Local tournaments top fishing news

 The crew of the sport fishing vessel ‘Fortuna’ from East Greenwich took 1^st place in this weekend’s Snug Harbor Marina shark tournament with a 330 pound mako.  Bryan Jay was on the rod when the fish hit.

 Bob Matterson with the monster 20.5 pound bluefish he caught south of the Jamestown Bridge.  The State of RI record is 26 pounds, set by D. Deziel of Woonsocket in 1981.

 Steve Brustein of Portland, Maine with the 23” fluke he caught Saturday just north of the Newport Bridge.

John Migliori with a striped bass he caught at dawn at Block Island.  “The bass exploded on the surface lure, its’s one of my favorite ways to catch bass.”

Local tournaments top fishing news

‘Fortuna’ takes Snug Harbor Tournament with 330 pound mako

The sport fishing vessel ‘Fortuna’ from East Greenwich, RI captained by Mike Beland landed a 330 pound mako shark to take first place in Snug Harbor Marina’s Shark Tournament this past weekend. Bryan Jay was on the rod when the fish hit.   Michaela Hastings on ‘Rangeley’ took second place with a 235 pound mako.

Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “We had a great turnout with 49 vessels participating, two more than last year.”   The tournament took place July 8^th and 9^th and concluded at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Proceeds from the tournament go the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Fishing for a Cause big success

The 7^th annual Fishing for A Cause tournament, fundraiser and dinner raised nearly $200,000 to benefit children and families of the Schwartz Center, Meeting Street’s Dartmouth, MA campus.  The sold-out annual event which took place June 23^rd and 24^th featured more than 100 anglers and over 350 guests at the seaside dinner, making it the largest annual fundraiser for The Schwartz Center. 

“Our 7th Tournament and Seaside Dinner surpassed all expectations thanks to our incredible supporters and our Fishing Committee,” said Meeting Street President John M. Kelly.  “The incredible spirit of giving and dedication to our work and to our children is truly humbling.”

Upon the culmination of the tournament participants enjoyed a seaside dinner emceed by comedian Lenny Clarke. The dinner celebrated tournament participants, dedicated supporters and the children and families that will benefit from the proceeds.

This year’s first place 48”striped bass was caught by Mike Marcello of Portsmouth, RI; first place blue fish went to Richard Bellizzi of Dartmouth, MA with a 31.50" fish; and first place summer flounder (fluke) went to Dan Abraham of Portsmouth, RI with a 22.25” fish.

Big 3 Fishing Tournament

The Big 3 Fishing Tournament is scheduled to take place today, Friday, July 14 at the Wychmere Beach Club in Harwich, MA.  Since it started three years ago the tournament has raised more than $1-million for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands.  Forty boats are expected to participate this year with over 300 people attending the dinner.  Watch for tournament winners next week.

Concerned about mercury in fish?

The 13th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP 2017) will be held in Providence this Sunday, July 16 through Friday, July 21. Over 1,000 people from 57 countries are registered to attend. 

Ecotoxicologist Celia Chen, who is the research translation core leader for the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program, and a research professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, serves as a co-chair of the conference. 

Chen is a widely-recognized expert on the fate and effects of metal contaminants in aquatic food webs both in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems. She’ll be leading one of the workshops to be held on July 16 as part of the conference.

Visit the conference website at http://mercury2017.com  for details and the latest on mercury as it relates to aquatic ecosystems and fish contamination.

Where’s the bite?

Striped bass fishing continues to heat up on Block Island.  Angler Eric Appolonia (and family) from North Kingstown caught striped bass to 40 pounds using umbrella rigs and eels at the Southwest Ledge last week.  We fished Sunday too and caught three keepers to 32 pounds on eels.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown said, “Bass fishing with eels are working on the Southwest Ledge with fish in the forty pound range being caught at night and during the day.” Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “For the most part bass have left the Bay we had a few fish caught at Ohio Ledge on eels but all the action is at Block Island.  The largest Block Island fish we weighed in this week was 50.5 pounds.”  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “Striped bass fishing has exploded here.  A customer jigging for black sea bass caught a 37 pound fish and anglers have been catching 40 to 45 pound fish using eels at Watch Hill and Sugar reefs.” Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet reports good evening striped bass trips last week with boats limiting out, many anglers caught fish in the 30 and 40 pound range. 

