Fluke tips and where the catch them

Fluke tips and where the catch them

Fluke (summer flounder) fishing continued to be extremely strong this week along coastal shores, out at Block Island and in Narragansett Bay.  John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle, North Kingstown said, “Fluke fishing has exploded in Narragansett Bay with fish being caught in the upper bay… in places like Greenwich Bay… which hasn’t been the case for years. I have had a number of customers catch their limit (eight fish, over 18”).” This weekend, Brian Hehir of Burlington, VT caught two fluke, a 20 “ and a 22” fish in a matter of thirty minutes off Warwick Neck Light after striped bass fishing in the east passage. Hehir said, “I bounced the fluke rig off the bottom a bit and it would elicit a strike.”  Hehir was using a white squid fluke rig tipped with squid made by Capt. BJ Silvia.

Here is what some of the experts have to say about fluke fishing.

Capt. George Cioe, Patricia Anne, Pt. Judith. “I use squid strips with a sand…put the hook thru the squid once.  I split the trailing edge of the squid to give it some action as it moves thru the water. We often use fluke belly, especially if there is other bothersome species hitting the bait.  Fluke belly is more durable and you’ll get more bottom time with the bait.  There is an issue though.  Because it will not tear off like squid, it is possible to pull the fluke up to the surface, even though he is not hooked, only to watch the fish let go of the bait and swim away.  When you fish with belly – let the fish keep the bait a little longer before you pull him up.”

Capt. Jim White, White Ghost Charters, author and lecturer.  “I use fresh native squid to fish for fluke attached to a buck tail jig and often use a second bait… a fly I tied and attach to a 36” trailer.  The best type of bottom is irregular, that is where the bit fish are… I also like to keep the jig as vertical as possible.”

Capt. Rich Hittinger, RI Marine Fisheries Council and Vice President of the Rhode Saltwater Anglers Association.  “I find the best fluking spots are where there is a change of depth and you are on the edge of a rock pile.  I use a buck tail with a long trailer… about 36” long.”

Capt. Charlie Donilon, Snappa Charters, Point Judith.  “I like to jig for fluke and use a buck tail tipped with squid and a three foot trailer with spinner.  My favorite places to go include the North Rip at Block Island drifting into Cow Cove and the State Beach on the east side. The south side is good too…. later in the season I often fish off Narragansett.”

Favorite places to catch fluke

Look for drop- offs, structure, the banks of channels, and deep water particularly in the warm weather, in spring time they tend to be in lower depths.  Favorite places to catch fluke include:

•       channel breaks in and around Warwick Neck light

•       channel breaks on the northeast side of the Jamestown bridge

•       areas off the north west corner of Dutch Island

•       underwater valley off the southeast side of Dutch Island

•       areas off URI’s Bay Campus

•       Austin’s Hollow (an underwater valley) off the west side of Jamestown

•       Beavertail in deep water off the west side

•       Off southern Rhode Island coastal beaches… Watch Hill, Charlestown, in front of the five cottages, etc. 

•       Off the center wall of the Harbor of Refuge

•       Off Newport at any number of deep water brakes

•       At the mouth of Hull and Mackerel Coves off Jamestown at the drop-offs

•       Off Block Island… the North Rip, Cow Cove on the north end, along the State beach on the east side

Your help and boat are needed at Take-a-Kid fishing

Boaters are urged to volunteer their vessel for the 16^th Annual Take-A-Kid Fishing Day, Saturday, June 15 at Brewer Greenwich Bay Marina in Warwick.  The event is sponsored by the RI Saltwater Anglers Association.  Over 300 children from various youth organizations go blue fishing in Greenwich Bay from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon.  The morning of fishing is followed by a cookout. If you can volunteer and/or volunteer your boat please contact Steve Medeiros, RISAA president, at stevem@rissa.org .

