Outdoors Report for week of Feb. 19

The North Carolina Beach Buggy Association has given $30,000 to the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance to help the continuing battle for beach access.

Most notable is a current suit seeking an injunction to halt the new rules that went into effect Wednesday.

The buggy association is an organization dedicated to beach access and conservation, while the alliance is bringing groups like the association together to help with their cause.

ANGLER LOSES LICENSE

Justin Stevens of Poquoson has had his recreational fishing license suspended for two years.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission last week took away his license after a second violation of bag limits.

Stevens was convicted for possession of an illegal number of cobia when Virginia Marine Police last summer found him with six cobia stashed in a hidden compartment on his boat.

The limit for cobia is one per person.

It was the second time in two years that Stevens was caught with too many cobia.

State code allows the commission to take away any recreational or commercial license for up to two years for violations.

“This is the first time in my memory that we’ve taken away a recreational license,” said VMRC spokesman John Bull. “That people can take away from this is that if either recreational or commercial fishermen violate the laws repeatedly, there will be consequences.”

RESULTS

*From a largemouth bass fishing tournament held Feb. 12 out of Bob’s Fishing Hole on the Northwest River in southern Chesapeake: 1. Jeremy Gatewood of Virginia Beach and Charlie Reed of Gloucester, 10.24 total pounds; 2. Steve Albertson of Chesapeake, 9.22 (including the lunker winner at 4.22)

UPCOMING

*The Portsmouth Angler’s Club will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Simonsdale Civic Center, 5006 Vick St., in Portsmouth. Carl Herring will talk about fishing for crappie. Herring, of Suffolk, is a former International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record holder for the species. For information, call Rob Jordan at 757-488-9305.

*One of the largest custom rod building events takes place Saturday and Sunday in High Point, N.C. The 2012 International Custom Rod Building Exposition features 85 vendors and more than 2,000 rod builders. There will be demonstrations and more than 20 seminars. The event is held at Showplace Center. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 for a day, or $15 for a two-day pass. For more information, go to www.rodexpo.com

*The final segment of the Basics of Flyfishing series will be held Saturday, March 3 at Northwest River Park in Chesapeake. Sessions are free and begin at 10 a.m. Instruction includes casting, fly tying, equipment basics and accessories. the series is sponsored by the Bill Wills Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Chesapeake Department of Parks and Recreation and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. For information, call Bill Campbell at 757-635-6522 or the park at 757-421-7151.

--Lee Tolliver