THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507230208
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
Although 1995 is just a bit more than half-over, it almost certainly will go down as one of the most unusual fishing years in Virginia in a long time.
For one thing, exceptional numbers of cobia and croaker, two fish at opposite ends of the size scale for the Chesapeake Bay, have been uncommonly plentiful in the Bay this year. For another, tarpon and Spanish mackerel have been uncommonly scarce. Nor have bluefish entered the Chesapeake this year as they have in the past.
There may not be one simple answer to the equation, according to Dr. Herb Austin, a finfish expert at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point.
``This spring's satellite pictures of this area showed a lot of cold water in the ocean,'' Austin said, ``so the bluefish may simply have bypassed the Chesapeake Bay, as they have done many times before. We don't get a lot of them every year.
``As for the croaker, I believe our young-on-the-year indices for the past couple of years have shown good production, so I guess this would explain that, at least to some degree.
``The cobia? We just don't know. It's not one of the fish we keep a close watch on. But one thing we do know is that it's not as affected by salinity changes as some other inshore species.
``We've had a lot of rain and runoff this year, with the water sweeping into the Chesapeake Bay. That wouldn't deter the cobia. But it might have been what deterred Spanish mackerel.
``The tarpon is another fish we don't keep close tabs on. But with the cold water this spring, I suspect it probably stopped some fish from migrating this far north.
``Of course, with Spanish mackerel and tarpon, it's not too late for impressive numbers to still show up. For one thing, all waters are warming up, and for another, the salinity level is getting back to normal.''
BEST YET: So how good has the 1995 Virginia cobia season been?
The best ever, according to the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. Anglers have weighed and registered 361 cobia of at least 45 pounds. Additionally, another 95 citation awards have been earned by those releasing cobia measuring at least 48 inches. That's a total of 456.
The previous best years were 1962 and 1963, each with 300 awards, all for fish boated and weighed, before the cobia-release award was created.
BASS-N-BABES: Anglers representing the Tidewater Bass-n-Babes took ninth place in the recent Bass'n Gal Tournament of Champions at Lake Fork, Texas.
Brenda Carter of Chesapeake was the top local angler with a catch weighing 25.68 pounds, followed by Cheryl Williams of Norfolk at 16.67, Connie Easter of Virginia Beach at 15.26 and Linda Frye of Hertford, N.C., at 12.72.
The team finished with 70.33 pounds of bass. The Lake Livingston Bass'n Gals from Texas took first place with 102 pounds.
NEW LEADER: Wayne Couch of Virginia Beach has just taken the black drum lead in the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament, although his fish was caught June 18.
Couch boated the fish, which weighed 98 1/2 pounds, at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. He rushed to Lynnhaven Waterways Marina in Virginia Beach to have it weighed. Then he released it.
``I thought I was doing a good thing,'' he said, ``but it sure led to a lot of confusion.''
When the entry was received at the tournament office, officials saw that the ``released'' box had been checked. So even though the entry contained a weight, the assumption was that it had been released.
``We get a lot of release entries with a weight on them, especially for billfish,'' said Claude Bain, tournament director. ``They're just estimates, and we just assumed the weight on Wayne's entry was an estimate. I'm just glad we got it straightened out.''
``So am I,'' said Couch.
The angler with the largest entry in each category receives a trophy.
SPECIAL PERMITS: If you want to be a part of the special hunting season Sept. 5-15 for resident Canada geese, you'll need a special permit from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The agency is expanding the season to all areas of the state this year after offering it only in selected sites for the past two years.
Now estimated to number more than 100,000, resident geese have become worrisome, messy pests around small ponds on golf courses, city and county parks, and other public facilities.
``Their droppings are causing some real problems,'' said Spike Knuth, an agency spokesman, ``and they're also causing some crop and lawn damage.''
Biologists are at a loss, Knuth said, to explain why the resident population keeps climbing when the migratory population has been falling sharply for years.
``There's no correlation between the two,'' he said. ``The migratory decline is far greater than the resident increase.''
The permits may be obtained by writing: Goose Validation Card Request, DGIF, Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 11104, Richmond, Va. 23230-1104. Your request should include your name, address and daytime telephone number.
QUAIL STUDY: The beleaguered bobwhite quail is fighting an uphill battle just to maintain low population levels.
That's part of the early findings of a study being conducted by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Biologists hope to learn why quail numbers have dropped precipitously for the past 20 years.
Predators, including foxes, skunks and raptors, take a huge toll before quail eggs are even hatched. Some rob nests of eggs, others attack the chicks and even others kill the parents.
Of 20 nests monitored by biologists in James City and Amelia counties, only eight survived intact. Two were destroyed when run over by bush hogs.
SHORT CASTS: The Hampton Roads Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will hold its annual fund-raising soiree Aug. 5 at the Khedive Temple, 645 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake. Tickets will be $37.50 per person, $50 per couple, including a single foundation membership. Tickets for those age 12 and under will be $10. For reservations, call Bill Dixon at 340-6269 or Walt Apelt at 868-8400. . . . Jim Farrington of Portsmouth, Joe Edwards of Suffolk and Karla Marshall of Newport News were winners in the recent National Whitewater Open canoe championships on the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania. They're members of the Mid-Atlantic Paddlers Association of Hampton. . . . .A commercial quota of 51,104 pounds of speckled trout is expected to be approved Tuesday when the Marine Resources Commission meets in Newport News. The plan has the backing of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association of Virginia, a federation of recreational fishermen. Anglers have been limited to 10 fish a day for several years. . . . Mike Moretz of Chesapeake finished sixth and won $600 in a recent Red Man bass tournament on Buggs Island Lake. His catch weighed 13-13. Mark Inman of Greensboro was the winner with 16-15. He collected $3,527. Moretz is 18th on the seasonal circuit and has a good shot at making the field for the Red Man All-American tournament. by CNB