June 30, 2006An interesting shuttle When we were done we had a dilemma. Somehow we ended up with five vehicles at the put-in, and one -- mine -- at the take-out. We had no problem stuffing all six boats in the bed of my Toyota Tundra. Finding a place for six people wasn't going to be as easy, because I have two toddler car seats in my truck and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of pulling them out. So two guys rode in the back with the boats -- I'm not endorsing this kind of behavior -- two guys shared the front passenger seat and another sat in back seat next to the kid seats. Those of us in the cab had it easy. The two guys with the boats said the 4-mile trip back to the put in was way tougher than the paddle. June 28, 2006Three deer The other evening I was riding around with my good friend Bill Cochran when we saw some deer on his place. He mentioned that the deer he's been seeing this year all look incredibly healthy. I would have to agree. Bill also said that he's seeing lots of rabbits, and many are really large. This year's mild winter weather must have really helped the region's critters come into spring in good condition. June 26, 2006Heavy flowThe heavy rains we were warned about finally got here last night. It poured in Roanoke all night. The region's rivers are howling. Here are some figures: Roanoke River flow in Roanoke: 1,020 cfs; median: 125 cfs. James River at Lick Run: 17,000 cfs; median: 648 cfs. In short, big rivers are pretty much blown out for anyone but expert paddlers. Creeks are another story, and could be good for a few days depending on where the expected storms dump more rain. Meanwhile, water was flowing in the sports department office here at The Roanoke Times. My computer is one of the few in here that isn't covered by a plastic bag to protect it from roof leaks. The floor is soaked. We have a dehumidifier running full blast but I think it's going to smell pretty rank in here in a couple of days. June 24, 2006When it rains...Thunderstorms that rolled through Southwest Virginia last night (June 23) didn't hit my neighborhood too hard. But they dumped some good rain elsewhere. According to the USGS streamflow Web site, flow in the Roanoke River at Roanoke jumped from around 50 cfs to about 190 cfs. The James River at Buchanan blasted from a pitiful 600 cfs up to 1,300 cfs (and is still on its way up as I type this). The New River at Radford, where releases from Claytor Dam affect the flows, is just over 2,200 cfs this morning. That's still lower than usual, but better than the relative trickle that's been running the past few weeks. Fishing action should be decent on all three of those rivers today. On the New and James, that means smallmouth bass. The Roanoke doesn't have as many bass but its redbreast sunfish should be pretty active. More storms are in the future and that could be good and bad. River bass go nuts when a good afternoon thunderstorm approaches. I love chucking big prop baits in those situations. The challenge is to get off the water and to safety before the lightnining starts. And before rivers get dangerously high. (There's a current flash flood warning in effect for parts of Virginia.) If rain storms stick with us for the next few days, which is what the weather guessers are predicting, the rivers could be unfishable in a day or two. So now is the time to get out there.. June 22, 2006A real bass
Barbara Lynch pulled this 22-inch-long pig from a farm pond in Check on Mother's Day. The fish hit a Rapala Husky Jerk. Are you kidding me?After six days out of the office I've spent a good part of the last day wading through a backlog of e-mails. One came from someone criticizing me for a column I did back when Leah Trew put forth that claim in 2003 to have caught and released a world record largemouth bass in California's Spring Lake. In short, she said it was weighed on a certified scale, in front of a witness, and then released. Her son Javad took one picture before the camera conveniently ran out of film. In the picture Leah Trew held the bass in front of her at arm's length, which we all know is the oldest trick in the book to make a fish appear larger. The Trews said they released the fish because they didn't realize it was a record. Which is amazing because Javad Trew, who no doubt has caught some big bass in his day, was a regular poster to world record bass.com and had applied for line class records with the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. Despite the aforementioned Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame approving the catch as a 12-pound line class world record, the claim was so weak I can't believe anyone other than the Trews would still be trying to push it. Which makes me wonder if I know who sent that e-mail... June 9, 2006Fish a fun distraction for 3-D shootersBowfishing combines two of my passions - bowhunting and fishing -- and action can be non-stop. That's why I'm addicted. Here's a short video from a recent bowfishing trip at Smith Mountain Lake. In maybe an hour of serious fishing/hunting, I got maybe 25 shots. How many did I hit? At least one!
Of course I was blown away by how good these guys are at judging distance, then putting their arrows on the spot. The other thing that struck me was just how many of these guys are into bowfishing. I was following Richard Leftwich around. Leftwich, who lives in Salem, is an avid bowfisher. In fact, he said it was the relaxation of bowfishing that helped him win the ASA championship a couple of years ago. A bunch of shooters wanted to talk bowfishing with Leftwich. As they moved from 3-D target to 3-D target, they were trading stories about great trips, their bowfishing boats, and big fish. I can’t see how bowfishing would help a competitive archer get better at shooting at above-water targets. It’s just so different because you’re usually shooting by instinct, and you’re not even aiming at the fish. You have to aim below it to compensate for refraction. My bet is these guys like it because it’s just a lot of fun and they appreciate getting to shoot bows without the pressure they face on the 3-D range. I spent a couple of days on the water with Leftwich two years ago and the guy is a carp’s worst nightmare. He’s even more deadly now because he just got a new boat, complete with lights and a generator. Carp can be tough to find during the day but at night they hit the shallows. Leftwich said he’ll take me out at night. I’m going to hold him to it. June 8, 2006Crews in fast companyI just got a press release teaser from ESPN/BASS regarding four anglers who have managed to cash a check in all six Bassmastaer Elite Series tournaments and the first "Major" tournament. I bit because I had a feeling who one of the four was. Sure enough, Salem's John Crews was on the list, along with Mike Wurm from Arkansas, and superstars Mike Iaconelli of New Jersey and Greg Hackney of Lousiana. Always good at the business side of being a pro angler, Crews has become the total package this season. He has earned just over 85 grand in prize money this year, and is fifth in the tour's Angler of the Year standings. It's about timeWhen it comes to trends, I’d rather be on the front end than the back end. That’s not happening here, as I get rolling with what I think is something like the world’s 12,909,324,956th blog. Late to the party or not, here goes. I’m a full-time staffer for The Roanoke Times, where I cover the outdoors. My stories and columns tend to be pretty regional, focusing on Western Virginia. I do a lot of how-to and where-to stuff because I know everyone is pressed for time and I want to help readers get more out of their outdoors experiences. All of those stories already appear on-line at Roanoke.com, at least they do when things are working right. I may use this spot to provide more information on some of those topics, or further discuss them. But mainly this will be for things that don’t make the paper. For example, maybe I spend a Friday morning fishing for smallmouth bass on the James River. By the next Thursday, when my fishing report runs in the paper, that trip will be old news. So I’ll post a report, and maybe even a picture or two, as soon as possible. Or maybe I’ll just pass along info and pictures provided Joe Fisherman after his morning on the James. Same goes for hunting. Or paddling. Or hiking. Or camping. Or cycling. Etc. I do a lot of Web surfing on outdoors sites, read a lot of outdoors-related writing, and watch too many outdoors-related TV shows and videos. So I’ll discuss that stuff, too, and tell you what I like and what I don’t. And I’ll also hit on national trends and news. The blog will go beyond words and pictures, too. In fact, we already have a couple of short videos that we’ll post soon. Other ideas on what you’d like to see? Let me know. I’m flexible. |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
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