Newsday 6/30/06

Fishing Forecast
Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Publication date: 2006-06-30


Jun. 30--1.Western Long Island Sound: Striped bass continue to mob the area with plenty of fish in the 20-30 pound range and R&G in Port Washington reporting a 38-pounder. The action is almost exclusively on fresh bunker chunks and live bait. Jack's B&T in City Island reported anglers are limiting on fluke to 5 pounds at the points using bucktails with squid and spearing. Porgy fishing is strong.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: Four Winds in Huntington Station reported super fluke action with loads of sand eels and anglers having no trouble reaching limits. The pool fish on the Huntington open boats is typically between 4 and 6 pounds with outstanding action. Bass are biting well though the weather limited anglers last week. Porgies are shallow which is good for beach fishing but tough for anglers drifting worms for bass.

3. Smithtown Bay: Tony DeVito and his buddy limited on fluke to 6 pounds and had porgies to 2 pounds while Mike Mastrogiacomo and Rich Cunes had fluke to 25 inches off West Meadow, according to Swaine's B&T in St. James. Dave Ciotti used live killies off Short Beach to take a limit of fluke to 20 inches, a few bluefish to 4 pounds and a 14-pound striper.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: An intense fluke bite with many anglers limiting out on fish to 6 pounds and plenty of juicy keepers in the 3-4 pound range for the open boats out of Port Jeff. The sand eels keep the fluke feeding through all conditions. Many say it's the best fluke action in at least 10 years. Fluke has been pretty disappointing in other parts of LI, but from Oyster Bay to Rocky Point it is tremendous.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: A nice bite along the Sound side from Goldsmith Inlet to Orient with anglers working the surf with poppers and wooden plugs for keeper bass and blues, according to Wego Fishing in Southold. A lot of big porgies on that side as well. The Gut and Race are producing strong bluefish with a few keeper bass during the day, and at night the bite turns to stripers.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Some decent fluke action by the Ruins in the last few days, with anglers using squid and spearing or live killies to flush out the keepers. Bluefishing in the bay is a sure thing with a diamond jig or small shad; just find the birds working. Most of the fish are cocktail size.

7. Montauk Point: The Marine Basin Shark Tournament brought 10 fish to the scales, but no threshers for the first time in a few years. Most of the action was far offshore. Fish On took first place with a 315-pound blue shark and Tuna Tangler had a 192 mako. Striped bass action is excellent as Amanda had a 38.4-pounder on the Venture and Freddie's B&T reported some keepers from the surf, mostly on night tides.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Every so often the fluke bite has a pulse, like when the ocean lit up for the Shinnecock Star on Saturday with fish to 6 pounds, but then it fades again. Wind and fog this week did little to boost angler participation, according to Molnar's Landing, but Tom, Wayne and Al had stripers in the inlet to 18 pounds.

9. Moriches Bay: Mastic B&T reported good striped bass action on clams and a solid bite of sea bass and ling on the outside reef and wrecks when conditions allow anglers to get there. Fluking in the bay is decent; Bob hit a limit of fluke between buoys 27 and 29, according to Silly Lily's in East Moriches.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Billy Sorrese drilled a 40.71-pound striper on live bunker off South Beach and fishing buddy Dave Gagliano took a 27.8-pounder, according to Augie's B&T in Babylon. Peter Mack picked up a 15-pounder fly fishing in the inlet. Bluefish are spread about and the fluke bite from West Channel to the bridge picked up with some nice keepers. Fluke are biting outside southwest of the inlet but dogfish are a nuisance.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Paul on the Emily S had a 37-pound striper on live bunker in the inlet and anglers have been using bunker and clam chum from the Meadowbrook to the Wantagh bridge for nice keepers, according to Woodcleft Fishing Station. Sam Agro took a 223-pound mako while releasing another 150-pounder around the Schooner. Fluke has been slow but a few keepers have come off the Lido Golf Course in Reynolds Channel.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Pete and crew on the Fish On battled the dogfish at the Mudhole before moving to the Virginia for a 214-pound thresher, according to Bay Park Fishing Station. Bill, Randy, Les and Ronnie had 17 keeper-sized stripers to 41 inches off Rockaway using fresh clams in about 35 feet of water and Capt. Jack of Jesse James charters fished the back bays for a 28-pound bass and nice blues on clams.

13. New York Bight: Joe and Vin from Bernie's B&T in Sheepshead Bay had a first-hand report of strong fluke action on the open boat The Angler with fish to nearly 8 pounds. Mike Bordes and Bob Heney also had fish over 7 on the half-day trip in the bay.

NY Newsday

1. Western Long Island Sound: Jack's B&T in City Island reported striped bass in the 20-pound class and said the big 40-pound cows have been coming to anglers trolling wire. That means the fish are deep and on the bottom, so make sure the chunks get all the way down. A burst of bluefish hit the area this week around the bridges and fluke to 4 pounds have been caught off Harts Island.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: The coolers lined up outside Four Winds B&T in Huntington Station yesterday as the shop weighed five fish over 20 pounds by 10 a.m. with Tim Lober's 26-pounder leading the way. Most action is in Cold Spring Harbor but there are fish in the Triangle and inside Huntington Bay. Charlie Burk had a 7.38-pound fluke off Asharoken.

3. Smithtown Bay: Steve from the BLT CafA© in St. James took a 14.5-pound striper from the mouth of Stony Brook Harbor using worms and Swaine's B&T in St. James had reports of bass to 15 pounds with bluefish mixed in at the Nissequogue. Most stripers are on clams or worms but some anglers are using bucktails and plugs.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Anthony Caputo hooked a 7-pound fluke on the Celtic Quest on Sunday, and like the other keepers it was stuffed with sand eels. There was also a report that a local dragger pulled a 20-pound fluke near Buoy 11. The Capt. Bob fleet in Mattituck continued to mash the keeper fluke with fish to 8 pounds. Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported huge shad in the Sound with 25-pound stripers feeding on them and bluefish along the beaches.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: Steady fluke as the Peconic Star reported 60-80 keepers per day, including last week's 11-pounder. Bernie Osofsky had an 8-pounder last week then returned Monday for a 7.35-pounder, and Choi Duk Il had a 6.85-pounder on Wednesday. There have been one or two tough nights for bass in the Gut and Race, but overall the fishing has been excellent.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Lots of life in the bay. The weakfish arrived and anglers are taking fish to 12 pounds from Jessups to the Greenlawns, according to Wego Fishing. Bluefish are buzzing all over. Stripers are hitting in Jessups. Anthony Capasso caught a 6.41-pound fluke on Tuesday, one of many 4-6 pounders.

7. Montauk Point: George Bowman nailed a 42.5-pound striper from the surf on Monday and the bass fishing has been good according to Johnny's Tackle Shop in Montauk. The charter boats are diamond jigging and trolling for their limits and the big open boats start their nighttime eel fishing trips this weekend. Lots of fluke with plenty of shorts and a few sea bass. Many charters have openings this weekend.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Ocean fluking had fizzled with the storms but as things settled the fishing returned. The Shinnecock Star had fish up to 8 lbs., 6 oz right outside the inlet. Molnar's Landing reported Willard and Mary Huber have averaged 15 flounder a day this week in the nearby creek.

9. Moriches Bay: The final weekend of flounder season promises to be a very good one. Silly Lily's in East Moriches reported that the best action should be early in the morning. Worms and mussels have been working very well between buoys 15 and 21. Stripers are being caught in the east and west cuts on clams and lures. Anglers after fluke could find them at the warmer water around buoy 7.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Conditions dictate how the Captree boats make out on night striper trips. The Laura Lee had 15 fish over 20 pounds on Monday, including Steve Wilitus' 29- and 23-pounders, while on Tuesday with more wind Cole Rudnick limited out with a 22-pounder amid slow action. By Wednesday it picked back up and Chris Fogione had a 30-pounder. Fluke action is frenzied but keepers are absent. There are sea bass to 5 A1 2 pounds.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Ed Haran caught a 30-pound striper off Long Beach using chunks yesterday, according to Scotty's Fishing Station in Point Lookout. There are some keeper fluke mixed with the shorts in the bay and out in the ocean. Jose Rodriguez hooked a 12-pound blackfish using fiddler crabs off the Point Lookout jetty. Blackfish season closes Wednesday.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Clams are the bait for striped bass with Bay Park Fishing Station reporting action at the Rockaway Reef and the Atlantic Beach Bridge. The Fish On reported six keeper-size fish to 28.5 pounds over the weekend and the Valiant had lots of action with a pair of keepers. An occasional keeper fluke pops up, but the sea bass are a better bottom bite.

