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June 30, 2008
Fishers Island opens upAnglers fishing the back of Fishers Island are starting to catch both fluke and striped bass, says Don Michaud of King Cove Outfitters in Stonington. The waters off Isabella Beach had been disappointing until this weekend when the bite began to blossom. Some very large bass have been taken on the reefs of Long Island Sound, he says. That's where divers are spearing monster bass, according to Don.
Posted by Tom Meade Party boats score with flukeYesterday was the best fluke-fishing day this season for numbers and size of fish, according to the skippers of the Frances Fleet of party boats. "The action was hot right out of the box and it stayed that way until the engines started signaling the end of the day." they said. Among the catch were several jumbo fluke. Mike and Tony Tilleli each caught a limit of large fluke, including six jumbos. The hot rig was a hi-lo set-up. Sea bass and scup are also biting along the beaches.
Posted by Tom Meade June 29, 2008
Freedivers take giant bass
Together, the top three fish in yesterday's Bluewater Meet weighed over 170 pounds
Freediver John Murphy held his breath to spear this 63-pound bass Connecticut breath-hold diver John Murphy, a longtime member of the Rhode Island Freediving Club, speared a 63-pound striper. He was diving in 45 feet of water on the reefs of South County Thursday, reports Jay Moore, president of the club. Yesterday, during the club's annual Bluewater Meet, three of the competing athletes speared bass over 50 pounds. John Murphy has been spearfishing for 30 years and has been a dominant competitor in New England, said Jay. John is a five-time North Atlantic Champion, three-time All-American and the 2003 United States Underwater Athlete of the Year. He has two National Team Championships as well as one individual first place, second place, and third place finish. He has a second place and two third place team finishes in the U.S. Nationals He is also a two-time winnerof the Rhode Island Bluewater Meet. After yesterday's meet, Jay Moore reported: "We had 35 competitors from six states competing. The weather was favorable, and the fish brought to the weigh-in were very impressive. This marks the 14th year since we started this event, and it wasn't until 2006 that the first 50-pound striper was brought in by Sergio DaSilva. In 2007, John Warnock cracked the 60-pound mark to win the event. This year we had three fish over 50 pounds which is absolutely amazing." The results: Peter Papathanasiou 59.6 Competitors can shore dive and drive from spot to spot, use a boat or a kayak. All fishing is done while breath-hold diving in Rhode Island waters. Each competitor is allowed to weigh in one fish. The competitor with the largest fish wins.
Posted by Tom Meade June 28, 2008
Bluefish in WickfordBig bluefish are feeding on large schools of menhaden in Wickdord Cove, according to Steve Elliott, Jr. and Ed Hughes.
Posted by Tom Meade June 27, 2008
Sand eels attract bass at Block Island
Kenny Landry, first mate aboard the charter boat L'il Toot, with a Block Island bass "Striped bass fishing at Block Island has been red hot recently as massive schools of sand eels have moved in, and the bass have been feeding heavily on them," writes Peter Beuth, first mate aboard the charter boat CDevil II. "The guys at Merrimack Building Supply came out on a corporate charter and were rewarded with an excellent day of striper fishing and superb weather. The fishing is great, and many more great days lie ahead."
Posted by Tom Meade June 26, 2008
Lower Bay bass are biting
The Eelman this morning Bill "Eelman" Nolan fished with Steve McKenna today and caught several fish between 18 and 41 pounds. The largest weighed 41.3 pounds, Bill's heaviest bass this season. They were fishing in the lower Bay, he said. The upper Bay is too crowded for him.
Posted by Tom Meade Five minutes ago: fish at Port EdgewoodFive minutes ago, Ed Hughes called from Port Edgewood to say he was slamming stripers on flies. "It didn't matter where I went or what color I used," he said. "There were fish everywhere. I think the key was the incoming tide." Ed was wading. On his first cast, he caught a 30-inch bass. "I was worried that it would be a jinx, but it wasn't," he said. "I think I caught a fish on every cast after that, and they were all bass, no bluefish."
