THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504290478
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Following a series of 12 public hearings around the state, Virginia hunters will have a final chance Thursday to comment on 1995-96 hunting regulations.
That's when the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries holds a final hearing in the meeting room of the Department of Environmental Quality, 4900 Cox Road in Richmond. It will begin at 9 a.m., with the board meeting the following morning to finalize the proposals.
Hunters probably can expect very little change from regulations of the past few years, according to Bob Duncan, head of the agency's wildlife division.
``We received some very good suggestions at the public hearings,'' Duncan said, ``and I'm sure there will be some minor revisions and adjustments. But nothing really major.''
For one thing, the general statewide deer-hunting season is expected to open Nov. 20, the third Monday in the month, as it has for decades.
BIG STRIPERS: Virginia has been granted a 15-day ``trophy fish'' season for saltwater striped bass, May 1-15.
But it could be the last unless anglers voluntarily report their catches to the Marine Resources Commission.
``It's extremely important that we get accurate reports,'' said Wilford Kale, agency spokesman. ``The federal government is watching closely and if we don't come up with an acceptable count, we may lose the season.
``If we come up with information that 300 fish were caught by 40 people, that's not going to look good. But if we have 300 fish caught by 200 or 250 people, I think we'll continue to have this very special season.''
Only fish at least 32 inches long will be legal, with a daily bag limit of one per person per day.
TWO LOSSES: Virginia's outdoors lost two of its major players in recent days with the death of Bob Pohlmeyer of Chincoteague and Speed Babb of Courtland.
Pohlmeyer operated Cap't Bob's Fishing Camp in Chincoteague for about 40 years, catering to flounder fishermen with his sage advice and a fleet of rental boats.
Babb was one of the oldest members of the Manry Hunt Club and the group's unofficial cook. He was also an outstanding deer hunter.
NO LICENSE: Only licensed and exempt anglers will be eligible for citation awards from the 1996 Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. But the license will not be required for this year's contest.
This was one of the caveats placed on the contest Tuesday by the Marine Resources Commission in approving $145,000 to operate the contest through June 30, 1996. The money will come from the $1.3 million collected annually from the license.
Claude Bain, director of the 38-year-old contest, said the commission apparently didn't want to begin the requirement this year because the contest was already up and running, with no mention of the license mandate in any printed material.
So starting in 1996, only licensed anglers, including those fishing from licensed piers, charter boats, headboats, livery boats and private boats, those under age 16 and those age 65 or more, will be eligible for the awards.
Realistically, this probably will be just the push needed to expand the license to all the state's salt waters. Now it covers only the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.
That seems almost certain to change when the General Assembly meets in 1996.
CONFERENCE SET: How many fish survive after being hooked by anglers, brought to or into the boat and then released?
It's a question which has long plagued and intrigued fishermen, scientists and fishery managers.
It's also a question which will be discussed by some of the nation's leading fishery scientists and officials at a gathering in Virginia Beach May 8-10.
Open to anyone, the Release Mortality Conference will be at the Sheraton Oceanfront, 36th Street and Atlantic Avenue. Registration will range from $15 to $90.
It's being sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Sea Grant Marine Advisory Programs from Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina, plus the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Additional details and registration are available from: Jon Lucy, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Va., 23062, telephone 1-804-642-7166.
SHORT CASTS: Two more artificial fishing reefs have been completed in Virginia waters by the Marine Resources Commission. One is 2.7 miles west-northwest of the entrance to Onancock Creek on the Eastern Shore. The other is seven miles east of the Great Wicomico River Light off the bay's Western Shore. The concrete-dome reefs were constructed using $168,000 from the state's saltwater fishing license fund. These are the 10th and 11th artificial reefs in the state's 40-year-old program. . . . Kim Merriwether of Virginia Beach called up and shot her first turkey. Hunting on the Eastern Shore, she bagged a 20-pound gobbler with a 10 1/2-inch beard. Andy Burton of Chesapeake bagged a 25 1/4-pound gobbler, also with a 10 1/2-inch beard, in Isle of Wight County. . . . Clint Midkiff of Elizabeth City released tarpon and permit on a recent trip to the Florida Keys. He was out of Cudjoe Key with guide Pat Bracher, formerly of Virginia Beach. . . . Waters of Northwest River Park in Chesapeake have been stocked with channel catfish as part of the state's urban fishing program. Earlier, the area was stocked with freshwater trout. . . . Joe Morris of Teach's Lair Marina at Hatteras said he expects a field of about 30 boats for the inaugural Hatteras Village Offshore Open May 11-13. You can get details from him at 1-919-986-2460. . . . The Jeep Jaybird Classic, a sporting-clays event, will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at Old Forge Outdoors in Williamsburg, telephone 1-804-220-8544. . . . The Chincoteague Island Anglers will host a spring flounder tournament May 13-14. The fee will be $6, with details available from Norman Wells at 1-804-336-3321 or Fish Tales Bait and Tackle, 1-804-336-3474. . . . Four members of the Bass-N-Babes, a local bass-fishing club for women, have qualified for the Bass'N Gal nationals at Lake Fork, Texas, in July. They are: Brenda Carter of Chesapeake, Cheryl Williams of Norfolk, Connie Easter of Virginia Beach and Linda Frye of Hertford, N.C. Susan Owens of Chesapeake will be the alternate. by CNB