ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701280002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
WITHOUT a glance at the calendar, it was tough to tell when the 1996 Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament ended and the 1997 edition began.
The saltwater striped bass have kept right on biting, from the tag end of the old year into the beginning of the new.
``More than half of the 74 [striper] citation awards, which included 45 releases, were earned during the final six days of the year as schools of big fish migrated south along the coast,'' said Claude Bain, director of the tournament.
Many of the late-season fish were caught in the Atlantic, rather than the usual fall-winter hot spot, the Chesapeake Bay.
``There was just a tremendous influx of big fish along the ocean front of Virginia Beach,'' Bain said. ``They were caught trolling between Cape Henry and Sandbridge.''
In the first two weeks of January, 32 striper citations were recorded, 18 of them releases. The tournament's leading catch is a 46-pound, 11-ounce trophy landed by Lenny Hall of Virginia Beach. Other fish better than 50 pounds have been boated, but not registered. The hot lure has been the Stretch 25.
``They are still out there,'' Bain said.
The bay striper season ended Dec. 31, but the ocean season continues through March 31.
To earn a citation, a striper must be at least 40 pounds or 44 inches for a release. You get an idea of how demanding that is when you consider the Virginia freshwater record is a 45-pound, 10-ounce Smith Mountain Lake catch.
Before last year's late-season blitz, James Muse of Richmond boated a 61-pound, 12-ounce striper Dec.7 that set a saltwater record. Muse, a 26-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University art major, landed the fish just south of Cut Channel in the Chesapeake Bay. The fact that he was a participant in a tournament at the time earned him $81,635.
The Muse catch, hooked on a gold-colored Crippled Alewife Spoon, was one of two state records set in 1996. On Aug.18, Wayne Seymore of Virginia Beach boated a 45-pound, 8-ounce barracuda, which topped the old mark by 18 pounds.
The striper record had been expected, Bain said. The previous record had been on the books for more than 15 years. Don't expect the new to be around for long, either, he predicted.
``It is going to fall again the next couple of years,'' Bain said.
Maybe even this year, according to his early-season prediction.
``The fishing should improve,'' Bain said.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the striper population was so low there was a ban on fishing for the species. The comeback of the popular fish is one of the top environmental success stories of the decade. The February issue of Saltwater Sportsman ranks Virginia and Maryland as the top spot in North America to fish for stripers. The action is so impressive that anglers in Western Virginia have been buying boats with the idea of trailering them to the coast.
The new year also has produced tautog and speckled trout citations. It is the best start - ever - for the tournament, which is in its 40th year. This time last year, no striper citations had been registered.
Anglers reported catching 3,115 trophy fish in 30 categories last year, the first time since 1980 the total has topped 3,000.
Dr. James Wright of Virginia Beach earned the tournament's Angler of the Year award by catching citations in 16 categories. He also was Release Angler of the Year, with catch-and-releases in eight categories.
An excellent white marlin season, the third best on record, helped boost the citation count. Nearly 700 white marlin citations, 22 percent of the tournament total, were registered, and all of them were released, Bain said.
``What we didn't have - and this is kind of interesting - we didn't have much of a year for dolphin, wahoo and tuna,'' he said.
Anglers enjoyed still another excellent cobia year, with 582 citations, down only slightly from the record 603 in 1995.
Spadefish proved to be one of the surprises of the tournament, accounting for 307 - 10 percent - of the awards. The species became a tournament fish for the first time in 1995. It rapidly has gained the reputation of being a popular, hard-fighting, good-eating species.
``They look like a big angle fish,'' said Bain, who helped perfect clam-bait techniques that catch them.
The contest total also was boosted by a strong spring and early-summer fishery for red drum in the Chesapeake Bay. It accounted for 262 citations.
``It is the most incredibly dependable drum fishing you've ever seen,'' Bain said. When the red drum (channel bass) didn't hit, anglers often could find cobia and black drum, he said.
The continued improvement of flounder fishing was underscored by a count of 214 citations.
``That fishery is improving, but has not recovered - not like stripers,'' Bain said.
On the down side, only eight bluefish citations were registered and, worse yet, just one gray trout.
``I don't see any improvement anytime soon'' in those species, Bain said.
Tournament results
AMBERJACK: 90 pounds, Robert Maier, Hampton, inshore Atlantic.
BLACK DRUM: 101 pounds, Gene Fitchett, Exmore, lower-east Chesapeake Bay.
BLUE MARLIN: 39 releases.
BLUEFISH: 17 pounds, 10 ounces, Mark Wray, Virginia Beach, inshore Atlantic.
COBIA: 89 pounds, Tommy Gilbert, Hampton, lower-west Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 5 pounds, 1 ounce, Robert Larch, Virginia Beach, lower-west Chesapeake Bay.
DOLPHIN: 51 pounds, 8 ounces, Michael Megge, Virginia Beach, offshore Atlantic.
FALSE ALBACORE: 20 pounds, Darryl Franklin, Berryville, inshore Atlantic.
FLOUNDER: 9 pounds, 13 ounces, Steve Kriene, Mechanicsville, upper-west Chesapeake Bay.
GRAY TROUT: 10 pounds, 6 ounces, Matt McKenney, Virginia Beach, lower-west Chesapeake Bay.
KING MACKEREL: 31 pounds, 12 ounces, Randy Price, Norfolk, inshore Atlantic.
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 15 ounces, John Atkinson, Painter, Eastern Shore.
RED DRUM: 60 pounds, 4 ounces, James Elliott, Wicomico, lower-west Chesapeake Bay.
SAILFISH: One release.
SEA BASS: 6 pounds, 8 ounces, Patrick O'Donnell, Virginia Beach, offshore Atlantic.
SHARK: 214 pounds, Mark Glaubke, Norfolk, offshore Atlantic.
SPADEFISH: 11 pounds, 8 ounces, Julian Jones, Kenbridge, inshore Atlantic.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, Donald Hamilton, Portsmouth, inshore Atlantic.
SPEARFISH: One release.
SPECKLED TROUT: 9 pounds, 14 ounces, Dennis Register, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 4 ounces, Wayne Dolan, Richmond, Rappahannock River.
STRIPED BASS: 61 pounds, 12 ounces, James Muse, Richmond, upper-west Chesapeake Bay.
TARPON: Three releases.
TAUTOG: 18 pounds, 6 ounces, Bill Rogers, Virginia Beach, inshore Atlantic.
TUNA (Bluefin): 182 pounds, John Cress, Chicora, Pa., offshore Eastern Shore.
TUNA (Others): 194 pounds, Deirdre Bell, Virginia Beach, inshore Atlantic.
WAHOO: 80 pounds, David Rife, Annapolis, Md., offshore Eastern Shore.
WHITE MARLIN: 629 releases.
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. James Muse of Richmond set a state record with thisby CNB61-pound, 12-ounce Chesapeake Bay striped bass. color.