13. New York Bight: Striped bass fishing is terrific for the Sheepshead Bay boats and while fluking has been tough there are plenty of sea bass, blackfish and ling to pick at. Don't forget the Noreast.com Striped Bass Memorial Classic this weekend where the angler with the two heaviest fish between 30 and 34 inches could win $10,000. [Newsday Tom Rock]

PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Shad run is dud, fishermen claim

Shad run is dud, fishermen claim [By Dan Shapley, Poughkeepsie Journal]

John Mylod found nothing in his nets Wednesday and gave up fishing for shad early. He turned to working out knots and repairing holes in hopes they catch more next year.

"It's not so much the season. It's the few shad that are out there," the Poughkeepsie fisherman said. "We used to fish past Mother's Day."

Shad fishing on the Hudson River reached new lows this year. The number of crews trying to catch the Hudson's only remaining commercial fish declined. Most who did fish didn't catch much.

Coastwide, the story was the same, said Christopher Letts, an educator for the Hudson River Foundation. He buys shad for the annual shad festivals, and his suppliers reported slim harvests from South Carolina to Connecticut.

"The season is terrible. I've never seen it so bad," said Kevin Coons, a Hyde Park resident who for 15 years has taken time off each spring to fish for American shad. "I've had a lot of people stopping by. I've had restaurants stopping by. Restaurants can't get them from their suppliers."

Last year, about a dozen boats fished for shad, the largest of the river herring. This year, it was closer to 10.

Roe is coveted

Shad's Latin name means "most delicious herring." Its notoriously bony flesh deters many. It takes an expert to fillet a shad and remove the bones. Its roe is a delicacy as passionately loved by enthusiasts as it is reviled by its detractors.

Bill Collier, a Wappingers Falls resident, has looked for the fresh catch from the river ever since tasting roe at a VFW dinner in Cold Spring. He was sorry to hear about the early end to the season, since he hadn't had a meal yet.

"I'm disappointed to hear the news," he said.

Commercial fishing on the Hudson has been in decline for decades. PCB pollution makes most species of fish illegal to sell, and unsafe to eat, according to state advisories.

Shad are the exception because they spawn briefly in the river, eat little, then return to the ocean or die. Yet, a number of insults have contributed to a decline in shad numbers.

PCBs and other pollutants may harm fish directly. Acres of spawning habitat have been destroyed. Thousands of eggs and larvae are killed by power plants drawing cooling water from the river. Zebra mussels invaded the river 15 years ago and have since filtered so much plankton from the water that young shad leave the river smaller, weaker and more prone to predation. Intense industrial ocean fishing at the river mouths was only banned last year. And fisheries managers have favored the striped bass, the voracious predator at the heart of a recreational fishery that now eclipses the commercial.

This is the second year since interstate fisheries managers banned off-shore fishing that had decimated the shad population. Whether it results in a resurgence in Hudson River shad remains to be seen, since shad born in coastal estuaries mature for four or five years in the Atlantic before returning.

"It'll be another couple years before we see," Mylod said.

Bobby Gabrielson Sr., whose family has fished out of Nyack for decades, catches the smaller river herring, bluebacks and alewives that striped bass anglers use for bait. They hardly fished for shad this year, but caught them when they tried. He was the lone fisherman of several interviewed who said shad were abundant.

"I'm telling you, the shad were there. They were there last year too," Gabrielson said. "They stopped the intercept fishery on the coast. Now, I'm getting calls from Cape May, N.J. A guy from Philadelphia came all the way up here for shad. That's the demand for this stuff now."

Restoring shad coastwide is a goal of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. On the Hudson, it's a priority for the state's Hudson River Estuary Program.

"This is one of our signature species, and it is our goal to restore them to their historic high levels," said Fran Dunwell, coordinator of the estuary program. "We have our work cut out for us."

There are no shad festivals scheduled in Dutchess or Ulster counties this year. The Hudson River Foundation will host a festival Saturday at Memorial Park, Depew Avenue in Nyack, Rockland County. Next weekend, festivals are planned in Catskill, Greene County and Croton, Westchester County. Visit www.hudsonriver.org for information.

Providence Journal 5/12/06

1. BAY:When there's a break in the weather, striped bass are rolling on the surface outside of Bristol Harbor and along Prudence and Patience Islands, especially near Potter Cove and Providence Point, said Billy Silvia, skipper of the charter boat Can't Imagine. Wednesday evening, Silvia caught 34- to 40-inch bass in the Seekonk River. Jim White, skipper of the charter boat White Ghost, says the Providence River is loaded with stripers. He also recommends the waters off Barrington and Poppasquash Point in Bristol.
2. This is the time of month when Ed Hughes starts finding large schools of large stripers in the waters off Conanicut Point. The fish tend to be just beneath the surface, and they'll hit flies, Slug-Gos and hard-plastic lures. He said bass have been hitting flies in East Greenwich Harbor near the Goddard Park boat ramp. Nearby, Dave Sanford has been catching a lot of stripers and some squeteague at Sally Rock, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle.
3. In Middletown, Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle said schoolies to keeper-sized bass are biting at First and Second Beaches early in the morning and in the evening. They're taking small poppers, Slug-Gos and Storm Wildeye Shad. A bit up the Bay, anglers are taking fish as large as 26 pounds on squid, he said.
4. Tautog are biting from Sachuest Point to the Stone Bridge in Tiverton, Toland said. He also recommended fishing the rocks at Fort Adams, Ocean Drive and the Mount Hope Bridge. The bite has improved in Bristol Narrows, said Henault.
5. BEACHES AND SALT PONDS:Fran Sawicki, the dean of Point Judith Pond, has been catching flounder, but it hasn't been easy, he said. "I caught four real nice flounder [Tuesday], but I had to work for them," he said. I caught them in 4 feet of water, and they were nice, fat fish. I got four on Sunday, but I had to look for them. They're in places where they haven't been before. Two weeks ago, I got my four fish in 25 minutes, but they're much harder to find since the weather turned cold." Stripers as large as 35 pounds are holding in the deeper holes of the pond. Sawicki cuts 6-inch, motor-oil Slug-Gos in half and uses the tail ends to catch the bass. Three- to 4-pound bluefish have appeared in the pond, too. "My gut tells me this is going to be a phenomenal year," Sawicki said.
6. Quonochontaug Pond holds bass and tautog, said Don Cameron of Captain Don's Bait & Tackle. He weighed an 18-pound striper Wednesday morning. The fish hit a squid-colored Gag's It's Alive lure at the boat ramp on the breachway. Tautog, as large as 7 pounds, are biting worms.
7. Fluke are biting in the waters from the fish trap at Point Judith to Green Hill Beach, Cameron said. Thom Pelletier of Quaker Lane Outfitters said the fish are in 35 feet of water one day and in much deeper areas on other days.
8. PARTY BOATS:Squid fishing has been excellent aboard the Frances Fleet boats, their skippers report.
9. Cod fishing is slow, but fluke fishing along the beaches is excellent, even though there aren't any jumbo fluke being caught. When cod fishing did improve a little on Sunday, the largest fish taken was a 25-pounder.
10. FRESHWATER:"All this rain will raise water levels on our rivers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," Ed Lombardo said in an e-mail. "I like fishing blood worms in sizes No. 18 to No. 16 just under the surface. The worms will be washed in rivers and still waters by all the increasing volume of water. The worms are a deep to bright red in color and are tied on a scud style hook or a regular hook. I also like using all of the other flies that mimic what is still hatching, such as Mahogany Duns, Red Quills, and Black and light Tan Caddis in sizes No. 16 and No. 14. Black ants have also been good during long periods of rainfall. I like using sizes No. 16 and No. 14."
11. BEST BITES
    
12. Point Judith Pond:Striped bass, bluefish
13. Aquidneck Island shore:Striped bass, tautog
14. Prudence Island:Striped bass
15. THE TIDES:The moon causes tides and affects the activity of saltwater and freshwater fish as well as animals on land. Anglers generally find the best fishing two hours before and after a high tide, but fish and other animals also become active around the time of low tide.

Hudson River Shad

How's fishing? Depends on who's telling the tale By DAN SHAPLEY

Commercial netters on the Hudson were, with rare exception, consistent in their assessment of the 2006 shad season. It was lousy.

When it comes to dropping a hook and line in the water — whether the target was shad or striped bass — the story line was not nearly as consistent.

Spring is the time for fishing on the Hudson, as river herring like shad spawn. They are followed by the spawning striped bass, which prey on the herring.

