Rhode Island, 8/27/05

1. BAY: Conimicut Point offers the best fluke fishing in the Bay, said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle. The waters off Newport and Warwick Light also hold fluke, but Conimicut is the place to be, he said. The waters off Dutch Island also have fine fluke fishing, especially for anglers using live mummichogs, said John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle.
2. Surf fisherman John Lisi has been catching 30- to 35-pound bass nightly at Beavertail Point, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Lisi casts eels and plugs between 1 and 7 a.m. Small bass are biting in the waters around Patience and Prudence islands, and there should be larger fish striking tube-and-worm rigs off Annawan Cliffs, Rose Island and Goat Island, where Ferrara planned to fish yesterday afternoon. In the upper Bay, bass are taking clam worms off Crescent Park in Riverside and the White Church Bridge in Barrington, said Littlefield. Schoolies have been nailing poppers at India Point and Collier Park in Providence, said Henault.
3. He recommended Sabin Point and Wickford Town Beach for catching blues between 3 and 5 pounds. Snapper blues are biting in the Providence River. The limit is 10 fish per day.
4. BEACHES AND SALT PONDS: Fishing a mile off Newport this week, Mike Macaulay caught an 8-pound mahi on a small Kastmaster.
5. Bass fishing has improved for boaters on the reefs off Washington County, said Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle, but you have to get your bait past all the big bluefish that have moved inshore. Al Stockton fished with Mouchon on Wednesday morning and took two bass, including a 33-pounder, as well as several large blues. They were fishing the reefs off Charlestown. For fly fishermen, the bass bite is almost a guarantee early in the morning at Napatree and Sandy points in Little Narragansett Bay, said Bill McEvoy of King Cove Outfitters. He also said that bass are herding baitfish in Cemetery Cove on the Pawcatuck River.
6. Tuesday, Mark Stockton took a bonito during a bluefish blitz just outside the Charlestown Breachway. Beardy Brown has been catching bonito on Deadly Dicks and other small metal lures off South County's beaches, said Bob Neilson of Wildwood Outfitters. "The avenues in Narragansett are holding fish, especially bluefish, during the day," Neilson said.
7. Fluke fishing is consistent, but relatively slow. Neilson has been catching them on whole squid with a live minnow in 40 to 50 feet of water off the center wall of the Harbor of Refuge. The sea-bass bite there is improving. Fluke fishing is getting better off the Pink House in Misquamicut, said McEvoy.
8. Scup fishing is excellent from Narragansett to Stonington, Conn., but the fluke fishing has slowed.
9. OFFSHORE: Anglers fishing aboard Fred Bowman's charter boat, Bottom Line, caught two mako sharks Tuesday. Bowman said he started the day trolling, but caught the fish after establishing a chum slick near the 750 line. Bill Sousa, fishing aboard Big Boy II, caught a 60-pound wahoo on the south side of the Dump this week, according to Elisa Jackman of Snug Harbor Marina. She said that mahi are biting in the same area.
10. Offshore fishing has been inconsistent generally, Jackman said, although the Fish Tails and Hudson Canyon have produced some yellowfin tuna and swordfish. Anglers have been catching yellowfin in the 500 square, Jackman said. Tuesday, Craig Snow of Block Island Fishworks covered about 600 square miles of water in a small airplane and didn't see any fish. Bowman said there is plenty of bait and clean water offshore, but gamefish are scarce, and when you do find them, they're concentrated in very small pods.
11. BLOCK ISLAND:Fishing with JM Swienton and John Swienton of Twin Maples Tuesday evening, Lauren Sheehan of Lincoln caught one striper after another on poppers right off Black Rock. "They would not touch an eel," John Swienton said, "but you'd throw a popper, and as soon as it hit the water, they were all over it." His son, JM, caught one fish that measured 50 inches. They were fishing over 17 to 24 feet of water, starting at about 6:45 p.m. "It was phenomenal fishing," the elder Swienton said, "and there was not another boat out there."
12. Bass fishing is great one day, but slow the next, said Snow at Block Island Fishworks. Surf fishermen have been casting pencil poppers and walking plugs to catch fish between 30 and 40 pounds off the south side of the island. Charter boats were catching bass on Southwest Ledge yesterday, said Henault, but they had to work for the fish.
13. Fluke fishing has been pretty good off Charlestown Beach and inside the Coast Guard channel when the boat traffic subsides, and bonito are beginning to appear inside the channel.
    
14. BEST BITES:Narragansett to Stonington by boat: Bass, bluefish, bonito, fluke, scup & Block Island: Striped bass, fluke