THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604140207
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Hutchinson
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
In Virginia, it's time for a couple of special seasons for hunting and fishing enthusiasts looking for real trophies, turkeys and striped bass.
First, the spring gobbler season opened Saturday, with bearded turkeys remaining legal through May 18 and hunting permitted from a half-hour before sunrise until noon.
The sport has virtually exploded in the past few years as more and more hunters have answered the call of the spring woods.
State wildlife officials are expecting another outstanding season, although it will be hard to match the record 11,694 birds bagged last year. That's more than double the 5,776 taken in 1986.
About 63,000 hunters will go after turkeys this spring, hunting an average of six times, according to Bob Duncan, head of the wildlife division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
``Those figures represent about 21 percent of all licensed hunters,'' Duncan said, ``and the success rate of 22 percent is outstanding. We're really proud of where we've come with our turkey program.''
Duncan said this year's up-and-down weather could impact the season. ``Last year,'' he said, ``the weather was just about perfect.
``I'm going to stop short of predicting another record kill. But it could happen. I certainly think we have the birds and we obviously have enough interested hunters.''
As for the trophy season on striped bass, it opens May 1 in Virginia waters of both the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, as well as the bay's tributaries. It'll run through May 15.
However, there are caveats. Anglers will be limited to one fish a day, the striper must be at least 32 inches long and successful fishermen are required to report their catches to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Ironically, when the regular spring striper season opens in the Chesapeake Bay May 16, one day after the trophy season closes, only fish between 18 and 28 inches will be allowed.
This means that one day 32-inch fish will be legal and 28-inchers will not, while just the opposite will be true the following day.
Jack Travelstead of the marine agency said the trophy season is designed to give anglers a shot at ``outstanding fish'' returning to the ocean after completing spawning.
``This is the migratory coastal stock of spawning rockfish,'' he said, ``and that's why we have to require reports. We don't want to take so many that this spawning stock is adversely affected.''
Overall, anglers in Virginia and Maryland, including those who fish the Potomac River, are limited to 30,000 of these big fish during this special season.
That's not a problem, at least in Virginia.
Catch reports for 1995, the program's first year, show that only about 200 fish were landed.
Travelstead said he wasn't sure how many were taken in Maryland and on the Potomac, where there are separate regulatory/reporting agencies. ``But I suspect,'' he said, ``that together, we were well under the quota.''
Travelstead also said that most fish reported in Virginia came from around and inside Western Shore rivers. ``We had some from the lower bay,'' he said, ``but most came from up off the Northern Neck area.''
Reporting forms are available at official weighing stations of the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament, as well as other marinas, tackle shops and boating centers.
SHORT CASTS: Only three species have produced entries in the annual Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament, which opened Jan. 1. Tom Mikrut of Virginia Beach leads with a 17-pound, 14-ounce tautog, Bruce Robertson of Chesapeake with an 8-14 speckled trout and Patrick O'Donnell of Virginia Beach with a 6-8 sea bass. ... Kevin Laxton of Virginia Beach has earned a Virginia saltwater citation with a 9-12 tog, boated off Virginia Beach on the boat Lite Tackle. ... Joe Malinoski of Virginia Beach earned a freshwater citation with a 23 3/4-inch, 9-pound largemouth bass, caught at Lake James. ... David McMillan of Chesapeake also caught a citation-sized largemouth. The 22 3/4-inch, 7-pounder came from Lake James on Friday. ... Danielle Weier, age 7 1/2, scored with a 14-8 channel catfish, caught at Lake Tecumseh and weighed at the West Neck Creek Marina. ... The bass tournament hosted by the Tidewater Anglers Club of Norfolk will be April 27, not April 22, as the club previously announced. ... There are still a few openings for the April 18-21 Outer Banks Sport Fishing School offered at Nags Head, N.C., by Joe Malat and Mac Curin. The cost is $150, including a guided fishing trip. Details: Malat, 1-919-441-4767. by CNB