Robotic bait lands 340 pound bluefin tuna

 Alex Petrucci Sr (center standing), Alex Jr (kneeling to left) and their crew caught a 340 bluefin tuna using a robotic Zombait.

 Zombait, the first robotic bait of its type, is stuck into the mouth of a dead bait fish larger than 8" to make it wiggle like a live bait.

 Eric Schenk with the 45” pike he caught this weekend while fishing the Blackstone River in Cumberland.

 Kelly Urban from Miami with Connor Sears, Seekonk with the black sea bass and other fish they caught Monday off Block Island when fishing with Conner’s father Steve Sears and Jack Leyden.

 Seven year old Michael Simpson of Narragansett (right) with the 30 pound striped bass he caught in Salt Pond fishing with eels.  Brother Gabe (five) on left.

Brothers Jonah and Neil Ellis (on either end), grandfather Sy Janaowsky and Joe Kaufman of North Kingstown fished for fluke, black sea bass and scup this week on the Bay.

Robotic lure lands 340 pound bluefin

“I’ve caught some pretty big bluefin in my day using all types of baits.  I’ve fished with bluefish, maceral, even a large live skate behind a scallop boat with success.” said Alex Petrucci of the sport fishing vessel Duck Soup out of Pt. Judith, RI.  He was talking about the 340 pound bluefin tuna he,  his son Alex Jr and his crew caught at the 6^th Annual Bluefin Blowout in Gloucester, MA.

The Petrucci’s catching a large bluefin or other large tournament fish is not uncommon.  They have been doing it for years.  Alex and his family are fishing legends in Rhode Island.  Two years ago they took first place in the Bluefin Blowout Tournament.  But what was unusual this year, they caught a fish using a robotic bait called Zombait.  To my knowledge Zombait it is the first robotic fishing lure on the market.

Petrucci said, “It’s a lot better than using dead bait.  These fish come through and are hungry.  They do not stop and analyze things.  If it is moving that attracts them.  I had faith in this bait or I wouldn’t have been using it.  It gave the maceral we were using a nice look on deck and in the water.  It was one of six baits we had out at the same time.”

Zombait creates a realistic, injured swimming fish to attract your prey.  You simply insert this electric toothbrush looking bait into the mouth of a dead bait eight inches or larger; attach a hook and the dead bait wiggles around in the water. 

Zombait lasts about three hours on a battery charge and is good in water up to 200 feet. Visit www.zombait.com for a demonstration video on how the lure works and information about online sales. Individual units cost about $69 with a charger; a three pack with charger is $159.

The Bluefin Blowout is sponsored by the Lyon-Waugh Auto Group with all proceeds from the Bluefin Blowout Auction going to the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Great Outdoors Pursuit finale with vintage baseball games

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will hold its Great Outdoors Pursuit finale this Saturday at Rocky Point State Park starting with a vintage baseball game at 10:30 a.m.  Family activities will run from 12 noon until 3:30 p.m. 

The event includes a Rocky Point-themed scavenger hunt, rock wall, lawn games, and food trucks. Educational activities, including a clamming demonstration, marine touch tank, and gymnastic demonstrations, along with informational exhibits will also be offered. This event is free and open to the public. Only registered families are eligible for prizes and give-a-ways.

In addition, a double-header vintage baseball game between the Providence Grays and the New York Mutuals will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Historically, professional baseball games were held on the grounds of Rocky Point.  The most famous exhibition game took place on September 27, 1914, when the Providence Greys played the Chicago Cubs.  Slugger Babe Ruth pitched for Providence and also hit a triple in that game. 

ASMFC approves Atlantic menhaden amendment 3 for public comment

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Menhaden for public comment.

The Draft Amendment seeks to manage the menhaden resource in a way that balances menhaden’s ecological role as a prey species with the needs of all user groups. To this end, the Draft Amendment considers the use of ecosystem reference points (ERPs) to manage the resource and changes to the allocation method.

The amendment also presents a suite of management options for quota transfers, quota rollovers, incidental catch, the episodic events set aside program, and the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap.

States from Maine to Florida will likely hold public hearings on the draft amendment.  Details on hearings are not yet available.  Visit www.asmfc.org  for a copy of amendment 3 and details on the hearings when they become available.  Public comment on the amendment is open until October 20, 2017.