Posted by Tom Meade Big carp on the mulberry 'hatch'
Dave Pickering with a 10-pounder yesterday “Carp fishing is red-hot right now as the fish are in a post-spawn feeding period,” writes Dave Pickering. “The mulberry ‘hatch’ is also on and the carp are feeding big time on them. My son, Jon, and I have been hitting our mulberry spots along the Blackstone River every morning in the last week. We get from 5 to 7 fish in a couple of hours with the average carp around 10 pounds. However, we landed a huge mirror carp this morning on a mulberry. The fish weighed in the low twenties, one of the largest mirrors we have ever caught. The thunderstorms and heavy rains of the last week have knocked down tons of berries and that has resulted in fantastic fishing.” From the Wood River, fly fisherman Ed Lombardo reports: "We went to the Wood Tuesday night, not knowing that it rained very very hard that afternoon. The river can up a good 12" or so within a matter of hours from the night before. I have never in all my years of fishing the Wood have seen it turn from crystal clear to a dark chocolate brown, so fast. "The good news is that the Hex still came off on time at 8:45 p.m. and it emerged in good numbers. A lot of duns and some spinners. The bad news is that the fish only came up for a matter of, oh, five minutes. "I believe that the river will not be right for a good three to four days. The weather forecast is more rain and thunder storms starting again today. This will put a damper on the Wood for a while. I think that the river will not be right until Friday or Saturday nights. "The two fish that we managed to hookup, took a spinner."
Posted by Tom Meade June 25, 2008
Popping Poppasquash
This morning's catch "Here's a picture of Jim and Reenee Casapulla from New Jersey," writes Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat, Can't Imagine. Today, we went fishing at Poppasquash Point and caught a lot of nice fish. Reenee caught her first ever striper. It weighed 23 pounds."
Posted by Tom Meade Projo blogs upgrade set for SaturdaySaturday morning we plan to upgrade the active projo blogs to a new version of the Movable Type software. All blogs will remain available during this process. Afterwards you’ll see a new look and some new features, and we’ll welcome your comments about them.
Posted by Sheila Lennon Stripers and largemouths striking
Greg and Jerry McGrath yesterday Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine, is concentrating on schools of menhaden between Bristol and Prudence Island. He sent this picture of Greg McGrath and his dad Jerry on Greg's birthday yesterday. They caught about 20 bass, Billy saud, and the biggest was 36 inches long. It weighed 19 pounds. "Freshwater has been brisk to say the least," reports Anthony Palumbo. "I went to Wordens Pond on Saturday and Sunday and did great. They were hitting on topwater Scumfrogs when fished along the shoreline right into the tall grass. As usual they were also taking worms in basically any form. I fished them wacky, Texas, and even drop shot. When it seemed to slow a bit I threw a Shakey head and they ate those up. I caught about 10 fish with the largest at 5 pouns 2 ounces and the smallest around the 1 pound. "All fishing was done from 8 a.m. to around 3 p.m. both days. "I also fished Johnson's Pond from the Zekes Bridge side last Friday and did well hitting the docks with tubes and wacky worms. All but one were 2 pounds or under with the one weighing 3 pounds, 4 ounces. I went under the bridge towards Big River with no luck."
