Grace
Carhart, Portsmouth, NH with a super-size black sea bass she caught on the Lady
Frances this past Saturday the 4th of July.
Bluefin tuna
bite strong
I fished for bluefin tuna this week. We hooked up with fish. It was very exhilarating. I fished with two friends,
David and Eric Appolonia. They have
fished for tuna for years with friends and their brother Felix. Here is a recap of the trip.
David is a sea captain who is no stranger to
school bluefin and giant bluefin tuna fishing. David, his brothers and fishing friends have caught
three giants in recent years in waters off Rhode Island… a 730, a 763 and an
878 pound giant bluefin. David caught
two of them back to back within two weeks of each other in 2012.
I bumped into David
and his wife at Brewed Awakenings in South County Commons during the winter. It was cold outside but David was already just
about done working on his tuna gear in his basement. He was ready to go tuna fishing and it was
still winter.
Tuna fishing is
part art, part science and part intuition. Friday, David artfully put out a spread
of seven rigs to troll. “When fishing on
larger boats we put out ten or twelve rigs.
But seven is more than enough for my boat.” David has a 26’ Regulator with twin 225 horsepower
Yamahas.
There were green
machines, squid rigs, bird teasers and diamond shaped squid bars… all designed
to create commotion and action on the surface to elicit a stripe.
We fished all the way to the Dump which is about 50 miles offshore
south of Block Island… a total of 107 miles in one day.
As we approached the Dump the water got warmer (early 70.6
degrees) compared to the 66 degree water off Rhode Island. The warm Dump water temperatures are created by
the Gulf Stream and the spires of warm water that spin off of it. These warm temperatures bring bait and the Dump’s
changing bottom contour holds bait and the tuna go to where the bait is to eat.
And, tuna do eat. The average
tuna eats about 20 to 25 percent of its body weight every day. So for a 50 pound tuna that’s 10 pounds of
fish a day. This is a good thing for
fishermen as this enhances the odds of them eating your bait.
We saw no signs of life at our first stop. David said, “We need to find some life… whales,
porpoise, bait, birds feeding… something.” So we moved and it was a good
call. Within 30 minutes we were
surrounded by porpoise, hundreds of them all moving south so we joined them and
trolled in the school. The hope is that
bluefin are in among the porpoise feeding on the same fish that the porpoise
are feeding on. “It’s exciting to see so
many porpoise. Hundreds of them.” said Eric.
They were swimming with the boat, around the boat and almost as far as
the eye could see. We had never seen so
many of them in one place.
It wasn’t long before we heard screaming lines. Tuna are speedsters. They swim and hit your bait going 30 to 35 miles
an hour which creates a screaming sound as the line is being pulled out of the
reel by the tuna. “Fish on.” And then 30 seconds later, “Another fish on, a double
hook up.” yelled David.
Eric grabbed the first rod, and I the second. The fish on my rod was smaller, about 39” and
came in first with David’s help. Eric’s fish came in second, it was about 44”.
David did an outstanding job operating the boat and leadering the fish close to
the boat for release or capture.
The physicality of tuna fishing is something new to me. It takes a lot of strength, just to endure
the day and to reel in the fish. In total we came in contact with four fish on
the trip that were captured and/or released.
The success of the day was the preparation that David did in the
winter preparing the gear, the prelaunch preparation the day before, the early
morning start at 4:30 a.m. all combined with the tuna fishing art, science and
intuition that the Appolonia brothers demonstrated on the trip.
It was a trip that I will remember for a long time. And by the way, the bluefin tuna was
delicious. It made a great 4th.
Two local fishing legends pass
Capt. Ron
Mouchon, 58, of Charlestown Beach Road, unexpectedly passed away Sunday. He owned Breachway Bait & Tackle and the charter
fishing boat Baitrunner. Ron pioneered many fishing techniques for
striped bass and had a generous heart, particularly for the community often donating
fish and fishing tournament proceeds to food banks and shelters. His fishing presence in RI will be missed.
Richard
Sevigny of Connecticut passed away July 4. His brother Bob Sevigny said, “He caught a 65 pound striped bass near Warwick Light fishing under
pogies that were showing on top.” Mr.
Sevigny was featured in the book titled The
Big One by David Kinney for being the person who invented the yo-yo
method of catching striped bass that is used by most fishermen today.
ASMFC schedules Atlantic menhaden ecosystem workshop and webinar
The Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has scheduled an Atlantic menhaden ecosystem
management workshop for August 31 through September 1. This is an important step toward taking into
full consideration the roll and impact Atlantic menhaden have on the
environment as filter feeders and the large role they play as a forage fish for
striped bass, bluefish, tuna and a host of other species.
In a press release last week the ASMFC said, “Based on the
findings of the 2015 Atlantic Menhaden Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer
Review, the Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board initiated Draft
Amendment 3 to the Fishery Management Plan.
The Draft Amendment will consider changes to the
management program including the development of ecological reference points
that reflect Atlantic menhaden’s role as a forage species. To aid in the
development of these reference points, the Commission has established a
multi-disciplinary working group to identify potential ecosystem goals and
objectives for Board review and consideration.
