Squeteague
are hard to find but Colton Venditelli caught this one Thursday at Fishing
Camp.
Teddy
Schipritt with a sea robin caught at
Fishing Camp off Warwick Country Club.
Campers
get hooked on fishing
The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) and
the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) once gain ran a successful
youth fishing camp last week with funding from U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Services. The camp was held at Rocky
Point State Park, Warwick for fifty-five children 7 to 12 years old. Safe Harbor Greenwich Bay Marina donated the
use of their slips for RISAA vessels taking kids fishing.
Camper Teddy Schipritt, from Jamestown, RI said, “I
haven’t caught fish like this before,” as he and other campers hooked up with
fish Thursday on about fifteen RISAA member boats fishing in Narragansett
Bay. Schipritt boated an impressive
total of twelve fish including two bluefish, a squeteague, a sea robin and
about eight scup.
Camp on Tuesday was
cancelled due to 100-degree weather and Wednesday campers spend the day fishing
on the Frances Fleet party boat out of Pt. Judith, RI.
Topics covered over the
three-day camp typically include fish identification, conservation, use of
spinning and conventional gear and tackle, basic marine biology, how and why to
use different baits and lures, boating
safety, casting form shore, fly fishing, fly tying and fishing from private
boats and party boats.
The Rhode Island
Saltwater Anglers Association is a non-profit organization, created in 1997 to
provide a forum for recreational saltwater anglers; to provide education
to members concerning fishing techniques, improved catches, and overall
enjoyment of fishing; to foster sportsmanship; to support marine
conservation and sound management of fisheries resources; and provide a unified
voice to preserve and protect the rights, traditions and the future of
recreational fishing.
Marine Affairs Director supports no moratorium
on striped bass
The
Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFAC) met via Zoom at
10:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 1, 2025. .
The
interstate striped bass management plan was a discussion item on the agenda
along with a stakeholder letter sent by Daniel McKiernan, Director to the
Massachusetts Division of Marine Affairs, outlining the state’s position on
striped bass moratoriums for the commercial and recreational fishery.
“While
warranting careful monitoring and attentive management, the status of the
striped bass resource at this time does not merit a commercial harvest
moratorium nor a complete harvest moratorium… Although the stock was declared
overfished in 2019, the latest coastwide assessment indicates that spawning
stock biomass is rebuilding under the measures implemented in 2020, 2023, and
2024,” said Director McKiernan.
“The
preponderance of evidence indicates that it is not the level of reproductively
mature females in the population that is causing this below average
recruitment, but rather environmental conditions in the spawning areas (e.g.,
warmer, dryer winters).” McKiernan
added, “Spawning stock biomass remains well above the level seen in the 1980s
when the stock collapsed and capable of producing strong year-classes should
the right environmental conditions present.”
For
a copy of Director McKiernan’s letter, and other information regarding the
meeting, visit Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission |
Mass.gov.
Where’s the bite?
Striped
bass, bluefish and bonito. East End Eddie Doherty, author and Cape Cod
Canal fishing expert, said, “There was a weeklong lull of striped bass
being caught in Buzzards Bay, but boat guys are back to catching above slots in
good numbers so hopefully, the fish find out about the bait and ride an east
tide into the Canal! Last weekend began with Paul ‘Sparky’ Yuskaitis
chunking mackerel on an early slack tide that produced a healthy 32-inch
striper.” Chad Katch of Sam’s Bait,
Middletown, said, “The bass have moved out of our Bays and are now out in front
from the mouth of the Sakonnet, to Newport and off our southern coastal
shores. Anglers are hooking up with top water
lures in low light conditions and during the day eels, trolling tube & worm
and umbrella rigs are working. We also
have a good bonito bite with anglers finding success this week at Lands End,
Middletown and at the mouth of the Sakonnet River using epoxy jibs.” “The salt ponds are producing good numbers of
school bass in South County, mostly feeding on sand eels. You can catch these
fish on topwater lures, soft plastics, and Alabama rigs that mimic the bait
schools. Bigger fish have been happy to take live eels at night,” said Declan
O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown. Jeff Sullivan of Lucky Bait & Tackle,
Warren said, “The striped bass bite at Block Island is lights out at night.
Last weekend we caught fish in the 40-pound class using eels. And, out in front of Newport 30-pound fish
were typical with a lot of large blue fish there too. The bonito bite is still good on epoxy jigs
and all types of shiny tin lures.”
Black sea bass, summer flounder
(fluke), squeteague and scup. I
fished with RI Saltwater Angler campers Colton Venditelli of Hope and Teddy
Schipritt of Jamestown, RI along with RISAA camp counselor Steve Enander of
Lincoln, RI on my vessel Thursday. The two
campers managed to catch about two dozen fish including black sea bass,
bluefish, sea robins, squeteague, and many large scup drifting with sea bass
rigs tipped with native squid on the west side of Warwick Neck. “The fluke bite
is in shallow and deep water both with anglers who put their time in catching
keeper size fish.”,” said Jeff Sullivan of Lucky Bait & Tackle. “The fluke
bite has been good but it has moved out in font in 70 to 90 feet water,” said Chad
Katch of Sam’s Bait. Declan O’Donnell of
Breachway Bait & Tackle, said, “Most of the fluke are coming from 37-47
feet locally, though some larger ones have been caught in 15-20 feet of water.
The Block Island bite continues to be good, but it's similar to the action
closer to shore, so many boats are saving gas and staying local.”
Freshwater. The largemouth bite continues to be very good. Anglers are having success with top water baits and frogs as ponds and lakes now have a good amount of vegetation. Shiners continue to work well for anglers as well.
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