Posted by Tom Meade June 24, 2008
Little Grey Gull wins $30,000 on L.I. SoundTeam Little Grey Gull captained by Walter Anderson of White Plains, N.Y., caught two striped bass weighing 28 pounds, 12 ounces over the weekend to win $30,000 at the third stop of the Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series in New London, Conn. “We had a plan to fish the entire eastern end of Long Island Sound,” Anderson said. “We immediately shot across the Sound and fished one side of Plum Island, then fished Plum Gut on the other. After that we went to Mattatuck, on the New York side; from there we went to Horton Point before crossing Long Island Sound. We also fished Hatchett Reef and Valiant Rock.” Team Little Grey Gull caught its second big fish near Valiant Rock in its last 45 minutes of fishing. “There were about 30 or 40 boats fishing there, and we caught a fish right out from under them,” Anderson said. The team, which consists of Frank Kiernan of Madison, Conn., Keith Salisbury of Westbrook, Conn., and Scott Kesselman of Greenwich, Conn., fished with teasers on wire line and very small and light Parachute jigs, so they flip more in the water. “We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun during the day,” Anderson said. “We did not think that we were going to win the tournament when we weighed in second or third and were put on the leaderboard. What we didn’t realize was what a difficult day everyone had. Most of the bass are still up in the rivers or in the western end of the Sound and have not migrated yet—usually, they will already be there. I’d say in the next week to 10 days, they will definitely be up in the east end—they’re not going to go to summer like that.” In accordance with tournament regulations, both fish fell within a 28- to 34-inch slot limit and were successfully weighed and released in good condition. Teams, ranging in size from two to four anglers each, compete for a guaranteed top award of $10,000 cash in each event and as much as $20,000 cash based on boat and engine bonuses from Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl, Wellcraft, Evinrude and Yamaha. The winning team is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight of two striped bass falling within the 28- to 34-inch slot limit. The next FLW Striper Series tournament will be held at Bass River Marina in West Dennis, Mass., Aug. 9. Entry fees are $450 per team for all entries received prior to the day of registration for each tournament. The entry fee for entries received on registration day for a tournament or on-site during tournament registration is $500 per team. Teams may register online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000.
Posted by Tom Meade June 23, 2008
Bass in the Bay today
Kirk Kessler caught this 33-pounder this morning "At Poppasquash Point this morning, we got at least 20 nice fish," said Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine. "Schools of pogies everywhere. Kirk Kessler from Utah caught a 33-pound bass. What a fat fish!"
Posted by Tom Meade Fluke fishing 'does not get any better'"The big news of the week continues to be the fantastic fluke fishing all along the Rhode Island shoreline," writes Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet. "Capt. Rich on the 7 a.m. boat has been crushing big fluke every day with the smallest pool fish around 8 pounds, and winner usually 10 pounds or better. Fish in the 4- to 6-pound range are commonplace with anglers often having several fish of that size in their limit catches... "The take has been almost all fluke with just a few nice sea bass, scup and bluefish in the mix. "All terminal gear has been working well with the Spro jigs and bucktails hot for some anglers, and just a tandem bait rig with squid and spearing producing size and numbers for others. "Mylar flies and spinners have also been hot at times. "The fishing just really does not get any better and the body of fluke seems to be staggering."
Posted by Tom Meade June 22, 2008
First tuna landedFishing aboard Big Game, Pete and Brian Bacon steamed to the offshore area known as "The Horns" Saturday to catch the first bluefin tuna landed this season, said Elisa Jackman of Snug Harbor Marina. The fish weighed 97 pounds. "There were tons of blue sharks there, and some threshers," she said. Earlier in the week, her brother, Matt Conti, said yellowfin tuna had been spotted near Southwest Ledge.
Posted by Tom Meade Fishing fractionsOunces and an inch separated the top anglers competing in the June Moon Madness Striper Tournament at Snug Harbor Marina and at the Kayak Fishing Rodeo at King Cove Outfitters this weekend. Mike Lundholm of Plymouth, Mass. won the Snug Harbor event with a 43.9-pound fish. Mike Lanni of Narragansett was second with a 43.2-pounder, Ben Ewing of Kingston was third with a 43.1-pound bass, and Sean Clark of Old Lyme, Conn. finished fourth with a 42.6 pounder. Most anglers fished near the Southwest Ledge, said Elisa Jackman, but she noted that some anglers also fished tight to the rocks near Southeast Light. Sue Blackburn of Wakefield caught a 27.7-pound bass to win the ladies division, and Sam Clark of Old Lyme won the junior division with a 36.6-pound bass. Anglers in the Kayak Fishing Rodeo had "beautiful, perfect weather all Saturday night and Sunday morning," said Nils Christensen of Ultimate Kayak Fishing, organizer of the event. One angler started fishing yesterday an 6 a.m., fished until 11 p.m., got a bite to eat, and was back on the water at midnight this morning, said Nils. Jack Hanecack, a Connecticut fisherman, won the event with a 40-inch bass; Mark Nelson, a Massachusetts angler, caught a 39-inch bass for second place, and John Kaczynski, a New York paddler-angler, caught a 38-incher for third place. Live eels were the best bets in Little Narragansett Bay, Stonington Harbor, and off Pleasure Beach near the Millstone nuclear power plant, according to Nils. Two teenage anglers, Adrian Pelletier and Justin Blaze, caught some large bass, too, Nils said.