DEM to hold freshwater fly-fishing workshop Saturday

The Department of Environmental Management’s (DEM) Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold an introduction to freshwater fly-fishing program this Saturday, June 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  The workshop, hosted by the Division's Aquatic Resource Education (ARE) program, will be held at the Addieville East Game Farm in Mapleville, RI.

Whether you are a beginner or need a refresher course, this workshop will cover all the basics on freshwater fly- fishing. Top Rhode Island fly-fishing instructors will teach casting techniques, fly-tying, tackle needs, and knot-tying. Participants will also put their skills to work on the water. The workshop is open to everyone 10 years of age and older. All materials and equipment are included with the $35 per-person registration fee. Lunch is not included, so participants should pack a lunch.

For additional information and for registration materials, contact Kimberly Sullivan at 539-0037 or via e-mail at or kimberly.sullivan@dem.ri.gov.

Where’s the bite

Fluke (summer flounder) fishing has been great in the Bay and off coastal shores.  Dick Pengri reports from the RISAA blog, “Found good size fish directly north of Dutch Island in 35 to 60 feet of water. Chartreuse squids with fresh squid initially then squid strips.”  Noted local anglers Don Smith and Peter Vican reported limiting out with fluke on Saturday south of the Jamestown Bridge. Don said, ”We limited out with the smallest keeper measuring 20.5" and the largest fluke was 26.5" and weighed in at 7.56 lbs. We only had four shorts for the whole trip which was a lot different from a lot of reports I had heard last week. We used fluke balls and green plastic squid for the teaser. Green seemed to be the preferred color over white and pink.” Fishing in Greenwich Bay and in the crossover to the East Bay in front of Patience Island, Brian Hehir caught two nice keepers using squid gigs tipped with squid strips.  John Wunner of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “Fluke fishing has never been this good for my customers, it’s like the old days.” Francis Fleet vessels are reporting good fluke fishing along southern RI coastal shores with keepers, shorts and even several jumbos mixed in.  The fluke are spitting up squid, which certainly is an indication the squid are here.

Striped bass fishing continues to be good in the Bay and off Block Island.  Worm hatches in a number of covers and rivers lead to a great bass fishing week.  Anglers catching them both with live Atlantic Menhaden and chunks as well as tube and worm (seems to work particularly well in worm hatch areas.  Jim Levy said, “Got out yesterday with Capt. Jerry Sparks of Northeast Boat and Kayak Charters. We fished in Point Judith Pond in flat calm conditions (during a worm hatch) and the two of us caught some skinny water bass on surface plugs. Largest fish went about 15 pounds.” On the RISAA blog, Tony Lombardo said, “Fished between Prudence Island and Poppasquash Point (Friday) between 6:45 a.m. and noon. Caught three stripers 29, 32 and 36 inches... all caught on black tube and worm”.

Block Island striped bass experts

Angler Rick Sustello with two of the sixteen fluke he and fishing partner Lary Norin took in front of the Sakonnet River this past Saturday. The duo also caught black sea bass to 20”.
Peter Vican of East Greenwich with his Rhode Island State record 77.4 pound striped bass. Peter caught the bass using eels as bait while fishing with Don Smith off Block Island.
Block Island striped bass experts who recently spoke at a RI Saltwater Anglers seminar are from left to right Donald Smith, Michael Lanni and Peter Vican.

Block Island striped bass experts

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet, listen to and ask questions to, arguably, three of the best Block Island striped bass anglers in Rhode Island. I attended the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association monthly seminar held at the West Valley Inn, West Warwick, RI.

Block Island striped bass fishermen Michael Lanni, Donald Smith and Peter Vican (RI striped bass record holder at 77.4 pounds) presented their thoughts and experiences about fishing for striped bass around Block Island. One of Michael’s largest bass was 64 pounds and Don Smith caught a 52.40 pound bass just a couple of weeks ago. So all fishermen are quite accomplished and target fish in the fifty pound range when fishing. Here is what they had to say about fishing for striped bass around Block Island.

