Catch, keep and fish with live bait

 

Steve Brustein and Capt. Dave Monti with the fish they caught at Cox’s Ledge on the Seven B’s party boat out of Pt. Judith, RI.

 

Mitch and Doug DiPalma of Wakefield, RI with eleven year old Mitch’s first cod caught on the Seven B’s Saturday.

The Saltwater Sportsman’s National Fishing Seminar Series with host George Poveromo (shown with yellowfin tuna) will be held Saturday, January 10 at the Casey Theatre, Regis College, Weston, MA.



George and Mike Fotiades of Narragansett, RI with the cast net they use to batch bait for fishing.

Catch, keep and fish with live bait

“Ever since George was three years old he had a curiosity for fish at the shore.  As he got older he would catch them with a hook and line or net them and if that didn’t work he would throw rocks at them.  His fascination for fish at the shore got us (me) interested in catching our own bait.” said Michael Fotiades of Narragansett, RI.  Mike and his 13 year old son George spoke about catching, keeping and fishing with live bait Monday night at a Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) meeting.

“You need to catch bait where you are going to fish.  What is in the water is what the fish are eating. So if you catch bait (silversides or mummies) in upper Narragansett Bay and then travel to a new location in the lower Bay to fish it is not necessarily going to work as the fish may not be feeding on that bait in the new location.” said Michael Fotiades. 

Small baits commonly caught in this area with nets or traps include silversides, bay anchovies, sand eels and mumichogs or killifish.  Larger bait fish caught with nets or hook and line include chogee or cunner, mullet, Atlantic menhaden, shad and scup. 

“You need to follow the recreational fishing regulations even if you are catching the species for bait.” said Fotiades.  For example the scup limit this year was 30 fish/angler/day at a 10” minimum… so that is all you cn catch for bait as well as human consumption.

To keep bait live the overarching tip is temperature and oxygen.  “The idea is to keep the bait you catch at the same temperature and water oxygen level. This may mean using a bait well with a circulator or simply changing or adding water to a bait bucket every 15 or 20 minutes.” said Fotiades.

The presentation finale was handled by George Fotiades who demonstrated how to prepare and throw a cast net.  The idea is to start with a small net (five or six feet) and practice, then step up to larger nets eight, nine and ten feet, which are more difficult to throw. “We often use this five foot net.  And we catch all the bait we can use.” said Fotiades. 

There are a number of YouTube videos on how to throw a cast net and there seems no one right way to throw one.  I searched for “how to throw a cast net” and found several helpful videos on the subject.

Saltwater Sportsman’s seminar Saturday, January 10

The Saltwater Sportsman’s national fishing seminar series with host George Poveromo will hold its New England seminar Saturday, January 10, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Casey Theatre at Regis College (235 Wellesley Street, Weston, MA).  Poveromo is an editor-at-large for Salt Water Sportsman magazine and is the host of George Poveromo’s World of Saltwater Fishing television program on NBC Sports. The $55 seminar  fee includes a day of fishing instruction from local, regional and national fishing captains and guides, a course text book, a year subscription or extension to Salt Water Sportsman magazine, goodie bag, door prizes and more. Register at www.nationalseminarseries.com.   

Cod fishing is good

I went out on the Seven B’s party boat out of Pt. Judith Saturday and went cod fishing. I met Mitch and (his dad) Doug DiPalma of Wakefield, RI.  Doug said, “We had a great day fishing. Mitch is so excited about catching his first cod fish.”

Just prior to leaving the dock at 6:00 a.m. Capt. Andy Dangelo said, “This is our fist cod trip of the season and it is a sellout… we have a full boat.  Now we’re going to try to find the cod.”  And he did taking his 55 passengers to the northern end of Cox’s Ledge about 20 miles south, southeast of Pt. Judith.  It took us about two hours and fifteen minutes to get to the fishing grounds where we were joined by other party boats… from the Frances Fleet, the Island Current and the Viking (from Montauk).

Capt. Andy Dangelo moved the boat several times, each time some of the passengers would catch a fish or two.  The weather was great and I heard no complaints on the boat… some anglers caught one to three fish and some top anglers landed six or seven keepers.

Dave and his son Mitch Aster from Fitchburg, MA enjoyed the day too.  They boated several sea bass and cod.  “We fished with the Seven B’s in September because the Frances Fleet boats were full and we were glad we did the crew was very attentive.  We had a great time, so this is why we returned to the Seven B’s today.” said Dave Aster.

Cod fishing is great fun for adults and children.  So if you think fishing is over, think again.  I know I will be keeping my eye on the weather and when the temperature gets to 45 or 50 once again I’ll be grabbing my fishing rod and gear for a trip to Cox’s Ledge for cod.

Party boats sailing for cod fish at this time include the Seven B’s at www.sevenbs.com, the Frances Fleet at www.francesfleet.com and Island Current at www.islandcurrent.com.