December 27, 2006Flying high
Considering how many 50-pounders are being caught, this fish is a relative shrimp -- until you consider that Huelsbeck caught the thing on a fly rod. In fact, according to Ball, who is the Virginia Beach representative to the International Game Fish Association, this striper is a pending line-class world record. The fish hit a big Clouser minnow fly, which has always been among my favorite patterns for coastal stripers. The fishing off Virginia Beach actually has slowed down, thanks in large part to the commercial menhaden fleet. With their season winding down they rolled into the area last week and scooped up huge schools of the menhaden. The bait fish gone, the big stripers left to find more food. It's like the premise of the movie "Happy Feet," except with stripers instead of penguins. There are still a ton of smaller stripers around the CBBT, and also some larger fish. That fishery closes -- for anglers who want to keep fish -- at the end of the year. It won't be long before the ocean fishery gets good again.
December 19, 2006Georgia wasn't kindI'm back in Virginia after a five-day trip to Georgia for my wife's kin's annual Christmas party, hosted by her dad in his home on the shores of Lake Blackshear near Cordele. Her dad, Chick Whelchel, had told me there were some deer around his place, which comprises maybe a dozen acres. He asked me to try to shoot one for him because his eyesight is no longer good enough to shoot a gun. It's rifle season down there, but because there some other houses around -- it's not like Smith Mountain Lake, but it's fairly developed -- I thought it would be better to haul the bow. Plus, frankly, I like bowhunting a lot more than hunting with a gun. I spent about an hour scouting late the first morning we were there. I found some tracks, some decent trails and even one good scrape. The strip of woods I would be hunting was maybe a quarter mile long by 200 yards wide. Not big. It was mostly big, mature pines with a really thick understory. So even though there were plenty of stand-worthy trees, there weren't many in areas where I'd have any chance of getting off a bow shot. But I eventually found a pretty good spot that was surprisingly open with a good tree. I was back that afternoon. I didn't hurry to get in there because it was really warm, maybe 75. I didn't see anything but song birds. That was actually pretty interesting. I hunt one spot up here that has so many deer there is very little understory and I don't see many song birds. No wonder birders are among the biggest supporters of sound deer population management. I was back in there the next morning well before legal shooting light. As soon as it got light the shots started -- the duck hunters were having a ball on the lake. Meanwhile, nothing for me. Maybe I should have just hauled some duck decoys down there and gone that route. I'm sure I would have had more action, and the licenses would have cost less than the $105 I spent on the three-day license and big-game license, and the primitive license. I'm not complaining. We had a great family trip, and hunting was just a little part of the whole adventure. And the hunting was fun, too, and different. Plus I believe the area has enough potential that I wouldn't hesitate to give it another try next time we're down there in the fall.
December 13, 2006Huge winner
This weekend was awesome for huge stripers in Virginia's coastal waters. In addition to this fish, several fish over 50 pounds were reportedly caught by anglers who weren't registered in this tournament. With water temps still around 50, and the current mild temps, the big fish should be around for a while.. December 11, 2006Just a little excited
My favorite line from her note was this: "I was so excited I lost half of my belongings in the woods and had to go hunt for them the next day." That is the pull of hunting, and it's something people who haven't done it just don't understand. Belinda's picture is proof that at least a few people are still getting out and hunting. The first couple of weeks of December are probably the quietest weeks Virginia's deer season, which runs about three months starting with the early archery season. The lull is due to a few factors. One, many hunters have pushed it so hard since October that they're ready to finally ease off. With the holidays approaching, this also tends to be busy time with family obligations. There will be a little jump in action once the late muzzleloader season open Saturday, but it won't be much of one. I actually slipped out to Bedford County for a quick hunt Saturday afternoon. I didn't even get into my stand until 4 p.m. but I was hunting the stand for the first time and that always is the best chance to see something good. Well, when I got into the stand I found out that it wouldn't be that stand's first hunt. Someone else had been in the thing. I don't know who, but I'm glad they left the thing there. It was quiet for the first hour but just after 5 p.m. I heard a deer coming. It turned out to be a super fat 5-point buck. He had an interesting rack. One side was a typical, small forked antler. The other went straight up with a triple fork, like a trident. The buck ended up walking directly under the stand, where he milled about for a couple of minutes. Then he casually kept going, turning at one point to offer a perfect quartering away shot at about 12 yards. I didn't shoot. It's not like I'm saving my two remaining buck tags at this point, but I figure he has a good chance of making it to next year. Of course that doesn't mean I'll get a crack at him next year, but you never know. December 6, 2006Nice nine
Grigsby is the assistant city manager for the city of Roanoke. December 1, 2006Forty-five years later
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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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