Posted by Tom Meade June 21, 2008
Bay bass still biting
Billy writes: Today, we bass fished around Poppasquash Point. Pogies were everywhere. Landed at least 30 bass, and the biggest was Wind Evans's 26-pounder. There was a lot of fish around today.
Posted by Tom Meade June 20, 2008
The 62-pound trophy
Mark Shearer and the 62.5-pound bass he caught yesterday. Mark Shearer was thinking about staying ashore yesterday. Then he realized it was the last day of Rhode Island's hook-and-line commercial fishing season for striped bass. So he fired up his 26-foot Regulator, named Gannet, and headed for Block Island. "l Ieft the house at 12:30 (a.m.), left the dock at 1:30, and got to the island at 2:30," the Coventry resident said. He was fishing with live eels on the south side of the island. "On the first drift, I caught a fish that was a 33-pounder," he recalled. "On the second drift, I caught this one, and then, I didn't catch another one until just before day-break. "When I caught this one, I put it in the box, and in the back of my mind, I thought that that's a big fish. I knew it was over 50, but I didn't want to even think that it was over 60 because I didn't want to jinx myself." "Lots of times, when you catch a fish or shoot a deer, you get shrinkage when you look at it a second time. After day-break, I opened the box, looked at it, and it got bigger rather than smaller." When Mark got to the dock at Snug Harbor Marina, the striper weighed 62.5 pounds, said Al Conti. "I guess it was my lucky day," said Mark. "Obviously, it was a dream fish. I've had lots of 50s in my life, but it's always been a dream to get a 60 some day." Now that the commercial season is closed, Mark may do some chartering. As word of the 62-pounder spreads, there should be no shortage of clients.
Posted by Tom Meade June 19, 2008
Shearer lands 62.5-pound bass
A 30-pound-plus bass this morning aboard Can't Imagine Mark Shearer caught a 62.5-pound striped bass this morning at Block Island. He weighed the fish at Snug Harbor Marina. Watch HotBytes for more details as soon as we get them. After this morning's trip on the Bay, Billy Silvia, skipper of Can't Imagine, sent the picture above and he wrote: "We did really well. This is Mr. Dave McGover Sr. with a nice 30-pound-plus striper. On the day we got 20 bass and some real nice quality fish."
Posted by Tom Meade A good time for stripers and troutRon Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle caught bass up to 30 pounds on live bait along the eastern side of Block Island this morning morning. Nearby, Fred Bowman, skipper of the charter boat Bottom Line, caught a 55-pounder on an eel today. On the Bay, Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine, took a 39-pound bass and a 20-pounder near the Newport Bridge this morning, according to David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. When Everett Thornton and Ed Lombardo got to the Wood River last evening, there were no aquatic insects visible, so they tied on ant and wasp imitations and picked up some trout; the wasp fly was especially productive, said Lombardo. Later on some #18 Blue-Winged Olives and Sulfurs appeared. It wasn’t until dark that they saw fish rising to Hexagenia limbata spinners, but a thunder storm rolled in and they had to call it quits. “We need some really hot weather to get the Hex going,” Ed says. Generally, the Hex hatch peaks around Independence Day. There's more in the Fishing Report.
Posted by Tom Meade June 18, 2008
Bass focus on menhaden"The fish are still really keyed in on bunker, and that's all I am doing, live-lining bunker," says Bill "Eelamn" Nolan. In the Providence River, the bass are so keyed in on bunker, stripers are coming in with menhaden in cast nets, says Billy Barbour. "Plenty of numbers," writes Eelman. "Lots in the teens and 20s and a few over 30." As the Bay water warms, and the river becomes more crowded and crazy, smart anglers are moving south and catching fish.
