Catching that elusive striped bass

 Mike Swain with one of the many striped bass he has caught in the Conimicut Light area using live and chunks of Atlantic menhaden (pogies).

Rich Hittinger of Warwick with a 7.8 pound summer flounder (fluke) he caught off Block Island last Thursday when fishing on his vessel ‘Skipjack’.

Catching that elusive striped bass

You’ve tried to catch a keeper sized striped bass (28” or larger), but just have not hooked up with one yet.  It can be very frustrating because you can try and try with no luck. 

However, June is the time to try to catch one in Narragansett and Mt Hope Bays as Atlantic menhaden (pogies), a form of herring, are up in our covers and rivers spawning and the striped bass have followed them into the upper Bay on their northern migration.

I have two bits of advice that have helped me over the years to catch striped bass.  First, you can’t catch fish where there are no fish so you have to put yourself in places where the fish are feeding.  And second, you need to be ready with a number of strategies.  Some days they are biting on live or chunks of Atlantic menhaden, other days trolling umbrella rigs or tube and work, and yet some times of year they like eels.

To put yourself where the fish are read fishing reports/blogs and talk to friends and bait & tackle shop owners to develop a fishing plan.  Select five or six places you will go to find the fish based on the research you have done.  Now that you have your fishing plan, be ready with a number of fishing strategies to land that striped bass. 

Remember what works one day, may not work the next depending on what fish are feeding on, the weather, tides, temperature, etc. Here are some of my favorite striped bass fishing strategies.

Favorite ways to catch striped bass

Trolling with umbrella rigs.  Like to use this technique trolling in deeper parts of Narragansett Bay, off Newport or Block Island with a variety of squid, shad, worm or eel umbrella rigs.  Hook two fish at the same time and you will experience a great fight.

Live menhaden.  Snag the live bait with a weighted treble hook or net them.  Hook the bait through the bridge of the nose, find a school of fish and put the live menhaden into the school of bait and let it swim. Used when menhaden are running strong, particularly up the Providence River in early spring.

Chunking fresh or frozen menhaden.  You can anchor (and chum); drift fish or fish the moving bait schools with chunks.  Some anglers use a weighted slide to get the bait down to the striped bass.

Surface plugs, swimming lures and soft plastics.  Have caught hundreds of school bass in the spring using surface plugs and swimming lures of all types.  Great way to catch fish in coves, on rivers, etc.  My favorite is a grey Yozuri Crystal Minnow.  Many anglers love soft plastics use them successfully in the spring.  Make sure the plastic baits are scented if they are not add some menhaden scent. Who wants to eat plastic?

Trolling with tube and worm.  I have had great success in the Bay using lead line weighted with two or three ounces of lead between the line and a five foot monofilament leader.  I find that bubblegum or red colored tubes work best in spring (the tube hook is tipped with clam worm).   The idea of added weight is to get the line down to where the fish are. Tube and worm trolling has been a successful technique for the Southwest side of Block Island using 300 ft. of wire line out in 35 to 45 feet of water, amber colored tubes seem to work best there.

Buck tail jigs with pork rind strips.  Have had success with this method to get under schools of blue fish and to the striped bass on the bottom.

Let me know if you catch that keeper and send along a photo to dmontifish@verizon.net.

DEM to hold fly fishing workshops

The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will hold three day fly fishing workshops on Monday, June 12, 19 and 26, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Coventry Public Library, 1672 Flat River Road, Coventry and on Wednesday, June 14, 21 and 28, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Greenville Public Library, 573 Putnam Pike, Greenville.  Instruction and equipment needed will be covered with all gear provided.  However, participants are welcome to bring their own gear.  Adults and children 10 and older are invited to attend.  Space is limited.  To register contact Scott Travers at scott.travers@dem.gov. (Classes also stared at Glocester Manton Public Library on June 6).

DEM is also holding an introduction to freshwater fly fishing workshop on Saturday, June 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Addieville East Farm, Mapleville, RI.  Adults, families and children ten and older may attend. Participants will learn about equipment needed for the sport, fly-tying and casting and best areas to fish in RI.  Lunch will be provided. Fee is $15 per person.  To register contact Kimberly Sullivan at Kimberly.Sullivan@dem.ri.gov .

Where’s the bite

Striped bass.  I haven’t heard of fifty pound fish being caught in the Bay in a long time but this week they were. Capt. Randy Bagwell of River Rebel Charters weighted in a 50 pound striped bass caught in Mt. Hope Bay.  Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren, said “Randy came in with his customer to weigh and clean the fish; they were greeting customers at the door asking if anyone wanted some bass fillets.”  Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “A customer sent me a picture of a 53 pound fish caught in the Bay and we have some very nice bass in the 30 pound range being caught in the Providence and Seekonk rivers.  There are big bluefish mixed in with the bass.”  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters,, Westerly said, “Bass are on the reefs eating squid and the worm hatches in South County Ponds (like Ninigret Pound) are still going strong on warm days. We also have a lot of Atlantic menhaden and bass in the Pawcatuck River.”  Peter Jenkins of the Saltwater Edge, Middletown, said Monday, “Today there was great fishing for bass on Sugar Reef.  The squid were everywhere.  Bass were caught on every drift using Slug Go lures and files.”

Summer flounder (fluke fishing).  I fished the Newport Bridge area with a slow bite and a lot of shorts this week.  Anglers fishing the southern coastal shore experienced mixed fishing.  Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “Fluke fishing at Fisher’s Island to Misquamicut Beach has been good.  Customer Mike Lacz landed a 27” fluke off Misquamicut this week.”  Fish for fluke in the Bay is spotty.  Anglers are catching fish but not in large numbers.  Angler Rich Hittinger said the bite was good a Block island catching fluke to 7.8 pounds last Thursday. Capt. Frank Blount, of the Frances Fleet said, “A lot of quality fish and a lot of limit catches. On Saturday's trip Capt. Rich found a hungry pile of nice size sea bass to four pounds limiting the boat out.”

Scup. “We had a customer catch a 17” scup off the Stone Bridge this week with some nice fish being off of Colt State Park, Bristol.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait.  “The big news of the week is that scup are in… anglers are catching them off Tiverton and Greenwich Bay.” said Henault of Ocean State.

Sea robins. More anglers are keeping them to eat.  Cut of their tails and fillet them.  They have a delicious white meet.  In Europe sea robins are a major ingredient in bouillabaisse.  I have cleaned them for many charter customers and all have said they loved the way they tasted.

Black sea bass bite is on.  The season opened May 25^th and fish are being caught with anglers limiting out when fluke fishing.

Freshwater fishing continues to remain strong. “Not many anglers are targeting trout but those that are continue to catch them.  And, we have a lot of anglers catching  good numbers of largemouth bass.  They may not be as large as last year but the bite is stronger.” said Henault.