THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060305
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 131 lines
The Cape Hatteras Anglers Club has taken a good idea and improved on it.
Each year during the first weekend of November, hundreds of wader-clad surf fishermen and women from along the East Coast converge on the Outer Banks for the annual surf fishing tournament staged by the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club.
For years, the club kept the catches, which often numbered thousands of fish, and sold them. The profits went to the club's scholarship fund, which helps college students from the island.
Three years ago, the board of directors decided to change the rules. Tournament anglers were given the option of keeping the fish or releasing them.
That was the good idea.
But the club went one better this year.
``We've done everything we can to encourage the contestants to release all their fish,'' said Gae Zindel, the group's executive secretary. ``If someone wants to keep a few fish to eat while they're here, fine. Otherwise, we would like to see them released.''
Zindel said the response from anglers has been ``outstanding'' since the program began in 1991.
``We really believe that if a sport fisherman is not going to use his or her fish, then the fish should be released,'' she said. ``We see no need to keep and kill fish just because we're having a tournament. This is a sport-fishing club.''
She said the club's leaders originally decided to stop selling fish because they didn't want to compete with quotas on catches by commercial fishermen.
Some thought was given to donating the catch to the North Carolina Food Bank, as was done for the recent surf-fishing tournament at Nags Head, also on the Outer Banks.
``The logistics of that just wouldn't work out,'' she said. ``The local Food Bank representative is a church, and they just don't have the facilities to clean, package and store several thousand pounds of fish.''
Anyway, the feeling here is that the club has done the right thing. It's fine if a fish is saved for personal consumption. But killing fish only for competition is not acceptable.
THE PREDICTION: A deer harvest just about on a par with that of 1993-94 is the prediction of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
And that should be just dandy with a lot of Virginia hunters, because last season's harvest was 201,122, marking the second year that the kill topped the 200,000 figure.
The record came in spite of the kill being down as much as 34 ercent in some mountain counties. The decline was blamed on a record March 1993 snowfall that caused many animals to starve.
This year should see an increase in the harvest in those same Western areas, according to Matt Knox, a department deer specialist. But Knox expects the kill to be the same or slightly lower in some other areas.
The agency now estimates a statewide deer herd of about 900,000 and says the total could be as high as 1 million.
``We have plenty of deer,'' Knox said. ``But there are so many variables in predicting the annual kill, including weather conditions, how much natural food is in an area, where in the area it is, and, of course, how many hunters we have.''
NUTTY OUTLOOK: Here's a tip for hunters heading for Virginia's mountains for the Nov. 21 start of the general gun-hunting season for whitetail deer: Find an oak tree and stay there.
Virginia's mast crop is a doozy, which is another way of saying that an incredible supply of acorns is available to whitetail deer and to other nut-loving wildlife, including squirrels.
If you have oak trees where you live, country, city of suburbia, you probably already have noticed an exceptional number of the round, protein-rich nuts on the ground. And whitetail deer take to areas heavy with acorns like Br'er Rabbit took to that briar patch.
Lloyd Dixon of Virginia Beach has been hunting and exploring the mountains of Bath County for more than 30 years and says he has never seen so much natural food in the forest.
``It's not just acorns, although they're really plentiful,'' Dixon said. ``It's everything that a deer feeds on. We should see some really nice, fat deer this year.''
To the serious hunter, this means the best hunting will be in the deep woods, where acorns and other types of mast are most abundant. You'll be less likely to find whitetails feeding in pastures and grain fields.
There will be but two reasons for whitetail bucks to move from where they'll find acorns:
The annual fall rutting ritual.
The need to find water.
The former always does in some otherwise wily bucks. And the latter is certain to do the same this season. Rainfall has been sparse throughout most of the state this fall, and whitetails and other wildlife will be moving about in search of something to drink.
So find yourself a nice, big oak tree and get comfortable. And if a babbling brook flows nearby, get ready.
ON THE MOVE: Virginia's organized recreational fishermen have planned a couple moves that could benefit saltwater anglers in the state.
For one thing, the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association is planning its first Legislative Day on the Chesapeake Bay Dec. 1, when key members of the General Assembly will be entertained with fishing trips.
The delegates and senators have been invited to leave from three ports - Deltaville, Onancock and Virginia Beach - for a day of angling for striped bass.
``We want to show the legislators how many recreational fishermen are out there, even in December,'' said Bob Pride of Virginia Beach, chairman of the Virginia chapter of the 44,000-member organization. ``And we want to stress the economic impact they have. According to a recent report from the governor's office, more than 700,000 Virginians participate in the sport and contribute $450 million annually to the state's economy.''
In addition, the association will host a meeting of sportfishing leaders from a number of states to discuss fishery-management items of widespread interest. It will be held Nov. 17-18 in Virginia Beach. Representatives from most East Coast and Gulf Coast states are expected.
``We want to discuss the new role of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which sets the fishing rules for all East Coast states,'' Pride said. ``In the past, the ASMFC didn't have any way to force member states to comply with its rules. But federal legislation passed last December changed that. Now the federal government can intervene when a member-state doesn't do what the majority approves.''
SHORT CASTS: Bill Igel of Hampton has taken the lead in the flounder category of the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament with a 12-pound giant boated at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. . . . Some $63,000 in potential prize money will be offered in the Benefit Rockfish Tournament, set for Dec. 3 at Deltaville, on the Middle Peninsula. The contest is sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association of Virginia and will offer up to $13,000 in regular prizes, with a $50,000 award for anyone breaking the state striped bass record of 61 pounds. About 200 boats are expected. For a brochure and additional information, contact Brian Dillistin, 12642 Broad Street Road, Richmond, Va. 23233, telephone 1-360-1600. . . . Virginia has joined a number of other states with guides to watching wildlife. The Virginia Viewing Guide, published by Falcon Press of Montana, divides the state into six geographical regions. It showcases 80 of the best sites in the state for viewing wildlife in its natural surroundings. The guide lists for $8.95 and may be ordered by calling 1-800-582-2665. It is also available in some book shops. by CNB