As you're reading this, chances are Bill Emslie's sitting at White's Marina in New Hamburg, waiting for the next boat to dock and unload a striped bass. The Wappingers Falls resident organizes the annual Hudson River Striped Bass Tournament, and so he will spend this weekend weighing bass.

'Fish are scattered'

If anyone has a pulse on the season, it's him, and this is what he had to say about the year in stripers: "It depends who you talk to."

"There are fish out there now. They're scattered between here and Albany," he said. "You have to find them, and maybe you have to find the hungry ones."

Anglers have been catching bass in the 20 and 30 pound range consistently, he said. He expects one more than 40 pounds to take the prize today.

When it comes to shad, some anglers said they have had a lot more luck than the commercial netters.

"Not many people consider a rod and reel when they think of American shad. Since Colonial times, shad had been the providence of commercial fishermen," Tom Lake, a naturalist for the Hudson River Estuary Program and a fisherman, said.

"In the last 25 years, however, they have slowly become a darling species, albeit for only about three weeks, of a select number of dedicated anglers looking for a world-class fishing experience in the Hudson River."

The best fishing for shad is probably done, as the spawning run nears its end and the rain makes the water muddy. Shad strike by sight so anglers need clear water, Lake said.

If shad are under-appreciated as a sport fish, river herring are all but ignored.

Shad's smaller cousins, the bluebacks and alewives, have been scarce, many fishermen have said. Some catch them to eat, but the biggest harvest supports the bait needs of the trophy bass hunters.

There's no good data on herring caught in the Hudson, but many say their decline has been steep and persistent, just as it has been elsewhere on the East Coast.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts banned all herring fishing this year, following the lead of Connecticut. Other states have set restrictions of various kinds as well.

There's a growing chorus of voices suggesting, quietly, New York should follow suit, though others say herring don't need such aggressive restrictions.

Rob Marshall, who works at his parents' bait and tackle shop, Fisherman's World, in Wappingers Falls, said fishing for the popular bait needs to be stopped.

"We're going to have to," he said. "The only reason the stripers come up here is for the herring. They follow their food up here because that's where the herring spawn." [Poughkeepsie Journal by Dan Shapley]

Fluke 18-inch rule negates the bounty -- Newsday.com

• Anyone interested in catching fluke on opening day last weekend was in luck. The fish were biting hard and fast. But anyone interested in keeping fluke had a much tougher time as the 18-inch regulation relegated some otherwise very big fish to throwbacks and left many anglers frustrated.
• The distance between 17 1/2 and 18 inches never seemed as great as it did this week. So many fish were just-shorts, forcing fisherman to first squint at the lines on the ruler, then wince at the idea of tossing the catch back. The good news is that in another few weeks, those fish will be big enough to find their way to someone's plate. By the end of the summer, the 16-inch fish will probably be long enough to keep. The bad news is that fluke season ends in early September, so any fish smaller than 16 inches this week won't likely reach the regulation by the time the recreational fishing ends.
• While many anglers were tossing fluke over the side as if they were bailing water from the engine room, there were a few locations where keepers were plentiful. Just outside Shinnecock Inlet on opening day, the Shinnecock Star found plenty of 18-inch fish. Bill Nixon had a 9-pound, 4-ounce, fish Saturday afternoon to go with an 8-pounder and a 6-pound, 8-ounce fluke by other anglers on the trip. On Sunday, Mike Chan hooked a 9-pound, 2-ounce fluke. In the Greenlawns area off Shelter Island, Bill Joyce caught a 10.44-pounder and Wego Fishing in Southold weighed about five fish of more than 8 pounds from that same area during the weekend.
• Eighteen inches will be a difficult benchmark to meet throughout the summer. Heck, it was difficult to meet this week. But it is still early for productive fluke fishing in many areas. Sure, anglers may have to alter their techniques or their locations to put some filets on the table this year. But fishermen who know their craft and put in their time will find the keeper fish. That's the one constant in fishing. [Tom Rock NY Newsday]

NY Newsday 5/12/06

1. Western Long Island Sound: The stripers continue to hit hard as R&G in Port Washington reported action on everything from live bunker to pencil poppers with fish to 25 pounds in the bay. Jack's B&T in City Island weighed a 34.5-pound bass taken between the Throgs Neck and Whitestone. A few bluefish are moving in, mostly in the Sound, and some bottom anglers are still finding blackfish or flounder.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: Decent striper activity with fish to 23 pounds taken from Cold Spring Harbor and keepers off Eatons Neck and in the Triangle, according to Four Winds in Huntington Station. The big excitement was over sightings of mackerel schools yesterday morning; the bluefish should be right behind them. Fluking has been steady with keepers up to 21 inches, and Bill Joyce brought a 10.44-pound fluke into Four Winds that was caught off the Greenlawns of Shelter Island.

3. Smithtown Bay: A lot of fish to catch but not a whole lot to keep. Most of the striped bass are schoolies with a few up to 30 inches, and they are coming on clams and worms according to Swaine's B&T in St. James. The fluke have also been short as anglers reported many 17-inch throwbacks on squid and spearing or sand eel and squid combos.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported small striped bass taking cinder worms in the harbors while bigger fish have been working clams and worms off the beaches. The fluke opener saw plenty of action, but not a lot of keepers unless you went to the east. Bluefish are starting to pop up.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: A very steady fluke bite with about a 50-50 keeper ratio and the bigger fish in the 5-7 pound range. Capt. Mike of the Prime Time III said Tom McKeever had a 7.5 pounder on opening day. Look for the doormats to start coming up this weekend with the full moon. The moon should trigger some striped bass and bluefish action in the Gut and Race, too.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: A nice flow of keeper fluke marched into Wego Fishing in Southold this weekend. Jean Rogers was first to hit the scales on Saturday with 7.4 and 6.5 pounders. Mr. Swiskey had a 10.85-pounder taken off Greenport and Jeff Mayo caught a 9.1-pounder on the Isabella. Linda Riedner brought in fluke of 8.15 and 6.95 pounds on Saturday and had a 13.55-pound weakfish on Monday.

7. Montauk Point: A lot of fluke coming up just short of the 18-inch regulation, but they'll grow to keeper size by the middle of June. The action is top-notch and there are nice fish to 7 pounds along with steady blackfish. Johnny's Tackle Shop in the Village reported sparse striper action for the boats but surfcasters under the light and at Ditch Plains have found some good schoolie action.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Fluke season opened with a bang as Bill Nixon took a 9 lb., 4 oz. fish on opening day Saturday and there were other fish over 8 pounds on the Shinnecock Star. Capt. John reported the bite was just outside the inlet in 25-55 feet of water and while it was furious action at times with some shorts and fish from 3-5 pounds, the bigger fish generally came during slower paces.

9. Moriches Bay: Flounder action was hitting a peak last weekend before the weather kept most anglers on land this week. Silly Lily's reported Kenny Dinkel and Phil Kelly found a nice pod of fish around buoy 15 with the biggest flounder at 2.48 pounds. The action has been between buoys 14 and 20 and should continue through the month.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Capt. Ken of the Laura Lee reported terrific striper action at the bridges on Tuesday night. Ten anglers hooked about 100 fish and Jim Brown had 16 keeper-sized fish. Augie's in Babylon reported similar bass highlights as Conrad weighed a 25.3-pounder on Sunday with most of the action on live bunker.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Anglers who ran outside for live bunker then brought them back inside for fishing in the rips and off the jetties found nice striped bass from 15-25 pounds over the weekend, according to Woodcleft Fishing Station in Freeport. The Codfather has been limiting out on keeper bass at Debs using clams. Boats on the reef have been finding sea bass from 4-5 pounds.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Bay Park Fishing Station reported Gene Tripodo decided to throw some bucktails during his lunch break on Wednesday, made four casts and pulled up a 4.42-pound fluke. There have been some fluke to 22 inches on squid and spearing. Striped bass action has been very good and Hans Coflesh had a 6.26-pound sea bass from Rockaway Reef.

13. New York Bight: Premier striped bass action in Raritan on bunker chunks and live baits with fish to 30 pounds and up gobbling the bait. Jamaica Bay is also seeing its share of 20-25 pounders, especially around the bunker schools. The Angler in Howard Beach reported lots of just-short fluke in the bay along with some fat keepers to 5 pounds.

NY Newsday, 10/7/05

1. Western Long Island Sound: It's still mostly bluefish, but a few bass have been found underneath the schools and the cooler weather projected for this weekend should make the stripers more accessible. Jack's in City Island reported big blues to 12 pounds behind Execution and keeper blackfish in the rocks off Rye.

