Healthy Grin Sport Fishing

Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament
2600 Washington Avenue, Third Floor
Newport News, VA 23607
(757) 491-5160

For Immediate Release
December 19, 2012

No Changes Slated for Tournament in 2013

The 56th annual Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, which opens January 1, 2013 and runs throughout the year, will see no modifications in its popular Citation program. At its annual meeting last month the Tournament Committee reviewed the minimum and maximum qualifying standards for a number of different species. A downward trend was noted in Citation numbers of croaker, flounder, spot and gray trout while an upward trend was seen for red drum, speckled trout and striped bass. Following this review the Committee voted to maintain the current qualifying standards. “The Tournament Committee, once again, reaffirmed their stance regarding the current minimum qualifying standards as representing a true trophy catch that warrants recognition by the Tournament even as the population size structure changes within a species,” stated Tournament Director Lewis Gillingham.

The Committee also discussed a request from the angling public to re-establish a release Citation for black sea bass. Most recently the closed period for black sea bass has overlapped the time of year when anglers “deep-drop” in search for blueline tilefish and other deepwater species. Large black sea bass are often encountered but must be released because of the closed season. The request would allow the recognition of a trophy catch even though the fish must legally be released. The Committee all too well understood the public concern about the long closed season. They also recognized that most of the larger sea bass were caught in deep water and most, or nearly all, black sea bass pulled from deepwater (greater than 100 feet) would not survive. For this reason the Committee did not support re-instating a release Citation for the species. The Committee observed some anglers may intentionally target large sea bass just for the release award even though the season is closed and the fish must legally be released and would likely die.
The Tournament Committee made major changes to the Program in 2004, instituting release Citations for all species and increasing the qualifying minimums for more than a dozen species. In recent years, the Committee has attempted to fine tune individual minimum qualifying weights and lengths to coincide with historical trophy-fish standards.

Other popular programs administered by the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, such as the Junior Angler Program, and the Expert and Master Angler programs, will return unchanged in 2013. The Junior Angler Program challenges children less than 16 years of age to catch and release six species of saltwater fish. To qualify as an Expert Angler a fisherman must register fish in at least six different species for Citation awards during the year. Master Angler requirements are 25 Citations (with a maximum of one per species per year) in at least five different species over an unlimited period of time starting in 1996.

On another note, anglers should check their current saltwater fishing license for its expiration date before heading out on the water in 2013, as saltwater fishing licenses are now valid for 365 days from the date of purchase. Anglers must have a valid Virginia saltwater fishing license. Again in 2013, those anglers 16 years of age and older but not required to purchase a saltwater fishing license (such as those anglers over 65 years of age or anglers fishing on another angler’s licensed vessel) must register with the Virginia Fisherman Identification Program (it is free and can be done online at www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP ). Anglers are also advised to pay attention to all 2013 fishery regulations as they are announced. All applicable fisheries regulations must be adhered to and a saltwater fishing license is required for Tournament participation. In addition, anglers fishing the territorial sea south of the Virginia border for striped bass are reminded these are North Carolina waters and anglers must have a valid North Carolina saltwater fishing license. Virginia does not have a reciprocity agreement with North Carolina and the Virginia saltwater license will not be accepted in North Carolina waters.

The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament is a program of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission funded with revenues from Virginia’s saltwater fishing license. The Tournament offers handsome wooden wall Citation plaques or album sized certificates for 35 species of saltwater fish which meet minimum criteria. The Tournament operates all year. For more information, contact Lewis S. Gillingham, Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, 2600 Washington Avenue, Third Floor, Newport News, VA 23607, (757) 491-5160, (757)247-8014 (fax), or vswft@mrc.virginia.gov

The Virginia Aquarium will be visiting us at the December 18 meeting of the PSWSFA. They will be teaching us about the whales that are starting to gather along Virginia’s coast. Mark Swingle, from the VA Aquarium Foundation, will be our speaker.

