THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602110256
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
The winter of '96 is proving once again two hard facts about Hatteras: The area has some of the world's greatest fishing and some of the world's worst weather.
Of course, you can criticize the weather in a lot of places along the East Coast in midwinter. But there are few East Coast locations that can match Hatteras when it comes to fishing, especially in January, February, March and April.
That's because hordes of giant bluefin tuna, some in excess of 600 pounds, spend the season off Hatteras and Ocracoke islands on the North Carolina Outer Banks.
There's a lot of conjecture as to how long the fish have wintered in these waters. But the bottom line is that for the past couple of years, the fishery has exploded after being widely publicized. As a result, just about every boat slip at Hatteras is filled when marinas might otherwise be half-full or less.
Many slips have been taken by out-of-town charter boats lured to the area by the bluefins. Private boats, too, have been drawn by the unparalleled tuna run.
Anyway, the mere fact that you have charter boats and a ready supply of perhaps the world's greatest game fish doesn't necessarily equate to a lot of fishing. And that is where the weather comes in.
``We have every slip filled, but the boats sure have been sitting at the dock a lot,'' said Larris Tolson, manager of Teach's Lair Marina at Hatteras. ``In some ways, it's a shame. This is a great business opportunity for Hatteras, and it's at a time when we can really use it.
``But the weather can be bad, like it can anywhere. It's been especially rough this year because we've had so much wind and rough seas. Skippers can't get out as often as they would like.''
One charter skipper, who moved to Hatteras from Pirate's Cove Marina at Nags Head for the tuna run, said he's had 19 bookings since the first of the year and has been able to get out only three times.
``We've been unlucky,'' he said. ``When the weather has been decent, we haven't had any bookings. And when we've had bookings, the weather has been bad.''
Tolson said the colder-than-normal winter apparently was keeping the fish farther offshore than usual.
``The fish have been over a few inshore wrecks, only 12 to 20 miles out, for the past couple of years,'' he said. ``But this year the water temperature has been a cold 42 degrees inshore, so the fish have been out closer to the edge of the Gulf Stream.''
Still, when anglers are able to get out, they have made tremendous catches. Some boats have caught and released as many as 30 fish a day, with most running between 150 and 400 pounds and a few even larger.
Anyway, the good thing is that the fish probably will be around well into April.
March and April can be blustery months at Hatteras and other East Coast ports. But it's usually better than in January and February.
Last year, so was the fishing.
BEACH SHOW: Officials of the 43rd annual Mid-Atlantic Sports and Boat Show at the Virginia Beach Pavilion are hoping the weather will treat them more kindly than it did Tim Jones of Suffolk.
Jones sponsored last weekend's Bass-N-Saltwater Expo at the Hampton Coliseum. Remember what the weather was like? Most speakers were not even able to make it to Hampton.
Anyway, boat show officials are hoping things will be better when the event opens a nine-day run Saturday at the Pavilion.
``We know bad weather can happen at any time,'' said John Ridenour, show director. ``But we have two weekends, and certainly we should get one decent one.''
The show normally attracts between 20,000 and 30,000 hull-thumpers and tire-kickers, and this year should be no different.
It will feature more than 200 of the latest-design boats, displayed both inside and outside the sprawling Pavilion. Other exhibits will highlight new outboard motors, gas and diesel inboards, boat trailers, marine hardware, marine accessories and marine electronics.
Additionally, numerous public service booths will be staffed by local experts willing to share their knowledge on all types of fishing and boating.
Other booths will be staffed by various state and federal water- and fish-related agencies.
Show hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. both Saturdays; noon to 7 p.m. both Sundays; and 6 to 9 p.m. weekdays. Admission will be $5, $2 for children 12 and under.
TOP TAGGERS: Virginia anglers tagged and released 1,357 game fish in 1995 under a program funded from the state's saltwater fishing license.
Six species were involved: speckled trout, tautog, spadefish, cobia, black drum and red drum.
The program is jointly administered by Jon Lucy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Claude Bain, director of the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament, a function of the Marine Resources Commission.
Some 105 of the tagged fish were recaptured, providing some insight to travels of the species, all popular game fish.
The top tagger was Ken Neill III of Grafton with 148 tagged fish, followed by Thomas J. House of Windsor with 143. Neill tagged 64 togs, 41 speckled trout, 38 spadefish and five black drum. House had 124 specks, 11 tog, six red drum and two cobia.
Buddy Noland of Hopewell, who tagged 54 spadefish, had 10 of his fish recaptured. Danny Noland, also of Hopewell, had tags returned from 10 of his 50 spadefish.
NET SCAM: When Florida voters overwhelming approved outlawing most inshore nets last year, $20 million was set aside to purchase obsolete nets from displaced commercial fishermen.
Under the law, full-time netters were to get $500 to $1,000 for each gill net, depending on its length, and $3,500 for each seine or trammel net. The buy-back program went into effect in August.
State officials were amazed at how much netting was turned in. One estimate was that it would stretch from New York to Los Angeles, another that it could circle the state of Florida three times.
At first, everything went well. Then netters discovered a loophole: By sewing a piece of seine into the middle of a gill net, the end product fitted the ``seine-net'' requirement and was worth $3,500, not $500 to $1,000.
In seven counties known to have large contingents of gill nets, 99 percent of those turned in fit the ``seine-net'' description. One netter turned in 56 seines for more than $195,000.
As a result, the program was almost bankrupt before many netters had a chance to turn in their gear. The program faced a $6 million shortfall.
The state cracked down on the matter, based on how original net-license applications were issued. As a result, some $7.5 million has been reclaimed.
Now some netters who had their payments reduced have filed lawsuits, claiming they received less than promised.
Stay tuned.
SHORT CASTS: It could cost up to $1.3 million to repair forest roads damaged by January flooding in two sprawling national forests in western Virginia. Scores of roads were washed out in the Thomas Jefferson and George Washington national forests, popular with Virginia hunters. . . . A delightful little book, ``Teaching Kids About Birds,'' is available for $3.95, postpaid, from: Bird Watcher's Digest, P.O. Box 110, Dept. AJ, Marietta, Ohio 45750, telephone 1-800-879-2474. It could also be an asset to adults just becoming interested in the avian world. . . . On the same subject, did you know that bird-watching, ``birding'' if you're a participant, contributes almost $20 billion annually to the nation's economy, providing more than 234,000 jobs? . . . Canada and the United States have signed amendments to improve the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1916 by giving more consideration to Alaska's indigenous people and Canada's Aboriginal people. by CNB