Petrucci and crew take Bluefin Blowout

Alex Petrucci (knelling to left) and the crew of Duck Soup that won the Bluefin Blowout Tournament.

The Kovolyan family (Kurt, Heather, Trey and Genevieve) of Millville, RI took the Grand Prize (a Kayak Package) in the Great Outdoors Pursuit finals at Burlingame State Park, Charlestown.  

Jeff Shepherd of North Kingstown caught this 8.7 pound summer flounder in 16 feet of water on a chole squid under the Newport Bridge.  Wife Mary said, “This fish did not want to go in the net.”

 Angler Charlie Prisco of Warwick (center) along with fishing partners Joe Servant (left) and Joe Prisco caught multiple bass at Block Island trolling tube & worm and jigging aboard Patty J Charters.

   Jason Salley from Durham CT with the jumbo sea bass he caught on the Frances Fleet.

Petrucci and crew take Bluefin Blowout

Wicked Tuna is the National Geographic Network program that features commercial fishermen vying for and competing for large bluefin tuna.  It takes place in Gloucester, MA.  The same place the 4^th Annual Bluefin Blowout sponsored by Lyon-Waugh Auto Group was held last month.

The competition in this tournament is very intense.  45 boats, the best of the best you might say as giant bluefin tuna fishermen competed for the top prize of $17,000 and a brand new Audi. 

And guess what happened, the sport fishing vessel Duck Soup from Rhode Island, captained by Alex Petrucci of Narragansett and a crew including his son Alex took the tournament with a 324 pound giant bluefin.

“We were fishing off the coast of Maine using live bait (small pollock) when the fish hit.  It took an hour and a half to bring it in.  It was a lot of work for the crew.” said Alex Petrucci.

This was a very gratifying win for Alex, his crew and Rhode Island. Duck Soup travelled to the giant bluefin capital on the east coast and won.  Congratulations Alex and crew.  You make us very proud.

Learn how to land stripers with lures

Capt. Rob Taylor of Newport Sportfishing Charters will the guest speaker Monday night, August 31, 7:00 p.m. at the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) meeting at the West Valley Inn, West Warwick.  Capt. Rob will discuss using artificial lures to catch striped bass with a top water focus, when to choose/use different plugs, and how to approach different conditions.  RISAA members attend free, non-members asked for a $10 donation to the RISAA Scholarship Fund. Separate dinner (starting at $6.25) served by the West Valley Inn from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Great Outdoors Pursuit

Earlier this month the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) hosted the final 2015 RI Great Outdoors Pursuit event at Burlingame Stare Park, Charlestown. 

The Great Outdoors Pursuit program is designed to encourage the use of state parks in an effort to move toward a healthier lifestyle.  Throughout the summer (primarily family) teams earned credit for taking part in outdoor adventures.

This year’s grand prize winner was team “Cannonball” with four members of the Kovolyan family (Kurt, Heather, Trey and Genevieve) from Millville, RI.  Team Cannonball won a family pack of four kayaks and supplies which was the top prize.

Now is the time to provide input on tautog

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) makes regulations for many of the commercial and recreational fish species caught in Rhode Island.. Tautog is one of these species and the results of a recent stock assessment will likely bring changes in tautog regulations so now is the time to offer input on proposed regulation options.

The ASMFC Tautog Management Board is seeking public comment on the Public Information Document (PID) for Draft Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog.

The PID responds to the findings of the 2015 benchmark stock assessment which evaluated stock status regionally to reflect differences in life history characteristics and harvest patterns. Based on its endorsed regional approach, the assessment also recommended associated biological reference points to guide management at the regional scale. Since tautog are currently managed on a coastwide basis, the Board initiated the PID to consider a new regional management approach.

As the first step in the development of an amendment, the PID seeks to gather information concerning the tautog fishery and to provide an opportunity for the public to identify major issues and alternatives relative to the management of this species. Input received at the start of the amendment development process can have a major influence on the final outcome of the amendment. Issues presented in the PID include FMP goals and objectives, adaptive management, monitoring requirements and illegal fishing of tautog. 

The PID also seeks specific input on the selection of regional stock areas for management use.  The following hearings have been scheduled for Rhode Island and Massachusetts:

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Wednesday, September 30th from 6 - 9 PM, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island. For information contact Jason McNamee at jason.mcnamee@DEM.RI.GOV  or at 401.423.1943.

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Tuesday, September 29th at 6:30 PM, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Vineyard Conference Room, 185 MacArthur Drive, New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Contact: David Pierce at david.pierce@state.ma.us or at 617.626.1532.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass fishing on Block Island remains good with a number of large fish now being caught from southern coastal shores and in Narragansett Bay.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “Shore angler Bob Celico of Westerly caught a 36 pound bass this week from the beaches and the bass and bluefish bite has been great at Block Island.”  “We weighed in a 46.5 pound striped bass this weekend that was caught from the beach at Narragansett at 10:00 p.m. and this weekend a kayak fisherman caught a 34” striped bass at Mt. Hope Bridge using and eel.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren, RI.  Bluefish blitzes are occurring in the Bay and along coastal shores for the first time in a number of years. Angler Charlie Prisco of Warwick along with fishing partners Joe Servant and Joe Prisco caught multiple bass trolling tube and work and jigging aboard the Patty J Charters out of Galilee last Sunday.  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, “Eels see to be working well.  Several customers have caught keeper bass at the Newport Bridge this week using eels.”

Bonito/false albacore.  The bonito bite remains very strong with fish being caught from Westport, MA to Westerly, RI.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “We have a surprisingly large number of bonito in the area.  They are not very large but there are a lot of them being caught with no false albacore.  Usually we see false albacore after the bonito but none have arrived yet to my knowledge.”  Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait said, “A customer spotted a school of bonito 30 yards off Westport Beach this weekend.  He made several casts with a Deadly Dick lure but did not connect with the fish.”

Summer flounder (fluke). Capt. Frank Blount of the France Fleet said, “Fluke fishing has been excellent, particularly this past weekend with many anglers catching their limit with pool winning fish being in the six to eight pound range.”  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “Fluke fishing has been very good off Newport under the bridge and at the Sakonnet.  One of or commercial customers boated 30 fish at the mouth of the Sakonnet River all nice fish.”  Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, “The days on which anglers experience the better drifting conditions generally produce the best. Big six inch gulp worms of various colors and buck tail jigs (hi lo) have generally been the way to go although on occasion bait rigs/whole squid light up as well.”  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “Fluke fishing is great.  We took a family trip last week and boated fish on the south side of Block Island in the eight to seven pound range with are largest fish about nine pounds. They are also doing well with fluke along the southern coastal shore in 60 to 70 feet of water catching 25” fish.”