Posted by Tom Meade June 17, 2008
Big-game bluewater bite beginsSteaming to the Fish Tails is a safe bet for catching "all the blue sharks you want," says Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina. That's where most of the blue sharks were taken in the Star Island Shark Tournament over the weekend, he said this morning. There were 193 boats competing, and they landed eight mako, two threshers, and 14 blue sharks. To see pictures of the weekend's winners, scroll down after you click here. The first tuna reports of the season are coming in, Matt said. Bluefin have been spotted pushing sand eels near Southwest Ledge, and anglers have seen yellowfin near the Fish Tails and west of there.
Posted by Tom Meade June 16, 2008
Barrington's big fish shrinkKenny Landry found bass between 30 and 40 pounds off Barrington Saturday. Anglers who fished those waters yesterday discovered that the fish had shrunk. Landry found the bass by trolling a tube-and-worm rig Saturday, says his father, Kenny Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle. Once he located the fish, Landry used both live menhaden and fresh chunks to catch them. The bass weighed between 30 and 40 pounds. There were still bass near Rumstick Rock yesterday, says Ferrara. "After the morning rain, they shrank," he says. "They were only 20 to 30 pounds." Only. Later, schools of bluefish moved in and wrecked the bass bite. Ferrara predicts that the fish will start moving toward Homestead on Prudence Island this week, and then they will head farther south as the water warms. "We've got three more weeks of good fishing in the Bay," he says. Fluke were biting near Shepley's Dock in Warwick this weekend, and scup were taking bait near Hope Island, Ferrara says.
Posted by Tom Meade June 15, 2008
Fluke: 'As good as it gets'“The offshore fluke boat made its maiden voyage of the 2008 season, and the fishing was as good as it gets,” says Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet. “There were quite a few limits both days with nearly everyone going home with at least a few keeper fluke. Both Friday and Saturday featured so many 4- to 6-pound fluke, the crew said they were commonplace with a few anglers scoring full limits of fish over 4 pounds. “Peter Tu had a full limit of 4- to 6-pound fluke Friday while Connie Tu had four keepers, all jumbo, to 8 pounds. Bobby Conger had the biggest fish of the day with a 9-pound doormat. Ron Donhan and his buddy Leon combined for 14 keepers with Ron's limit all in the 4- to 6-pound range. “Saturday's trip saw Barry Capella limit out on the fluke while Kim from New York had the day's largest a 10-pound slab to top off his full limit of big fish. There were a half dozen jumbo fluke over 7 pounds as well on Saturday. There was a nice sprinkling of sea bass on Saturday's trip, with the largest around 3 pounds. “Mylar flies, Spro jigs and whole squid all were good producers but on Saturday white spinner bait rigs were deadly.” Squid fishing was excellent last night, he said.
Posted by Tom Meade June 14, 2008
Block Island first
Block Island is the place to be for catching big bass. "This picture was from last night's trip, drifting eels at the southwest corner of Block Island," said John Rainone, skipper of the charter boat, L'il Toot, yesterday. "It was the Volpe brothers and their wives' trip. The picture is of Heather with her first ever bass, a 50-inch, 43-pounder (on the boat scale). Her brother-in-law Dan caught his first ever bass too, a 49-inch, 42-pounder. They all caught keepers, and plenty of throwbacks." Derek La Fazia said he and his wife fished live pogies in the upper Bay but never saw a bass. Fishig slowed to a near halt on the reefs of South County yesterday, according to several anglers who stopped into Breachway Bait & Tackle in the afternoon.
Posted by Tom Meade June 13, 2008
Small boy, big fish
Matthew and Kevin Jarbeau with Matthew's trophy Kevin Jarbeau writes: "My son Matthew caught a 46.3-pound striper at Block Island on Sunday. He is 11 years old and a seasoned fisherman. His previous best was 38 pounds. I myself have never broken 40. The fish took an eel. It was weighed at Snug Harbor Marina."
