DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704270190

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Hutchinson 

                                            LENGTH:  128 lines

``TROPHY'' STRIPERS BECOME FAIR GAME THURSDAY

Virginia anglers will be looking to improve on their performance during the state's special ``trophy fish'' striped bass season, which opens Thursday and runs through May 15.

If only one qualifying fish is boated, those hopes will be realized. The 1996 season, with similar dates, failed to produce a single big striper.

To be legal, rockfish must be at least 32 inches long.

Fish of that size were commonplace along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and in a few other areas last fall and winter. Eighty big rockfish were registered with the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. Of those, 49 were released stripers at least 44 inches long, and 31 were ``weight'' fish, at least 40 pounds.

Claude Bain, director of the state-sponsored contest, which is based in Virginia Beach, expects few fish to meet the 32-inch minimum.

``I think we'll see a couple, maybe even a few,'' he said. ``But I don't think you'll see a great many. The best chances are probably along the bridge-tunnel and in the Smith Point/Reedville area of the upper Chesapeake.''

Because ocean waters are also open during the special season, there's also a possibility that a couple of big rockfish could be boated around Cape Henry and along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. These waters have been producing a few stripers all winter and spring.

Bain said most Hampton Roads anglers don't seem to have much interest in stripers until the regular spring season opens May 16, when the minimum will be 18 inches.

``They know they can't keep fish under 32 inches,'' Bain said. ``Beyond that, most local fishermen still think of the striper as a fall and winter target.''

This year's exceptional weather could have an impact, producing more big fish. The recent cold may have delayed stripers' return from spawning grounds in the headwaters of Virginia rivers.

Anyway, the normal spring striper season will open May 16 and run through June 15, with an 18-inch legal minimum and a 28-inch legal maximum.

This means that one day it will be against the law to keep stripers under 32 inches and the next day it will be against the law to keep any above 28 inches.

Ah, the wonders of modern fishery management.

For legions of Virginia anglers, the real striper season will open Oct. 4 and run through Dec. 31. Then you will almost be able to walk across the Chesapeake Bay on boats.

Incidentally, the bag limit during the ``trophy fish'' season will be one per person, while it will be two during other seasons.

SAVE THE SHARK: Virginia anglers are way ahead of the game when it comes to conserving the ocean's frighteningly small shark population.

Last year anglers registered but four ``weight'' sharks, going at least 200 pounds, with the Virginia Salt Water Fishing Tournament. That's down from a record 232 catches recorded in 1987, when the minimum was 100 pounds.

In addition, anglers registered 69 releases for sharks at least 6 feet long in 1996. Releases were not even recorded in 1987.

Sharks have been in such serious decline over the past decade that the Virginia Beach Sharkers club abandoned its tournament a few years ago. There are no plans for a revival.

Sharks have been grossly overfished for several years, primarily by commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists predict it will take years, perhaps decades, to restore stocks to historic levels.

Dr. Jack Musick, shark specialist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, likens the dilemma to that of the African elephant.

``The shark is an endangered species,'' he told the Virginia Marine Resources Commission on Tuesday.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many species produce offspring only once every two years. And unlike stripers and other finfish, which lay millions of eggs, sharks give live birth, some to as few as two pups, as baby sharks are known.

The situation has become so acute that the federal government has ordered all coastal states to reduce their shark landings by at least 50 percent.

The Virginia commission took a step in the right direction Tuesday when it restricted commercial fishermen to sharks measuring at least 58 inches.

Musick testified that this, even coupled with a tolerance of 200 pounds of cleaned sharks per trip, could slice commercial landings by as much as 90 percent.

The feeling here is that Musick and the federal government will be asking for even more restraints within a couple of years.

Perhaps they're giving fishery officials time to realize that the constraints are too little for the dire straits.

And while it may be a moot point, in that so few people still fish recreationally for sharks, the agency should reconsider the law that allows each sportsman to keep one shark a day. Aren't two or three per boat enough?

If we're to believe scientists, as no doubt we should, the situation screams for a total ban on all shark fishing.

FINAL CHANCE: Virginians will have one final opportunity to voice their opinions on more than 75 changes in hunting and trapping laws proposed by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

That opportunity will come May 5, when the commission holds a final public hearing on the matter. The 9 a.m. session will be at the Comfort Inn at 3200 W. Broad St. in Richmond.

While most regulations are hardly more than fine-tuning, as ordered by Gov. George Allen, some are more serious. One would limit hunters to buying one bonus tag to kill additional deer and another would extend the Dismal Swamp bear season by opening it three weeks early.

SHOW TIME: Several Hampton Roads marine dealers will be exhibiting their wares at the Portside Boat Show in Portsmouth Saturday and Sunday.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, and admission will be free. The show is presented by Ports Events and will be on the city's downtown waterfront.

For details, contact Sandy Craig at Ports Events at 393-9933.

SHORT CASTS: Effective immediately, it is unlawful for either recreational or commercial fishermen in Virginia to land tautog measuring less than 13 inches. . . . Dan Arris of Virginia Beach recently bagged his second gobbler of the spring turkey season. Killed in Patrick County, it weighed 20 pounds and had a 9-inch beard. ``I'm now a turkey-hunting consultant,'' said the retired insurance executive. . . . Mike Dunham of Virginia Beach bagged a monster gobbler in Greensville County. It weighed 21-10 and had a 12-inch beard. . . . Hunting cronies Mike Okuley and Bob Brooke of Chesapeake also were successful in Greensville. Okuley had a 19-pounder, Brooke a 15-pounder. pounds and Scott Harsh of Virginia Beach boated a 90-pound yellowfin tuna on a recent trip out of Hatteras, N.C., on the charter boat Gravy. . . . Sean Morris of Virginia Beach won a recent largemouth bass tournament staged by the Virginia Bassmasters. His catch weighed 17-10. Bill Wilson of Chesapeake was second at 10-12 and Ray Richardson of Virginia Beach was third at 10-11. Larry Wehr of Virginia Beach had the lunker at 4-13. . . . Don Cyburt of Chesapeake recently landed a 23-inch rainbow trout at Northwest River Park in that city. It's believed to be the largest ever taken there, where rainbows have been stocked as part of the state's urban trout program. Cyburt said the fish probably weighed 5 pounds.

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