2. Huntington / Northport bays: The bluefish action inside the harbors is still terrific with 6-10 pound fish taking chunks or plugs, and the fish are biting outside the bays as well. More and more keeper bass are being chunked in the Triangle, according to Four Winds, but striper-minded anglers are still fighting through bluefish. Porgy fishing has improved with some limits and fish to 2 pounds. They're in varying depths from north of Buoy 13 to 11B.


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3. Smithtown Bay: John Manning caught a 42-inch, 30-pound striper on eels in Nissequogue early Tuesday morning according to Swaine's B&T in St. James, which weighed in some bass during the week, including a 21-pounder from Ken Koch and a 31-inch keeper from Bill Higgins. Dave Ciotti limited on fluke on Sunday at the mouth of the river with fish to 19 on live killies, then took a 17-pound bass from the surf off Long Beach on Monday.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported that most surf action is for bluefish but some keeper bass are at the Wading River creek and off Sound Beach when the wind blows from the north. The Port Jeff open boats are slamming the porgies to 3 pounds.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: Ask Joseph Kazzola if the bass are biting; he caught a 25.05-pounder on a porgy hook near the Orient lighthouse Wednesday night when the scup he was reeling up turned into bait. The fish was weighed at Wego Fishing in Southold along with the 37.5-pounder taken by Ed Plaia in the Race on the charter Relentless on Tuesday. Chris Papas had a 24.5 and a 35 pounder off Hortons using live eels during the day on Sunday. And John Kowalski had opening day blackfish to 7 pounds near Plum Island.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: The porgies are still biting hard and fast all over the region, and they should be doing so for the rest of the month. Bluefish and a few small weakfish are running throughout the bay. Not many anglers are interested, but those who put in their time can pluck some keeper fluke.

7. Montauk Point: The boats are loading up on big stripers and bluefish, mixing live baits with trolling and bailing bass to 50 pounds. The surf crowd is hoping for a nice northeast wind to push some action their way. Offshore action is still strong as the Capt. Mark charter for Rick Uidell had four blue sharks to 300 pounds, a 90-pound mako and eight bluefin from 50-90 pounds according to Jack Yee. A day earlier the Capt. Mark hooked what may have been an 800-pound giant bluefin tuna that fought for 25 minutes before dropping the hook.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Capt. John on the Shinnecock Star reports nice action on blackfish and porgies this week, though the blackfish bite may fade when the porgies become super-aggressive this month. The tog will be back, though. Most of the fluke action has faded. Stripers in the inlet are biting well.

9. Moriches Bay: B&B Tackle reported striped bass in the inlet to 41 pounds, the big one taken on an eel during a daytime outgoing tide. The artificial reef has been holding nice keeper sea bass but the blackfish aren't biting yet despite a few keepers taken along the jetties on opening day. The bay is loaded with kingfish and the snappers are still active enjoying the warm waters.

10. Great South Bay / Fire Island Inlet: Bass fishing has picked up with fish to 29 pounds being taken in the bay according to Augie's in Babylon. Live bait is the key with bunker or scup during the day and eels at night. Bass are starting to hit surfcasters as well. Sore Thumb is holding porgies, sea bass and flounder and the bay has keeper blackfish biting. Some anglers have been finding fluke in the ocean, but in deep water that can be a ride from the inlet.

11. Jones Inlet / Western Bays: Scotty's Fishing Station reported big bass in the bay with some 35-pounders being taken on live baits like porgies and sea bass. The bass outside the inlet are hungry too but not as big yet and the bridges are producing keepers on clams with bellies for bait. Kingfish, sea bass and porgies are in the bay and a few blackfish are starting to show.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Seven-year-old Dominick Simonelli and his dad fished Reynolds Channel with baby bunker for a limit of weakfish to nearly 4 pounds this week, according to Bay Park Fishing Station. Some keeper bass taking clam bellies at the Atlantic Beach Bridge mixed with some nice schoolie action. Pat Stewart had a dozen sea bass to 4 pounds and a 3-pound porgy on fresh clams at Rockaway Reef on Wednesday.

13. New York Bight: The Angler reported weakfish action on sandworms with some customers limiting out and fish around 6 pounds. Bottom fishing is at its best now with porgies, sea bass and keeper blackfish coming up. The cooler temperatures this week should flick the switch from bluefish to bass.

RI 10/7/05

This has been one of the strangest weeks in memory. You could go to a spot one day and catch fish after fish. Go to the same spot on the same tide in the same weather conditions the next day, and you couldn't find a fish. The predicted cold front and a weekend storm may stir up an autumn bite.

This is the final Fishing Report of the season, but Outdoor Notes in Sunday's Providence Journal will continue to report on fishing and hunting opportunities. Small-game hunting season is scheduled to open Oct. 15 in Rhode Island.

BAY

The Providence and Seekonk rivers have been fairly reliable with a steady bluefish bite, according to David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Fish as large as 15 pounds have been biting there. Stripers move in and out of the rivers unpredictably. Yesterday morning, hickory shad were taking small darts in the Providence River.

Greenwich Bay holds bluefish, weakfish and stripers, said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle, but the bite is spotty. Shore fishermen have been catching blues and squeteague on Kastmasters, he said. Stripers have been nailing Creek Chubs and tube-and worm rigs.

Early in the week the waters on the east side of Providence Point and off Pine Hill Point were hot, but the fish disappeared later in the week. The striper bite has been fairly consistent for trollers off Brenton Point, said Kevin Kendrick of Edwards Fishing Tackle.

Small squid have appeared in Newport Harbor; jigging after 9 p.m. has been the most productive.

In the lower Bay, blues were stacked up beneath the Newport Bridge, but they vanished with the high-pressure system. Look for them to return to the bridges and the waters between Quonset and Conanicut points after the weekend.

On the Sakonnet River, tautog and small bluefish have been biting in Tiverton Basin, said Joe Latinville of Riverside Marine. Blackfish were biting near the BT marker between Sabin Point and and Port Edgewood yesterday, said Henault.

Bonito and false albacore are mixed among schools of bluefish off Little Compton, said Latinville.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Striper fishing came to a virtual halt after the midweek. There are still bass in the salt ponds, said Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle, but it will take a cold front to get the fish moving and biting.

Steve McKenna and Bill Nolan have experienced very slow fishing in the Narragansett surf this week. A storm could stir up some activity, McKenna said.

OFFSHORE

The bluefin bite improved in the Mud Hole this week, said Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, but the fish are finicky, requiring 30-pound fluorocarbon leaders. They're larger at the Fingers, he said.

At the Fish Tails, yellowfin and albacore tuna are biting along with mahi-mahi.

BLOCK ISLAND

Surf fishing has been a challenge, said Steve McKenna, but David Henault reported that fishing was good for Mike Neto and Bill Curran on the south side of the island Wednesday.

FRESHWATER

Most ponds are too warm and many streams are too low for the traditional Columbus Day trout stocking, said Peter Angelone, supervising biologist who oversees Rhode Island's trout program. He said his staff would probably stock the Beaver, Flat and Falls rivers this week, and the Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited is scheduled to float-stock the Wood River tomorrow.

"The Wood is fishing very well even though the water level is still very low," Ed Lombardo said in an e-mail. "In addition to the usual patterns that work so well this time of year -- Blue-Wing Olives and terrestrial patterns -- one of the most exciting phenomena that takes place every year at this time are the swarms of flying ants. Look for them to start falling on the water around 2:30 p.m. The fish will be everywhere, coming up and feeding on these flying ants very aggressively. I use both red and black imitations in sizes No. 18 and No. 14. I prefer tying these imitations with black and cinnamon colored rabbit fur for the body and brown furnace hackle in the center. The wings can be either CDC or dun hackle tips. After the first frost of the year, the warm fall afternoons brings the ants to the water. Wasps and small hoppers are still working well."

Yesterday morning, largemouth bass as large as 17 inches were taking shiners near the bridge on Stump Pond in Smithfield, said David Henault.

TOURNAMENT

Snug Harbor Marina's Bass and Bluefish Boogie is scheduled to start tomorrow at the marina in South Kingstown. Registration will begin this afternoon. Prizes include savings bonds and fishing tackle. The entry fee is $25 per rod. For more information, call (401) 783-7766.

BEST BITES

Newport:

Bass, bluefish, squid

Sakonnet River:

Bluefish, tautog

Wood River:

Trout

NY Newsday, 9/29/05

1. Western Long Island Sound: Bluefish are still biting heavily between the bridges and in the harbors, but they are starting to make room for the stripers. Yesterday, Andrew weighed a 30-pounder at Jack's in City Island, one of three 20-plus pounders he and his crew caught on bunker heads Wednesday night. Porgies aren't thick and a few anglers have found blackfish the last week or so; that season opens tomorrow.

