Fishermen shot on Appalachian Trail

Grim news from Virgina as authorities are investigating the shooting of two fishermen on Dismal Creek near Mechanicsburg along the Appalachian trail. The anglers were both shot and one is in serious condition as reported by Roanoke.com. A suspect was apprehended driving a truck that matched the description of one spotted at the scene of the crime. Authorities have closed a portion of the Appalachian trail near the area.

The suspected shooter is Randall Lee Smith, who served only 15 years in prison for the 1981 slaying of two hikers on the Appalachian trail. His crimes were documented in the book "Murder on the Appalachian Trail".

In 1982, Smith pleaded guilty to the 1981 murders of two hikers on the Appalachian Trail. He shot Robert Mountford Jr. three times, stabbed Laura Susan Ramsay more than a dozen times and left their bodies in shallow, leaf-covered graves. He was given two consecutive 15-year sentences. The plea agreement halted the case just before it went to trial in Giles County Circuit Court. Smith was released in 1996.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured anglers and their families.

People: Richard Formato to appear on Outdoor Channel

Virginia angling legend, Richard Formato, recently took part in the filming of an episode of the Outdoor Channel's fly fishing show "Familier Waters." Dan Kegley of SWVAToday.com writes about the filming of "Fishing with the Ghosts of the Civil War."

Formato said Monday the episode will air this weekend. The Outdoor Channel’s Web site said air times are 1:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 9 p.m. Saturday.

(Editor's Note - Richard sent us the photo above of himself posing with this beautifully colored brown trout. He accompanied it with a story, but we were sworn to secrecy even though he never really mentioned where he caught it.)

50 Pound Striper on 2 lb Line

It is pending certification from the IGFA but Jim Sheffield of Richmond, Virginia caught a 50 pound striper on 2 pound test line. If it holds up it will be a new line class world record for rockfish.

It wasn't caught on the long rod but anyone who can manage that sort of feat on that kind of light tackle must have done some skillful cranking. Read about via Bill Cochran's article at Roanoke.com

No stranger to light-tackle fishing, Sheffield, a member of the Virginia Angler’s Club, was out to break the current striper world record, which is 21 pounds, 7 ounces on 2-pound line. He didn’t just squeak by the record, “he blew it out of the water,” Ball said.

Trout Drought Strikes Virginia

My recent business trip to Virginia indicated that the Commonwealth is just as parched as our home state. Bill Cochran's latest article in the Roanoke Times tells us that the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is limiting the trout stocking until the rains come.

Over 90 percent of the trout streams we have would be unstockable,” said Gary Martel, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries fish chief.
Many trout that should have been stocked this month remain in hatcheries, and that creates a double whammy. When streams are low, hatcheries water sources also are in short supply, Martel said. The result is a need to move trout out of hatcheries with few places available to accommodate them.

North Carolina has also taken similar steps.

Fringe benefits

Of traveling to Roanoke on business.

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Blackwater

Fish in Virginia's Blackwater River then buy the hat.

The dark, tannin stained waters of the Blackwater River host runs of striped bass, river herring (alewives and blueback), American and hickory shad in the spring. Angling for redbreast sunfish ("red throats" or "red robins") is also quite good in the spring. The river also hosts largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, flier, and chain pickerel populations. Bowfin and gar are common in the lower main stem. Angling for bowfin provides a great opportunity to catch many hard-fighting fish in a short amount of time. The possibility also exists to land a trophy bowfin over ten pounds.

Just ignore the black helicopters.

Via the VDGIF

Orvis celebrates, seeks VA conservation projects

Orvis is celebrating its 20th year operating a massive distribution facility in Roanoke, Va. Massive might even be an understatement.

Company officials say Orvis is projected to do about $335 million in business this year. A big chunk of the merchandise responsible for that hefty figure will flow through Roanoke, where roughly 575 employees work in a facility that covers 335,000 square feet.

