ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
THE first light of day was shimmering on the water, beckoning a cast from a fisherman, but angler Richard Furman had work to do first. He was rigging four rods, one with a buzzbait, one with a pig-and-jig, one with a 5-inch, soft plastic grub and one with a hump-backed crankbait.
You might figure Furman, who lives in Buchanan, was arming himself for a day of probing for largemouth bass on a lake - maybe Smith Mountain or Kerr. But he was on the upper James River, which is smallmouth country.
Stream fishing has changed. The techniques many knowledgeable river fishermen are using with success are right out of the manual of lake fishing.
To be sure, there are no 60-mph, beat-the-clock rides in sleek bass boats, but when you take a look at the lures on Furman's rods you don't see any of the traditional stream-fishing offerings. No small spinners, no 1 1/2-inch twister tails on 1/32-ounce lead heads, no minnow-shaped plugs.
``It is a big, old chess game. That's all it is,'' said Furman, who is a teacher at James River High School in Botetourt County. ``The fish keep changing and you have to figure out what is going on.''
One thing going on is that river fisherman have discovered the new generation of soft plastic lures - the Slug-Gos, Salty Sluggers, Bass Assassins, Salt Craws, Kalin's Grubs - are deadly on smallmouth bass. And it's not just the small stuff that will bring a strike. Furman uses soft baits up to 6 inches in length.
Don't let the name ``smallmouth'' fool you, he said during a canoe trip down the upper James. Sure, the smallmouth is more compact than the largemouth. It is slimmer, flashier, faster and more likely to leap into the air and throw a lure back into your face. It doesn't have a largemouth's huge mouth and a beer gut.
``But you look at the size of the mouth on a 4-pounder,'' said Furman. It is neither small nor delicate. It is designed to suck in sizable crawfish and baitfish, the foods the soft baits imitate.
Soft baits aren't just a James River trend. They also are being used on the New River, said Wayne Gentry, an angler who lives in Pearisburg and sells tackle at his 7 Day Market.
``Only a small percentage of the fishermen are using them, but what is happening, that small percentage is catching the larger percentage of the fish,'' he said. ``They are the fishermen who try new things, who experiment and who fish frequently. Everything you'd normally use on a largemouth in a large lake, they are using it on the river. Those bass are nailing it.''
While the old lures will work, successful bass fishermen are becoming more innovative because competition with other anglers on the state's major rivers has become keen. One observer reported counting 100 canoes on the James River during a single day.
Despite the crowds of anglers, Furman believes the smallmouth population in the James is in good shape, much better than it was a half-dozen years ago.
The trophy fish citation count appears to underscore that opinion. The James accounted for 141 smallmouth citations last season. These are fish that weighed 5 pounds or more or measured at least 20 inches - huge smallmouths, anywhere in the world.
The New River ranked second in citation production, with 81. Claytor Lake and Smith Mountain Lake were tied with 36 apiece, and the South Fork of the Shenandoah River had 31.
Furman said he believes the more restrictive catch limit on the James, coupled with a strong trend toward catch-and-release, have brought the bass back from an alarming low. He'd like to see more emphasis on putting them back alive.
He asks, why not designate some sections as catch-and-release, as West Virginia has on an eight-mile stretch of the South Branch of the Potomac River? And don't mention river tournaments to Furman unless you want to hear a sermon.
``A lot of the fish they catch are going to die, because they have been stressed all day,'' he said.
The canoes and johnboats used by river fishermen aren't designed with livewells that will keep bass in good shape, he said.
``Sure, they may swim away from the ramp after they are weighed, but how many are alive a month from then? Tournament fishermen aren't out there just to have a good day. They are out there for prize money. It is the greed factor. They are messing with our resource.''
Furman is having a productive season on the James, although his big-fish catches won't quite match last year's in size.
``I've caught just as many fish this year as last year that were 2 pounds,'' he said. ``I haven't tied into as many good ones - 3 pounds or more - this year. I'm not going to make a judgment about the season until September. Last August I caught seven that were 3 pound or better, all on plastics or jig-and-pigs.''
August and September were the top citation months on the James last year, each accounting for 25 registered trophies. July was third, with 19.
The makeup of the big-fish catch was a bit different on the New. May was the top month, accounting for 19 citations. April, July and August had 12 apiece.
Late last summer, the James began to run low and the water turned dark.
``It got real hot, and the bass pooled up. They were condensed,'' said Furman, which meant you didn't have to cover as much water to locate them.
This summer, the James is fuller and clearer, he said.
``It is easier to run and more pleasant at this level, but I am after big fish. I'd rather for it to be down and darker. When the river gets down and dark, the spook factor is less. It is easier to sneak up on those devils.''
Much of the silt has been scoured from the rocky bed of the upper James. Releases from upstream Moomaw Lake keep the river cooler and fuller.
That's not the only change. No longer do you catch large numbers of sunfish from the James. For the most part, they are gone. You will hear arguments, even from fish biologists, about the demise of the sunfish. Was it the result of changes in the habitat brought by Moomaw, or has the growing number of flathead catfish wiped them out?
As for the New, it is having what Gentry is calling an off season.
``I'd say we are seeing about a 50 percent or better decrease in the number of bass that are caught,'' he said. ``So instead of catching 100 a day, it is 50, or down to 25 in some cases.
``The water fluctuated so much during the early year, and now it is down so much - we are talking about real low - and I think the oxygen content is so low the bass are crowding into the shallow, fast-running water,'' he said.
The best fishing has been late in the day around moving water, he said. The catches aren't just down, so is the size of the fish being landed. ``The larger bass, I believe, are feeding at night, especially when we have some moon,'' Gentry said.
Anglers like to argue over which is the better smallmouth stream, the James or New. The James produced more citations last season, but the New accounted for the largest, a 6-pound, 13-ounce giant landed by John Saville Jr. of Blacksburg. The biggest smallmouth from the James was a 6-pound, 4-ounce catch by Kevin O'Hara of Richmond. Many of the trophy bass catches of the James come from the Piedmont section, rather than the Botetourt-Rockbridge county area.
``The upper James is home to me, but I like the New,'' Furman said. ``What intrigues me about the New, it is a challenge to fish. And I really believe there are some really nice smallmouth to come out of that river.
``My goal is to catch and release a 5-pounder. I expect the New is where I'm going to have to go to do it - either that or the James below Lynchburg.''
LENGTH: Long : 134 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. GENE DALTON STAFF The New River is a major producerby CNBof trophy-size smallmouth bass in Virginia. These two anglers are
floating a section near McCoy. color
2. BILL COCHRAN STAFF Richard Furman reels in a bass during a float
on the upper James River. color