Claytor Lake tournament combines bass and grass

[Eric]

Claytor Lake tournament combines bass and grass

“Bass and Grass” is the catchy name of a fishing tournament scheduled Aug. 22 on Claytor Lake, when 30 percent of the tournament fees will go toward the restoration of native grasses to enhance fish habitat.

The rest of the money will be payback for participants, including a $2,000 Cabela’s gift card for the first-place angler. The entry fee is $100 per boat. Sponsors include Friends of Claytor Lake, the B.A.S.S. Virginia Nation and the Bass Federation. Fishing hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Claytor Lake State Park is the tournament headquarters.

Friends of Claytor Lake, assisted by other groups, including the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, recently transplanted more than 1,000 water willows to create native habitat and crowd out any attempts of undesirable hydrilla to grow back. The plants were harvested in the back of the boat docks in the park and planted in park coves and along the shoreline of the Bullard Farm near Claytor Dam.

Additional information on the tournament and the plantings can be found on www.bass4grass.com and www.focl.org.

www.roanoke.com/sports/outdoors/bill-cochran-field-reports-hunters-opposed-to-ban-on-urine/article_1715ed5e-3b8d-11e5-b0f6-27ec133cc28f.html

[formula180]

Well that is encouraging.  Maybe Smith Mountain Lake will be next.  The state park offers a real opportunity as a test area in the coves to release striper fingerlings and determine their survival rate compared to open water release.

They may have to trap some of the muskrats first to guarantee success. 



American Waterwillows