2. Huntington/Northport bays: The James Joseph didn't sail yesterday, and it hardly needed to. The morning crew showed up and pegged bluefish 7-10 pounds right off the tied-up boat and from the Huntington Town Dock. George from Four Winds called this bluefishing "phenomenal" with action in every corner of the region. A few stripers are mixed in deeper water, 50 feet by Buoy 11B. And Four Winds weighed a 2.69-pound porgy for Nader Gerbin taken off the Brushpile at Eatons Neck.

3. Smithtown Bay: Bluefish are thick and strong to 9 pounds. Rocco had porgies to 2 pounds and a 24-inch sea bass last week before the bluefish chased everything away and he started whacking them, according to Swaine's B&T. Schoolie and keeper bass are inside the mouth of Stony Brook Harbor and there was a report of a 30-pounder taken by the big rock off Short Beach.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Rocky Point Fishing Station reported John's 15-pound bluefish caught on a bunker at Broadway Beach. There are some big porgies in the water and nice bluefish at Middle Grounds - the Port Jeff open boats are hammering both. Surfcasters around Hortons are getting nice bass and bluefish.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: Capt. Dave Brennan of the Peconic Star said porgy fishing has hit a stride the last week with big fish looking to chew. The hungry scup are taking all baits and average 14-15 inches and crowding out the sea bass and blackfish for the time being. Surfcasters are hitting nice stripers all along the Sound.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: A few spotty weakfish are still hanging around, according to Wego Fishing, but the porgies and bluefish are dominating the local bite. Jessups and Cedar Point are good places to start looking for them. The birds will tell you where the bluefish are. Most fluke anglers have packed it up for the season, but there are still some nice fish being taken by Tobacco Lot.

7. Montauk Point: John Bruno won the Montauk Surf Classic last weekend with a 33.66-pound striper and Richie Michelsen had the top bluefish at 11.28 pounds. Matt Vega took a 41.36-pound bass to lead the Montauk Locals Tournament, according to Freddie's B&T. Miles of bluefish and albacore were lined up this week from the inlet to the point, providing the boaters and flycasters some joy. Offshore action for sharks and tuna has been steady. Wind and weather will start to keep some boats tied up as we get further into fall.

8. Shinnecock Bay: John Bourgal caught a 26-pound bass in the inlet this week, according to Molnar's Landing, a nice signal that the fall season is here. The false albacore dancing around the inlet are giving flyrodders a fight. Most fluke have moved from the bay to the ocean. Some sea bass and porgies are hanging around.

9. Moriches Bay: The inlet is filling with striped bass as Mastic B&T reported customers seeing the fish jumping all over the white water and some anglers hooking up 20 fish in a trip. Plenty of keepers too, up to about 40 inches, on eels, clams and plugs. The fluke are moving from the bay and Charlie Ladella had a 9.5-pounder on its way out last week.

10. Great South Bay/Fire Island Inlet: Sore Thumb is giving anglers plenty of fish to chose from, with lots of porgies, kingfish, blowfish and sea bass. There is even an occasional flounder, according to Augie's B&T in Babylon. Stripers are taking bass in the evenings and anglers can plug schoolies in the middle of the bay during the daytime. Blues are still around in nice numbers and fluke are inside the bay but mostly shorts.

11. Jones Inlet/Western Bays: Stripers are biting clams in the bay, but hooking them in the inlet is tough because of the number of bluefish. Woodcleft Fishing Station reports nice action around the bridges on sea bass and porgies with some nice weakfish bites in the deeper holes in the bay.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Bay Park Fishing Station reports some nice weakfish action between the railroad bridge and the Long Beach Hospital, though not many of the fish are big. They are taking sandworms and live baby bunker. Some keeper bass are at the Atlantic Beach Bridge on clams. No Time Charters limited out on bluefin tuna this week with fish from 75-100 pounds for Lloyd, John, Larry and Kevin.

13. New York Bight: Weakfish are biting well in Jamaica Bay, with sandworms accounting for most of the fish to 5 pounds. There's still a fluke bite offshore and anglers are going crazy with the bluefish at Cholera and the Mud Buoy. Sea bass and porgies are also biting at their usual structures.

RI, 10/1/05

The new moon Monday could boost the bite in the lower Bay, where baitfish abound. The uppermost reaches of the Bay are already active.

BAY

Bluefish blitz the waters at Barrington Beach and Sabin Point once or twice a day, said John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle, and Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle said that blues between 6 and 12 pounds apiece are biting in Greenwich Bay. They're also biting in the Providence River, according to David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Small squeteague are mixed among the blues in Greenwich Bay.

Immature herring are pouring out of the spawning grounds now, and stripers of all sizes are waiting for them downstream in the Seekonk River at Omega Pond and in Apponaug Cove below Gorton Pond, where fish as large as 39 inches were biting Wednesday. Yesterday morning, bass had thinned out on the Seekonk, where they were replaced by bluefish. Bass as large as 30 pounds have been nailing parachute, umbrella and tube-and-worm rigs trolled near Marker 14 off Conimicut Light and in the channel near Ohio Ledge, said Littlefield. Stripers are also taking swimming plugs near the White Church Bridge in Barrington. After free-diving around Sakonnet Point Sunday, Faye Anderson said she saw several large bass against the jetty there. Bass have been biting in deep-water drop-offs off Jamestown and Newport. John Lisi continues to catch large bass before dawn in the surf at Beavertail Point.

Tautog are beginning to bite near Hope Island, and spear fishers are shooting large blackfish off Sakonnet Point.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

"The South Shore has exploded with fish from Narragansett to Westerly," writes Rob Neilson of Wildwood Outfitters. "The waters from the Narrow River to Hazard Rock hold stripers and bluefish. The stripers are taking needlefish, poppers and eels. Four- to six-inch soft plastic shads are also working, especially those that look like bunker, mullet, and red-head shad. Walter Pike caught a nice 24-pounder at Point Judith Light, and I caught a fat 28-pounder on an eel, fishing with Sea Ferra Charters." Bill Nolan has been taking a lot of large stripers along the Narragansett shore, said Steve McKenna of Quaker Lane Outfitters.

Fishing on the reefs got tough Wednesday, said charter boat skipper Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle. Bass were biting in Ninigret Pond, yesterday morning, however. A cold front should help the fishing, he said.

Among this week's top catches were a 49-pound bass taken by Bill Gavitt and a 52-pounder landed by Bob Wheeler, said Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.

McKenna said little tunny have been biting along all three walls on the Harbor of Refuge.

PARTY BOATS

"Captain Don found some nice bluefin tuna this week in the 70-pound range," reports Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet. "They are a little farther offshore then we would like, but they are out there. Captain Mike had a canyon trip at the end of last week and got into a good bunch of albacore and one nice yellowfin. Porgy fishing on the beach was very good with lots of really big humpback porgies around. Captain Rich is still finding a good number of fluke on the 7 a.m. trip. This is the longest season we have ever had for the jumbo fluke."

CUTTYHUNK ISLAND

Steve McKenna ran out-of Slug-Gos so he switched to Hab's Needlefish and caught 40 stripers between 20 and 37 pounds last weekend in the surf. On Saturday night, he caught 33 big bass.

BLOCK ISLAND

David Henault fished with Dave Sloane and Jason Seratin aboard Mike Neto's Adriana on Wednesday and caught bass as large as 30 pounds on light tackle. They marked fish off Southeast Point, but had difficulty catching them in the morning, so Neto moved to the western end of the south side and found the fish to be more cooperative in the afternoon, Henault said.

OFFSHORE

The bluefin bite at the Mud Hole is on and off. There are some giants there, but they haven't been biting, according to Al Conti. Don Venticinque and Craig Stevens steamed out to Cape Cod to catch giants aboard Venticinque's sportfisherman, "25."

Curt Behling caught yellowfin tuna and large mahi this week, chunking at the Fish Tails.

FRESHWATER

John Cote caught a 4-pound bass on Spectacle Pond in Cranston this week, said David Henault. Bass fishing should improve after a cold front moves through.

