Looking for something to do this holiday weekend? See our picks for some fun local events.
If you followed the recent thread about trout truck followers, you might remember Richie Ponton chiming in with an opinion that not all nice fish are pulled out of the creeks the first day.
He provided this proof yesterday, sending this shot of two big browns that he caught while fishing Potts Creek the day after it was stocked.
John Waldron was fishing at Jennings Creek on Saturday for Trout Heritage Day when he tangled with this fat, 25-inch-long rainbow trout. He was reportedly using 2-pound-test line.
A general rule of thumb with wild trout is that a 25-incher will weigh about 5 pounds. Clearly, this fat fish is well above that.
I suspect the Heritage Waters are already pretty cleaned out but there are certainly a few trout still swimming around in there.
As the previous thread shows, there’s a general consensus that put-and-take streams get hammered immediately after they are stocked.
The first anglers to hit the water don’t get everything.
Richie Ponton hit Potts Creek three days after it was stocked, and this fish was still in there.
Ponton said the brown trout was 22 inches long. Nice fish!
You know the deal.
Every day, when the trout-filled tanker trucks head down the road from the hatchery, they will pass stakeout areas — spots were fishermen are parked and waiting.
The truck followers, as they are known, will pull out and follow the truck to its destination. Then the anglers will watch as the hatchery workers dump the trout into the pond or stream. Some will immediately start fishing.
(Ron Horn, pictured here with a behemoth brown trout, didn’t have to follow a truck to catch this fish. He caught it on Heritage Day last April, while fishing Tinker Creek. I just used the picture because it’s such a big fish!)
I did a story on it a few years ago, and my feeling coming away from it was the truck followers seem to get as much enjoyment, if not more, out of their little game of trying to predict the truck’s destination, as well as the camaraderie of hanging out with the brethren, than they do out of actual fishing.
Anyway, I just got a note from a fisherman who is not a fan of truck followers. I’ll post it below. Please read it and then offer up your own opinions on the truck followers.
“Today’s fishing outing prompted me to write this letter. Let me start off by saying that I am an avid trout fisherman. I am fortunate to own a successful business which is 90 percent ran by my associates so I have a lot of free time. With this time I fish everyday in the fall, winter, and spring and have been doing so for years. I consider myself an experienced angler and particularly for trout. I exclusively only fish for trout. I may fish a little for smallmouth in the summer but not often. Last week I headed up to Arcadia to fish North Creek.
Just passed by the Roanoke River (downtown) and saw fishermen. It got a dose of trout this morning.
I stopped and checked out a few holes but couldn’t see much. That’s a good thing. The water has some color. It’s not bad. In fact, it looks about perfect.
In the stocked stretch I saw at least a dozen anglers so the word is out.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is participating in the Governor’s Regulatory Reform Initiative.
Here are the basics, from the DGIF website:
“The Governor of Virginia has directed that the Commonwealth’s regulations be reviewed for possible improvements. This site solicits your suggestions pertaining to Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF)-administered regulations currently governing
-fishing
-wildlife diversity (wildlife species that are not hunted or fished)
-boating
…that would help to achieve the following results:
Repeal regulations that are unnecessary or no longer in use; and
Reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on individuals, businesses, and other regulated groups.”
Hunting and trapping aren’t included above because they are already being reviewed as part of the DGIF’s bi-annual regulations review process. So, suggestions are welcome on hunting and trapping, too.
The DGIF website page on the issue includes information on how to submit suggestions.
I’d like to write a column about this process to better get the word out about this. I’d like to include examples of regulations that Virginia’s hunters, anglers, boaters and other outdoors enthusiasts would like to see addressed. (Though Sunday hunting is a legislative issue, I don’t suppose it could hurt to include it in your comments.)
I will be disappointed if frequent contributor Walt doesn’t quickly chime in because I know he’s got at least one beef with the current deer hunting rules!
I’ll start: Current regs don’t allow me to take a “conventional” firearm with me when I am muzzleloader hunting for deer. I’d like someone to explain to me why I shouldn’t be able to take a shotgun with me when the muzzleloader deer and firearms turkey seasons overlap. (It would actually be me taking a muzzleloader with me while turkey hunting, but you get the drift.) I don’t want to shoot a turkey with a muzzleloader, and it’s not like the shotgun is going to give me some kind of advantage in deer hunting. It seems any concern about using buckshot or a slug shotgun can be addressed by rules regarding shot size, etc.
In addition to Walt I’d like to hear from readers about what regs you’d like to see addressed.
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 »
For those who didn’t see my column in Sunday’s Roanoke Times, I wrote about Dargan Coggeshall’s mission to gain support — including financial support — to help his defense against a lawsuit.
Coggeshall is being sued for trespassing on the Jackson River while he was fishing a section of the river that, according to maps produced by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, is open to fishing.
Because of space consideration I couldn’t get too deep into the background. But I covered the basics of the case in depth for this Roanoke Times story, which ran a year ago.
Does anyone care to predict how this will turn out?
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 »
Tomorrow (June 1) marks the opening of Delayed Harvest trout waters to general trout regulations.
The idea behind Delayed Harvest is that the catch-and-release and artificial lures regs during cooler months allow for a sustainable fishery, while the harvest rules allow fishermen to get the trout before they succumb to warm water of summer. It’s a good program and it works pretty well, but things may not be looking so great on some DH waters this year. Read more »
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.