· All three anglers now fish exclusively at night at their favorite Block Island spots… all drift eels in relatively deep water, 55’ compared to much lower Narragansett Bay waters and coastal shore fishing. Peter said, “We target fat lazy bottom feeders, around structure... ledge, contours, humps, etc... big bass feed at night around structure.” Mike said, “Big fish hug the bottom in fast current… so you have to get your bait in the bottom 5% of the water column.”

· Where specifically do they fish? Structure on the Southwest Ledge, southeast side, close to shore, the fishbowl on the south side, and one of Peter’s record fish was caught on the west side of the Island, south of New Harbor close to shore.

· Baits. They almost exclusively use eels; however, they use hickory shad when available and sometimes Atlantic Menhaden. Mike sometimes would troll off Newport, Jamestown and Narragansett with a menhaden hooked thought the lips in a figure eight pattern over favorite structure.

· Setting the hook. Mike likes to free spool and to take the pressure off the fish he drops the line when he gets a bite and counts 1,000, 2,000 and then engages the spool and sets the hook. Peter and Don usually do not have to set the hook as they generally use circle hooks.

· Line/leader. Mike likes to use 30 lb monofilament line while Don and Peter use braid line and fluorocarbon leaders or wire leaders (at night) as the fish cannot see a black wire leader at night.

· Closing advice from all three anglers was “Do not be intimidated by night fishing”, go with someone, plan your trip and fish on a moon lit evening and ask help from other anglers if needed. Don Smith continued, “Pete and I are out there a lot. Look for the boat that is brightly lit, that will be us… do not hesitate to stop if we can help.”

Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council meeting

The Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9. Agenda items will include advisory panel reports from the IAC, summer flounder and herring ad hoc committees as well as a brief overview of the Oyster Substrate Enhancement project in Ninigret Pond, a continued discussion on Atlantic Herring as well as pm the fluke exemption certificate program. The meeting will take place at the URI Narragansett Bay Campus, Coreless Auditorium, South Ferry Road, and Narragansett. Anglers and interested parties are urged to attend and voice their opinions on the issues.

31^st Annual Snug Harbor Marina Shark Tournament this Saturday and Sunday

Snug Harbor Marina will hold its 31^st Annual Shark Tournament this Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8. At press time over half of the allowed 75 boats had registered. A Captain’s meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 6, 6:00 p.m. at Snug Harbor Marina. Visit their website at www.snugharbormarina.com for a tournament application. Tournament funds will be donated to the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Where’s the bite

At press time fishing was very good in the Bay and ocean.

Striped bass being caught on chunks and live menhaden north of Conimicut light. Last week, Merrill True reported on the RISAA blog, “Left Bold Point at eight am. We had Menhaden on the surface near the hurricane barrier in the hundreds. Snagged some for bait and started chunking. The Stripers and Blues had them bunched up in a tight ball. There weren’t many stripers or blues after them but I got lucky and had a 32 inch bass take my chunk bait.” Angler Mike Swain of Coventry said, “We continue to catch bass in the Bay using menhaden chunks fishing outgoing tides at night in and around Prudence and Patience Islands.” Fishing on Block Island for bass is good day and night with fewer bluefish mixed in. Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina in South Kingstown said, “Anglers are taking nice striped bass at the North Rip with diamond jigs with eels being the dominate bait on the Southwest Ledge.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle said anglers Kevin and Albert Bettencourt landed six nice keeper bass to 23 pounds this past Sunday off Providence Point and Bear Point, Prudence Island using menhaden chunks.

