My feature on the Outdoors page in today’s Roanoke Times was a short piece on my recent long weekend trip to Cape Charles, a little town on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

This was a family trip, but I managed to sneak out for a little fishing. OK, quite a bit of fishing. It helped that the fishing was great around the rocky breakwaters right off the street where our rental cottage was. (It was Monroe Street, but there are breakwaters all along the public town beach.)

I had heard that the Chesapeake Bay is flush with immature red drum, aka puppy drum. For once the reports didn’t exaggerate. Those fish were everywhere. They were small — 12 to 17 inches. But on light bass tackle — actually I was using a G. Loomis “walleye” rod —  they were an absolute hoot. A 17-incher will TEAR YOU UP! My daughters got in on the action, too. They always want to kiss the fish, and they didn’t get that from Jimmy Houston, either. Not sure where they got it.

As I wrote today, the great fishing this year bodes well for next year, when these puppies will be back as 18- to 26-inchers. That the “keeper” slot, but I’m less interested in keeping these fish than just catching them.

Officials in Bristol have announced that Cabela’s will anchor a shopping development in the city.

According to a city press release, construction on the store could start as soon as next summer, with a target opening date of October 2014.

The nearest Cabela’s is a store that just opened in  Charleston, W. Va., about three hours from Roanoke.

There are two Bass Pro Shops super stores within three hours of Roanoke, one near Charlotte and another in Richmond.

Bristol officials are counting on the Cabela’s location to be more than just a big retail store, but for it to be a tourist draw.

That the stores will draw big tourist crowds is often cited by Cabela’s and Bass Pro leaders as they seek store locations, with their decisions often hinging on generous  financial incentive packages. However, some analyses, including one  cited in this recent article,  dispute the idea that  public investment in the large stores is a wise investment.

Here’s the full release from Bristol:

Bristol Virginia Lures Cabela’s To The Falls

BRISTOL, VA – The City of Bristol, Virginia has lured an important anchor store to a new retail tourism site located on 140 acres within the city’s limits. City officials announced today that signed documents are in hand from outdoor outfitter giant, Cabela’s, who will be the first of two anchor stores at The Falls. With 38 retail stores worldwide, the Bristol store will be the first Cabela’s in Virginia.

“Cabela’s has a deep customer base not only in and around Bristol but across the region, people who share our passion for the Great Outdoors,” said Tommy Millner, Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer. “These outdoorsmen and women have supported Cabela’s for a long time, shopped with us via our catalog and online, so it was time to bring them the unique Cabela’s retail experience.”
Read more »

This is something you don’t see too often this time of year: a big Smith Mountain Lake striper. Richard Millar of Lake Ridge caught it Thursday.

Here’s his story:

“On 26 July during a morning striper fishing trip with Capt Kenny Short we – my daughter Melanie (of Atlanta) and son Richie (of Richmond) – caught 21 stripers including this 38- inch, 22-pound citation striper (me pictured).

Capt Kenny was so good, several times it seemed liked fishing for tuna – we were just catching them on all lines; but alas his fishermen (us) were not good enough to bring them all into the boat.  It is fun to occasionally watch a boat captain get so frustrated at his crew – then we learned to hook the stripers better.

We were staying at The Virginia Cottage at Smith Mountain Lake and read in their guest book of the great time other guests had had fishing with Captain Kenny’s Striper Guide Service.  So we gave him a call.

Funny thing – to us not Kenny – because on Sunday he hit a submerged log in his boat which put it out of action. He had borrowed a boat so he could take us fishing.  He was not totally accustomed to the smaller boat and different layout.  He did a great job despite the rookie fishermen and the unfamiliar boat.  I can’t image how many fish we would have caught had we been in his primary boat.  We were fishing on the upper Blackwater with live bait (shad) in 30 – 40 feet.”

Who else is out there fishing? Let’s hear some reports.

We are in the process of overhauling Roanoke.com, and we’ve been reaching out to readers for feedback on what they’d like to see with the new site. We even have a blog, The Refresh RT blog, to keep readers in the loop.

So, let me pose that question to you all: How can we improve the Outdoors content on Roanoke.com? What are we doing well? What can we do better? What else would you like to see? Are there other outdoors sites we should look at for ideas?

Be blunt and honest. Your input will make a difference.

First, some basic background on what we have now.

–Outdoors stories and columns that appear in The Roanoke Times comprise part of our online Outdoors package. I write nearly all of these.  Read more »

My counterpart at the Virginian-Pilot, Lee Tolliver, just posted an update on the Outer Banks beach closures on his blog.

Lee was part of team that was on the Outer Banks last week working on a big project on the beach closure issue. It is slated to run this weekend in the Pilot, and I hope we can pick up the story. One way or the other I will make sure to include the necessary links.

