Favorite ways to catch and release striped bass

 Carlos De Hoyas of Pawtucket landed this 33” bass at Gano Street, Providence using a worm.

 Bass on chunks:  Mike Swain of Coventry has been landing striped bass in the Bay (both East and West Passages) using Atlantic Menhaden chunks or live lining them.

 Capt. Monti with a striped bass landed using a circle hook and chucked Atlantic Menhaden (pogy).

 Monster bluefish 35” and 13 pounds caught by Joseph Daniels of Warwick north of Conimicut Point.

Circle hooks are designed to hook fish on lip and not the gut. Photo by Mike Swain.

Favorite ways to catch and release striped bass

We have a good amount of bait in the water… Atlantic Menhaden (pogies), squid, silversides and worms from worm hatches. This translates into great striped bass fishing. The action is hot but sometimes catching bass can be difficult, you need to mix it up with different baits and fish where the fish are feeding.

Here are ten ways to catch striped bass, and to help sustain and enhance this great fishery of ours, they are followed by catch and release tips.

Ten ways to catch striped bass

10.          Trolling with umbrella rigs.  Many 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. 

9.            Casting soft plastics, various bait types and weights to fish different depths.  Make sure the plastic baits are scented if they are not, add some scent. Who wants to eat plastic?

8.            Buck tail jigs with pork rind squid strips.  Many have had success with this method to get under schools of blue fish to the striped bass below.

7.            Live eels.  Used by shore and boat anglers, particularly for larger trophy sized bass.  Hook the eel through the mouth and out one eye.  Going between the eyes usually kills the bait. 

6.            Live menhaden.  Snag the live bait with a weighted treble hook or net them.  Hook the bait through the bridge of the nose, put the fish back in the school of menhaden and let it swim.

5.            Chunking fresh or frozen menhaden.  Anchor (and chum); drift fish or fish the moving bait schools with chunks.  Some anglers use weight slides to get the bait down to where the fish are.

4.            Surface plugs.  Many school bass in the spring are caught using surface plugs of all types. 

3.            Swimming lures.  My favorite is a grey and silver Yo-zuri Crystal Minnow.

2.            Parachute squid jigs.  Often used in ocean water (or where there are squid).  Anglers successfully use this method off Newport, Narragansett and Block Island.

1.            Trolling with tube and worm.  Anglers use lead and wire line or weight there tube to get it down to the bottom where the big bass are.  Lead and wire line is designed to sink in water column. Bubblegum or red colored tubes seem to work best in the Bay and amber colored ones off coastal shores, all tipped with clam worm.  

How to enhance your catch and release efforts

Many anglers are releasing all striped bass they catch to help sustain and enhance the fishery.  According from a NOAA report, 92% of recreational striped bass are being released. Anglers who keep their catch often catch several undersized fish until they catch their limit of two legal sized fish over 28”.   So it is important to plan your catch and release efforts to insure the fish you are not taking have the best chance of surviving. 

One way to enhance survival 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). 

Here’s how circle hooks work…after the bait and hook are swallowed by the fish and it starts to run, the hook is 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 right 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 the fish is hooked so all you have to do is start fighting the fish and reeling it in.  To release striped bass, consider these techniques (many from RI DEM).

1.       Use circle hooks, they successfully hook bass in the mouth (not the gut) 95% of the time.

2.       Land fish quickly to minimize stress.

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

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

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

6.       Gently remove the hook to minimize damage.

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

8.       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.

