DATE: Thursday, May 15, 1997                TAG: 9705150642

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON

                                            LENGTH:   31 lines

A WEEKLY GUIDE TO THE REGION'S HOT SPOT

Bad news and good news: Virginia's ``trophy fish'' season on striped bass ends at midnight tonight and Virginia's normal spring season on stripers opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

There's more: Until midnight, only fish 32 inches and longer are legal, while after midnight only fish 18-28 inches will be legal in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries.

In ocean waters, offshore for three miles, after midnight only rockfish 28 inches or more will be legal. On all waters, the bag limit will be two fish after midnight.

Confusing, at least. The bottom line: This is a good time to go fishing with a lawyer who understands fishery laws.

Anyway, if you want to catch and keep a big striper, now is the time and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is the place.

Several big stripers have been boated there recently, including a 44-pounder claimed a few days ago by Robert King of Virginia Beach on the Fish Bones.

The biggest fish are coming from between the Fourth Island and the high-level bridge across North Channel. Remember, though, that stripers this big can go just about anywhere they choose.

[The rest of this story is not available electronically. For complete text, please see microfilm.]

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