THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB HUTCHINSON, OUTDOORS EDITOR
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Twelve-year-old Andrew Smithson of Chesapeake picked a poor time to catch one of the biggest striped bass boated in Virginia this year.
The catch, a 48-pounder, came just a few days after Brian Hauser of Virginia Beach boated a 55-pounder, the largest Virginia striper since 1981. Smithson's catch was from the private boat Hukuna Matata; Hauser was aboard the charter boat High Hopes.
In most years, Smithson would be a good bet to win the striper trophy in the annual Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. But not this year. Unless someone beats Hauser's 55-pounder between now and midnight Dec. 31, that'll be the winner.
These were not the only big stripers taken in Virginia in recent days. Greg Cooner of Virginia Beach had a 47-12 catch on the Lucky Seas, and Mike Neely of Richmond a 44-pounder on an unnamed boat. All four fish were caught along or near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. But that wasn't the only spot which produced big stripers.
Eddie Valdivieso of Kill Devil Hills had a 32-pounder in the Outer Banks surf, and freshwater striper guru Rick Falls of Zuni boated a 31 3/4-pounder at Western Branch Reservoir in Suffolk.
In other recent action, a couple of Rudee Inlet boats made impressive hauls of yellowfin tuna along the edge of the Continental Shelf at midweek, and speckled trout staged a strong showing in the Outer Banks surf. by CNB