ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Maybe it wasn't the best of circumstances when Steve Mock and his son, Daniel, sailed from North Carolina's Oregon Inlet on a marlin trip.
Their charter boat, the Sea Note, was brand new and unproven. Mock wasn't certain how much experience the skipper, Capt. Benji Stansky, had. At best, Stansky isn't the kind of name you expect to be rooted deeply in the 400-plus year history of the Outer Banks.
What's more, Hurricane Bertha was headed toward the cost.
As it turned out, it was a day the Mocks, who live in Roanoke, won't soon forget, not because of the lack of their skipper's experience or bad weather. Marlin made the difference.
``We caught [and released] seven white marlin, plus a 500-pound blue marlin,'' said Steve Mock.
The Sea Note ran only 15 to 20 miles off Nags Head before the baited hooks were tossed in her wake.
``As soon as we put the lines out on the water - in five minutes - we had two of the white marlin on,'' Mock said. The blue marlin was caught by Daniel Schimmel, a college-age friend of Daniel Mock.
``We hooked the big blue about noon,'' said Steve Mock. ``We saw the fish swimming on the surface of the water about 60 feet away.''
The captain turned the boat, giving the fish a better look at the trolled bait.
The big haul was preceded by several days of outstanding marlin action. On a Friday, the charters reported catching and releasing 40 billfish. Many of the parties also returned with limit catches of dolphin. On Saturday, 56 whites and two blues were reported. On Sunday, the marlin count reached 47. The success continued for the Mocks on Monday. The next day the anglers where headed north in a race to beat Bertha.
Since the storm, the marlin action hasn't returned to the high level that the Mocks enjoyed, but it likely will. The billfish season is young. The peak of the marlin fishing generally occurs in August, even early September.
Charter boats also are picking up a few yellowfin tuna and wahoo. Sixteen-year-old Greg Elmore of New Castle landed a 44-pound, 6-ounce wahoo while aboard Fight-N-Lady out of Oregon Inlet.
Look for excellent cobia fishing in the inshore waters of Virginia; in fact, the current pace is pointing to a record citation year. Some marinas have been weighing as many as 30 to 40 cobia on a weekend.
Croaker fishing also is heating up along the Virginia-North Carolina coast. By August it should be excellent in the Chesapeake Bay and along the piers of Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks.
TOUGH ON TROUT: The fishing at two of Virginia's most popular trout impoundments has been disrupted.
Stockings at Douthat Lake has been discontinued because high water temperatures and low dissolved oxygen levels have caused unfavorable conditions for trout survival, according to officials of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The lake, which is part of Virginia's popular pay-fishing program, has had similar problems the past couple of summers.
Stocking will resume when conditions improve, which isn't likely to be soon. The pay program is scheduled to operate through September.
During the non-stocking period, anglers can continue to fish for sunfish, bass and pickerel, and they won't be required to purchase a daily-fee fishing permit.
Laurel Bed Lake, a Department of Game and Inland Fisheries trout lake in Russell County, is being drained so that a faulty water release gate can be replaced. The lake is down about 5 feet.
During the draining process, officials hope to reclaim Laurel Bed's once outstanding brook trout fishing. The warm-water species introduced by fishermen will be removed. These have been competing with trout, officials said.
When it is filling, lime will be added to improve the acidity of the water. Then brook trout fingerling will be stocked.
BRAGGING SIZE: Rick Murphy of Bluefield landed a 19-pound catfish on a nightcrawler at Claytor Lake. John Newby of Dublin caught a 4-pound, 8-ounce smallmouth bass at Claytor. Kenny Redd of Mecklenburg reeled in a 1-pound, 3-ounce sunfish from Briery Creek Lake.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB