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• The 2011 Bassmaster Classic
• More on Hot Ditch, saltwater angler registry
• More on menhaden
• The South River Project
• More on the citation sensation

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The 2011 Bassmaster Classic starts this coming Friday on the Louisiana Delta. All the festitivities associated with the event will held be in New Orleans. The map above should give you an idea about how big an area these guys have to fish.

I had a great time talking to both John Crews and Rick Morris in previewing this year’s event. Crews will be fishing his fifth Classic. Morris just missed qualifying. He’s fished in four previous Classics. Neither fished the Classic in 2003, the last time it was held on the Louisiana Delta. I also asked both of them about the Northern Open event on the James in July. Morris said he’ll be fishing it. Crews won’t. I’m hoping to get out on the water with Morris during one of his James River practice sessions. Look for that in late June.

A nice speckled trout pulled from the Hot Ditch.

There’s a lot going on in today’s column. Let’s start with the Hot Ditch and the efforts by VIMS and Dominion to get anglers to keep fewer big specks in that area. Click here for information on the game fish tagging program. Here’s a cool video of a guy fishing the Hot Ditch from his kayak. Here’s the location of the Hot Ditch on Google Maps

For more on the Virginia Saltwater Angler Registry program, click here.

There’s a great book on menhaden, its history, biology and current politics. It’s called The Most Important Fish in the Sea and it’s by Bruce Franklin. The Virginian-Pilot wrote a scathing editorial on the GA’s handling of this issue recently. Our own T-D Editorial board gave the GA a “thumbs down” on the same issue.

The Virginia Public Access Project makes it easy to find out who’s given what to politicians.

http://www.vpap.org/legislators

Then click on delegates (e.g. Albert Pollard), then “Money In” tab (pick your time frame).

As an example, below are the Omega Protein donations to Delegates on the Chesapeake Subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources
This is the group (on the House side) that is supposedly “managing” Menhaden in Virginia waters.

Delegate 2009-2010 2006-2010

Beverly Sherwood $500 $500

R. Lee Ware $1000 $2500

Edward Scott $1250 $1250

Brenda Pogge $750 $750

Lynnwood Lewis $1000 $2000

David Bulova $500 $500

Luke Torian $250

Source: Virginia Public Access Project http://www.vpap.org/legislators?display=length_of_service

Contributions by Omega Protein’s lobbying firms are also relevant as well as “hospitality” provided.

For today’s column, I wrote about the effort to turn part of the South River upsream of Waynesboro into a trophy brown trout fishery to rival Mossy Creek. The News Virginian of Waynesboro has covered the opening of the new trophy section extensively. Click here to see their coverage.

The section in question has special regulations. Click here to see the game department’s list of streams with special regs for trout fishing. This area of the South River falls under the 16-inch, two fish per day category.

Stephen Miklandric caught this 42-inch citation muskellunge on the New River.

Here are the trophy brown and rainbow trout he caught at Hemlock Springs.

Here’s the spreadsheet Miklandric uses to track his fishing progress during the year.

And finally, here’s a pic of a citation smallmouth he caught.

VDGIF recognizes assistance of hunters, reports new CWD positive in western Frederick County

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries wishes to recognize the excellent cooperation of hunters in sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Frederick and Shenandoah counties this past November.  To date, VDGIF has collected samples from more than 500 deer brought to check stations and self-service drop stations or killed on the road.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, a new case of CWD was detected less than 2 miles from the first case discovered last year in western Frederick County, Virginia.  The 4-year-old buck was killed by a hunter near the West Virginia line and brought to a check station for sampling on November 20, 2010.  Given the proximity of this second case to the first one, changes to the current management actions or restrictions are not anticipated.  However, VDGIF is still awaiting final test results from approximately 100 samples, so the need to modify management strategies cannot be determined until after the conclusion of the hunting season and receipt of all sample results in January.

We continue to encourage hunters who are successful during the remainder of the season to volunteer the head and neck from their deer for sampling by bringing it to one of our self-service refrigerated drop stations:

Frederick-Winchester Conservation Club, 527 Siler Road, Winchester (north of Gainesboro)
Walker’s Cash Store, 3321 Back Road, Woodstock (intersection with St. Luke Road)
North Mountain Fire and Rescue, 186 Rosenberger Lane, Winchester (off Rt. 600, behind Tom’s Market).
New Star Market, 2936 John Marshal Hwy, Strasburg (one mile west of I-81).

In addition to collecting samples, VDGIF has implemented several other management actions in the northern Shenandoah Valley during the past year in response to the detection of CWD.  These management actions include: prohibiting the feeding of deer year-round, prohibiting the movement of deer carcasses and parts out of the Containment Area (with exceptions), restricting the disposal of deer wastes from the Containment Area, prohibiting the rehabilitation of deer in the Containment Area, and changing seasons and bag limits on private lands in an attempt to reduce the deer population.