I haven’t written a post in a few days, in part because Friday I was out all day fishing, then went straight to work in the office until after midnight.

Then I just took the weekend off, other than a few comments to that last post on Sunday hunting.

This week I’m working on a piece on winter fishing. I did something a few weeks ago on winter bass fishing tournaments, but this will be on the various species available to anglers during the colder months, as well as some techniques for catching them.

This was the only yellow perch my buddy Tom Maynard and I managed to scare up on Friday from Claytor Lake. We did get a few walleyes, however, which we really had to work for.

We’re eating them tonight, and they will be tasty.

I’ll be chewing on something else for a while. On the way back to the ramp my boat’s engine died. One second it was running like a top, the next it was buzzing to a stop. It didn’t take me too long to figure out the problem: out of gas. Tom, being a fishing guide who likes things in order, had sent me an email a few days earlier with a long checklist of things. They ranged from having enough lifejackets to making sure my fishing license was valid. One item was to make sure I had enough gas. “You didn’t even read it, did you?” he asked. “Of course I read it,” I replied. “I just didn’t heed your advice.” Tom said the only reason he sent all that to me was “I have done all of those things myself.”

Fortunately we had only about 2 miles back to the ramp so were able to get in on the trolling motor.

Another one for the “This happened to me while boating” file.

Anyway, back to fishing. What are some other fish you all like to target this time of year? Favorite spots? Tactics? I’m not looking for any super secrets, just basic info.

Thanks in advance.

As I wrote about in my column yesterday in The Roanoke Times, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore implements its new beach driving plan today.

Among the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective) are access fees that range from $50 for a week to $120 for a year, as well as various permanent and seasonal closures.

There’s a coded map on the park’s website, and that will give you an idea where you’ll be access and drive on the beach, and when. Another option is to use Google Earth to access a map showing up-to-date access and closures.

Even though the Outer Banks is six hours (or more) from the Roanoke area, it remains a popular vacation destination, and a favorite among surf fishermen. Many are bummed, to put it lightly, about this plan.

I have not been to the Outer Banks since this whole thing blew up a few years ago and, while I’ve read a lot about the situation, I really want more insight and information.

For those of you who do get down there to fish, what impact do you see the new plan having? Is it better or worse than the interim plan that was in place for the past three years? Is there a different approach that would meet legal requirements (for dealing with endangered species such as the piping plover, the bird responsible for much of this hubub) while still providing a more reasonable level of beach access for drivers?

Of course I also welcome input from those who support the closures, or even feel like this plan doesn’t go far enough.

Rumors started floating around a couple weeks ago that Sportsman’s Warehouse would be reopening its Roanoke location.

Those rumors were confirmed when the company recently added Roanoke to its map of store locations. Karen Seaman, the company’s chief marketing officer, left no doubt.

“We are returning to the area this spring and looking forward to reopening our store in Roanoke,” she wrote to me in an email earlier today.

According to the company’s website, the store, which is on Ferncliff Avenue near the Hersberger Road and I-581 interchange, will open on April 16, with a grand opening celebration on April 28.

I’m trying to connect with Seaman by phone for more details.

The Roanoke store was one of 23 the company closed in 2009 as part of  Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Fifteen stores were sold to a Canadian company. A cash investment from a venture capital company helped the company get back on its feet, and Sportsman’s Warehouse emerged from Chapter 11 in August of 2009.

Since word of the return of Sportman’s Warehouse has started getting around, I’ve heard from several people who were enthusiastic about the news. Even though the Roanoke store was open for less than two years, the store earned plenty of devoted fans.

My good friend Kraig Cesar called me Friday evening with big news.

“I just got done looking at the new state record striped bass,” he said.

Kraig had been on his way to One Fish, Two Fish, a waterfront restaurant next to Long Bay Pointe Marina. When he overheard someone mention seeing a giant striper next door, Kraig did what any self-respecting fisherman would do and took a detour to the tackle shop.

The fish, caught by Cary Wolfe of Prince William County, weighed 74 pounds on the nose. That’s a pound heavier than the existing record, caught four years ago by Fred Barnes of Chesapeake.

Wolfe was aboard the Bada Bing with Capt. Tim Cannon, fishing off Cape Henry. They were trolling big parachute rigs when the fish hit.

The catch must still be certified by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, but there appears to be nothing about the catch that would affect its approval.

For more on the catch, check out this story by my cohort Lee Tolliver at The Virginian-Pilot.

While most of us have been afflicted with Whitetailitis, Karl Uotinen and Tom Spitnale recent spent some time fishing on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and were richly rewarded.

Check out these bull red drum Karl (top) and Tom pulled from the Ocracoke surf! Wow! They had several other great drum.

Fall is the time to be there. But you can’t be there and here. Argh! It’s just not fair that we have only one October and one November every year.