Outdoors Notebook: Va. Beach angler presses on after boat's motor dies

Rick Morris, fishing in the fifth of 11 Bassmaster Elite Series events, had a dead motor on the first day at Georgia's Clarks Hill Lake last weekend.

"I went on a long run up the river and the coil went out on my motor," said Morris, a Virginia Beach resident.

Morris had to use his trolling motor to reach a local dock, where he called for a spare part and made the repair. While waiting, he fished the nearby shoreline and managed to catch a few.

He finished with a one-day limit of five fish that weighed only 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Had it not been for a 3-pounder in the final few minutes of angling, things would have been even worse. Morris was 92nd after the first day.

But on the second day, Morris' five fish weighed a combined 14-6, moving him to 46th and helping him make the top 50 cut.

On the third day of the four-day event, Morris again took five fish to the scales. That bag weighed 14-3 and bumped him into 30th place. It wasn't enough to make the top 12 cut and reach the finals, but it helped in his quest to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic. He also finished in the money for the fourth of five stops, winning $10,000.

Morris is 13th overall heading into this week's tour stop on Lake Murray in South Carolina. The top 48 anglers make the Classic.

"It was grim," Morris said about his first-day problems. "It was the first time in a long time that I've ever had motor problems. I lost the entire morning bite - and the morning bite on that lake was really important.

"The good thing is that I managed to come back and get some good points."

Biologist seeks large speckled trout for study

Jon Lucy of the Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program needs a few big speckled trout to help with an age and growth rate study.

Lucy wants to compare Virginia fish with those in Florida.

Lucy, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science biologist, needs to extract the otilith bone, which has rings in it similar to those in a tree.

A 12-pound, 1-ounce, 35-inch speckled trout caught two years ago in the Elizabeth River's Hot Ditch area by Barclay Shepard turned out to be a 12-year-old female. A 12-year-old speckled has been recorded in Texas and a 15-year-old has been recorded in Florida.

If you catch a speckled trout measuring more than 30 inches, contact Lucy at (804) 815-6231.

Record rosefish landed near Norfolk Canyon

William Davis, of Forestville, Md., caught a pending world record blackbelly rosefish.

Davis was deep-drop bottom-bouncing along the edge of the Norfolk Canyon when he landed the 4-pound, 3-ounce fish. The current International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record for the species weighed 3-11 and was caught in the same area last year by Robert Manus of Ark, Va.

Upcomming events

- The Tidewater Anglers Club will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bayside Presbyterian Church, 1500 Ewell Rd., Virginia Beach. Kevin "Kayak Kevin" Whitley will talk about fishing for red and black drum. Non-members are welcome.

- The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission Northeast Advisory Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo. For more information, call Sara Winslow at (252) 264-3911.

- The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will hold outdoors classes for women Saturday at Munden Point Park in Virginia Beach. The classes will include instruction on the basics of archery, fly-casting, kayaking, outdoor cooking, wilderness survival, wildlife watching, backyard habitat, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking and an introduction to shotguns.

Participants can take any of the classes, which run from 9 to 10:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m. to noon,  to 2:30 p.m. or 2:45 to 4:15 p.m. The $50 cost covers instruction, program materials, use of demonstration equipment and lunch. For more information, call (757) 385-4461.

- The second annual Black Drum World Championship fishing tournament is May 16-18 out of Bay Creek Resort and Club in Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore. Registration is $200 for a boat team of as many as six anglers. For more information, call the Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce at (757) 787-2460.

- The fifth annual Steel Pier Classic and Surf Art Expo is May 24-26 at the First Street jetty at the Oceanfront. The event, sanctioned by the Virginia Longboard Federation, helps raise money for the Virginia Beach Noblemen, a charity that helps underprivileged children in Hampton Roads. For more information, call Mary Knight at (757) 409-1363.

- The Virginia Charter Boat Association will hold its inaugural Youth Development Hooked on Fishing Adventure on May 31 at four locations: Chincoteague, Virginia Beach, Gynns Island and Buzzard's Point. Fishing will be from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, call Capt. A.C. Fisher at (804) 580-4342.

- The seventh annual Steve Gambill Cancer Classic freshwater fishing tournament will be held June 1 out of West Landing Marina in Virginia Beach. Fishing is from 6:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in two divisions. Registration in each is $25 for adults and $15 for children 15 and younger. The event raises money for the American Cancer Society. For more information, call Chris Vitovich from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at (757) 547-0220 or, on evenings and weekends, at (757) 467-0740. Information also is available at www.CancerClassic.org.

- The Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation will hold a free family fishing clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 7 at Munden