“This workshop reflects the Commission’s continued
commitment to fully evaluating the importance of Atlantic menhaden to the
ecosystem and harvesters. This process will benefit from the expertise
and input of managers, stakeholders, and scientists that are committed to the
sustainable management of this valuable resource,” stated Board Chair Robert
Boyles from South Carolina. “The anticipated outcome of the workshop will
be potential goals and objectives for ecosystem management that the Atlantic
Menhaden Management Board will consider as part of the Public Information
Document for Draft Amendment 3.” The webinar will be held on Friday, August 14 at 9:00 a.m.
The workshop will be conducted on August 31 and September 1 from 8:30 AM
to 5 PM at the Hotel at Arundel Preserve, 7795 Arundel Mills Boulevard,
Hanover, Maryland 21076.. Space may be limited; please contact Mike
Waine, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mwaine@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 if you are interested in attending the workshop
or for information on how to register for the webinar.
NOAA seeks
nominations for hydrographic panel
NOAA is soliciting nominations for membership for the
2016 Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP), a Federal Advisory
Committee. HSRP applications for year 2016 must be
received by August 10, 2015, preferably via email to hydroservices.panel@noaa.gov. The call for nominations is available on the Federal
Register website.
The panel advises NOAA on operations and research issues
related to hydrographic surveying, nautical charts, tides and currents,
geodetic and geospatial data and measurements, coastal intelligence and
resilience, and emerging Arctic priorities.
Applicants should have expertise in marine navigation, port
administration, maritime shipping or other intermodal transportation industries,
cartography and geographic information systems, geodesy, geospatial data,
physical oceanography, coastal resource management, including coastal
resilience and emergency response, or other science-related fields.
Information on the Hydrographic Services Review
Panel can be found at:
Where’s the bite
Striped bass. Fishing off
Block Island has improved. Elisa Cahill
of Snug Harbor Marina said, “Anglers are catching fish on Block Island but not necessarily
on the Southwest Ledge. A customer
boated striped bass in the 30’s (pounds) range on the south side of the Island
this weekend.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle said, “Customer
Albert Bettencourt, his son and grandsons landed four bass in the 20 to 30
pound range fishing the Newport area with Atlantic menhaden. A 36” bass was caught at the Squantum Club in
East Providence and Sabin Point, Providence was yielding bass to 30” on the 4th
of July. The bait of choice was Atlantic
menhaden.” “We weighed in a 44.8 pound fish this weekend caught at Block Island
with an eel. But the big news is Provincetown,
MA. We have heard from a half dozen customers
that the striped bass exploded there this week and last. Guys are casting small lures and landing a
bass in seconds.” said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren.
Fluke fishing is
improving. A good bite reported off
coastal shores in the Charlestown area with spotty activity around Block
Island. Capt. Jay from the charter fishing vessel the Double Down said,
“Fishing in the Sakonnet is still good, usually we are fishing Block Island
this time of year but it has been a little slow there.” “Anglers are still landing fluke at Warwick
Light and catching black sea bass mixed in.” said John Littlefield of Archie’s
bait & Tackle. Angler Jack Leyden of
North Kingstown and his fishing partner landed four nice keepers Sunday fishing
the west and east sides of Jamestown.
Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, “Fishing
was aided to some degree by now being able to add a sea bass to angler's boxes
and coolers. Sizes on some of these sea bass borders on astonishing with fish
frequently up to and over 6 pounds.” Manny
Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “Fluke fishing at the Sakonnet
is still good and anglers are catching fluke under the Mt. Hope Bridge as
well. We even had a customer catch one
from the dock at Colt State Park.” Russ Demarco reports a good fluke bite off Matunuck
State Beach this week where he boated four nice keeper fluke. Tuesday I fished with guests on my boat on
the east side of the North Rip at Block Island and boated several fluke (five
keepers), sea bass and sea robin.
“Scup fishing has exploded. We have
customers catching them all over the Bay on worms, clam tongue and squid.” said
Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait. John
Littlefield of Archie’s Bait, Riverside said, “Scup fishing has been good all
the way up to Sabin Point Providence and Colt State Park.”
Offshore. Kevin Tucker caught a 125
bluefin Friday. I fished with David and
Eric Appolonia this weekend for bluefin tuna.
Capt. Dave put us on to four bluefin, all nice fish. Elisa Cahill of Snug Harbor Marina said,
“John Volpe and Steve Shohan landed a 317 pound mako shark this weekend.” Tony
Guriano of Booked Off weighed in a
502 pound mako shark at Snug Harbor Sunday.
Matt Conti said, “They were bottom fishing at the East Grounds when the
shark started to follow their catch.
They had heavy gear on board so they baited the fish and were able to catch
it.” Conti said, “The bluefin tuna bite
has moved east to the Fingers and north.
The bite at Tuna Ridge was not very strong this week.”
Freshwater fishing. Local fly fishing expert Ed Lombardo said, “We fished the Wood River last night (Sunday) hoping to fish a great
Hexagania Limbata Hatch and it did not happen. We need a stretch of very hot
humid days to really get this Hex to start to emerge in a way that the fish
will get excited. Last night only one nice rainbow was caught and three of us
fishing. The hatch was the worst that I have seen in more than thirty years of
fishing this hatch, for this time of the year.”
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