Freshwater fly-fishing workshop

The DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold an introduction to freshwater fly-fishing program this month. Hosted by the Division's Aquatic Resource Education (ARE) program, the workshop will be held in Mapleville on Saturday, May 31 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The workshop this year has been reduced to $25.00/person. Held annually at the scenic Addieville East Game Farm, this six-hour workshop teaches the basics of fly fishing. All equipment and materials are provided. Space is limited, to register contact Kimberly Sullivan at 539-0019 or kimberly.sullivan@dem.ri.gov.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass fishing is good.  Small school size striped bass and keepers (over 28”) are being caught from the rivers in Providence to Newport and along the coastal shores.  Carlos De Hoyas of Pawtucket landed several keeper bass to 33” at Gano Street in Providence. Carlos said, “I was using sea worms with an outgoing tide around 7:30 p.m. last week. A lot of pogies in the River… some guys are catching fish at night by live lining under the new Pawtucket bridge at (I-95) Exit 28. Some of them are big.” Mike Swain of Coventry and I fished with circle hooks and fresh Atlantic Menhaden chucks Saturday and landed striped bass to 35” and 16 pounds in the East Passage.  Anglers are also having luck trolling tube & worm and using small umbrella rigs.  However, bass along the southern coastal shore and at Block Island is just starting to pick up.  Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown said, “The big fish are still up the rivers, there are plenty of small school bass around but few big fish at Block Island.”

Summer flounder (fluke) are in so whenever you get tired of fishing for bass, don’t hesitate to give fluke fishing a try.  Minimum size is 18” with a limit of eight fish/angler/day.  Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said Sunday’s, “Full day fluke trip was the best day of the week. Capt. Richie crushed the fish, lots of limits, over 150 keepers. 50 fish over 4 lbs, pool fish just under or at ten pounds.”  Angler Ed Bison reports, “Fished the southern Bay yesterday (Saturday).  Fluke are in caught three nice keepers to 24" landed a total of 8 in a little over an hour on the incoming.”  John Stavrakas of North Kingstown said, “With wind against tide we worked hard for a couple of shorts at Nebraska Shoal and Green Hill. We ran to Block Island and fished south of New Harbor for some consistent action. We put three keepers in the box and caught a couple dozen shorts (mostly 17 inches).  Noted local angler Don Smith said Sunday he and

  Peter Vican “Fished just outside the East Wall (Harbor of Refuge) and my first fluke was 19½”  with two more at 19" each. We had only one short hooked for the trip. Monday we decided to try the same area and we did really well. Kept nine fluke for that day. The smallest keeper was 191/2" and Peter caught a 27" fluke that weighed in at 8.88 lbs. We were fishing in 45' of water, using squid strips and Peruvian Silversides. The water temp was 52.”  Four reports from Montauk confirm they are killing the fluke there with many anglers reaching their limit. “Fluke fishing on the south and southwest sides of Block Island is starting to pick up.  It is better there than along the coast right now.” said Matt Conti.

Bluefish. “Anglers targeting bass at the southwest side of Block Island are catching good sized bluefish.” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.  Angler Joseph Daniels of Warwick said, “… hitting the stripers on pogies, but there are some really BIG blues mixed in,  3 blues to 1 striper… caught a one 35 inches, 13 lbs - he growled at me.”  Chris Catucci of Warwick said, “Saturday fishing near Rocky Point I landed one gator blue around 10 pounds, followed by over a dozen schoolies. All of these fish came on a Zara Spook top water bait. The stripers seem to only be feeding when there was an absence of wind and overcast conditions.”

Tautog fishing remains strong but spotty.  Anglers are on them or not (as is always the case with tautog).  The fish being caught are good size, many in the eight pound range. Minimum size is 16”, 3 fish/angler/day with 10 fish boat limit, spring tautog season ends May 31.

Squid fishing remains strong around Newport with anglers seeing clouds of bait when fishing for bass. 

Fresh water fishing remains strong for both trout and largemouth bass.  Many anglers are still catching trout stocked in ponds by DEM including the Golden Trout that played a larger role in DEM’s hatchery program this year.  Visit www.dem.ri.gov for stocked ponds and Golden Trout program information.

Take-a-Kid Fishing event big success... Don Smith with big BI bass

Don Smith landed this 52.40 pound striped bass off Block Island this Sunday at 10:00 p.m. fishing with light tackle drifting a live eel.