BEST BITES

Greenwich Bay:

Bluefish, possibly squeteague

Block Island:

Striped bass

Cuttyhunk Island:

Striped bass

Newtown Creek most polluted waterway in NY

Newtown Creek is New York City’s most polluted waterway. More than 50 years ago, a 17-million-gallon oil spill seeped below 55 acres of residential, commercial and industrial property in the area. The spill affects the communities of Maspeth, Bushwick, Greenpoint and Long Island City.
City officials first learned of the oil spill in 1950, when an underground explosion in Greenpoint shot 25 manhole covers into the air and shattered windowpanes on more than 500 buildings. It turned out that gasoline had seeped into a sewer and ignited.
It took almost 30 more years for the problem to be rediscovered. It was a Coast Guard pilot on a routine patrol who noticed the oil slick on Newtown Creek in 1978. Further investigation revealed the slick was part of a spill that originated from tanks at an Exxon facility. According to Riverkeeper, because ExxonMobil ignored the spill, it has spread. It is now six times larger than the infamous Exxon Valdez spill was in Alaska.
It was not until 1990 that ExxonMobil signed a consent order from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to clean up the mess.
But Riverkeeper has maintained that the order was inadequate since no provisions were made for cleaning the contaminated soil beneath the water’s surface and ExxonMobil was not required to pay penalties or compensate the community. An estimated 230 homes and 80 businesses are still thought to be affected by contaminated soil.
In addition to the oil spill, Empire Transit Mix, a concrete manufacturer based in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in federal court in May to illegally dumping concrete slurry into the creek. Riverkeeper also sued Maspeth Concrete Loading for similarly dumping concrete, which changes the pH balance of water and kills fish.
Riverkeeper continues to patrol the creek either in a helicopter or by boat every few weeks, and sometimes on consecutive days. Even now, with the fate of the creek highly publicized—Robert Kennedy Jr. is the organization’s chief attorney—companies still routinely dump hazardous materials. [orb pub Queens Chronicle by Kim Brown]

NY Newsday, 9/23/05

1. Western Long Island Sound: As the tune switches from fluke to porgies, the bluefish are still keeping the beat. Snappers are huge and can sometimes be taken on every cast, according to Jack's B&T. They're mixed with harbor blues and some to 10 pounds on bunker chunks. R&G Bait and Tackle reported some bass off the points at night on chunks, but nothing huge until the water cools a little more.

2. Huntington/Northport bays: Joseph Roach won the Oyster Bay Bluefish Tournament with a 12.63-pounder and there were 12 fish weighed in at more than 10 pounds. Joe Migliore won the Huntington Yacht Club Tournament with a 10.5-pounder. Four Winds reported sustained action just outside Huntington Harbor on 7-10 pound blues on diamond jigs.
3. Smithtown Bay: Swaine's reported schoolie and keeper striped bass to 35 inches in the mouth of Stony Brook Harbor on clams and worms, and customer Tadd McLaughlin nailed a 30-pounder in Port Jeff Harbor on eels. Bluefish are in and out of the channel; Bill Higgins reported drilling fish to 8 pounds while watching another boat catch keepable bass on bucktails. Porgies are off Cranes Neck and fluke are mostly short but killies have better luck finding keepers.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Snappers to cocktail blues are along the local beaches, according to Rocky Point Fishing Stop, and the false albacore are dashing around. The boats out of Port Jeff are hitting the porgies, then catching the bass and blues on the tides. The Capt. Bob fleet was banging the keeper stripers at Hortons Point, including Tom's 25-pounder that won the pool Sunday.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: A lot of pole-benders in the Gut and the Race as the fall fishing kicks off. Most of the bigger bass have been taken on the ebb at night, according to Wego Fishing, with dark bucktails and eels working well. During the day, it's a bluefish bonanza with some bass still around. Surfcasters are getting their share of the action, as well, working worms and chunks at night for nice fish.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Porgies are still strong, though once in a while a klunker of a day comes along. Bluefish are packed nicely in the bay and anglers are finding a nice run of weakfish from 12-20 pounds, especially off Rose Grove and Buoy 16 by Noyak, according to Wego Fishing.

7. Montauk Point: The caravan will be heading east this weekend for the Montauk Classic surf tournament, and just in time for the first blitzes of the season at Turtle Cove and North Bar this week. Freddie's, which will be open 24 hours for the tournament, reported loads of fish in the 20-pound range from the suds. Rick had a 52.8-pound bass weighed in off the Night Stalker, so the big guys are out there. Sharking is very steady with lots of exotics alongside the blue sharks. Eddie Ammon caught a 15-pound mako while fluking a quarter mile off the town beach.

8. Shinnecock Bay: The Shinnecock Star reported a load of big sea bass Wednesday, with some porgies mixed in. Chuck Wouters nailed an 8.5-pound fluke immortalized on Willy's Wall at Molnar's Landing. Bass are starting to turn on as John Fernandez had fish to 29 pounds. Offshore, Molnar's reported the crew on Barbaric caught five yellowfin to 75 pounds and eight albies.

9. Moriches Bay: A nice body of bass is sitting in the east and west cuts and anglers using live baits are having the best success. Silly Lily's reported decent fluking with a keeper ratio of about 1-8.

10. Great South Bay/Fire Island Inlet: Stripers are heating up in the inlet, taking eels even during the day, according to Augie's B&T. Ken Higgins on the Laura Lee reported terrific sea bass action with some triggerfish and big porgies mixed in this week. Monday's half-day trips had more than 500 keepers each. J&J Sports reported a lot of action off the Patchogue docks with snappers, kingfish and blowfish coming up.

11. Jones Inlet/Western Bays: The fluke are pushing out of the bay, and anglers are at the JI Buoy to ambush them, according to Scotty's Fishing Station. More and more striped bass are being caught, mostly on whole clams for bait with clam belly chum. Check out the action at the bridges or out on the West Bar.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: No Time Charters has been hitting the weakfish hard, sailing west to Raritan for limits to 5 pounds on sandworms and peanut bunker, according to Bay Park Fishing Station. The Reel Time took a 33-inch striper off Riis Park. The crew on Fish On made it out to the north tip of the Hudson Canyon and scored bluefish to 100 pounds chunking with sardines and herring.

13. New York Bight: The Angler reported loads of porgies and sea bass on the half-day trips, and customers who bring a spinning rod can usually snag the bonito that break around the boat on occasion. Surfcasters are itching to get at the stripers, but so far, it's been pretty slow. [NY Newsday, Tim Rock]

RI, 9/23/05

Rhode Island [org pub Providence Journal]

• BAY: Ed Noll took a 48-pound striper on a tube-and-worm rig this week, said Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle. Large fish have been striking the rigs in deep water from Elbow Ledge to Brenton Reef, he said. Anglers are catching as many as 100 stripers a night on the Seekonk River, according to David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Only three or four percent are long enough to keep, but the action is fast. Larger bass have been hitting umbrella rigs trolled over Ohio Ledge.
• Bluefish are biting throughout the Bay, but they're unpredictable. Larger blues have moved into the waters off Barrington Beach and Bristol, said John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle. Ed Hughes spotted a large school of 10- to 12-pound fish off Allen's Harbor yesterday at midmorning. Snapper blues are in all the coves and they're biting. Newport Harbor, the Newport Bridge and the waters father up the East Passage also hold blues, said Toland.
• An angler caught a 12-pound squeteague on a live scup near the No. 2 can off Bristol this week, Littlefield said. There have been a lot of small weakfish around, but this was one of the first reports of a keeper this season. Scup fishing has improved, but the fish are smaller than they have been. Sea bass are mixed among them in deeper water, said Toland. Bonito arrived in the waters off Newport Wednesday.
• BEACHES AND SALT PONDS:The waters from Whale Rock to Fishers Island are alive with gamefish.
• The big news is the arrival of little tunny and bonito: They're popping up everywhere. Fly fishermen and light-tackle anglers are catching 7- to 12-pounders on flashy flies and small lures such as Deadly Dicks and Swedish Pimples; a green Crippled Herring is deadly. The waters off Weekapaug have been especially hot.
• Striped bass are biting around dawn and dusk along most of the beaches. Don Michaud of King Cove Outfitters said boaters are taking fish on Watch Hill, Catumb and Sugar reefs. The bite has also been active off Sandy and Napatree points, and the flats in between. Bass are biting on the reefs and inside the breachways, too, but you have to get through the bluefish, said Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle.
• The bluefish bite has been reliable all day long off the Charlestown and Quonochontaug breachways.
• Fluke fishing is getting more difficult but anglers willing to work have been catching fish in 60 to 80 feet of water off Isabella Beach on Fishers Island.
• Blackfish are beginning to bite on Old Reef and Ragged Reef. They're also biting in the waters off Latimer Light, but those are New York waters, and the Empire State season doesn't open until Oct. 1.
• Reports on scup are mixed this week; Ron Mouchon said large fish have been biting on the reefs off South Kingstown, and Don Michaud said they're also biting off Stonington.
• Fishing for sea bass is slower, although there have been fish on reefs to the west of Charlestown.
• Hard-fighting jack crevalle have arrived, said Michaud. Most of them are under 6-inches, but one angler caught a pair of 14-inchers off Weekapaug on small Kastmasters.
• OFFSHORE
• Albacore tuna, between 40 and 50 pounds apiece, are biting in the waters from Atlantis Canyon across to the Fish Tails and down to the Dip, according to Sam Toland.
• The Mud Hole holds sharks and small bluefin.
• The only concentration is yellowfin is still to the east, at Oceanographers Canyon, but Toland is confident, they'll move closer.
• BLOCK ISLAND
• Reporting by cell phone from Great Salt Pond yesterday morning, Don Rafferty of Oceans & Ponds said that either little tunny or bonito were in and boiling. Both fish have been making forays in and out of the Coast Guard Channel.
• Boaters are still catching a lot of large bass and bluefish in the waters over Southwest Ledge said Ron Mouchon. Rafferty recommended the waters on the south side of island for surf casters; Southwest Point and Black Rock have been dependable all season long.
• Fluke are biting in the waters south of Southeast Point, said Mouchon.
• FRESHWATER:
• Buddy Thayer and a pal have been catching a bass between 5 and 7.4 pounds on Stump Pond in Smithfield and Echo Lake in Burrillville, Thayer reported in an e-mail. They've been using shiners.
• BEST BITES:
  
