Rhode Island Weekly
Vol. 1: July 12, 2013
Bass, Fluke Fishing Excellent At Block Island
T his, the inaugural weekly web report for Coastal Angler Magazine, Rhode Island, should give you an idea of the type of up-to-the-minute report information we’ll be delivering every Friday morning through the remainder of this season. The hope is that you all will find it a useful tool as the first late-morning yawns stretch your jaw hinges and your mind begins to wander toward your hours of liberty that, as of around noon, will be close enough that you can taste them. I’ll be putting these things together late Thursday evening to deliver the most current, detailed and relevant intel to help you lay out a sound game-plan for the weekend on the doorstep. Please feel free to blast up feedback or comments/suggestions on our Facebook page, or if you have a red-hot new item you’d like to share with our weekly readers, drop me a line at zhfished@gmail.com. Please type “Report” in the subject line to help me distinguish your valued input from the endless stream of junk that clogs my inbox. Also, please note that in this maiden voyage of our weekly reports newsletter, time constraints and the last-minute nature of this launch meant we had to omit some of the geographic range we’ll typically be covering as the weeks roll forward.
WESTERLY
Mike Wade at Watch Hill Outfitters led off his news for the week with word of some very good striper fishing out at Napatree Point after dark over the last week or so. Some of his more motivated surf guys have been soaking fresh pogy chunks (Mike has them brined fresh in the shop) or slinging live eels for fish anywhere from just short to an average of somewhere between 32 and 36 inches, with an occasional fish into the 30-pound class. Matt Milam checked in Thursday morning with a thick 30-pounder from the wee hours Wednesday night. Action out on the reefs has been up and down. Mike was out early-week with Capt. Tom Logan, starting off out in the deeper water looking for a few quality sea bass for the table, but came up empty. They ventured in a bit tighter and wound up pickling away at mostly small fluke. Early in the evening, they elected to switch gears and drag some Yo-Zuri Hydro-Squirts on braid set-ups around the Watch Hill Reefs. Once they’d dialed in on a series of humps and high spots from the Red buoy at Sugar Reef over toward Catumb, the action was red-hot, with steady picking on fish up to around the 20-pound mark. Despite the conspicuous lack of a local squid run this season, there are plenty of sand eels out front to keep things going. As for the fluke fishing, there was a nice body of bigger stuff into the low-20-inch class off Misquamicut right up to the holiday weekend, but it’s been rat city there since—presumably, Mike notes, due to a pretty major spike in fishing effort, both rod and reel and occasional draggers. It shouldn’t be long before a new shot of quality slabs fills in and kick-starts the bite again.
CHARLESTOWN
Jon Lyons at Ocean House Marina said his regulars have been out chipping away at a mix of throwback and some keeper-sixed fluke on the days the wind isn’t horrendous and they can clear the Breachway without a thrashing. Only school tuna news has come in fits and starts from various points along the 30-Fathom curve, where the bait and the fish can’t seem to stay in the same place long enough to get much of anything going that could be mistaken for an actual “bite.” Bassing’s quite good over at the Island, though weather has been a major factor for the small-craft contingent.
SNUG HARBOR
Matt Conti from Snug Harbor Marina noted it’s been a bit of an odd year for seasonal timing. Given that this stretch of calendar has always been a prime timeframe for big-bass hunting off the SW Corner, he noted there really hasn’t been any sustained effort from even the heavy hitters. Nevertheless, two 50-pounders came in over the last few days—one that went into Point Vue Marina and another from somewhere across the way. As an indicator of just how far off the effort has been, he noted that this time in the summer of 2012, they were easily running through 800 pounds of eels a week. This year, for whatever reason or reasons, they’ve been going through a small fraction of that amount. The good news is that there haven’t been any major shots of bluefish or dogfish that typically make it a challenge to keep a live bait in the water long enough to drag it under a heavy striper’s nose; it’s as good a time as you’re apt to find to drift some snakes off the SW Corner. The North End has also been giving up some very nice fish when nighttime conditions align to give a nice, quick drift. Fluking has been good to excellent, thanks in part to the relaxed size and bag limits in place for the 2013 season (8 fish per person, per day, with a minimum size of 18 inches). The action has jumped around between a bunch of traditional haunts, but the North Rip over at the Island has been the hotspot as this entry goes to bed. A few codfish have been scattered around Coxes Ledge—the dogfish around, too, but in numbers you can still fish through without landing in the looney bin. School tuna have made no major appearances to date—last shot of them in the Horns, along with all kinds of bait, birds and even whales, fell apart as quickly as it had come together. The shop’s recent shark tournament had generally slow fishing, but did confirm that there are some makos and blue dogs around, and to a lesser extent, a couple scattered threshers.
POINT JUDITH
Capt. Kelly Smith of the C-Devil II checked in late Thursday afternoon with word of some successful charters over the last week. The bass fishing has been up and down with the conditions, but he did manage to put customers in touch with some fish into the mid-40-pound class off the SW Corner. After a few days of sporty conditions, Sunday’s trip with Kevin Jaquay’s family had bass into the mid-40-pound range and a handful of blues and fluke in flat, beautiful weather. Monday’s action proved a bit slower with a couple nice stripers a few blues, sea bass and fluke all on the east side of Block Island out of the wind. Tuesday, Mike Rioux and daughter, Samantha, managed an impressive tally of nine stripers between 25 and 45 pounds, all of which were caught on frames, and all of which were released in good shape. Wednesday, Jeff Robertson and his grandson, Micka had great action with the stripers—all big ones loaded with sea lice, giving Smith the distinct impression that a new shot of fish has moved into Island waters. Thursday Jonathan Hammett’s crew dodged the rain and absolutely tuned the stripers on poly jigs and frames at the North End, then wrapped up the trip with a bunch of nice fluke at Clay head. Look for C-Devil II Sportfishing Inc. on Facebook, where you’ll find real-time “proof” in the form of pictures and video clips from daily charters. Capt. Kelly has limited openings through this month, so call soon to grab a date: call 401.374.1439 for details.
Capt. Russ Benn on the headboat Seven B’s V noted they’ve moved into half-day trip mode now, sailing daily from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and again from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Fishing has been decent along the south shore beaches, with the best days of catching coinciding with the best drift conditions: When the boat moves along and can cover some ground, the action has been steady. Biggest fish have been averaging somewhere in the 4- to 6-pound range. Per the last couple seasons, Benn has reserved a 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. extended slot for a Sunday Sunset Special, where added time allows him to cover more ground and, when it makes sense, to venture a bit farther afield in the hunt for quality slabs. The night striper trips have been good to exceptional, sailing Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. These trips, which are limited to 25 anglers, require advance reservations. Pool fish have ranged from the mid-20-pound range all the way up into the high 30s. For additional scheduling info, or to make a reservation, call 401.789.9250. Please note that this coming Saturday’s (July 13) morning trip will be a private charter.
