THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508270181
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
An expanded duck-shooting season, increased from 40 to 50 days, was approved Thursday by the board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
It's the first time duck-hunting regulations have been eased since the 1984-85 season, when wildlife officials became alarmed at the decline in the overall population.
The number of ducks using the Atlantic Flyway, up and down the East Coast, reached its lowest point in 1993, when it was estimated at 62 million. The figure improved to 71 million in 1994 and now is estimated at 80 million.
The board stopped short of increasing the basic bag from three to five birds, opting instead for a four-bird limit.
Both increases were within the framework offered the state by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency which oversees all waterfowl hunting.
The board apparently was concerned that while overall duck numbers are up, the increase on the Atlantic Flyway hasn't been enough to go from three to five birds a day.
The board also approved hunting seasons for snow geese, tundra swan, coots, mergansers, gallinules, moorhens, Atlantic brant and sea ducks.
Following federal dictates, it banned all hunting for migratory Canada geese. But it let stand a statewide Sept. 5-15 season for resident Canadas.
The duck season will be split into three segments: Oct. 11-14, Nov. 21-25 and Dec. 11-Jan. 20.
Each hunter's daily bag may not include more than one hen mallard, black duck, pintail, mottled duck, canvasback or fulvus tree duck and not more than two wood ducks or redheads. Additionally, black ducks will be off limits during the October season and during the first week of the final season.
Coot seasons will parallel duck seasons, with a basic bag of 15 birds. Seasons for mergansers, gallinules and moorhens also will match the duck dates. The 5-bird merganser bag limit may not include more than one hooded merganser, while the gallinule and moorhen bag will be 15 birds.
The snow goose season will run Nov. 15 through Feb. 29 with a 5-bird limit. Brant hunting will be legal Nov. 21-25 and Dec. 7 through Jan. 20, with a two-bird daily bag.
Tundra swan hunting will be allowed Dec. 4 through Jan. 31 and will be limited to 600 special permits. The bag will be one bird per permit for the season. The sea duck season, covering scoters, old squaw and eider, will run Oct. 6 through Jan. 20 with a 7-bird bag, not to include more than four scoters.
In other action, the board approved the use of bismuth shot for all waterfowl hunting this season. Waterfowlers have been restricted to using steel shot for several years. The matter will be reconsidered before the 1996-97 waterfowling season.
SUPER SEPTEMBER: The annual Virginia Beach Marlin Tournament and the annual Tidewater Anglers Club speckled trout tournament, both Sept. 1-4, will kick off the Super September fishing tournament.
In all, Super September will feature nine fishing events, with a single overall winner, based on a complex point system.
More than $130,000 could be up for grabs, with a special prize of $50,000 for anyone recapturing a marlin that was caught, tagged and released off Virginia Beach a few days ago.
Later, a special award of $10,000 in another contest will go to anyone catching a similarly tagged flounder.
The marlin tournament is sponsored by the Cape Henry Billfish Club and the Virginia Bluewater Gamefish Association. It'll be headquartered at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center, with social activities at the Hilton Inn on Atlantic Avenue.
Anglers will be allowed to fish two days of their choice between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4.
For the first time in several years, independent on-board observers will not be used, although all entered marlin must be released or brought in and mounted.
Instead, the crews of any money- or trophy-winning boats will be subject to a polygraph test. Details: Larry Davenport, 427-4681 (work) or 426-7042.
The speckled trout tournament will be headquartered at Cobb's Marina at Little Creek, with registration 5-7 p.m. Sept. 1. Fishing will be allowed anywhere in Virginia from 6 a.m. Sept. 2 until the 4 p.m. weigh-in Sept. 4 at the marina.
Awards will be made for the five heaviest fish. Details: Art Christman, 467-7734.
Additionally, a monthlong kids' fishing tournament, Sept. 1-30, will also be a part of the Super September contest. Details: George W. Roper II, 625-2126.
BASS TRAIL: Rick Morris of Virginia Beach, Michael Gish Sr. of Norfolk and Woo Daves of Spring Grove were the the three area residents kicking off the 1995-96 Bass Anglers Sportsman Society circuit this weekend.
They were competing in the Bassmaster Top 100 on Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb. The field included most of the top names from the professional bass fishing tournament trail.
This year's BASS circuit will pay out about $4 million, with $273,200 up for grabs in Minnesota. Morris and Daves competed in the pro division, with Gish in the amateur division.
SAILING NOTES: The annual Norfolk Yacht and Country Club regatta will begin its second half-century of competition next weekend.
Most popular local classes of one-design boats will meet in two races Saturday and a finale Sunday, sailing on the Elizabeth and Lafayette rivers.
The annual Mobjack class national championship series will be sailed on Willoughby Bay Sept. 15-17, with headquarters at the city boat ramp near the west end of Ocean View. These races were postponed from Aug. 11-13, thanks to Hurricane Felix.
PROJECTS APPROVED: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has approved funding for several projects from monies collected from the sale of saltwater fishing licenses.
Included was $93,270 for an ongoing shad-restoration project, matching a similar appropriation from commercial fishing license sales.
The board gave this project unanimous approval, although the shad has little if any value as a recreational fish in salt water.
The board also approved $5,000 for an engineering study of repairing the fishing pier at Kiptopeke State Park on the lower Eastern Shore. This item did not have the backing of the citizens' board which advises the commission on expenditures from the saltwater license fund.
Other appropriations included:
$55,321 for the second year of a gamefish tagging program.
$114,000 for construction of an artificial reef near Occohannock Rock off the Eastern Shore.
$40,000 for the artificial reef maintenance program, including new and better buoys for existing sites.
BACK BAY HUNT: A seven-day hunt for whitetail deer and feral hogs will be held Oct. 7-14 at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach.
As many as 62 hunters will be allowed on the refuge's 2,007 open acres each day, with both shotguns and archery for weapons.
Hunters should submit an application no later than Sept. 9, with names selected through a lottery at 10 a.m. Sept. 10. Hunters will be required to pay $10 a day.
Last year hunters killed 56 deer and 22 feral hogs. Details: refuge manager, 721-2412.
SHORT CASTS: State wildlife officials are calling for a ``pretty good'' season when dove hunting opens Sept. 2 in both Virginia and North Carolina. ``Hunting should be at least as productive as it was a year ago,'' said Bob Ellis of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Similar sentiments were echoed by Bodie McDowell of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. president of the Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia, which recently changed its name from the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association of Virginia. Other officers are Grayson Rogers of Nassawadox and J. Parks Rountrey, Robert Schepker and Glenn Carter, all from Richmond. . . . Virginia Beach anglers with skipper John Bayliss on the charter boat Tar Heel recently scored a ``grand slam,'' releasing a blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish in one day. The blue was caught by Jared Bailey, the white by Ray Hogan and the sail by Don Bailey. The boat sails from Oregon Inlet, near Nags Head, N.C. . . . The boat ramp and docks at Bob's Fishing Hole on the Northwest River are open following repairs, according to new owner Dennis Derosier. by CNB