big, silver-sided stripers, their weight and number in striking contrast to the size of their spawning environment.
Wilson, from Huddleston, is a striper guide best known for catching fish in Smith Mountain Lake, but the annual spring run draws him to the river.
This year it comes at a time when striper fishing has slowed at the lake; in fact, for some fishermen it hardly got underway.
``It is down a bunch,'' Wilson said of the lake population. ``There are a lot of small fish, a few big fish and a fair amount of medium-size fish, but the overall population is way down.''
For one thing, the weather has been a problem.
``The water stayed really cold, and it stayed muddy for a long time, and the fish were slow to get started,'' said Wilson. ``I caught them good in early March, and I didn't do good again until about the first or second week of April. From then until just recently, they fed great.''
But the stripers weren't where you'd expect to locate them in the spring, Wilson said.
``I normally can catch fish up the lake, but I never could catch them there this year like I normally do. I don't know if it was because the water took so long to warm up or what. They stayed deeper and feed deeper than normal. The baitfish were slower to come to the shore and go back into the coves.''
When the spring fishing peaked, Wilson reported catching and releasing impressive numbers of stripers, but that action had slowed by last week. Many of the fish appear to have moved into the Cedar Key area, where they will attempt to spawn, and where the state has special regulations aimed at protecting the recourse.
``When they first go in there, they stay deep and suspended, and they don't do a lot of feeding,'' Wilson said. ``There have been some fish caught on bait.''
For Wilson, and others, this is a good time to switch to the river, but a cold spring could delay the action there.
SMITH MOUNTAIN: While this hasn't been a vintage spring for striped bass fishermen on Smith Mountain Lake, other species have provided impressive action. The Cave Spring Optimist Club tournament produced citation catches in largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie and catfish categories, something that hasn't occurred often during the 28-year history of the contest.
As for the kids, any size fish is a trophy. The Optimist contest even has a small fish category for youngsters, and the winners were Adam McGarrell, Amy McGarrell, Bobby Cook and Brian Bobbitt. Honors in the kids' big fish category went to James Roach, Tahsa Smith and Will Wagner.
JUMBO CATCHES: Benny Simpkins of Radford landed a 9-pound, 3-ounce largemouth bass from Claytor Lake while casting a top-water lure.
Hatteras Island in North Carolina has been the scene of huge red drum catches by surf fisherman. Night fishing has produced 100-plus catches. Fishermen out of Oregon Inlet and Hatteras have been enjoying excellent yellowfin tuna action.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB