In This Issue... BACKLASH Commentary from the Board of Directors -By John Wetlaufer, Sr. Next Membership Meeting. August 2012

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1 Want to get your Newsletter earlier and in color? Sign up for delivery by contacting Glad it s not so hot! RICHMOND VIRGINIA August 2012 In This Issue... Calendars for Sale Page 6 Billy Nicar - DGIF Hall of Fame Page 7 Legislation & Conservation Page 8 Catchy Comments By Buddy Nolan, Page 3 Tournament News Page 9 Next Membership Meeting Tuesday, August 28th, :00 PM Skilligalee Restaurant Glenside Ave, just North of Broad Street Come ~ 5:30 PM and enjoy good company over dinner from the menu BACKLASH Commentary from the Board of Directors -By John Wetlaufer, Sr. AUGUST PROGRAM - AN EVENING WITH BOB DUNCAN - DGIF Bob Duncan, Executive Director of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and a longtime friend of the Virginia Anglers Club will be our guest speaker at the August Membership Meeting. Bob will speak on current DGIF programs. There will be ample time after his presentation for questions and answers. We have asked Bob to join us for dinner, so come early and enjoy a meal from the menu with Bob. SEPTEMBER PROGRAM CHRIS MORROW, CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION Chris Morrow will give a presentation on the work of the CBF and the state of the Bay. JULY MEMBERSHIP MEETING CRYSTAL BALLIN THE FUTURE VAC President Glenn Carter led a workshop that worked up ideas for programs at future Membership Meetings. A fairly long list of program ideas was collected and forwarded to 1 st. V.P. Programs Mike Ostrander for his use in planning programs for future meetings. If you have any program ideas in mind, please share them with Mike. Planning presentations and securing speakers for future VAC Membership Meetings is a rather heroic challenge. We want interesting speakers and any help you can give Mike will be appreciated. BACKLASH continued on Page 2...

2 Page 2 BACKLASH continued from Page 1. VAC VAC 2013 DGIF CALENDARS AVAILABLE AT THE AUGUST MEETING Special Activities Chairman Don West will have a supply of the 2013 DGIF Outdoor Calendars for pick up at the August Membership Meeting. Don will be glad to give you as many calendars as you need to sell. Line up your annual customers and let them know the calendars are in and you will soon be delivering them one. The VAC sells the calendars for $8.00 each and this is one of our major fund raising programs of the year. Promise to re-pay for large calendar lots acceptable. Checks or checks gladly accepted too. Why not pick up some calendars for use as gifts or for you own personal use? Note: HOME OR SPECIAL DELIVERY AVAILABLE. See page 6 of this issue of The Angler shallow ( skinny ) water angling spots. Webmaster Johnny Wetlaufer has posted this table in the Member s Area of the VAC Website. Along with destinations keyed to the page number and grid coordinates of the Virginia Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer, Lee s table also included the species found at each site, the time(s) of year for best results and an average travel time from Richmond to the site noted. The table is the result of Lee s personally fishing all of the sites noted many times. To view Lee s table, open the VAC web site ( enter the Member s Area and under the section titled Angling Site Information, click on Skinny Water Angling Destinations East of I- 95. The Virginia Anglers Club owes Lee a great debt of gratitude for freely sharing this immense body of his personal angling information with the Club. When you fish any of these sites, please let Lee know of how you do. Lee may be contacted at lee.walker@dgif.virginia.gov or by phone at JULY FLOUNDER TURNAMENT - SIX PARTICIPANTS & DECENT FISH Six VAC members fished the Virginia / Carolina Flounder tournament on July 21-22, Members Mike Cline and Rob Robinson had the hot boat and dominated the tournament. For final results, please take a look at page 6 of this Angler. FINAL TWO VAC 2012 TOURNAMENTS = BUSY NOVEMBER The final two tournaments of the Virginia Anglers Club 2912 angling year fall in November. First, there is the Virginia Speckled Trout Tournament on November 3-4, 2-12 (blow date the following weekend). The second and final tournament is the James River (Chippokes Creek) Gar Tournament on November (blow date the following weekend). Fishing in the privately owned hot ditch is prohibited in the Speckled Trout Tournament. BILLY NICAR VDGIF 2011 ANGLER HALL OF FAME MEMBER VAC Member Billy Nicar was recognized as a member of the 2011 Angler Hall of Fame in the July/August 2012 issue of Virginia Wildlife. Freshwater anglers who qualify for advanced awards in the VDGIF Angler Recognition Program become members of the Angler Hall of Fame. Please see page 7 of this issue of The Angler for details of Billy s angling accomplishments that qualified him for Angler Hall of Fame Membership. That boy can fish! VAC TREASURER S REPORT - FINANCES AT END OF JULY TRACKING WELL A mid year glance at the VAC s finances as of the end of July show income about 2% behind budget and expenses about 22% over budget. These figures are typical for mid year because income and expenses do not track each other over the course of the year. For more detail of how the income and expense streams vary over the fiscal year, please turn to page 7 of this issue of The Angler. ANGLING RULES COMMITTEE SEEKS ANGLING RULE CHANGE INPUT The VAC Angling Rules Committee led by Chairman Stuart Lee is starting their annual review of rules by which we fish. If you have a barb in your finger over some part of the angling rules, please let Stuart know (see Member s Area of the Website for contact information). Any change or addition is fair catch '85.basic weight changes you think are needed, rod and tackle requirements that are painful, fresh and salt water species additions (e.g. add northern snakehead '85the IGFA recognizes this species), new annual or individual awards (how about a James River Grand Slam?) '85.send them all to Stuart no matter how off the bank they may seem. We all use these Angling Rules and this is your chance to input suggested changes. ADDED TO MEMBER S AREA SKINNY WATER ANGLING DESTINATIONS (E of I-95) Any member who attended the June 2012 Membership Meeting heard a very informative and clearly illustrated presentation on Skinny Water Angling Destinations East of Interstate 95 by guest speaker Lee Walker, Outreach Director of the VDGIF. Lee has graciously shared with the Virginia Anglers Club his table of forty-nine (49) AUGUST ANGLER LAST ISSUE FOR SOME ANGLERS The Virginia Anglers Club is dropping from active membership the below 2011 VAC Members who have not yet submitted their renewal dues for The Leadership Team is assuming these 2012 members do not intend to renew their membership. If renewal was intended, please submit your 2012 dues ($60.00 instate; $40.00 out-of-state) by check to Virginia Anglers Club, PO

3 Page 3 Box 31494, Richmond, VA 23294, by cash to Treasurer Clif Williams or by the Pay Pal Option available in the Member s Area of the VAC Website. The VAC By-Laws allow a member to avoid the initiation fee ($25.00) at a future reactivation of their membership if the member submits a written notice of resignation (hard copy or ). Notices of resignation or comments about the decision to resign may be sent to John Wetlaufer, Sr., Membership Chairman, at jlwsr@rcn.com or c/o the VAC PO Box. Darnley Adamson, Mike Baucom, Tim Duffee, Gary Henning, Jamie Pitts, Craig Revere, Joe Whittee, Kathy Sheffield, Eric Smith AUGUST COUNTRY STORE - NEW SUPPLY OF VAC DECALS HAS ARRIVED Does the back of your SUV or pick up look plain? Eddy has restocked black and white copies of the VAC decal which will be available at $2.00 each. Some members show club pride with a VAC decal on the transom of their boat. All other merchandise will be available at their normal prices. AMOURUS ATLANTIC STURGEON RETURN Member Matt Balazik reports that Floyd Gottwald s and Parks Rountrey s Atlantic Sturgeon tagged last year are back in the area to seek romance with some southern sturgeonettes. One of the Wetlaufer s sturgeons was last heard from up in Connecticut where he is probably taken up with some Connecticut River cutie. If you would like to contribute to Matt s research with the Atlantic Sturgeon, please see page 8 of this Angler for details. Sturgeon adoptions are available. LOCAL SEAFOOD SHOP FEATURES FRESH NC MARLIN STEAKS P.T. Haistings Seafood s ad on Friday, August 10 th, 2012 in the Richmond Times Dispatch featured Fresh NC Marlin Steaks. On Tuesday, August 14 th, a member of the Virginia Anglers Club confirmed by visit the presence of marlin steaks at $4.99/lb. with the squares USA and Wild checked off on the price placard. The member reminded the clerk on duty that the sale of marlin was prohibited by Virginia Law. Virginia Marine Resources Commission Regulation 4 VAC ( Prohibition of sale ) states: It shall be unlawful for any person to buy, sell, offer for sale, possess with the intent to sell barter exchange billfish. The Billfish Foundation will be contacted and requested to send a Take Marlin Off the Menu information package to this seafood seller for their education about the Federal Regulations concerning the sale of billfish. HANDY LINK TO ALL IGFA REGULATIONS WORTH REPEATING If you want to view the latest IGFA International Angling Regulations, open The VAC fishes by these and adds some rules unique to the VAC. When you open this link, you will get the International Angling Rules in a format that can be filed in your computer as well as printed. The IGFA also has an App. that can be downloaded to your smart phone that will contain the same information. For The Leadership Team John Wetlaufer, Sr., Secretary CATCHY COMMENTS by Buddy Noland This summer s higher temperatures are making the fishing experience more difficult to enjoy! For the first time that I can remember, there were no entries in the Kinnard Angler of the Month. The North Carolina offshore fishery has been pretty normal; the Dolphin and Wahoo are still king off Hatteras and Yellowfins, with flurries of Marlin, are being caught out of Oregon Inlet. Virginia s offshore fishery is a mixed bag with the billfish season a little behind the phenomenal summers of the past. The Spotted Seatrout are everywhere as well as the small Stripers and Puppy Drum in the rivers if you can avoid the red tides. Freshwater fishing is slow, except for a little Smallmouth action above Richmond because of the elevated water temperatures. In April at the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival, David Nobles won a fly fishing trip to the Alagnak River in Alaska. He had an outstanding trip with Coho, Chinook, and Chum/Dog Salmon being caught. David s largest Coho was a 7 pound on 8# Fly and the largest Chinook was a 20 pounder on 16# fly. His only regret was several large Brown Trout that weren t hungry for a fly. While Mickey Kodroff and Jim Sheffield were fishing off Oregon Inlet the 4 th of July week; Mickey reported a 22 pound Greater Amberjack on 16# plug tackle worth 122 points using a jig. The first Bowfin of the year was turned in by Art Conway while fishing Chickahominy Lake. Art landed a 3 pound, 14 ounce, fish on 8# general but only pulled 80 points. Art has turned in 7 different freshwater species this season so far. Soon the temperatures will be cooler and the fall migrations will begin. Go catch some fish! Keeping it reel, Buddy

4 Page 4 7lb Coho Salmon on 8# Fly VAC VAC David Nobles trip to Alagnak River, Alaska Chum Salmon 20lb Chinook Salmon on 16# Fly

5 Flounder barely hooked Page 5 Mike Ostrander with a gorgeous James River Smallmouth Rob Choi with a fun little spadefish Rob Choi releasing a citation sheepshead Lee Rothgeb with a 35 Flathead

6 Page 6 NEED CALENDERS? CALL DON WEST HOME DELIVERY AVAILABLE Don West will personally deliver to you any number of 2013 DGIF Outdoor Calendars you will need for your sales. Call Don at his office at or his home at and let him know how many copies of the calendars you will need. Don will gladly deliver the number of calendars you need to your home, your business or where ever else it will be convenient for you to pick calendars up from Don. FOUR OF SIX ANGLERS PLACE IN VA/NC FLOUNDER TOURNAMENT Six VAC members fished the VA/NC Flounder Tournament on the weekend of July 21-22, Afternoon storms rolled in and knocked off the action on Saturday. Mike Cline and Rob Robinson dominated by placing in both the points division of the tournament and the weight division too. Here are the final results: Points: 1 st. Place - Rob Robinson 4-3 on 6# plug for 209 points (Gift Card) 2 nd. Place - Mike Cline 2-13 on 4# plug for 175 points. 3 rd. Place Vic Skakandy 2-7 on 12 gen. for 60 points. Weight: 1 st. Place Mike Cline 5-0 (Gift Card). 2 nd Place Johnny Wetlaufer rd Place Rob Robinson 3-3.