Summer flounder (fluke) fishing was good last week at Block Island with fish being taken on the North and west sides of the Island, the windfarm area on the south and at the East Fishing Grounds 3.5 miles east of the Island.  The biggest challenge was dog fish… avoid them and your will likely hook up with fluke.  This weekend Steve Brustein and Mike Weaver found fluke to 23” just north of the Jamestown Bridge on No Fluke Charters.  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, “Anglers are catching keeper fluke both in the Newport and Jamestown Bridge areas.  Most of the activity is happening south of the Bridges.” “Customers are landing fish in the Sakonnet River area.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle. “The fluke have been in lower water this year… large fish are being caught in 28 to 35 feet of water close to shore at Misquamicut and along the coastal shore.  Fluke fishing is excellent on the south side of Long Island.” said Mike Wake of Watch Hill Outfitters. Capt. Frank Blount of the Francis Fleet said, “We had a good week of fluke fishing. There were a few handfuls of limit catches on most days; many saw limit catches of sea bass that were generally of very good size. We had at least three fish this week that threatened or hit the 10 pound mark and a bunch of others in the 8-9 pound range.” Matt Conti of Sung Harbor Marina said, “From the Center Wall of the Harbor of Refuge to Charlestown anglers are catching fluke in 55 to 65 feet of water.  They are catching shorts and keepers with black sea bass filling in nicely.”

Scup fishing is strong in the Bay.  Many Macedo said, “The scup are very large.  Some are 17 and 18” and are being caught from shore at Colt State Park and in the Warren River as well as off Newport.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “Scup fishing from shore on jetties and breachways has been very good, the fish are getting larger every year.”

Offshore fishing is starting to take off. “One of the boats fishing our Shark Tournament this weekend (see story above) caught a 139 pound bluefin tuna and others in the Tournament caught bluefin in the 60” range.  Anyplace at the 30 fathom line from the Horns to South of Martha’s Vineyard is filled with bait, whales and birds.  Anglers fishing east of the Fingers, at Tuna Ridge and a number of other locations are hooking up.”

Catch, tag and release... Tournament helps scientists

Capt. Al Anderson of South Kingstown with striped bass is the catch, tag and release King.


Capt. Dave Monti with a Narragansett Bay (East Passage) striped bass caught and released this spring using a circle hook with chunks of Atlantic menhaden.

 

Tournament helps scientists study sharks

The 29^th Monster Shark Tournament will take place in Newport, RI from July 16 to 18.  This year the Tournament is dedicated to founder Steven James who passed away last year.  James was former tournament president and president of the Stellwagen Charter Boat Association. 

"He was so proud of the tournament and was able to institute the highest weight limits, making this more a catch and release tournament.  Only the largest and heaviest sharks are brought in and the tournament is dedicated to gathering information about sharks.” said Doreen Ryan-James, mother of James.  Captains are given the opportunity to tag the sharks they catch and release them. Lisa Natanson of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Apex Predator Program will lead a team on-site to collect data and information on the sharks that are brought in.

Captains will leave Casey’s Marine in Newport before dawn and have lines in at 7:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday morning. The public is invited free of charge for the weigh-ins at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the Marina. In addition to seeing the sharks, there will be information on the different types of sharks, their habits and habitat. 

The record breaking purse of $20,000 is up for grabs. "We are still open to registrations," said Doreen James. Rick Bellavance, president of the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association said, "We recognize Steve's contribution to running a responsible, sustainable tournament which has contributed information to better understanding shark migration and habits. We are happy to support and endorse the event.”

