John Oen is a regular on Big Stony Creek in Giles County.

This is his biggest Big Stony catch, a 7-pound, 11-ounce rainbow trout that Oen caught on Memorial Day. The DGIF doesn’t keep records for specific bodies of water, at least not officials ones. But Oen said he can’t find any bigger rainbows listed in the Virginia Angler Recognition Program records.

The previous biggest he found was a 6-pound, 5-ounce rainbow caught in 2008.

Oen said the fish fell for ” a concoction of corn doodles and Cheez Whiz soaked in a certain sour mash whiskey.” He was using ultralight tackle, including 4-pound-test Trilene XL line.

Record or not, it’s a beast. Congrats to John for the catch!

Who among us hasn’t done the trick where we hold a fish, or deer, or whatever, out in front of us for a picture to make the critter appear much larger than it actually is?

This is one of the better examples of seen of this.

Shaffer Kelly killed this coyote in Franklin County in March.

Now, Shaffer could have said, “This thing weighed 120 pounds! It must have been a wolf hybrid! Or a purebred wolf!”

But Shaffer took the high road and told the truth. The coyote weighed 40 pounds. I say again, 40 pounds. Typical coyote.

But in this picture it looks giant, like one of those giant computer-generated wolves in that Liam Neeson movie, The Grey (which I personally thought was terrible despite its decent reviews).

Congrats on the coyote, Shaffer!

If you caught my column in today’s Roanoke Times, you know that Virginia’s turkey hunters have set a new spring gobbler season record.

Smashed the record in fact.

Dave Simmons, pictured here with his sons (hunting partner Noah, also pictured below, and photo bomber Willie) contributed to the total with a final day bird, killed in Franklin County thanks to the calling of Dave’s best friend (and cousin) Travis Ferguson.

Bob Ellis with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was kind enough to share the preliminary total for the season (you’ll have to read the column!) with me yesterday. The agency plans a full release today, and after I get it I’ll break down the numbers in more detail.

Turkey season can wear on hunters, what with the early mornings and lots of miles on the boots.

Those who stick it out can be rewarded.

Jim Forbes killed this nice gobbler a week ago, on the final Monday of the season. He was hunting national forest ground.

I am trying to get my hands on the final turkey tally but understand from DGIF that it might not be released until tomorrow. I would be shocked if the total doesn’t eclipse the previous record of 18,345 from 2002, given that hunters were already just about 1,000 birds shy of the mark early last week.

Congrats to Jim for contributing to the total!

I just got a note from W. Watson Martin, whose canoe got pinched from his backyard on Roanoke Ave., just upstream from the Memorial Bridge on the Roanoke River.

No, the kids weren’t in it!

Watson is ticked, and I don’t blame him. He’s offering a $200 reward for information that gets his boat back. Here’s his description:

“This Old Town Canoe was STOLEN on 5/16/13 from 1601 Roanoke Ave SW near Memorial Bridge along with two black and grey paddles. It’s missing the seat backs because they’re in my house; seats have notches to accommodate them. It also has a white, after-market drink holder screwed to the left of the rear cross bar. It’s a 2011 Guide 158. I live just upstream from Memorial Bridge and think the thief floated down to Wasena with it or took it upstream to Bridge Street in the Norwich neighborhood. Chain was cut. It’s under investigation. Contact me with any tips. Thanks! I hate a thief.”

Someone knows who stole this boat. If you have info, send it to me and I’ll forward to Watson.

Barry Arrington of Bedford sent in this shot from the recent Wheelin’ Sportsman hunt sponsored by the James River chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

The three hunters who scored were (left to right) Danny Balderson from Waynesboro, Tim Richey from Christiansburg and Chris Shelton from Richmond. Fifteen hunters participated in the hunt.

Wheelin’ Sportsmen provides people with disabilities the opportunity to participate in outdoors activities. Just as importantly, it helps friends and family learn about ways to help their loved ones get outdoors. Having participated as a volunteer in these events I can tell you that they are inspiring for EVERYONE involved.

Congrats to all the hunters, and thanks to the volunteers and generous landowners who allowed hunting for helping make this hunt, and those like it, happen!

Walt Hampton sent in this shot of his son, Wade, with a nice gobbler killed in late April. Here’s what Walt wrote:

“We watched this bird come 1,200 yards last Saturday, cross a creek and a woven wire fence before Wade killed him at 10 yards. When they’re ready to come, they come.”

I know this feeling.

I once killed a gobbler that had come about 400 yards across a field to where I was set up with my friend Carson Quarles. The bird took his sweet time and it’s a miracle my heart was able to take the hour-long wait for him to get within shotgun range.

Congrats to Wade and Walt for what had to be an amazing experience.

As I wrote about in my column in today’s Roanoke Times, Virginia’s hunters are on the cusp of setting a record for the spring gobbler season.

Among those doing their part were Carson and Norma Quarles of Roanoke, who killed their nice birds on family property in Botetourt County.

When I heard the tally through the weekend had already eclipsed last year’s total and was just about 1,000 birds from the record set in 2002 — sorry, but you’ll need to read the column to see the exact numbers — I admit I was a little surprised. Not that the kill is tracking above last year. It’s been tracking above all season. But the previous gap had been 16 percent, and I figured after the rainy and windy weather we’ve had lately that gap would have narrowed.

Thank goodness the DGIF was able to provide actual figures to keep me from putting my speculation in writing! I got out a couple mornings last week and it was slow. May get one or two more hunts in, than that’s it for me.

I hope you all are getting used to seeing my Outdoors page in the Sunday paper, on the back of the Ticker business section. That’s a recent change from its longtime home in the Friday Sports section and, honestly, a change I’m also still getting used to. Online at Roanoke.com, the feature still lives in the Sports section.

For this week’s feature I took a look at some  classic bass lures, including the Johnson’s Silver Minnow pictured here. You can read the story HERE.

I wouldn’t claim that my list is the definitive list, but I think it’s pretty solid.

Anyone care to disagree? What did I miss? What’s on the list that shouldn’t be.