State program helps lure in young anglers

The future of fishing keeps getting brighter in Virginia.

Anglers age 15 or younger can participate in a state-sponsored program that awards them for catching and releasing at least six different species in a year.

There are no size limits, and all saltwater fish are eligible.

Since the program started in 1990, thousands of youngsters have earned the Virginia Junior Angler award.

Last year, almost 300 received their hats or tackle organizers for qualifying.

So far this year, the staff at the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, which oversees the program, says that young anglers are on track for another banner year.

"It gets them involved and interested at a young age," tournament director Lewis Gillingham said.

Ten-year-old Justin Winther of Portsmouth is the latest Virginia Junior Angler award winner. He caught a 27-inch cobia at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel last week for his sixth different species release.

A rising fifth-grader at Greenbrier Christian Academy, Winther previously had caught a bluefish, flounder, croaker, spot, porgy, toad fish and shark.

More young anglers

The Lynnhaven Fishing Pier was loaded Thursday with 220 children from various South Hampton Roads Boys and Girls Clubs.

Participants even came from Franklin and the Eastern Shore for a day of angling.

"It was just fabulous, and all the kids had a blast," organizer Greg Rodgers said.

The event was an effort by Rodgers to keep alive a program that has been going on in one form or another since the Virginia Jaycees ran the Governor's Cup Youth Fishing Tournament in the late 1980s and early '90s.

The event was last run by the Coastal Conservation Association Virginia.

"There are always excuses not to do something," Rodgers said. "I remember when my dad was on a Navy ship out of San Diego when I was a kid and this guy took me fishing. I remember how much that meant to me.

"This is kind of an effort to give back."

The day of pier fishing was put together at the last minute with the help of Rodgers' mom and dad, Steve Wray at Long Bay Pointe Tackle, the Food Bank and several others.

Capt. Bob Rodgers is a member of the Church of the Holy Family's Knights of Columbus Chapter, which spent $3,000 to purchase rods and reels for the youngsters to use. The Fishbite artificial bait company donated 50 bags, and Wray donated a 5-gallon bucket of squid. The Food Bank donated everything except hot dogs for lunch, and Rodgers' mom purchased those. The staff at the Lynnhaven Fish House located on the pier cooked the hot dogs.

"We'll try to get funding like the program used to have, but I just didn't want it to go another year without being held," Rodgers said. "The kids caught quite a few fish that they took home to their families. And any bait that was left over, the kids gave to people who were fishing on the pier."

Rodgers said he will be looking for more volunteers for when he holds the angling day next summer.

For more information, call him at (757) 652-2900.

Teaching safe hunting

With the threat five years ago of no longer having a teaching team for a Hunter Education Course in Chesapeake, retired Navy Chief Bruce Hartman came to the rescue.

He took over the job as the city's hunter education coordinator, organizing at least three courses a year and assembling a team of 10 or more instructors.

Hartman reached a milestone last weekend when he certified his 1,000th student.

Bruce Guckert of Virginia Beach took that distinction.

Hartman, 57, a Chesapeake resident, has been hunting since he got his first shotgun at age 12. He said he still has the gun.

The courses are sanctioned by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and are required for all new hunters.

Hartman and other instructors and coordinators also recommend that seasoned hunters take the course every now and then as a refresher.

Hartman must take advanced training classes each year.

He's running another course Sept. 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Chesapeake Civic Center.

For more information about the program, call Hartman after 6 p.m. at (757) 543-0805.

UPCOMING

- The Hampton Roads Maritime Training Program at the Norfolk Campus of Tidewater Community College will hold four captains' certification classes in September. Two will be for Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel (6-p ack) licenses. The other two will be Masters' License courses for operators of vessels not more than 100 tons. A night class will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. beginning Sept. 4. Day classes will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Sept. 15. Registration is $800 for the 6-pack license and $1,200 for master. For info, call Geri Melton or Meredith Kimble at (757) 822-1315.