Fluke experts to share tactics

 RJ and Quincy with giant bluefish to 11 pounds they caught in Greenwich Bay when fishing in Take-a-Kid Fishing sponsored by the RI Saltwater Anglers.

 Capt. Dave Monti and Jim Stevens of Warwick with a plump 31 inch bass Jim caught while fishing off Popasquash Point, Bristol after Take-a-Kid fishing.
 

 Carole Prisco of Warwick with the fluke she landed at Warwick Light last week.

The Bonito has been chosen as the featured fish in this year’s “art Drive” in the Westport and Dartmouth area August 8 and 9.

Fluke experts to share tactics

Here’s your chance to learn how to fish for summer flounder from a panel of fluke experts Monday, June 29, 7:00 p.m. at the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Associations’ (RISAA) meeting at the West Valley Inn, West Warwick, RI.

Gisele Golembeski, Susan Lema and Diane Valerien, some of the best fluke fishers in the northeast, will share basic fluke fishing techniques, advanced tips on tackle, bait, and tactics for finding and catching fluke.

Dinner served by the West Valley Inn starting at 5:30 p.m. (not included in admission).  Non-members welcome but are requested to make a $10 donation to the RISAA Scholarship Fund, RISAA members attend free.  Visit www.risaa.org for details.

Take a Kid Fishing big success

“This is the first fish I ever caught.”, “I’ve never been on a boat before.”, “I caught four fish so far.”, “Thanks for taking us fishing.” These were some to the comments that 150 children between the ages of seven and thirteen had to say about the annual Take-a-Kid (TAK) fishing day Saturday sponsored by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA).

The aim of the program is to give children a chance to learn about Narragansett Bay and the environment, experience the thrill of catching a fish and ride on a boat in saltwater.  And, they did.  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and four staff members volunteered their time to serve as mates aboard vessels or cook and serve hotdogs and hamburgers along with the 200 other volunteers that donated their time to make the day a success.

Steve Medeiros, RISAA president said, “The day was a big success, the weather cooperated and the bluefish did too as the bite was good will all catching fish.   We teach the children about the value of catch and release but many of them want to take the fish home and that’s OK.  So we accommodate them and offer to clean and fillet the fish and make sure we have plenty of ice and bags available so kids can take the fish home.” 

Brewer Greenwich Bay Marina in Warwick once again donated their facilities to host the event.  This was the 18^th annual TAK fishing day.

Atlantic Bonito featured in art show

The Atlantic bonito will be featured in “the Art Drive” August 8 and 9 in the towns of Dartmouth and Westport, MA.   Each year participating artists apply their creativity and style to create large, colorful depictions of popular species of fish. This year, the artists have chosen the bonito. Their four-foot long “Bodacious Bonitos” will be previewed in public spaces and in front of local shops, businesses and other sites in Dartmouth and Westport prior to the ART Drive weekend. The general public will be able to view and bid on the fish on eBay by going to www.the-artdrive.com.

The ART Drive artists will individually donate a percentage of their sales to the Lloyd Center for the Environment, a non-profit organization that provides educational programs on aquatic environments and supports scenic, public walking trails through 82 acres of estuaries and salt marshes in South Dartmouth, Mass.

For more information on the ART Drive artists, sponsors, demonstration times and a map of the “the Art Drive” route, visit: www.the-art-drive.com.

                                  

Where’s the Bite

The bluefish bite is very strong with anglers landing fish in bays and covers and along the coastal shore. Greenwich Bay was teaming with bluefish Saturday as 150 children and 65 volunteer boats successfully fished the area during the annual Take-a-Kid Fishing event.  A young man named Quincy from the Davey Lopes Recreation Center, Providence fishing on my boat during TAK landed an eleven pound bluefish.  John Migliori of Aquidneck Island said he has been landing large bluefish (8 plus pounds) from shore in the Aquidneck Island area.

Striped bass are in the Bay, but you have to work for them.” said Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick.  This week Jim Stevens of Warwick landed his first large bass on No Fluke Charters… a plump 31 inch fish off Popasquash Point, Bristol, while trolling bubble gum colored tubes and worms.  Jim was using lead line and a T-Man keel weighed with one once of lead to get down to the strike zone. Kayak anglers are doing well with bass too.  Angler Bob Oberg said “So far I’ve landed about 44 fish, some have been nice keepers. This is good for this time of year.” Bob likes to use tube and worm fishing from his kayak.  John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown said, “We weighed in a thirty-four pound striper this week.  The fish was taken mid Bay using eels. The word is that there are still plenty of school bass in the Bay with larger fish being taken as anglers work to hook up with them using menhaden, eels, tube & worm and other methods.”  Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marian, South Kingstown said, “The bass bite on Block Island improved this week on the Southwest side.  There are big fish there, likely up to 50 plus pounds but they are not plentiful at this time.”

Sumer flounder (fluke) fishing continues to pick up with nice fish being caught in the Bay and along the coastal shore.  Capt. Rich Hittinger said, “We were catching fish fishing the west side of Block Island about a month ago but things slowed down with the last trip there yielding very few keepers, however, last week we fished off the center wall of the Harbor of Refuge and did very good with fluke.” Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet, said, “Some really big fluke continue to be found.  Top honors this went to Irene Brown of Sutton, MA who decked a fine 12.7 pound doormat on Saturday's run. The next biggest fish taken went around 11 pounds. Close to a dozen fish so far this season have been ten pounds or better.”  Anglers Carole and Charlie Prisco of Warwick and brother-in –law Joe landed a number of short fluke with keepers mixed at Warwick Light last week.  John Wunner of John’s Bait, North Kingstown said, “Fluke fishing under the bridges (Newport and Jamestown) improved greatly this week with anglers their ratio to about 50/50… 50% keepers and 50% shorts.  Keeper fish have not been huge but they have averaged about 22”.  I had a number of anglers in fishing the Fluke Til Ya Puke Tournament Saturday.  Most went to the mouth of the Sakonnet River and did very well there where the fluke fishing has been consistently good for the past three weeks.”

Offshore.  The school bluefin tuna bite has been very good.  Matt Conti of Sung Harbor Marina said, “Bluefin tuna fishing has been very good all over… fish being caught this week at the East Fishing Grounds, South of Block Island, at Cox’s Ledge and the northwest corner of the Dump.  What is surprising is that the fish were in close with a 44” fish being caught off Pt. Judith.  Most are trolling, however, the in close fish are being fished with spinning reels and lures.”