A love for fishing that is contagious

John Stavrakas of South Kingstown with the a nice 40” (fork length) bluefin tuna he caught at the Gully last week.

Carlin O’Hara with the 23” fluke (summer flounder) he caught off Beavertail, Jamestown at Austin’s Hollow this Sunday.

31” striped bass caught by Carlin O’Hara at Bonnet Shores Beach using a sea clam that he dug up and cracked open for bait.

Chef Barry Corriea (left) and Wayne Billman both from Westerly with the fluke they caught off RI coastal shores last week.

A love for fishing that is contagious

Some people like to fish and some people love to fish. Twelve year old Carlin O’Hara of Cranston loves to fish. And, last week the fishing was great for him.

Carlin went to Bonnet Shores Beach with a friend and took his father Dan’s surfcasting rod. He dug up a sea clam, broke it open and baited his hook. Carlin said, “You have to bait a sea clam just right. You can’t leave too much dangling because the fish will pull it off, and you have to hook it through its toughest part because it will just fall off if you don’t.” I asked if he weighted the hook. “I weighted it with four ounces of lead.” he said.

Carlin made his final cast just as it started to get dark and then bang… he hooked and landed a 31” striped bass as he stood in the surf … I am sure to the surprise of those nearby.

I was fortunate enough to see Carlin’s spirit for fishing this Sunday when I took him and his dad fishing. Carlin was all about the fish. He would set the hook like it was his job. And, his efforts paid off in a big way landing a 23” fluke.

Carlin you did have a big week… a nice striped bass and a great fluke. Your passion for fishing is contagious.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass. Angler Mike Swain of Coventry said, “We fished the outgoing tide at Conimicut Light Wednesday night from 10:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. and landed twelve keeper bass to 25 pounds. We used eels, live menhaden, but what really worked were menhaden chunks. We set the lines and every ten minutes or so we would get a hit.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “Block Island fishing is hot with many fish in the 40’s being taken. We weighed in a 55.1 pound bass Sunday morning caught by Roger Kroha of South Kingstown using eels at night on the Southwest side.” Conti said, “I was out there last night too and the boat traffic was incredible. There had to be 50 boats. Everyone is fishing at night to stay away from the bluefish.” Thad Grenier on the RISAA fishing blog said, “They (the striped bass) are up the (Providence) river between the concrete bridge and the red bridge. Caught three large keepers. The biggest 28 pounds.” David, another RISAA member who fished in the Providence River Saturday, said, “There were pogies all over the place… (with) plenty of bass under them. Sometimes you couldn't even get the pogie to the boat before a bass would hit it. There were only about eight boats up there all morning. Bass ranged from 29" to 36”. All were caught live lining between the hurricane barrier and Bold Pt. except for one… caught on the corner where the cable crossing is on the west side.” Mike Gill of Quaker Lane Outfitters, North Kingstown said, “The bass bite has been good this week. We weighed 40 pound fish from both Block Island and Brenton Reef this week.” John Littlefield from Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside said, “Bass fishing from shore in the Providence River is spotty by some customers are caching bass in the 12 to 15 pound range.”

Scup fishing is exploding with anglers catching them from shore and boats. “Some customers are catching them as large as 21 inches.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence. “Customers are using squid, clam works, blood works and clam tongues with success.” said Henault. John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle said customers are catching large scup from shore at Colt State Park and Conimicut Point. Mike Gill from Quaker Lane Outfitters said, “The scup bite off Beavertail has been very good for customers with cut up squid being the bait of choice.”

Fluke (or summer flounder). Many anglers were frustrated this past weekend as the tide and wind were not in line for fluke fishing. John Littlefield from Archie’s Bait & Tackle said Albert and Kevin Bettencourt and Kevin’s children (all from East Providence) fished out in front of Newport for fluke Sunday and had difficulty drifting with the current and wind not in line. “The fish were there but they just could not hook them with a proper drift.” said Littlefield. I fished this weekend with Carlin and Dan O’Hara power drifting for fluke at Austin’s Hollow. Carlin, boated a nice 23” fluke. Fishing off the Center Wall of the Harbor of Refuge and the Green Hill area has been pretty good too said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor.

Black sea bass. Angler Rick Sustello said, “(Friday) We went straight out the East Gap (Harbor of Refuge) and out to about 60 ft into some rocky areas for some BSB. Stiff SW wind had drift over 2.2 mph so out came the drift sock which dropped it down to about 1.2 to 1.4 which was just right. .. We used a big pink bucktail spinner and my green flash bucktail spinner tipped with squid and sometimes a mummy. Just did two drifts and had 4 nice sized keeper BSB and a 20" fluke with a bunch of shorts of both species.“

Offshore. “The bluefin tuna bite was OK last week with fish to be taken at the Acid Barge and toward Cox’s Ledge.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina. There were also plenty of blue sharks with some mako and thresher sharks too at the Gully and Fingers said Conti. John Stavrakas of South Kingstown said, “Cleared the east gap around 5:00 a.m. (Sunday). We hooked up with a nice 40” (fork length) bluefin at the gully around 6:45 a.m. Trolled around the gully for another hour or so then trolled south as far as Tuna Ridge for nothing. We drifted through one bucket of chum at the Suffolk and caught one big blue shark to wrap up the day. Water temps around 68 deg F. Bluefin hit a green machine behind a booney bird.” Philip Kirsopp reports on a trip to the South Side of the Gully he took Sunday, “Water temp 69.3. No sign of BFT. Set up sharking and got four big blue dogs.”