CWD has been detected in 18 states and two Canadian provinces. CWD is a slow, progressive neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer, elk, and moose in North America. The disease ultimately results in death of the infected animal. Symptoms exhibited by CWD-infected deer include, staggering, abnormal posture, lowered head, drooling, acting confused, and marked weight loss.  There is no evidence that CWD can be naturally transmitted to humans, livestock, or pets. 

More information about CWD and these management actions can be found on the VDGIF website at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/.

Jet Ski Brian with a beautiful cobia.

I wrote about a guy named Brian Lockwood, a.k.a. Jet Ski Brian for today’s column. The Poquoson, Va. resident owns two state-of-the-art Jet Skis specially equipped for fishing. If you read the article and think Jet Ski fishing is something you want to pursue, take a look at Albert Martin’s website. He’s the custom metalworker who fashioned Lockwood’s first fishing machine. He’s done 12 others since then.

The second Jet Ski Lockwood had customized included a spray and wind shield.

From the Virginia Department of Forestry:

Several large fires spiked the amount of burned forestland this season, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF).

From Oct. 15, 2010 through Nov. 30, 2010, a total of 63 wildland fires burned 2,586 acres of forestland in Virginia.  Fifty-seven homes and 34 other structures were protected during fire suppression efforts.  No homes were damaged during the fall fire season but three other structures were damaged.

“This year, sporadic wet weather did help keep the overall number of fires down,” said John Miller, VDOF’s director of resource protection. “Of the fires we did have, four were more than 100 acres in size and two were greater than 300 acres. These are big fires, and it’s worth noting that 57 homes were directly protected from wildfire damage as a result of our efforts. VDOF is very fortunate to have skilled personnel with great expertise along with the unwavering cooperation of Virginia’s volunteer and structural fire services.”

Regular rainfall was typical of the 2009 fall fire season, when the Commonwealth experienced 25 fires that burned 638 acres.

Miller reminds everyone that just because the “official” fall fire season has ended, it doesn’t mean that wildland fires can’t still occur - they can. So continue to take great care anytime you use fire in or near Virginia’s woodlands. And pay special attention to the ashes from your fireplace and/or woodstove as they can retain enough heat to ignite a fire several days later. Put the ashes in a metal can, slowly stir in water, and keep them in the metal can for at least three days before dumping them out.

For more information on what you can do to prevent a wildland fire, log on to http://www.dof.virginia.gov or http://www.firewisevirginia.org.

The below is from an email I received from local mountain biker and adventure racer Bill Swann. If you don’t know who Wayne Goodman is, click here. It’ll tell you need to know about the man, the accident that (hopefully temporarily) took much of the movement in his arms and legs and the benefit event being held to help him get it back.

Wayne Goodman, local trail builder and friend to the James River Park, was recently injured riding his mountain bike on his beloved JRP trails. He is recovering at the VCU Medical Center’s spinal cord rehabilitation unit.  Wayne, who has donated literally thousands of hours of his time as well as money, blood, sweat and tears, is now in need of our help.

A small committee of his friends has formed to plan events and other means to help Wayne in his time of need.  We are announcing the first event which will occur on Saturday, December 4 at 2 p.m.at the main shelter (shelter #2) in ForestHillPark(note: this is the shelter area where Wayne’s fateful accident occurred). To get there, you should enter the park by heading north on 42nd Street, then turn right into the park at New Kent Avenue.

The plan is to spend “A Day in the Park for Wayne.” We will be taking donations and selling “G-Man” t-shirts where all proceeds will go towards helping Wayne with his finances. The location will be the main shelter at the back of the park. We will have coffee, hot cider, brownies, cookies and anything anyone else would like to donate.

We are also planning to post a donation link on Wayne’s website at http://cantholdagoodmandown.com/  in order that donations can be accepted from individuals or groups wishing to help out but don’t have the availability to attend fund raising activities.

Additional events are now being discussed and further information will be provided as the details are confirmed.

Wayne remains very positive in his recovery and his rehab team reports very encouraging progress.  The road is going be long and Wayne knows this will be the toughest race of his life.

As a team, all of us can pull together to help someone who has enabled us to enjoy a park that is unique not only in Virginia but on a national level.

The gonzo sculpture at Pony Pasture Park has gone from shipwreck to pirate ship.

The shipwreck sculpture at Pony Pasture Park keeps evolving. Here’s an email I received from loyal reader David Domster. The above pic is his as well.

A friend and I (Mark Braunstein) had the inspiration to fly the jolly roger from the shipwreck art you wrote about on the 19th.  Bill Altice snapped the pic for us. It’s wonderful art and even more fun for it to continue evolving.

After I wrote back, David added, in part:

It’s been great that it’s remained and no one has stolen it.  I remain hopeful for someone else to do the “next” thing ... time will tell!