Where’s the bite?

Freshwater. Neil Hayes of Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown said, “Last weekend we weighted in a 6.5 pound largemouth bass that the customer is going to have mounted last week.” “Erick Schenck an associated at Ocean State Tackle, Providence caught a 45” pike this weekend on the Blackstone River in Cumberland.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State. The trout bite continues to be slow with warm water and stocked ponds that have been fished out.  However, the largemouth bass bite is fairly strong.

Striped bass. “Bass at the Block Island’s Southwest Ledge is either hot or cold.  Eels continue to work along with umbrella rigs.  And the bite from shore is fair.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown.  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “The best bet for fishing for stripers in the Bay right now is either tube and worm or umbrella rigs as the fish are dispersed.  From the surf, along the southern coastal shore anglers are doing fairly well.” Neil Hayes of Quaker Lane said, “We have had a good bite with eels off Jamestown and Newport and a great bite with large fish at Block Island.  Customers are also trolling umbrella rigs and tube & worm with success.”

Summer flounder (fluke) and black sea bass.  I fished the Newport and Jamestown Bridge areas a couple of times this weekend and the fluke bite was slow.  Matt Conti of Snug Harbor said, “Fluke fishing is good at the Hooter Buoy along the south shore and on Block Island.  Some days the windmill area is hot and other days East Fishing Grounds.  The West Wall of the Harbor of Refuge is yielding fluke for those fishing from shore along with scup and black sea bass.” “Fishing off Newport and Jamestown has been good for anglers, fish are in deep water (80 feet).  However, I’d like to remind anglers that fluke can be caught in very low water this time of year too (15 to 20 feet).”, said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.  Angler Jack Leyden said, “Monday Steve Sears and I took friends and family fishing off Block Island and netted over nine black sea bass, a fluke, scup and bluefish in two hours on a drift from the Southwest Ledge to the wind farm area in 60 to 80 feet of water.”  Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Limits of sea bass were common this week with some limits of fluke. A lack of good drift on a number of outings put buck tail jigs and gulp products in the lead for top producers. As always these things change from day to day.”

“Offshore fishing exploded this week with a great bluefin tuna bite (the best this year so far). Customers have landed 35” to 45” bluefin from Tuna Ridge to the Northwest comer of the Dump.  Most are taking them on the troll now hooking up with white Marlin as well as mahi mahi.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina. “We have reports of bluefin as large as 90” to 110” being taken on 18” and 24” spreader bars with green machines working well.  Fish are being landed from the Claw to the Dump.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.  

Bluefin tuna running hard

 Alex Appolonia of North Kingstown with the 80 pound bluefin tuna he caught last week when fishing with his father and uncle at the Dump (about 50 miles offshore).

 The Maridee II crew with the 40” bluefin they caught last week 50 miles offshore.

 A total of fifty veterans, family members, friends and care givers fished on charter boats from the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association last week.

Steve Brustein and Kevin Fetzer caught over 22 keeper fluke and black sea bass fishing in the windmill area off Block Island Saturday.

Bluefin tuna running hard

Fishing offshore can be very exciting and challenging.  You travel long distances, sometimes in rough seas and bad weather. 

However, when a bluefin tuna hits your rig going 30 miles/hour it all becomes very exciting.  And, you see things offshore that are remarkable.  Sites you do not ordinarily see along the coastal shore and in the bays.

You see porpoise, all types of whales and more exotic fish like marlin, mahi mahi and Wahoo.  And, the big prize that most seek is the tuna. 

Last week bluefin tuna (BFT) fishing exploded off Rhode Island shores.  The bluefin were not 100 miles out at the canyons, nor were they off Cape Cod but about 50 to 60 miles offshore at a place called the Dump.  Here’s what happened.

Matt Conti of Sung Harbor Marina said, “All the bait and food is at the Dump not further out at the Canyons.  Whales were at the southern sections of the dump with some large fish being caught and they are catching 40” to 60” bluefin tuna with yellowfin tuna mixed in at the northern end of the Dump.  Most guys have switched to tuna fishing from shark fishing but there are still plenty of sharks around too.”