Like most northern folk they were afraid they might not be able to understand us.

The Perkins brothers also admitted there was some anxiety about, of all things, the accents of the customer service representatives. "We were worried about it," said CFO Dave Perkins with a chuckle. "We were a New England company."

However, southern hospitality won out in the end.

The employees from Roanoke were extremely courteous and friendly, with great attitudes.
"Yankees aren't all that friendly," Perkins added, still laughing.

Its a win win for anglers as Orvis seeks to bring conservation dollars to the area.

Now, as Orvis tries to increase its profile in Roanoke and Virginia, the effort will center on a subject that also is not surprising for a fly fishing company: conservation.
Rigney and the Perkins brothers said Orvis has been discussing ideas with officials from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries regarding potential projects.
"We're looking for the right project to get behind," Perk Perkins said.

We give them a thumbs up!

Read the Mark Taylor article via Roanoke.com

Virginia is for Optimists

The James River in Virginia has been the scene of recently reported fish kills this article at Our Valley.org gives it an optimistic spin with the title, "James River halfway to becoming ‘fully healthy’" However the report on the state of the river published by the James River Association is not as cheery.

The 2007 State of the James Report, compiled by the James River Association (JRA) for the first time in six years, gives the James River an overall passing grade—52 percent or “C”—but warns that the pace of development in the river’s 10,000-square-mile watershed threatens to reverse three decades of progress in cleaning up the James.

The rockfish are doing pretty well though:

In assessing Fish and Wildlife, for example, the report gives its only perfect scores to the dramatic rebound of the bald eagle and striped bass (also known as rockfish and striper) populations within the watershed. In 1975, the report notes, no bald eagles were breeding on the James River. Today there are 120 pairs.

Brook trout? Not so good:

Less positive is the news about oysters, American shad and brook trout, all of which are markedly down from earlier years and well below the benchmark levels set by JRA. Overall, the Wildlife category scored 46 percent or C-minus.

Healing Waters

Douglas Dear, the owner of Virginia fly fishing destination Rose River Farm, gave us a heads up about an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch about wounded Army Ranger Eivind Forseth's experience fly fishing through Project Healing Waters.

"At the time, I was very frustrated with every aspect of my life because of my wounds and my recovery from the wounds. I thought it was just one more thing that was going to frustrate me, and it would be one more thing to remind me I had a permanent disability."
Hooking a fish changed all that.

Project healing water's mission says it all:

Project Healing Waters salutes all of our brave armed forces, and strives to serve those who have come home woundedand aid in their physical and emotional recovery by introducing or rebuilding the skills of fly fishing and fly tying.

Here is a link to the article in the Times Dispatch and a link to the good folks at Rose River Farms where they offer trophy trout fishing.

Shad Cam

View the Shad Cam presented by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Throwing them up on the bank?

A bid to rid the Shenandoah National Park of invasive species has spawned new regulations that are not sitting well with some die hard catch and release fishermen. Park officials say the new regulations are aimed at protecting the Brook trout fishery.

From the park's fishing regulations:

In the park’s continuing effort to control wild non-native brown trout populations to limit
impacts on wild native brook trout populations, special brown trout specific regulations
have been promulgated for the Rose River, Hughes River, and Brokenback Run.

All regulations as specified in the Regulations section apply to these three streams except:

• The minimum size for brown trout as part of any daily creel or otherwise in
possession is 7 inches.

• The release of any captured brown trout back into any park stream is prohibited.

Undersized brown trout, those less than the 7 inch minimum, must be disposed of
away from the stream and away from park roads or trails.

Two...Count'em ....Two

Two fly fishing festivals are planned for Virginia in the next few weeks with the first one on the docket for this weekend.

The Falmouth Flats Fly Fishers are holding their annual show this weekend from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the National Guard Armory on US 1 in Fredericksburg.

April 21st and 22nd The Virginia Fly Fishing Festival will be held in Waynesboro.