7 Page 7 BILLY NICAR QUALIFIES AS MEMBER OF THE DGIF 2011 ANGLER HALL OF FAME A lot of VAC Members actively submit catches via Entry Cards for inclusion in the VAC record system for consideration as Tournament Winners, Annual Award Winners, Angler of the Month Awards and VAC Club Records. One single catch can qualify for all of these VAC recognitions of angling accomplishments as well as recognition in other non-vac award programs and tournaments. An impressive number of catches by VAC Members also have qualified for IGFA awards. VAC Member Billy Nicar is active in all of these recognition programs as well as being active in the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Angler Recognition Program. Recognition comes from submitting a specified number fresh water trophy fish. In 2011, Billy attained Master Level III and Sunfish Expert in the DGIF Angler Recognition Program s 2011 Angler Hall of Fame. Billy caught and submitted fifteen (15) fresh water trophy fish of different species to attain the Master Level III designation. For his qualification of Sunfish Expert Angler, Billy submitted ten (10) fresh water trophy fish of the same species (here, sunfish). If Billy s accomplishments here have gotten your bobber bobbing, you can find out all about the (FREE!) DGIF Trophy Fish program at: VAC TREASURER S REPORT - FINANCES AT END OF JULY Each month the Treasurer of the Virginia Anglers Club is directed to submit a report of the finances of the VAC at the monthly Board of Directors Meeting. When reviewing the status of the expenses and income of the Virginia Anglers Club at any point in the year, it is important to first understand that the income and expense performance of the VAC is not lineal throughout the fiscal year. We have periods of heavy income in the beginning of the year with income from dues renewals flowing in. We also have spikes in expenses for the Annual Banquet, the May Membership Meeting at Maymont and the purchase of VDGIF calendars for our major fund raiser. Income and expenses have traditionally caught up with each other as the fiscal year comes to a close. HELP KEEP ANGLING LEGAL REPORT VIOLATIONS Freshwater If you suspect or witness an angling or hunting violation, report it to VADGIF Wildlife Crimeline at Saltwater If you have a need to report to the VA Marine Resources Commission any emergency, boating accident or other violation, call the Marine Police Dispatch Center toll free at

8 Page 8 Legislation and Conservation By Matt Balazik Local News: Fall Season Striped Bass: The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has lowered the recreational striped bass possession limit for this fall. The simplified regulation removes the no-take slot limit of inches that has been in place since So, when the fall season opens Oct. 4 recreational anglers will be allowed to keep two stripers per day with a minimum size of 18 inches and a maximum size of 28 inches, although one of those two fish may be greater than 28 inches. This loosening and simplification of the striped bass is possible because anglers have been under their catch quota for the past few years. Sturgeon Report: Atlantic sturgeon are returning to the James for the fall spawning run. Over the past few weeks Parks Rountry's and Floyd Gottwald's fish have returned. They were both tagged last year. It seems a lot of these males are spawning every year. VDGIF is taking over maintenance of the sturgeon tracking array. I'm looking forward to working with them to help keep tabs on everyone's tagged fish. DONATION PROCEDURE REMINDER VCU RICE CENTER The procedure to use when donating to the VCU Rice Center is very straight forward. Make out a check to VCU Rice Center. Send the check along with whatever note you may want to include to: Catherine Dahl Director of Special Projects and Development VCU Life Sciences 1000 West Cary Street Room 102 Richmond, VA On the Memo line, please write: Atlantic Sturgeon Research Virginia Anglers Club This notation will get the donation headed to Matt and also included in a special accounting being kept by Catherine of donations from VAC Members and friends. A donation of a minimum of $100 will allow you to have an Atlantic Sturgeon adopted and carry the name you give it.