Posted by Tom Meade June 12, 2008
For Eelman, 30-pounders are small
Bill "Eelman" Nolan Many anglers would be thrilled to catch a pair of bass with a combined weight of 62 pounds. Bill "Eelman" Nolan caught thes on menhaden on the Bay yesterday. "I had several fish in this size range," he says. "The fishing has been steady but size has been lacking."
Posted by Tom Meade Block Island bass boilBass fishing has been really good along the western side of Block Island, says Chris Willi of Block Island FishWorks. Over the weekend, 11-year-old Matthew Jarbeau caught a 46.3-pound striper on an eel. His father, Kevin, says Matthew's previous record weighed 38 pounds. Even at slack tide, the Rip has had bass on the surface where fly fishermen are casting sand-eel and silverside imitations, says Chris Willi. Light-tackle anglers are throwing SuperSpooks, Ron-Zs and Sluggos. Bass on the surface are as large as 32 inches, but they are fat. For every four or five bass, there is a fat bluefish, Willi says. Yesterday, free divers shot two 58-pound bass near Southwest Ledge. Check out the full Fishing Report for more details.
Posted by Tom Meade June 11, 2008
Early Father's Day cod"My son, Peter, and I put my new 21-foot Sea Hunt center-console to good use last Sunday by landing four keeper cod south of Block Island," writes Brian Skeffington. "Peter had information that there were cod within a reasonable distance from Point Judith, so we headed out at 6 a.m. through fog with clams and huge jigs to back up the bait. Calm "Finally Peter tied on a 14-ounce jig and began bouncing it off the bottom some 90 feet below. Almost immediately, his scored a 21-inch cod that had to go back. I couldn't believe it. I never thought I'd be able to catch cod on my own boat! "By the end of the day, we had four nice cod about 10 pounds each in the live well. Now there's a real Father's Day present for a small boater!"
Posted by Tom Meade June 10, 2008
Fly fishermen catching bass
Shane Bettencourt with the 22-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught to win the youth division of the Striper Marina 15th annual spring tournament. Fly fisherman Ed Hughes fished his yellow Ugly Fly along the Edgewood shore yesterday and caught a lot of bass between 24 and 34 inches long. In three hours, he lost count of the number of fish that struck, but he said the action was fast on the incoming tide. The Ugly Fly had a pearlescent braid body, a heavy wing of yellow bucktail, and a huge red-thread head. "Saw a lot of fish just rolling," he wrote. "I couldn't tell what they were hitting but it could be the crab hatch. Needless to say I'm going back to find out!" Potter Pond was filled with fish last night, said Ed Lombardo who borrowed Alan Gelfuso's skiff to catch several bass -- including some keepers -- from 4:30 to 9 p.m. The most effective pattern was Page Roger's Cinder Worm. Also from South County, Thom Pelletier, skipper of the charter boat ThomCat, reports: "After Sunday's slow flukin' around the Matunuck area I was a little apprehensive about Monday's charter. No worries however as angler Steve Mendes, fishing solo, put on a clinic on tempting some good sized fish. Kept seven fish between 3.5 and 6 pounds and threw back a good number of keepers in 45 to 55 feet. Big Pink ThomCats with mummies and squid were the only rigs used. Got a little snotty about mid-morning but a solid six hours of action. Never took our sweatshirts off the whole outing. Heard it got a bit toasty inland." "Saturday, we had no luck for the afternoon, again in the Providence River. The schools of bait were still in the area, however. They were a bit smaller than the schools on Friday night. We tried livelining as well as chunking pogies with no success. We did not notice many boats around us having success either."
Posted by Tom Meade June 9, 2008
Party boat anglers score"There has been just a staggering amount of bait on the beach including squid, spearing and sand eels," reports Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet. "As the water continues to warm, look for the fluke to become more aggressive. Small bucktails fished above the sinker or hi-lo were tough to beat this week for keepers while those working tandem bait rigs also fared quite well. More standard rigs have also started to see some better results. "So far, it has been all fluke except for an occasional small bluefish or sea bass. "Squid fishing was excellent this week as well with lots of quality squid to 17 inches! Squid fishing will continue by reservation Thursday through Sunday nights at 7 p.m. as long as the fishing continues to hold up. "Local charter boats have been crushing the striped bass which have invaded local waterways. Fish up to 50 pounds with numerous 40s were taken this past week." The fleet's skippers rate cod fishing as OK. Anglers on cod boats are also taking large sea bass.