• South Shore Bluefish, bass, bonito, little tunny
• Block Island: Bluefish, bass, fluke
• Lower Bay: Bluefish
  

On The Water, 9/23/05

1. The big story this week is the arrival of false albacore in the eastern end of Long Island Sound and along the south shore beaches of Rhode Island. It is far from a sure bet with these fast-moving fish, but apparently they are around in sufficient numbers that a scouting trip of likely spots should at least produce some sightings. The best, most consistent catches are coming from Montauk Point, with other “inside” areas the usual hit or miss.
2. Since the storm, bass and bluefish activity have improved as these fish moved inshore to chow down on the super abundance of bait that seems to be everywhere in the region.
3. Steve McKenna of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown told us that the fishing has picked up considerably in the waters he and his customers have been fishing around Narragansett and along the south shore since the storm passed through over the weekend. There is tons of bait, mostly in the form of mullet and peanut bunker along the shore from Newport to Watch Hill.
4. False albacore showed up off the West and East walls at Pt. Judith, off the coastline along Narragansett and down the beaches to the Weekapaug Breachway. Fluke fishing is pretty well dead since the storm. Scup and blackfish are filling the void for bottom fishermen, with blackfish catches just starting to pick up as fall approaches. Waters are still a tad warm for this cold-loving species. Steve said it looks and feels like the fall runs are revving up already.
5. Rob at Saltwater Edge, Newport reported that the fishing is pretty good along the mouth of Narragansett Bay. He caught two 20-pounders on Sunday and another similar fish while casting the surf Tuesday evening. The bass are chasing mullet that are 6 or 7 inches in the surf from Sakonnet to Sachuest Point. Watch Hill was red-hot with albies, bass and bluefish over the weekend, according to a group of his buddies who headed down that way. There are some bigger bass around. Rob dropped a big fish on a foot-long Hab’s needlefish over the weekend. Iron Mike caught a 38-pounder on a plug he “borrowed” from Peter Graber who works at the shop. The albies seem to be biting best in the morning but disappearing toward the afternoon when they have been popping up off the breachways.
6. The bluefish in the Newport area have been bigger fish of eight pounds and up lately, as opposed to the small “snarbors” that were dominating the fishery for most of the summer.
7. Ronnie at Breachway Tackle said the bass and bluefish have been all over the breachway all week, and the false albies just showed up about two or three days ago.
8. Scup fishing has been pretty good for bigger scup along the beaches and local rock piles, but not many anglers are after them. There are tons of bait inside the breachway, more than Ronnie has ever seen. Offshore has slowed since the storm, while the action along the beaches has improved.
9. We missed Rob at Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield this week, hope he was into a blitz somewhere.
10. John Swienton, owner of Twin Maples Tackle out on Block Island, told us the island has been producing lots of bonito and false albacore in the Coast Guard Channel and vicinity. Anglers are hitting them on Deadly Dicks and Fin-S lures that, as he jokingly said, have to be “activated” at Twin Maples before they will catch anything.
11. The island is still holding big bass weighing in the low 40s for local eel slingers. Overall, the striper bite is still holding up well with big fish in the usual spots such as the southwest corner and Black Rock. Bluefish are dominating the bite at Sandy Point, but elsewhere in rocky areas stripers are the primary target and catch for those who fish the surf both from boats and the rocks.
12. Fluke slowed, but sea bass and scup are still around for bottom fishermen to catch.
13. Here like everywhere else, there are tons of bait all over the place. John said that Wednesday while at Payne’s Dock he looked in the water and saw needlefish and northern sennet (northern barracuda, a small toothy fish of about a foot in length) in good numbers swimming around near the dock. Both of these species are tidbits for bass. There are also some eight- to nine-inch baby bonito swimming around, along with anchovies that are big, up to eight inches or so, attracting the bass. Surprisingly, peanut bunker is not the primary bait at Block Island like it is every place else. But they are present along with enough big bait to maintain a great bite all fall, weather permitting.
14. A few locals have been out looking for shark and bluefin, south-southeast of the light, but there’s been no word on how they did.
15. Captain Don of Captain Don’s in Charlestown, Rhode Island reported that there are fish (bass, blues and some tunoids) all over the place. Tons of mullet have moved in since the storm’s passing on Friday, and with them have come some nice bass and loads of bluefish that are strung out from Watch Hill to Point Judith. The weekend produced phenomenal fishing, according to the customers he’s talked to. Saturday you could see people tied into fish in both directions from the Quonny Breachway. It looks like these fish are holding and not on the move due to all the bait in the area.
16. Over the weekend no one was out fluke fishing. He suspects the fluke are still around because the water temperatures are high and bait is so abundant. However, the bigger fish are of primary interest to most anglers as the fall blitzes begin to shape up over the next few weeks.
17. False albacore have been showing up off the West Wall at Point Judith. Wednesday they were in both the Charlestown and Quonny breachways, although in the morning they were not sure if the fish at Quonny were albies or bonito because no one caught one. But they were definitely tunoids of some variety. [OnThe Water, Bob Sampson]
    

RI, 9/16/05

BAY

Bluefish as large as 30 inches were blitzing butterfish on the East Providence side of the Red Bridge over the Seekonk River yesterday morning, said David Henault of Ocean State Tackle. Pods of blues have also been popping up at Green Island, Sabin Point, Barrington Beach and Colt State Park in the upper Bay, and near Halfway Rock and the Jamestown Bridge in the lower Bay. Skipjack blues are in every cove of the Bay, said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle and John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle.

Striped bass are scarce in the upper Bay, but there have been some schoolies taking clams and Storm Wild-eye Shad at the White Church Bridge in Barrington. Trollers are catching bass in the 20-pound class on the reefs off Newport, said Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle.

Yesterday morning, a diver spotted a lot of large tautog at Hope Island, Ferrara said.

The fluke bite is still fairly strong off Shepley's Dock and Conimicut Light, said Ferrara. In the lower Bay, fluke are biting between Newport and Jamestown.

Scup fishing is fair along the rocks off Newport, but the sea-bass bite is spotty.

BEACHES AND SALT PONDS

Large bluefish and bass up to 15 pounds have been feeding on peanut bunker in South County's breachways, according to Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle. The bass bite has also improved along the Narragansett shore, said Steve McKenna of Quaker Lane Outfitters. He has been fishing Slug-Go lures, and his partner, Bill Nolan, has been using live eels to catch bass in the 20-pound class at night. Bluefish have been relatively scarce after dark, they said.

Scup are biting on the slack high tide in the breachways.

Fluke fishing is waning, according to several sources.

The salt ponds are filling with exotic fish now. Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina has seen a lot of northern barracuda around his docks this week.

OFFSHORE

Yellowfin tuna over 100 pounds apiece were biting in Hudson Canyon on Wednesday, said Al Conti. Aerie One took wahoo, mahi and bonito on the south side of the shipping channel south of Block Island, too.

Sunday, the bluefin bite has taking shape at the Mud Hole, but it died following Monday's blow, said Conti. Giants bluefins are rolling up behind draggers, he said.

There are plenty of albacore tuna from Veach Canyon to the Dip, said Sam Toland.