Meetings are free and you do not need to be a club member to attend. www.pswsfa.com/meetings.htm

We went out looking for bluefin tuna yesterday. We were trolling 26 Mile Hill in the dark. We trolled that area until the sun got up good with no signs of life. We then trolled to the Triangle Wrecks. There, we found some birds, slicks and porpoise. Still, no tuna bites or sightings. We stopped and jigged the Liberty Ships and played catch and release with big bluefish and sea bass (kept a couple of the blues). In terms of numbers, it was the best bluefish bite we have had this season. It was not a blitz or anything but we caught a lot of 34-37 inch bluefish, mostly blind jigging over the wrecks. They were thick enough that we marked them sometimes. Any hooked sea bass was in jeopardy of being chomped.

Tune in to NBC Sports on Saturday mornings and hook up with George!

VIRGINIA BEACH, TROPHY SEA TROUT – Saltwater game fish are very plentiful in and around the waters of Virginia Beach (www.visitvirginiabeach.com) , as Poveromo has experienced on numerous occasions. This time, he can add sea trout to that list. A favorite inshore fish of Poveromo’s, he joins up with noted trophy trout authority Captain Blake Hayden to sample just how good this fishery is around Virginia Beach. Aboard a Mako 18 LTS, Poveromo and Hayden go on the troll for this popular species, pulling Rapala X-Rap 10 lures on light Penn Legion rods and Penn Battle reels. The results are nearly instantaneous, as they uncover plenty of hungry trout. The pace of the action on the troll impresses Poveromo. If you’re a fan of catching sea trout, this must see episode will have you booking a trip to Virginia Beach! Poveromo and crew stayed at the Comfort Inn & Suites Oceanfront, in Virginia Beach (www.comfortinn.com/hotel-virginia_beach-virginia-VA440)

February 28 (Wednesday) – 3:00 p.m. EST

Featured airing: March 2 (Saturday) – 10:00 a.m. EST

Encore Performances: May 25 (Saturday) – 10:00 a.m. EST

www.georgepoveromo.com/tv_schedule.php

CHUMLINE DECEMBER 2012

We ran away from the the rockfish action and headed offshore to do some bottom fishing around the Norfolk Canyon. On our first drop, I caught our largest blueline tilefish of the day. It weighed in at 18.5 pounds. We caught some more bluelines but spent most of our time deeper, away from the sea bass. Martin Freed caught our largest golden tilefish at 42 pounds. Jeff Dail caught our only snowy grouper. We had a half-dozen fish that the guys just could not get off of the bottom. Wreckfish rounded out our “grouper” catch. Daniel Simmerman caught some type of large crab with impressive claws. The crab was not snagged, it had the hook in its mouth. Daniel’s best catch of the day was when he snagged the line of one of my rods that Martin had dropped overboard. There was a lot of line to hand-line in but I got my rod back. We only caught a single spiny dogfish all day. There were some smooth dogs and bluefish to deal with. The bluefish were turned into bait. We also caught some hake and blackbelly rosefish (and some big sea bass before we moved deep enough to get away from them). Smooth ride out and back and at times, the guys were down to fishing in their t-shirts.

After the great rockfish action yesterday, I ran out after bluefish today. There were plenty of sea bass at the Triangle Wrecks (released). I jigged up a few bluefish with other bites that did not stay tight. The one bluefish I kept weighed in a bit over 16 pounds. I got no bites on the troll and there were no signs of bluefin tuna. It was calm, sunny and warm, really nice December day.

We drifted eels in the Plantation area today. We ended up catching 8 striped bass and missed 8-10 other bites. We kept two of the larger fish and one of the smaller, 42-inch fish. The released fish were up to 49 inches long. The two larger fish we kept weighed in at 42.25 pounds (Charles) and 55 pounds (me). Steve Martin’s largest release was 49 inches. Danny Forehand released fish to 45 inches long. Good day on the water.