9 Page 9 Tournament News Virginia/Carolina Flounder: July Results: Storms made it dicey, but 6 anglers fished and did well. Cline and Robinson dominated again. Flounder Points: Rob Robinson 4-3 on 6# plug = 209 pts (wins a Green Top giftcard) Mike Cline 2-13 on 4# plug = 175 pts Vic Skakandy- 2-7 on 12 gen = 60 pts Flounder Weight Mike Cline -5-0 (wins a Green Top giftcard) Johnny Wetlaufer Rob Robinson 3-3 Reminder - Final two tournaments for the 2012 angling year Virginia Speckled Trout: November 3-4 (blow date following weekend) Note: No fishing inside private hot ditch on Elizabeth River. James River (Chippokes Creek) Gar: November (blow date following weekend) (Thanksgiving Nov 22)

10 Page 10 VIRGINIA ANGLERS CLUB - 8/17/12 SPECIES ANGLER WEIGHT LN DIV. PTS DATE LOCATION BAIT 2012 SPECIES LEADERS - SALTWATER AMBERJACK, GREATER M Kodroff Plug 122 7/3/12 Oregon Inlet, NC Jig BASS, BLACK SEA BL Noland Spin 411 6/20/12 Triangle Wrecks, VA Stingsilver Jig BASS, STRIPED JH Sheffield Gen /31/11 Eastern Shore, VA Eel BLUEFISH M Kodroff Plug /15/11 Oregon Inlet, NC Jig COBIA S Peluso Any Surf 257 6/13/12 Hatteras, NC Bunker CROAKER Johnny Wetlaufer Spin 129 5/3/12 Rappahannock River, VA Fin-S Fish DRUM, BLACK Robbie Robinson Plug 288 6/21/12 CBBT, VA Bucktail/Gulp DRUM, RED B Shepherd Surf 257 5/6/12 Eastern Shore, VA Peeler Crab FLOUNDER, SUMMER M Cline Plug 355 6/19/12 CBBT, VA Jig/Gulp MARLIN, WHITE BL Noland 55 (rel) 50 Gen 122 6/28/12 Hatteras, NC Seawitch/Ballyhoo SEATROUT, SPOTTED F Cousins Spin /27/11 Elizabeth River, VA Mirrolure SPADEFISH Robbie Robinson Gen 167 6/20/12 Virginia Beach, VA Clam 2012 SPECIES LEADERS - FRESHWATER BASS, LARGEMOUTH F Cousins Spin 458 4/20/12 Elly's Pond, VA Artifical Worm BASS, ROCK & ROANOKEW Nicar Spin 296 5/16/12 Nottoway River, VA Crankbait CARP S Lee Spin 450 5/21/12 Private Pond, VA Tube Jig CATFISH, BLUE B Shepherd Gen 489 2/3/12 James River, VA Cut Shad CATFISH, FLATHEAD RJ Brown Gen /2/11 James River, VA Cut Bait CRAPPIE, ALL Robbie Robinson Plug 267 2/18/12 Chickahominy River, VA Blade Bait GAR, ALL F Cousins Plug 359 1/7/12 James River, VA Grub PERCH, WHITE ES Johnston Fly 333 4/3/12 James River, VA Fly PERCH, YELLOW Robbie Robinson Plug 411 3/3/12 Chickahominy River, VA Blade Bait PICKERAL, CHAIN F Cousins Gen /9/11 Lake Cohoon, VA Art. Worm SHAD, AMERICAN M Kodroff Spin 239 3/13/12 Tar River, NC Dart SHAD, HICKORY F Cousins Fly 321 3/13/12 Roanoke River, VA Shad Fly SUNFISH, ALL B Shepherd Spin 263 3/17/12 Private Pond, VA Grub SUNFISH, REDEAR D Nobles Fly 125 4/14/12 King William Pond, VA Wooly Bugger SUNFISH, REDEAR W Nicar Gen 200 5/2/12 Western Branch, VA Night Crawler TROUT, RAINBOW D Nobles Fly 273 6/2/12 Mossey Creek, VA Wooley Bugger 2012 DIVISION LEADERS - SALTWATER SEATROUT, SPOTTED F Cousins Spin /27/11 Elizabeth River, VA Mirrolure FLOUNDER, SUMMER M Cline Plug 355 6/19/12 CBBT, VA Jig/Gulp BASS, STRIPED A Campbell Fly /29/11 York River, VA Half & Half Fly BASS, STRIPED JH Sheffield Gen /31/11 Eastern Shore, VA Eel DRUM, RED B Shepherd Surf 257 5/6/12 Eastern Shore, VA Peeler Crab 2012 DIVISION LEADERS - FRESHWATER BASS, LARGEMOUTH F Cousins Spin 458 4/20/12 Elly's Pond, VA Artifical Worm PERCH, YELLOW Robbie Robinson Plug 411 3/3/12 Chickahominy River, VA Blade Bait PERCH, WHITE ES Johnston Fly 333 4/3/12 James River, VA Fly CATFISH, BLUE B Shepherd Gen 489 2/3/12 James River, VA Cut Shad 2012 SPECIES LEADERS LARGEST - SALTWATER AMBERJACK, GREATER M Kodroff 22-0 BASS, BLACK SEA BL Noland 3-8 BASS, STRIPED L Houser 45-0 BLUEFISH M Kodroff 11-0 COBIA S Peluso CROAKER Johnny Wetlaufer 1-7 DRUM, BLACK Robbie Robinson 36-0 DRUM, RED B Shepherd 36-0 FLOUNDER, SUMMER Robbie Robinson 6-2 SEATROUT, SPOTTED F Cousins 8-6 SPADEFISH Robbie Robinson SPECIES LEADERS LARGEST - FRESHWATER BASS, LARGEMOUTH F Cousins 6-14 BASS, ROCK & ROANOKEW Nicar 1-2 CARP S Lee 18-0 CATFISH, BLUE B Shepherd 52-0 CATFISH, FLATHEAD RJ Brown 27-0 CRAPPIE, ALL W Nicar 1-15 GAR, ALL F Cousins 9-14 PERCH, WHITE GN Carter 1-6 PERCH, YELLOW Robbie Robinson 1-9 PICKERAL, CHAIN F Cousins 3-1 SHAD, AMERICAN M Kodroff 4-0 SHAD, HICKORY A Campbell 3-0 SUNFISH, ALL B Shepherd 1-0 SUNFISH, REDEAR D Nobles 0-10 SUNFISH, REDEAR W Nicar 2-0 TROUT, RAINBOW D Nobles 3-8

