ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
Billy Pipkin is a Chesapeake Bay charter boat captain who is building a reputation as a striped bass angler, now that the species has reversed its down-river dash to become the next passenger pigeon.
But striper fishing is a spring, fall and early winter affair in Virginia's saltwater. Where does that leave Pipkin during the summer months?
With croaker, bluefish, spot, trout and - some days - even stripers. There are periods when these species come in arm-numbing numbers, said Jimmy Harman of Roanoke, who recently was aboard Pippin's boat, ``Liquid Assets.'' The boat operates out of Heathsville, in the mid-bay area near Reedville.
``We caught fish so much we got tired of catching them,'' said Harman, who operates Jimmy's, a local catering service.
The bluefish ran 4-to-6 pounds, nothing like the good old days of the '70s and '80s when you could add 10 pounds to that average, but plenty big to put a vice-grip lock on your bait.
Limits of pan trout - four fish 12 inches or greater - came easily.
As for the croaker, they were big and abundant.
``They were huge croaker,'' said Harman, who was fishing with his 15-year-old son, John, and part of his catering crew, Brian Reger, Chuck Garst, Scott Baldwin and Mark Baldwin. ``We got over 200 that were 12-to-18 inches. Pipkin put a limit of 12 inches on what we could keep.''
At one point, schools of striped bass were attracted to the chum line and began gobbling up baits. At that point, the anglers grabbed their fly rods and had several tippets broken.
The striper season is closed, but there is nothing that says you can't catch and release them.
``There were so many rocks [stripers] that we had to move out of them,'' said Harman. ``We were afraid we would kill some if they swallowed the hook.''
Pipkin expressed surprise at finding big numbers of stripers in Virginia water this time of year. He'd expected the fish to be farther north, in Maryland. All this bodes well for Virginia's fall season, when Pipkin won't be so quick to move off the schools of stripers.
But who says you need to wait until fall to have fun, asked Harman. ``It's only a 4 1/2-hour drive down there,'' he said.
Pipkin (804-580-7292) charges $330, less than half what you'd expect to pay for an offshore trip out of Rudee Inlet or Oregon Inlet.
``You can take six people down there and it will cost you less than $100 per man,'' said Harman.
A GREAT UNCLE: It is nice to have an uncle like Dave McAllister. Judd Currey, a nephew, landed a 22-pound 4-ounce striped bass at Smith Mountain Lake while fishing with McAllister. Nicholas Pugh III, a great nephew, got two 7-pounders. But McAllister had the catch of the day, a 32-pound, 1-ounce striper that measured 44 inches.
CATS ON PROWL: Claytor Lake is underscoring its reputation as a late summer catfish hot spot. Melissa Conway of Rural Retreat landed a 22-pound flathead. Three Carroll County fishermen, George and Gregg Williams and Hascal Wright, weighed 10 channel cats that totaled 55 pounds. Five-year-old Patrick Webb of Radford reeled in a 13-pound, 7-ounce channel cat.
OVER THE DAM: State and federal fish biologists have collected 170 juvenile shad in the James River above Bosher's Dam, which means these fish have access all the way to just above Lynchburg.
Fishery officials have been working to return a number of native anadromous species to the upper river, including striped bass, hickory shad, blueback herring and alewives. This is the first evidence of success.
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