no fluke fishing

Paul Eaton of Providence proudly holds up the trout that he and his friends caught thirty minutes after the 6:00 a.m. start of opening day. The fish were caught on Silver Spring Lake in North Kingstown.

A carnival like atmosphere prevailed at Silver Spring Lake in North Kingstown this Saturday prior to opening day for trout season. There were tents, tables of food, grills and plenty of boats and anglers fishing on the lake.

Thank you and congratulations to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and their Fish and Wildlife Division. They managed to pull off a very successful opening day for the freshwater trout season this past Saturday despite all the flooding.

When I last spoke with Gail Mastrati, DEM communications officer, she was working hard to effectively communicate flood activities to the public… shellfish closures and openings, ground water contamination warnings, trout hatchery damage, flooding rivers with fast moving water… all needed to be addressed by DEM and communicated to the public for safety reasons.
Early last week Mastrati related that DEM was moving forward with opening day on Saturday, April 10 with adjustments to allowable fishing areas and a revised trout stocking plan that put fish in lakes and ponds that have safe water levels and good access.

Some lakes and ponds received extra trout for opening day including Barber Pond in South Kingstown and Sliver Spring Lake in North Kingstown. Several fishing areas that were not stocked due to high water and damage to roads and other access included Ashaway ,Pawtuxet, Pawcatuck, Flat and Falls Rivers and Parris Brook. These areas will be stocked later this spring when water recedes and access improves.

Last week Steven Hall, chief of DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement said, “With all the recent rain we’ve had, Rhode Island’s rivers and streams remain at high levels, with quick water action,” Hall continued, “People should make an extra effort to take personal safety precautions… “.

A carnival-like atmosphere was in play at Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown, when I visited at 6:00 a.m. on opening day. Many anglers had spent the night lake-side to be able to fish at first morning light when the season opened at 6:00 a.m. There were tents, campers, tables of food with breakfast and barbecue grills. Everyone fishing had big smiles … the fish were biting. The fishing action was good at other stocked ponds and lakes too in Lincoln, Cranston and South and North Kingstown.

Rich Browning, a DEM Environmental Police Officer said he and eight colleagues had been working all night covering the lakes, ponds and rivers in Washington County. Officer Browning said, “Our Fish and Wildlife department did an outstanding job… ponds and lakes are stocked and people are catching fish. Considering all the flooding, cold weather and evening rain this is a great turnout compareable with other good years.”

Paul Eaton of Providence and his friends were very happy too. I met them at 6:30 a.m. and the trio had already bagged seven fish, after just 30 minutes of fishing. Paul said, “The fishing has been good, take a look at these.” He was holding up seven fish.

At 5:00 a.m. on Saturday I visited a few bait and tackle shops. Neil Hayes of North Kingstown from Quaker Lane Outfitters said that business had been very good. Popular baits included meal worms, trout worms and Power Baits. Dan Ross of Warwick had been working all night at John’s Bait & Tackle in North Kingstown. Dan said that business had been very good and with warmer weather he and the staff predicted a good weekend and week. Craig Castro form Erickson’s Bait & Tackle said that twelve people had come in during the night but he expected things to pick up.

Where’s the bite
Cod fishing is still mixed. Captain Charlie Donilon of the charter boat “Snappa” said cod fishing off Block Island on his boat has been mixed this past week. “The fish were on and off”, said Captain Donilon. The Francis Fleet is making Cod fishing trips at 5:00 a.m. Captain Steve Sheriff of Fish On Charters said that the Cod fish bite was good five miles off Block Island last week.

Striped bass are here. Steve McKenna of Cranston said, “I caught the first fresh run of school bass of the year this week at the West Wall in Matunuck, RI. The fish were caught on Cocohoe Minnows on ½ oz. jig heads. The 2010 bass season has begun!!!” Other reports of bass being caught on the Pawcatuck and Narrow Rivers with some fish being pretty good size. While testing my new engine, I saw a good size bass feeding on the surface in front of the Old Buttonwoods section of Warwick. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence, reports school bass being caught in the Providence, Seekonk and Narrow Rivers.

Tautog season is scheduled to start April 15 unless we hear otherwise form DEM. A limit of two fish per angler per day is expected for the spring season.
Fresh water fishing. See above article. Also trout fishermen at the John L. Curran fishing area were besieged by horned pout as they drifted mealworms and caught 17 of them. The runoff and turbine water have the horned pout on a feeding frenzy said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.