11 VIRGINIA ANGLERS CLUB - 8/17/12 Page 11 SPECIES ANGLER WEIGHT LN DIV. PTS DATE LOCATION BAIT TOP YOUTH CATCHES - FRESHWATER (LOCAL) SUNFISH, ALL Claire Watkinson (5 yrs.) Spin 148 4/30/12 Private Pond, VA Plastic Grub 0-6 yo PERCH, WHITE Ryan Farley (age 9) Spin 163 5/17/12 Lodge Creek, VA Red Head Jigl 7-12 yo NEW CLUB RECORDS - SALTWATER SEATROUT, SPOTTED F Cousins Spin /27/11 Elizabeth River, VA Mirrolure BASS, STRIPED L Houser Gen /23/11 Chesapeake Bay, VA Eel BASS, STRIPED A Campbell Fly /29/11 York River, VA Half & Half Fly BASS, STRIPED JH Sheffield Gen /31/11 Eastern Shore, VA Eel FLOUNDER, SUMMER M Cline Plug 355 6/19/12 CBBT, VA Jig/Gulp FLOUNDER, SUMMER Robbie Robinson Plug 255 6/18/12 CBBT, VA Bucktail/Gulp NEW CLUB RECORDS - FRESHWATER SUNFISH, ALL B Shepherd Spin 263 3/17/12 Private Pond, VA Grub SHAD, HICKORY A Campbell Fly 265 3/23/12 James River, VA Fly PERCH, WHITE GN Carter Fly 269 4/1/12 James River, VA Shad Fly CATFISH, FLATHEAD L Houser Plug 267 4/13/12 James River, VA Silver Buddy SUNFISH, ALL D Nobles Fly 229 4/14/12 King William Pond, VA Wooly Bugger SUNFISH, REDEAR D Nobles Fly 125 4/14/12 King William Pond, VA Wooly Bugger HIGHEST POINT NON-LOCAL CATCH - SALTWATER (LOCAL) PERMIT D Nobles Fly 150 5/8/12 Key West, FL Crab Imitation Fly

12 Bulletin Editor: Johnny Wetlaufer, Design and Layout: Rob Choi P.O. BOX RICHMOND VA NEXT MEETING: Tuesday,August 28th at Skilligalle Restaurant