 

For details and comments please reach out to Lisa Helme Danforth at lisad@coastalanglermagazine.com or call 203.321.7635.

 

Catch, tag and release your fish

Now that the striped bass limit is one fish/angler/day at 28”, it is more important than ever before to use good catch and release practices.  Once you fine tune your catch and release tactics to insure fish you catch have the best chance of surviving, why not consider tagging the fish.  Fish tagging programs provide scientists and fish managers with data they need to manage fisheries more effectively.

Three organizations are responsible for most of the tagging in Rhode Island waters and the northeast; they are the American Littoral Society (www.littoralsociety.org), the Hudson River Foundation (www.hudsonriver.org) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (www.fws.gov).    All three groups use catch and release data to study the species… migratory patterns, growth rates, fish stock projections, etc.  The research helps us understand and manage our fishery.  Striped bass are the most popular species tagged; however, fluke and blue fish are commonly tagged as well as a host of other salt and fresh water species.

When you catch a fish with a tag (usually a dorsal loop tag or a belly tag), return it along with recapture information to the address on the tag (or call the toll free number on the tag).  Record pertinent information immediately so you don’t forget including species, location, length, weight, the condition of the tag insertion site and any other comments.  The date of the trip, your name and address should be supplied as well.  Some organizations offer incentives to those returning tags and surveys, which include cash awards ($5) and prize drawings.

One way to enhance survival chances of the fish you catch is to use circle hooks.  Circle hooks have been used by commercial fisherman for years.  When long-line fishermen using circle hooks would return to check their hooks… the fish would still be alive, hooked in the jaw or mouth and not in the stomach. 

After a fish swallows a baited circle hook and starts to run, the hook and bait are pulled out of the stomach and slides toward the point of resistance on the fish’s jaw or lip and embeds itself in the lip, usually the corner of the fish’s mouth. 

Circle hooks successfully hook bass in the mouth 95% of the time.  The trick is not to jerk the rod to set the hook because you could pull the bait and hook out of the fish’s mouth.   Let the fish run, as it does, it will pull the hook out of its stomach and hook itself on the lip.  Once this happens start fighting the fish and reel it in.

Consider these techniques to enhance your catch and release efforts.

·         Use circle hooks; they successfully hook bass in the mouth (not the gut)

·         Land fish quickly to minimize stress

·         Avoid putting fish on deck and letting it flop around, keep it in the water as much as possible

·         Wet your hand before handling the fish, dry hands remove the fish’s protective slime layer and leave it open to infection

·         Handle fish carefully.  Do not put fingers into gill cavities or eye sockets

·         Gently remove the hook to minimize damage

·         Use lures with single hook, barbless hooks (I snap them off), or circle hooks (as noted above).

·         Return fish to water quickly. Place fish gently in water in upright horizontal position.  Move it back and forth in the water to force water across its gills.  Once revived allow fish to swim away.

Capt. Al Anderson is the catch, tag and release King

                                                                  

In February of 2015, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) held their fifth annual Legendary Captains and Crew Awards (LCCA) dinner. The primary criteria for receiving the award is that the captain or crew member must have provided leadership in their trade and have earned the respect of their peers by making a meaningful contribution to the sport of recreational angling over time.

 Recipients received the Tommy Gifford Award at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and museum in Dania Beach, Florida.  This year, Capt. Al Anderson from Rhode Island received the award.   Capt. Anderson was inducted into the IGFA Hall of Fame in 2013. He started charter fishing on the PROWLER out of Snug Harbor Marina in 1967 and started tagging bluefin tuna.

 

 Anderson has tagged more than 60,000 gamefish in his career, and is credited by the IGFA with tagging more fish for science than anyone in the Atlantic.  Anderson has authored five books and over a hundred sport fishing articles for regional, national and international magazines.

 

RISAA tag & release program

 

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) is running a tag and release program for members this year.  Contact committee chairman Bob Murray at murry@risaa.org  for information and tagging kits.