Outdoors Report: House OKs Bill Requiring Boating Course
By Lee Tolliver, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Feb. 18–A bill that would require boat operators to pass a licensed boating safety education course has made it farther through the Virginia General Assembly than any previous attempt.
House Bill 1627 was passed by the House of Delegates. It then was approved 13-1 by the Senate’s Agriculture, Conservation and National Resources Committee and awaits final Senate approval.
If passed by the Senate, the bill must be signed by the governor before becoming law.
The bill calls for operators of boats and personal watercraft to pass a course. A timetable for compliance is based on operator age.
Motorboat operators 20 or younger would have to pass the course by July 1, 2011. Those 30 or younger would have to pass by 2012, 40 or younger by 2013, 50 or younger by 2013 and 60 or younger by 2014. All operators, regardless of age, must pass by 2016.
Violators would face a $100 civil penalty.
The bill was introduced by Del. Kathy J. Byron, a Republican from the Lynchburg area. Byron, who declined to comment until the bill has passed or failed, introduced the it because of several boating fatalities on Smith Mountain Lake.
Finally a billfish: Joe Desormeaux of Virginia Beach has been doing all he can the last few years to help his wife catch a billfish.
He finally realized his goal two weeks ago on a trip to Quepos, Costa Rica. Desormeaux took his wife, Linda, on a 42 nd wedding anniversary fishing trip. The couple were with Linda’s brother and his girlfriend on a sailfishing adventure with Capt. Dave Dobbins, a former Virginia Beach resident who has been in Costa Rica since 1998. He runs Lamanta fishing charters.
When the crew got into fish, Linda was second in the fighting chair, battling her first billfish. Twenty minutes later she had a sailfish estimated by the captain to weigh at least 130 pounds.
“She’s an avid angler, and she’s been offshore lots of times. She’s caught tuna and everything else. But never a billfish,” Joe Desormeaux said. “She did everything herself — grabbed the rod, set the hook and did everything she was told to do fighting the fish. It took her about 20 minutes.
“I was so proud of her.”
Tagger honored: Walt Spruill of Hatteras, N.C., was honored Friday for his efforts to tag and release billfish in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Billfish Foundation presented Spruill with the Top Release Captain for Sailfish in the Atlantic award at its annual awards ceremony in Miami.
Classic competition: The 37 th annual Bassmaster Classic starts Friday on Lay Lake, just outside Birmingham, Ala.
Fifty anglers will compete for two days, with the field being narrowed to 10 for Sunday’s finale.
The winner will take home $500,000. Weigh-ins each day will be broadcast live on ESPN.
John Crews of Jetersville is the only Virginian in the field.
More bassin’: Curt Lytle’s name won’t be found in the results from this weekend’s FLW Tour season opener.
Lytle, of Ivor, didn’t fish. He has been nursing a torn ligament in his left hand. He injured the hand changing the prop on his boat in preparation for this fishing season.
On Friday, doctors removed a splint and approved rehab.
“It’s a bad deal, man,” Lytle said. “Qualifying for next year’s Tour championship and in the FLW Series is done. You can’t afford to miss an event.”
Last year, Lytle prequalified for this year’s Tour championship, which is Aug. 2-5 in Hot Springs, Ark.
Cold swords: Although the temperature has been hovering around freezing, anglers willing to make offshore runs continue to be rewarded with excellent swordfish catches.
With coastal striped bass fishing at an all-time best, it’s difficult to persuade some anglers to venture on overnight offshore trips.
“The problem is that nobody goes this time of year,” said Mike Atkinson of Virginia Beach. “If more people went, we might be able to stay on the fish better.”
Atkinson’s latest trip was last week and produced one swordfish of about 80 pounds. In three trips since December, anglers on Atkinson’s boat have brought home eight of the hard-fighting and tasty fish.
“There’s been a nice piece of warm water west of the Cigar that probably is holding some good tuna,” Atkinson said. “Again, it boils down to not enough people being out there to see what’s there.”
Eagle watching: The two breeding eagles who have made Norfolk Botanical Garden their home for the last few years are back on their nest.
Mom is sitting on three eggs that are expected to hatch in early March.
The eagles can be watched from an observation tower close to their next.
Or they can be viewed online at this Web site: www.dgif.virginia.gov/eaglecam
The online camera is being operated in cooperation with Norfolk Botanical Garden, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and WVEC-TV.
UPCOMING
— The Portsmouth Anglers Club will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Simonsdale Civic Hall, 5006 Vick St., Portsmouth. Capt. Max King will talk about using live eels to catch large stripers. The public is welcome.
— The Virginia Institute of Marine Science After Hours Lecture Series continues at
7 p.m. Thursday at the Freight Shed on the Yorktown waterfront. Dr. Rob Latour will talk about the importance of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. The lectures are free, but attendees must reserve a space by calling 1-804-684-7846.
— The Tidewater Kayak Anglers Association will hold its inaugural Mid-Atlantic Kayak Fishing Symposium Saturday and Sunday at Wild River Outfitters, at Rosemont Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach. Lectures by some of the top kayak anglers in the country will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission for the weekend is $5. For more information, see this Web site: www.tkaa.org
— The Tidewater Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will hold its annual banquet fund-raiser at 5 p.m. March 23 at the Chesapeake Conference Center. Ticket sales will end March 14, and none will be sold at the door. For information on tickets, call Cecil Flora at (757) 427-1923.
— Reach Lee Tolliver at (757) 222-5844 or Lee.Tolliver@pilotonline.com
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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