I spoke with Matt yesterday and he said, “The northeast wind and rough seas kept boats at the dock
Tuesday and Wednesday this week, however, it may be a good thing as the water may cool just a bit and keep all the bait in place.”

Alex Appolonia of North Kingstown caught an 80 pound bluefin at the Dump Thursday.  He was fishing with his father Eric on his Uncle David Appolonia’s boat.  

Avid offshore fisherman Richard Pastore said, “We started fishing at the Fingers which is just above the center of the Dump at about 7:30 a.m. on Saturday with whales, birds, dolphin and a one degree temperature break.  Schools of medium size bluefin tuna were breaking on the surface… at 8:00 a.m. a fish hit and almost spooled me until I finally turned it.  A few minutes later we gaffed a 51” BFT which weighed about 100 pounds. An hour later the black bar hooks up again with another identical fish. Their bellies were jammed with sand eels to the point where I don’t know how they expected to swallow the 14” squid that they hit on my spreader bar.” 

Capt. Rick Bellavance said, “The charter boat Maridee II got into some 40 inch Bluefin tuna on Sunday within 50 miles from Point Judith.  “I spoke with my brother Doug Thursday at 9 a.m. and they had boated their fist bluefin.” said Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly. 

Charter Fishing Association says ‘thanks for serving’

Last Tuesday, July 26 twelve charter fishing vessels from the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association took veterans fishing aboard their vessels out of the Port of Galilee.   It was the third year in a row that veterans, many of them with disabilities, family members, friends and care givers (about fifty of them) where out on the water with charter fishing association members in Rhode Island.

Everyone on the trip caught fish.  Capt. Rick Bellavance, president of the RIPCBA, said, “The veterans caught black sea bass, scup, fluke, striped bass and sea robins. We thank them all from the bottom of our hearts for their service and tremendous sacrifices.”

Jenny McLaughlin, adaptive sports case manager from the VA Boston Healthcare System said, “I continue to be humbled by the number of captains that continue to come out each year and volunteer/donate their time and boats for our Veterans to fish… the captains and mates did great accommodating each Veteran and their ability.”

Tautog season opens

The recreational tautog season opened August 1 and will run through October 14^th with a three fish/person/day catch limit.  In the next period of the season, from October 15^th to December 15^th the catch limit will jump to six fish/person/day. A maximum of ten fish per vessel applies during all periods.

Where’s the bite

Freshwater fishing has slowed with warming water.  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “Largemouth bass are still being caught at Turner Reservoir in Rumford and at Ten Mile River.  Pickerel perch, bass, trout and carp (on the north side) are being caught a Lincoln Woods.”

Summer flounder and black sea bass.  Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown, said, “The windmill area at Block Island was pretty good Sunday for fluke and there are plenty of black sea bass being caught too.”  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, “It seems that the fluke and black sea bass action has moved south of the Jamestown and Newport Bridges and out in front.”  This weekend I fished with Kevin Fetzer and Steve Brustein at the Block Island windmills and did well with black sea bass and fluke to 24 inches. “The fluke bite is now off Block Island or along the coastal shore with few fish being caught in the Bay.” said Dave Henault of Ocean Stale Tackle.

“Bluefish in the Bay at Ohio Ledge and Barrington Beach have been big in the 12 and 13 pound range.” said Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick.  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “Huge blue fish in the 40” range are being caught in the Seekonk River and other parts of the Bay.”

“The Scup bite has been very strong at Warwick Light, Sabin Point, Colt State Park, the Mt. Hope Bridge and the fish have been big… some topping 20”.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.  Anglers continue to catch scup around any structure in the Bay.  Add water movement that pushes around the bait and the bite improves tremendously.

“Striped bass fishing remained strong at night at Block Island and is better during the day than it was with anglers successfully using eels as bait.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.  “Anglers are catching striped bass off Newport in the Brenton Reef area.” said Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait.  Neil Hayes of Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown said, “Customers are catching striped bass off Newport and Jamestown using both eels and Atlantic menhaden.  Block Island has been good for bass too.”

Bonito are here.  No reports of big numbers being caught yet but anglers at Block Island and along the coastal shore have hooked up.  Angler Eric Appolonia reported catching a bonito when trolling with an umbrella rig at the southwest ledge area of Block Island two weeks ago.  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle report a customer caught one in the Pt. Judith area this weekend.