Peter Sousa of Warwick, RI on the vessel Angel Light with two Girl Scouts on board. He and over 200 other volunteers took 200 children fishing last weekend at the 15th annual Rhode Island Saltwater Angler Association’s Take-a-Kid fishing day.

Chris Catucci of Warwick, RI at a recent Junior Bass Fishing Tournament held on the Salyersville Reservoir.

A five foot blue shark hung around Bob Chew’s boat early this Monday as he cleaned scup just south of the Newport Bridge.

Take-a-Kid Fishing event big success

The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association’s (RISAA) 15^th Annual “Take-A-Kid Fishing Day” held Saturday, June 16 from 9 to 11:30 a.m., was a huge success. “We had about 200 children and 69 boats.” said Steve Medeiros, RISAA president. Medeiros thanked Brewers Greenwich Bay Marina in Warwick for providing the location for the event and sponsor Tarbox Motors for providing toy gifts for the children as well as the 250 volunteers that made the event possible. The purpose of the event is to give seven to thirteen year old children a chance to learn about Narragansett Bay, experience the thrill of catching a fish, and ride on a boat to start building a lifetime of fishing memories. The two East Providence Girl Scouts (Bella and Daniele) who fished on my boat had never been fishing on a boat before. The children were appreciative of the opportunity. And, their response made it all worthwhile for the volunteers. As we pulled back into the dock, Daniele yelled to her mother “We caught four fish, it was great.”

Tying braid to braid

Tying braid to braid line usually does not work, if the knot does not slip, it will break at the knot with a lot less stress than normal. I never tie braid line to braid for fear it may break, I do not like to use mono as backing either because it has interfered with retrieving and casting. Larry O’Neil of East Providence Bait Company said, “OK I did a little destructive testing using a hanging scale, a five gallon pail and the hose. I slowly filled the pail to learn how the line knots act. All testing was done with 50 lb Power Pro line. I tied a swivel at both ends filled bucket slow…and the line broke at 38 lbs same test with a Double Uni knot and to my surprise the knot did not slip…but the knot broke at 19 lbs. An Albright knot broke at 21 lbs this is all I had time to test… the line with two swivels broke at the knot as well.

Block Island striped bass seminar Monday, June 25

RISAA will hold a special seminar Monday, June 25, 7:00 p.m. titled “Block Island Striper Fishing”. The seminar will feature three outstanding striped bass Block Island anglers including Peter Vican who holds the Rhode Island striped bass record at 77.4 pounds which he caught in 2011. Peter actually broke his own RI record; in 2008 he caught a 76.14 pound striped bass. The seminar will also feature Peter’s fishing partner Don Smith, Don has fished Block Island waters for years releasing 99% of his catch. The third speaker will be Michael Lanni who has been striped bass fishing for 30 years and has caught a 64 pound stipend bass that he landed on Block Island, July 8, 2010. The meeting is open to the public with a $10 donation by non-members to the Marine Fisheries College Scholarship Fund (RISAA members attend free). The meeting will take place at the West Valley Inn, 4 Blossom Street, West Warwick, RI at 7:00 p.m. Dinner, offered by the West Valley Inn is available from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Where’s the bite

Freshwater. Craig Castro (owner of Erickson’s Bait and Tackle) and his fishing partner Richard Verry took the Coventry Bass anglers. Large Mouth Bass Tournament this week end catching 18.99 pounds of bass. Twenty-five boats entered the competition. Chris Catucci of Warwick, RI participated in a recent Junior Bass Fishing Tournament held on the Salyersville Reservoir. Chris said, “The jig bite was on, fish were positioned on wood in the shade from overhanging trees.”

