11 June 09
TO: Bass-Jon’s Members
FM: Victor Lopez
We continue to have excellent turn outs for our tournamnets. By the time we finish our next tournament at Lake Mead, I expect to have a full compliment of 50 club members and a couple of prospective members on the waiting list. As the weather continues to warm up, the fishing conditions will get a little tougher but I expect the same level of participation to continue throughout the rest of the year.
Dennis caught a nice catfish at Whitehurst but check this out:
State Record Fish Committee Reviewing First Freshwater Fish Over 100 Pounds
Blue catfish from James River breaks 100-pound mark for first time in Virginia history
The State Record Fish Committee of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) is reviewing the certification of a potential new state record blue catfish that will be the first confirmed freshwater fish over 100 pounds in the Commonwealth. The fish weighed in at 102 pounds, 4 ounces, and measured 52 ¾ inches in length with a girth of 41 ½ inches. Certification is estimated to be completed in the next couple of weeks.
The big cat was caught by Tim Wilson of Natural Bridge. Wilson came to the metro Richmond area along with his buddy Danny Ayers for the catfishing trip of their lives. Wilson, with significant help from Ayers, caught the blue catfish with cut shad as bait on 30-pound test line below Dutch Gap, a public boat landing on the James River south of the City of Richmond on May 20, 2009. The fish was so large it took both men to land it.
The previous state record blue catfish (95 pounds, 11 ounces) was also caught in the lower James River by Archie Gold of Jetersville, Virginia, on June 15, 2006. VDIGF Outdoor report dated 5/27/09.
Also from the VDIGF Outdoor report:
Officers remove rowdy adults at kid's fishing day... On April 18th 2009, the Rockingham County Parks and Recreation Department hosted their annual Kid's Fishing Day at Silver Lake in Rockingham County. Virginia Conservation Police Officers Billhimer, Harold and Ham attended the event to meet and assist the children who were 15 years of age and younger. Roughly 1,200 fish were stocked with many of the youth catching fish throughout the day.
Officer Ham issued three summons to one individual over the age of 15 who falsified information to participate in the event, The summons were issued for fishing without a license, fishing in trout waters without a trout license and for fishing during the closed season. Officer Ham, later that same day, encountered an adult individual who was fishing without a child nearby. Officer Ham approached the male fisherman as he was in the process of reeling in a fish. Officer Ham asked the person to hand the pole over to one of his children who had returned to the fisherman's side. The subject refused to do so stating that he wasn't going to lose the fish. Officer Ham advised the person he was going to issue a summons for fishing during the closed season. The subject then became irate and began using excessive profanity in front of several children who had up to that point been enjoying the fishing activities. Officer Ham took the violator into custody for Breach of the Peace and fishing during the closed season.
Some witnesses claim seeing Lenny and Huck at the event but we couldn’t confirm if they were involved in these incidents . . . J
A reminder that Virginia's life jacket laws require that there must be one wearable (Type I, II, III, or V) USCG approved life jacket of the appropriate size for each person on the boat. In addition, all boats, except for personal watercraft, canoes, kayaks, and inflatable rafts, must carry one USCG approved Type IV throwable ring or seat cushion.
As a side note for those club members who fish other open tourneys please send us the results so we can post them on the Latest Buzz section. Remember any club member or visitor can submit bullets and or notes for the Latest Buzz. Also looking for more articles to publish on the site, so if you have a favorite lure, method or advice you would like to talk about send us the article and we'll put it up on the Bass Fishing Articles page. As always, please remember to and answer requests to Back Seat Alerts. In addition, please continue to submit your inputs to me for Web Site pages, again special thanks for all members and visitors who provided inputs to our articles, Latest Buzz and all the other pages on the site. Please keep the inputs coming, this is the main reason local anglers come to our site to see what is happening on the local fishing scene. Send inputs to (bassjons1@yahoo.com). As always, remember our main goal in this club is to pass on information and have fun. “Share the Knowledge”. Another issue is getting the message out if your fishing and would like a partner to go fishing, please put out a Back Seat Alert to fellow club members, this gives an opportunity for Non-Boater members to fish other than just tourneys.
Victor Lopez