Rock stars on the high seas

 

Captains DeFusco and Sprengle of East Coast Charters with a Wahoo they caught last year in warm August water.

  Capt. Dave Monti with a school size striped bass caught Saturday in East Greenwich Cove.

 

Gisele Golembeski with the 6.42 pound fluke she caught off Block Island this weekend.

Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) will fish once again this year at the 8^th Annual VIP Tournament being held on June 21. Call Ken Barthelemy at 401-828-0185.

 

Capt. Brandon Lake uses the ‘jig and pop’ method at East Coast Charter to land tuna.

 

 

Rock stars on the high seas

Captains Jack Sprengle, Louis DeFusco and Brandon Lake are charter fishing rock stars and the ocean is their stage. 

The three captains run small and large center console fishing boats from their East Coast Charters headquarters in Warwick, RI. They fish a 21 foot center console on Narrgansett Bay for striped bass, fluke and tautog up to a 38’ Donzi center console with three Mercury outboards  for high speed trips to fish warm water at the northeast Canyons for such species as Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, a variety of tuna, swordfish, sharks and more. 

They are a new breed of charter captain that are unconventional in their methods.  Their boats are fast, the action is fast and includes the exciting “jig and pop” approach (particularly for tuna) which places emphasis on the physicality and skill set of the individual angler as much as it does the efforts of captains and crew.

The three captains were guest speakers at a “Close to shore… offshore” presentation at a Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) meeting Monday.  Capt. Jack Sprengle took the lead talking about how they often fish the Dump, Cox’s Ledge and other areas fairly close to shore (20 to 30 miles) to catch fish normally caught further offshore.  Sprengle said, “Don’t go by fish to catch fish. We often find what we are looking for closer to shore. In recent years warm water (and warm water fish) have come closer to shore.”  

Warm water fish such as cobia (a species normally found in Florida) have been caught in Narragansett Bay, off Newport and off Jamestown in the past couple of years, never mind the warm Gulf Stream spires targeted by Captains Sprengle and DeFusco.  Capt. Sprengle said, “What we look for is structure, temperature and water clarity.  Sometimes we find gin clear tropical water even at the Mudhole.” 

East Coast Charters utilizes their private network of captains and fishermen, social media and satellite imaging services to plan trips and find fish for customers.  Capt. Lois DeFusco said, “If you are going for a 130 mile ride to find fish, you have to get it right.”   East Coast Charters is all about using the latest tools and technology to find, hook and land fish.

“Last year we did really well with Wahoo.” said Capt. Sprengle.  “We start looking for Wahoo usually around August when water temps reach 76 + degrees. We use chlorophyll charts to find the clearest water we can then search hard for floating debris. We will attach short sections of wire to our baits and troll at higher speeds up to nine knots for them but prefer jigging and casting to them when possible. When conditions permit we will even jump in and spear fish them.” said Sprengle.

Visit www.eastcoastchartersri.com for more information about East Coast Charters.

 

Introduction to Freshwater Fly
The Department of Environmental Management will hold a fly fishing seminar on Saturday, May 30 at Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI. The six- hour workshop will focus on equipment needs, fly tying, fly casting, basic entomology, and fishing in some of Rhode Island's premier fishing areas. Families with children 10 and older are welcome and all equipment is provided. Bring a lunch and have a great day of fishing.  Space is limited and registration is required. Fee is $15.00/person. For more information and to register call 401-539-0019 or email kimberly.sullivan@dem.ri.gov.

VIP Tournament and Pabst relationship still brewing

The RI Lions Sight Foundation (RILSF) will host their 8th Annual Fishing Tournament for Visually Impaired Persons (VIP’s) of Rhode Island on June 21, 2015.

The Tournament which takes place on a Frances Fleet party fishing boat and is supported through donations from RI Lions Clubs, individual donors and one special corporate sponsor.  For the second year in a row, the Tournament will receive support from the Pabst Brewing Company through the Pabst Blue Ribbon Northeastern Fishing Tournament held from June through September.