Striped bass. Mike Swain of Coventry reports a good striped bass bite at night on Narragansett Bay in the Providence Point, Prudence Island area. “We caught six keepers Friday night from when the sun went down until about 10:30 p.m. using live menhaden. But during the day (even early morning) it was a different story... the bite has slowed and almost stopped during the day.” Craig Castro of Erickson’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, “Our customers are catching bass. One landed a 36 pound fish off Narragansett and a second caught a fish in the mid-30 pound right off Warwick Neck light drifting eels around midnight.” Bob Chew found bass feeding on the surface at Sandy Point, Prudence Island Monday morning. Bob said, “… there was a lot of surface action with stripers on the surface. Got a 30” SB on an Atom popper.” Block Island fishing continues to improve with Mike Lanni catching a 35 pound bass near the southwest ledge trolling umbrella rigs. Umbrella rigs and parachute jibs seem to be working best a Block Island during the day. Captain John Sheriff reports a strong blue fish bite a Block Island. Sunday night Don Smith landed a 52.40 pound striped bass at 10:00 p.m. off Block Island. Don was with fishing partner Peter Vican, RI State striped bass record holder. Don said, “The bass was taken with a live eel on light tackle while we were drifting around 3 knots. It was a tough fish to land in that current.”

Fluke (summer flounder). Fluke fishing continues to improve in the lower Bay and around Block Island. Phil Lizotte reports, “We caught 22 Fluke at a spot just east of old reef and another in front of Pink House. Started in close and drifted out and west from 25 to 35 foot depths. Used White and Green Spin & Glo with Squid. Only had 2 keepers.” Ken Robins said, “Fished under the Newport Bridge from about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Thursday). It was pretty rough with a NE wind blowing. Drift speed was about 1.6 mph with a drift sock. Managed to catch four keepers. ; two 20", one 22" and one 23" along with as many shorts. All keepers were caught in 87 to 93 feet of water. Had to use 10 ounce sinkers and it wasn't enough. By about 9:30 a.m. I went to 16 ounce sinker.”

Black sea bass season opened June 15 and will run through December 31. The minimum size is 13” for recreational anglers with a 15 fish/person/day. Fluke anglers have been catching sea bass when fluking. It should be a good year for Black sea bass.

Striped bass fishing in the Bay is hot; here are ten ways to catch them

Janice Masco with a Francis Fleet mate and the fluke she caught during a past VIP Fishing Tournament. The RI Lion’s Sight Foundation has sponsored the tournament for five years. It is designed for visually impaired persons (VIP) and is June 24 this year.

Striped bass fishing in the Bay is hot; here are ten ways to catch them
Striped bass fishing has been very strong. Last Friday, noted local kayak angler Bob Oberg reported an excellent striped bass bite in mid-Narragansett Bay in nine feet of water trolling tube and worm. Bob said, “Fishing heated up at the peak of incoming tide…caught nine stripers including one 29 incher and one 35 incher. (It was) a rush to have a nice fish on the line so early in the season.” Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle called Sunday morning and said customers were experiencing a great bass bite in Mt. Hope Bay. Don Williams reports on the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association blog that he hooked up with bass big time Saturday as they fed on sand eels on a local reef. Don said, “… the largest was 34" - all stuffed with bait. All caught on the fly rod!”
These reports have been pouring in. Take advantage of the great striped bass bite. Here are ten ways to catch them.
1. Chunking fresh or frozen menhaden. You can anchor (and chum); drift fish or fish the moving bait pods with chunks. Some anglers use a weight slide to get the bait down.

2. Live menhaden. Find a school and snag live menhaden with a weighted treble hook or net them. Hook the bait through the back or bridge of the nose and put the live menhaden back into the school.

3. Surface plugs or poppers. Great way to catch school bass in the spring.

4. Swimming lures. My favorite this spring is a grey Yozuri Crystal Minnow.

5. Parachute squid jigs. Often used in ocean water (or where there are squid). Anglers successfully use this method off Newport, Narragansett and Block Island.