Posted by Tom Meade Alert: Thieves strike anglersThieves are targenting anglers' cars and trucks. Mike DiChristofaro writes: I went fishing Saturday at Tucker Pond with some friends. Both my truck and my friend's trucks were broken into while we were fishing. They smashed the windows and stole ipods, tools, etc. The South Kingston police showed up and informed us they just came from Worden's Pond where two more cars were broken into. While they were taking our reports they got a call about three more cars of people fishing in Narragansett which were also broken into.
Posted by Tom Meade June 8, 2008
"Bass are going nuts"
One of Friday's fish aboard the Patty-J From the charter boay Patty-J, Jim Chagnon reports: Fishing aboard the Patty-J has been as hot as the weather over the past two days. Bass have been going nuts on both the North and South sides of Block Island and fluke fishing was great off Matunuck this afternoon. Despite alot of rain on Friday and pretty thick fog on Saturday, we had our limit of bass before 10 each morning. On the North side, bait was more than abundant, with the fishing regurgitating squid, sandeels, scup, herring, and crabs.
Posted by Tom Meade June 7, 2008
Block Island turns on
A 23-pounder aboard C Devil II off Block Island As a follow-up to yesterday's HotBytes report, Chris Willi of Block Island FishWorks, reports: "Like I said, it should turn on any time, and it did on the west side for a morning bite of about an hour for the guys on the fly. Fathers Day must be close because it's always good for Fathers Day." Pete Beuth, first mate aboard the C Devil II, reports that his captain, Kelly Smith, has been finding fish off Block Island. "Fishing has been great so far with many of our first dozen or so trips limiting out on striped bass, or close to it, and a few nice fluke as well," he says. "We have been fishing off of Block Island, jigging parachute jigs for the most part. As you can see, 11-year-old Chris is quite excited to land that 23-pound striper."
Posted by Tom Meade June 6, 2008
Bass on the reefsTim Coleman, former editor of The Fisherman, reports: "I went out with Capt. Ben DeMario of Misquamicut, an energetic young man starting a charter business centering on light tackle, no wire line. Last evening we spent four hours on the Watch Hill reefs casting spinning tackle with lead heads and curly worms for 10 bass between 24 and 36 inches, great sport, hard-fighting bass heading downtide in the current."
Posted by Tom Meade Block Island updateChris Willi, of Block Island Fishworks, reports: "Things here are unusually slow for June - we have squid and silversides so its not bait that's holding up the bite - maybe water temps which were 52 on Wednesday. "Fluking has been pretty good around the island in deep water - it should turn on any day now."
Posted by Tom Meade Heat may turn up the bite
Sam Toland is predicting a "crazy weekend" with the return of warm weather. "That's crazy as in good-crazy," says the owner of Sam's Bait & Tackle.. Before the cold front moved in Wednesday, bass fishing was incredible. Among Tuesday's fish was the 48-pound trophy in the picture above. It was taken aboard Capt. Billy Major's Maj-r Day. Continue to look for bass north of Prudence Island, Sam advises.
Posted by Tom Meade June 5, 2008
Upper Bay bite is bubbling
Thom Pelletier Tuesday Bass continue to bite on the upper reaches of the Bay. Thom Pelletier, skipper of the charter boat ThomCat, reports: "Fished Tuesday with Capt. Jack Springel of Northeast Charters livelining pogies in the Providence River. Nonstop action with bass the size pictured and gator nlues. Burnt out by noonish." Jim White, skipper of the charter boat, White Ghost, reports: "Tuesday, Dr.John Lendetto and his friend Rod had 45 stripers up to 30 inches on light tackle spinning gear and six big bluefish. The fishing is finally begining to pick up after a very slow start. Hopefully it will continue." There's more in the Fishing Report to be completed later this morning. Capt. John Goolgasian with a 50-pounder taeken off Carpenter's Beach.