Fluke (summer flounder) fishing is good when wind and tide are in line for anglers to establish a good drift. Angler Ron Nalbandian said, “Three of us started around 9:30 a.m. off the pink house in 73 feet of water. Squid with mummy chums on rubber glow squids, power drifting with 4-5 oz. of weight. 6 keepers up to 22”. The 22” coughed up a whole squid half its size when brought on board.” Anglers Rick Sustello and Lary Norin had a great fluke trip Saturday in front of the Sakonnet River that yielded them sixteen nice keepers and black sea bass to 20”. Their largest fluke was 25 inches. Rick said, “Lary Norin and I left our Point Judith marina at about 7:30 a.m. … Within 15 minutes we started to hit some fish… We then went through an hour of continuous action taking many fluke and BSB until the drift slowed…We were fishing in 60 to 75' most all of the day. Deeper water yielded the bigger fish.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle said customers are catching fluke under the Newport Bridge in water about 100 feet deep.

Scup fishing is good in mid and lower Bay with fish as large as 20 inches. John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, East Providence, said fish to 18” are being taken a Colt State Park with so many anglers fishing it is hard to get a fishing spot to fish on the dock.

Offshore fishing for sharks continues to be good with bluefin tuna fishing not as good as it was last week, said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.

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.

New striped bass record for RI… 77.40 pounds

Peter Vican (right) of East Greenwich with his record 77.4 pound striped bass. Peter caught the bass Sunday using eels as bait while fishing with Don Smith (left) on the Southwest side of Block Island.

Peter Vican of East Greenwich, RI caught a record 77.40 lbs. striped bass on Sunday, June 19. It is the largest fish ever caught in RI. Peter held the old record too… a 76 lbs 14 oz bass he caught off Block Island in 2008. The record fish was caught Sunday night using eels as bait on the Southwest side of the Block Island. It was just one pound shy of the world record.

Peter and his fishing friend Don Smith are arguably the best recreation striped bass fisherman on the east coast. They catch fish in the 40 and 50 pound range often, as a matter of course, where most anglers would dream of catching one in this size range.

Peter was fishing with his friend Don this Sunday when he hooked up with the record breaking fish. Here is Don’s account of their fishing outing.

“We fished an area on the Southwest side of the Island from 9:30 p.m. until after 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We landed more than a dozen fish apiece over 25 lbs. often doubling up on each drift. Right around midnight we doubled up on several large fish. I landed a 48 lbs. fish and Peter's was just slightly smaller. On the very next drift we duplicated the catch with both of landing fish around 45 lbs. Since I had kept the 48 lbs. bass all the others were released unharmed.

We were fishing our usual method of using light tackle, 6/0 octopus circle hooks and drifting live eels. The current was pretty strong and we used 3 oz. egg sinkers to keep the eels in the zone near the bottom.

Shortly after 1:00 a.m. the drift died and dogfish moved into the area and starting chopping up our eels… Once the tide started running again we worked our way back to the spot that had been producing large fish earlier in the night.

The drift was absolutely perfect - between 1.5 and 2 mph and with no wind we were drifting with the current so the eels were facing in the right direction. It was right around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning when the fish hit. It took some line out but nowhere the amount you would have expected from a fish that big. It never really made any big runs like his first record (fish) made and actually swam with the boat and kept diving to the bottom. It came up to the surface behind the boat and Peter reeled it in…

I got the net ready and moved over to his side of the boat just as he got the fish to the back corner of the hull. When the fish saw the boat it rolled on its side and swam directly out to the side away from the boat. That was when I got a good look at the fish and yelled to Peter it was a monster… I don't think the fish got more than 25 or 30 feet from the boat before Peter had it turned and it swam right back at us. By then I was really excited and had the net in the water and the fish headed right into it…I was so hyped up after seeing it that I just bent over and grabbed the circular frame of the net and lifted it right out of the water and flipped it onto the deck of the boat. The fish was next to my 48 lb. bass and looked like it could have swallowed it. The fight only lasted about 10 minutes.

The fish measured 52" long with a 35" girth. But, it was 35" from its head right to its rear fins. It looked like a brick with a tail not at all like the usual striper with a crescent shape to their belly.”