6. Trolling with tube and worm. The idea is to get the bait down to the bottom where the big fish are. Use lead line in Bay and wire offshore in deeper water. Place a fresh clam worm on the hook. Use different colored tubes until you find one that works. Bubble gum colored tubes seem to work in spring in the Bay, amber tubes when fishing the southwest side of Block Island.

7. Trolling with umbrella rigs. Technique often used to troll off Block Island, in deeper parts of Narragansett Bay, off coastal shores with a variety of squid, shad and sand eel baits.

8. Casting soft plastics. Many anglers love this technique and use it successfully in the spring. Make sure the plastic baits are scented if not add some scent.

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

10. Live eels. Used by shore and boat anglers, some fishing guides use this as their primary method to catch trophy stripers. Hook the eel through the mouth and out one eye.

Tim Coleman, author and fisherman, found dead
According to local news reports, Timothy Coleman, a well known fishing columnist, book author and fisherman was found dead last Thursday on the “sand trail” in Weekapaug area of Westerly, RI. He was found near an inland pond with his fishing gear. His death did not appear suspicious. Coleman, 65, wrote a weekly saltwater fishing column for The Day newspaper for ten years and had been managing editor for The Fisherman magazine’s New England edition from 1974 to 2001.

I have quoted Tim in many of my columns and we actually met a couple of years ago at the Springfield Sportsmen’s Show. When we met, he casually mentioned he was a fishing writer. After the encounter I realized who he was and thought how humble is was for him to refer to himself as just a “fishing writer”. The Rhode Island fishing and environmental community is saddened by his death. Steve McKenna of Cranston, RI, noted shore angler and friend, said, “Tim was a wonderful guy and he will be missed.”

Fishing tournament for visually impaired
The RI Lions Sight Foundation (RILSF) will be hosting its 5th Annual VIP Fishing Tournament for Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) of RI on June 24, 2012. The half-day Tournament will be held on the Francis Fleet out of Galilee, RI. Participants will compete for trophies and the opportunity to represent Rhode Island at the Lions National VIP Tourney on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in October. The event is free of charge and includes transportation and guides if needed, gifts, breakfast and a morning of fluke fishing. Participants must be legally blind, at least 17 years of age and physically able to fish from a party boat. Applications for the tournament can be found at www.rilions.com or contact Ken Barthelemy, tournament chair, at 401.529.6673 or kenbar123@aol.com.

Where’s the bite
Freshwater fishing for trout and bass remains very strong. “Anglers continue to catch trout as some of the ponds as they have already been restocked by DEM.”, said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence. Visit www.dem.ri.gov for a list of stocked ponds.
Tautog. Elisa Martin of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown, said, “Customer George Latos caught a 9 and a 10.4 pound tautog along the southern shore.” Customers of Quaker Lane Outfitters weighed in tautog from eight to ten pound this week said Steve McKenna. “Anglers fishing off the Wharf Tavern and the Barrington bridge are catching a lot of tautog. About one in ten fish have been keepers.” said John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait and Tackle, Riverside. He said the bite has been excellent at Conimicut Light and fair at Ohio Ledge.
Striped bass. Elisa Martin from Snug Harbor said, “Bass anglers continue to catch small fish off the west wall at the Harbor of Refuge but all are waiting for a few warm days for the worm hatch to really take hold in our ponds.” Steve McKenna noted shore angler, author and associate at Quaker Lane Outfitters said, “The fishing has been outstanding. I would rate the season as A- so far. Last Friday I caught a 20 lb bass at Matunuck.” Shore anglers have been catching bass using worms from Sabin Point to Bold Point, “32 to 37 inch fish are quite common with a lot of smaller school bass mixed in.”, said John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle. “The bass have now worked their way up to Pawtucket.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle. The “String Beans” area under the power lines on the East Providence side remains hot for bass anglers.
Squid fishing was soft last week with the cold front moving in. They are expected to return as things warm up.