Posted by Tom Meade June 4, 2008
Bay Keeper's keeper
"I caught this 20 pounder on a live menhaden this morning right in front of Save The Bay in Providence," writes Bay Keeper John Torgan. "There have been loads of big bass, blues, and menhaden in the Providence River over the past couple of weeks. It's awesome to see, although distracting when I'm trying to get work done and I hear them splashing!"
Posted by Tom Meade June 3, 2008
Early limitAnglers fishing aboard Neal Vitulo's charter boat, Played For It caught their limts of striped bass by 7:30 a.m. today. Young Neal has been taking clients to the upper reaches of the Bay where they have been finding a lot of fish in the mid-20-pound class, and an occasional 30-pounder. The larges striper this season weighed 34 pounds. The skipper has been fishing live menhaden and chunks around Pawtuxet, Green Island, and Prudence Island. On a visit to Bucko's Tackle and Service today, Greg Weatherby, the former owner of The Saltwater Edge, said he and his son were burned out by 8 a.m. after catching and releasing many bass and large bluefish on light tackle and fly rods.
Posted by Tom Meade June 2, 2008
Fish everywhere
Fishing on the Bay and off the beaches is steady for anglers willing to work. Here are reports from three states by two anglers. Also, look ar Kevin Bettencourt's report in comments. Mike Munroe reports: I set out from Oakland Beach Sunday around 7:45 on my boat the Per Diem with my buddies Todd and Mike. The fog was very thick and we had extremely limited visibility. This really hindered us from finding schools of pogies, We were hoping to live-line for the day. The schools we hit were very small compared to last year at this time and disappeared quickly. Since we had limited bait for the day, we decided to chunk the pogies instead. We hit Bear Point with no luck in about an hour, there were a ton of boats at the point. Nils Christensen of Ultimate Kayak Fishing reports: Friday night a 35-pound striper was caught in Stonington Conn. from a kayak by Saturday we fished Cape Cod Canal One Fly tournament in Support for Casting for Recovery. With the high winds the kayakers had a hard time with no legal fish landed. Shore fishermen and women had the same problems with the wind and largest fish caught was a 22 inch striper. Sunday was my first time out fluking in front of Misquamicut beach, and we had a nice day with fluke up to 25 inches. With the fog and high swells the drive out was difficult but in the afternoon the fog burned off and it ended with sunshine.> Part two from Nils: Capt Billy Silvia had some nice fish this weekend: Saturday: Capt Billy took Melanie Disano's party fishing before the bad weather hit, and we landed a few nice bass near Prundence Island. The biggest bass that was landed was by Melanie at about 20 pounds. The weather was horrible. Sunday: Capt Billy took Helene and John fishing for striped bass around Prundence Isannd. The bite was a little slow, but John landed a beautiful 34-pound bass that was 47 inches long and landed a few more bass, and some bluefish Capt Billy sends a special congratulations to Peter Dias and Chestnut Hill Fishing team for the efforts in winning the "Striper Marina" 15'th Annual Striped Bass tournament with a 31-1/2-pound
Posted by Tom Meade June 1, 2008
Bay bass and fluke biting"Before the winds on Saturday, the action has been hot aboard River Rebel Charters," report skippers Randall and Joe Bagwell. "The bass action around Prudence Island was hot on Friday with the bass more interested in dead bait over live menhaden. With most bass being in the 18-pound range, the water north of Coninicut light is also productive with bass and 10-pound bluefish. A large school of menhaden moved in around Sandy Point Friday. "Friday, our customers wanted to try some fluke fishing, and that was very productive near Sakonnet light with three 6-pound fluke brought home and weighed in at Lucky Bait. "Saturday, action in Mount Hope Bay returned with bass as large as 27 pounds. Most were in the 15- to 20-pound range on live menhaden, but a chunk landed the 27-pounder."
Posted by Tom Meade |
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