 VIP Tournament includes breakfast and a half-day of fluke fishing followed by lunch and an awards presentation.  Participants vie for the opportunity to represent Rhode Island at the Lions National VIP Tourney being held in October in North Carolina. 

The event is free of charge to all VIP’s and their guides. To be eligible participants are must be legally blind, at least 17 years old, are physically able to fish from a party boat, and must be accompanied by a guide (transportation and/or guides will be provided if needed).

VIP’s and guides must fill out an application to participate.  Visit http://www.lions4sight.org/index.htm or call Ken Barthelemy at 401-529-6173 for information.

Where’s the bite

Freshwater fishing has been very good.  Angler Steve Brustein of West Warwick, RI said, “I ended up going to Johnson pond (Saturday) and caught some large mouths, a few perch, and 1 pickerel.  I was fishing with shiners (and planned to do some relaxed fishing) with the live bait doing the work, but the bite was fairly active so I went through a dozen shiners in an hour and never sat down.” 

Tautog bite is fair with anglers catching fish with few reports of big fish.  Noted local tautog expert Scott Kiefer of Coventry (he caught a 16 pound tautog in 2013) said, “Finally got the boat in and went out and was able to get a few short tautog. At least there was a bite, worms were the food of choice.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside said, “Two customers caught their limit of tautog (three fish/angler/day) at Conimicut Light this week. Some boats did well and others did not, it’s just a matter of position and being over the fish.” “Tautog fishing picked up this week with anglers landing keepers at Hope Island, the Spindle and Ohio Ledge.” said John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown.  “We have weighed in some nice fish to nine plus pounds last week but anglers are saying the bite is slow and sporadic… the fish are down there but they are just not very aggressive.” said Greg Bruning of the Tackle Box, Warwick.

Summer flounder (fluke) fishing has picked up this week with anglers catching shorts with keepers mixed in as summer flounder moves closer to coastal shores.  Gisele Golembeski, who fished with her husband Saturday said, “Tried outside the West Gap... nada. We headed out to Block Island to try our luck there. Nice smooth ride over. Lots of shorts, but ended up with 3 keepers. Biggest was a nice 6.42 pound fish.”  Mike Cardinal of Cardinal Bait, Westerly said, “Fluke fishing has picked up.  Customers are catching keepers in 50 to 60 feet of water along the southern coastal shore.” Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, “Fluke fishing has wildly improved this past weekend. (the biggest fish Friday) was caught by Chris Mace, Boston, MA with a buck tail jig at 9.2 pounds…Saturday with a handful of anglers again scoring keeper counts in the four to six per fish category, Mr. Lee from Palisades Park, NJ had the biggest fish of the day again on a jig with a fish that just hit the 10 pound mark.”  Captain Bob Masse said, “Left Oakland beach around 7:00 a.m. heading for Austin Hollow fishing for fluke. Got one keeper size 19 ½” and one sea robin. It's a start.”

“Striped bass and saltwater fishing in general exploded this week. School bass can be found in just about any cove in the Bay with soft baits and top water lures (particularly at night).  Some keepers were caught by kayak anglers fishing with tube and worm.” said John Wunner of John’s Bait, North Kingstown.  The bass bite is on this week in East Greenwich Cove said angler Steve Brustein of West Warwick who landed school bass Sunday.  “School bass in the 23” to 27” range are being caught at Sabin Point, Barrington Beach and off the bridges with anglers using clam tongue and worms.  One customer squid fishing in Bristol said the bass were working the schools of squid with one bass hitting a squid with its tail sending it flying 15’ into the air. By the way, some squid fishermen had five gallon pails full of squid.” said John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait.  “Anglers fishing the north side of Conimicut Point from shore caught a 29” and 35” striped bass.  They said the keepers were mixed in with school bass.  Eight to ten school bass to one keeper.  The bass were feeding on Atlantic menhaden.” said Greg Bruning of the Tackle Box, Warwick. Mike Cardinal of Cardinal Bait said, “Anglers continue to land school bass from shore with keepers mixed in along the coastal beaches.”

Scup fishing is just starting to warm up.  Roger Simpson of the Francis Fleet said, “Those folk who have tried to catch a few scup at night with fresh squid have managed a few handfuls of jumbo porgies to 1.5 pounds.”