BLOCK ISLAND

Striper fishing has been hot and cold this week. John D'Agostino took a 50-pounder on Southwest Ledge, and Jack Linton nailed a 48-inch fish Monday, said Bob Neilson of Wildwood Outfitters, but the bite turned off on Wednesday.

Don Richards caught an 8.9-pound fluke this week, said Ron Mouchon.

FRESHWATER

The water temperature on the Wood River was 63 degrees Tuesday, according to Ed Lombardo. Trout were rising to No. 12 and No. 14 ant imitations, and there was a small emergence of Blue-Winged Olive mayflies.

In Smithfield, anglers are catching a lot of bass, some as large as 4 pounds, on Stump Pond, said David Henault. The bass and northern pike ar taking shiners.

Boston, 9/16/05

A bit of inclement weather could change the fishing trends, and most certainly will affect the number of anglers on open waterways. Generally, it is these storms and the cold rain of fall that remind the migrant game species in the Northeast that it's time to bulk up for the long trip south. That usually spells good fishing in our parts, and all the signs were there this week for a strong finish. One sign of weakness, however, is a general cooling off of the great football tuna craze, though there are still fish in Massachusetts Bay up into the Gulf of Maine.
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Area A: The rockbound Downeast coast had some excellent striper fishing this week, with catches of note around Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, Orrs, and Bailey's Island up to Muscongus Bay. Also check out Popham Beach for stripers -- none too large, but slot size -- and down into the Piscataqua River mouth for both blues and striped bass. The ledges are still producing cod and haddock for party boats (and others), while the football action out in the gulf has quieted -- fewer fish or fewer anglers or both. North Shore fishing is generally fair with some decent catches at Plum Island, off Halibut Point, Lamprey River, and Lynn Harbor, where schools of blues and stripers are chasing bait.

Area B: Boston Harbor is decent, but with many fewer charters these days, the reports are diminished. Still, catches of stripers between Deer Island Light and Long Island Light have been reported steadily. Also, the outer islands, Lovells, Gallops, and Georges, had some schools of feeding stripers as did the southern approach -- Rainsford, Peddocks, and Grape Islands. Hingham and Hull have plenty of bait and fish feeding on it right down into the Weir River around World's End.

Area C: Blues and bass found around Hingham Harbor, with some decent bass schools outside over the rocky bottoms from Black Rock to Minots, Strawberry Point and The Glades. While the bass are still decent, as of yesterday morning, the bluefish were more in evidence along this coast, around to the North River mouth. Lots of bait in Duxbury, Plymouth, and Kingston bays have plenty of fish on the move, with medium striped bass all over this shallow inner bay that meets the estuary. Manomet rocks are OK, but not hot right now, and the east end of the Canal is only fair off the jetties.

Area D: Some bonito still biting in the west end of the Canal and anglers were having luck trolling into Buzzards Bay around Wareham and across at Pocasset, where the fluke fishing is still decent but fading. Stripers between Scraggy and Woods Hole for trollers, and there are even a few scup deep around Clevelands. In western Buzzards Bay, the stripers are decent from back of Cuttyhunk to Westport, and on the back side out toward Nomans.

Area E: The South Cape is pretty quiet just now, with only fair fishing in the early days of the annual Vineyard Derby. Nantucket bluefish are excellent in the shoal water, especially at the famous Old Man Shoal -- all that could be altered by Ophelia, of course.

Area F: Some good bass catches around Monomoy, but the water is churned up and weedy along the National Seashore beaches. Some decent bass and bluefish inside around Billingsgate, Provincetown Harbor, and Crescent Beach.

NY Newsday, 9/16/05

1. Western Long Island Sound: This should be a good weekend for full-moon fluking, and on Wednesday, anglers from Jack's B&T in City Island were already finding limits. Lots of bluefish up to 13 pounds on chunks or on the surface, and mixed in is a fall prelude of small striped bass.

2. Huntington/Northport bays: There will be plenty of bluefish hunters on the water this weekend with the Huntington Yacht Club Tournament tomorrow and the Town of Oyster Bay Bluefish Tournament on Sunday. Four Winds had reports of big bluefish off Eatons Neck and by Buoy 13, and if the wind kicks things up, there should be some bonito and albacore activity.


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3. Smithtown Bay: Not much bass action until Wednesday, when things began to open up. Rob Krogman nailed a 20-pounder using clams off the jetty leading out of Stony Brook Harbor and his father, Bob, had a 15-pounder on the same trip, according to Swaine's. Jeff Sicdi, Heather Velez and Christie Palazzo also reported 20-25 pounders on eels. Bluefish to 9 pounds are stretched along the shore and there are keepable fluke among the many shorts.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Porgies are biting in good size and numbers at the Middle Grounds when conditions accommodate anglers. Slack tide and no drift make things difficult. Bluefish are being jigged all around in deeper Sound waters with some bass showing up more regularly. Big fluke are still around, but use large baits to slow the throwbacks.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: The Race and the Gut are teeming with blues during the day on heavy diamond jigs and bass at night on bucktails and eels. The bass haven't been stunning in size, but the action is nearly non-stop with a few larger fish in the Race, according to Wego Fishing. Sound-side surfcasters have been enjoying a nice run of bluefish and bass.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: You can't go wrong looking for porgies with Cedar Point and Buoy 17 among the hot spots lately, according to Wego Fishing. Weakfish aren't in the numbers they were two weeks ago, but there are some being taken on high-low rigs or diamond jigs off Rose Grove and Greenport.

7. Montauk Point: Offshore fishing is very good when conditions allow the trip. Gary Benker had a 210-pound mako and Mike Nolan had a 65-pound yellowfin tuna on the Viking Star's first offshore tuna trip of the season. All totaled, there were eight yellowfins, three albacore, two makos and plenty of ling and mahi. Surfcasters are finding bass on both the north and south sides, mostly through the night, according to Freddie's B&T, with a lot of false albacore and bonito mixed in off Shagwong.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Young Cassie Deneuve caught her first fluke, a 4-pounder, while fishing with Grandma Sue and Timmy on the Awesome over the weekend, according to Molnar's Landing. Capt. Robert DeMarco and Frank DeMarco both hooked into the same 7-pound, 13-ounce fluke outside the inlet. Stripers are starting to show up; John Fernandez caught a 29-pounder on Wednesday near the bridge.

9. Moriches Bay: On Wednesday, the open boat Rosie fished outside the inlet and had 45 keeper fluke, 23 of them better than 5 pounds. Of course, the day before, there were practically no bites. Bass are biting on the outer bar and on the flats. B&B Tackle customer Doug reported a 35-pounder caught on herring.

10. Great South Bay/Fire Island Inlet: Stripers are starting to perk up as anglers are hitting on live eels in the evenings, according to Augie's in Babylon. The action runs from the Robert Moses Bridge to the inlet, depending on conditions, and it's a nice start to the fall with loads of bait to entice the fish to the area. A few larger weakfish are coming close to the docks looking to chow on the snappers.

11. Jones Inlet/Western Bays: With forecasts for 5-20 foot seas this weekend, there won't be a lot of boats heading for the Canyon, where the fishing has been excellent. But inshore is pretty good, too, with a burst of fluke in 70 feet, south of the inlet according to Woodcleft Fishing Station, which also reported Gary Corwin's 10-pounder taken in the bay on a live snapper. Weakfish are hitting sandworms in the creeks and bluefishing is good at Three Sisters, 17 Fathoms and the Mud Buoy.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Bay Park Fishing Station reported the crew of Four Queens had 10 keeper-sized bass Sunday and nine Monday drifting clams behind the commercial boats. Make sure to give those guys their space! The crew on the Low Key had fluke to 6 pounds with eight keepers and nice sea bass at the Atlantic Beach Reef on Tuesday. And over the weekend, the Fish On went to the tip of the Canyon and had bluefin to 100 pounds on the chunk, including 11-year-old Justin Mole's first bluefin.

13. New York Bight: Bluefish to 15 pounds are being taken off the beaches and the striped bass are starting to snoop around the shoreline, as well. Weakfish aren't as consistent as they've been, but there are still keepers around and it's a nice pursuit after you've killed your arms bluefishing.

On The Water, 9/16/05

This week everyone is anticipating the approach of slow-moving and hopefully wet, Hurricane Ophelia, which will most likely be remnants by the time it gets here. Either way, many anglers along the shore are looking for fishing to pick up in the suds after this storm passes through. For sure it will improve the very difficult freshwater conditions that inland anglers are contending with.
Thomcat Pelletier of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown said the fishing has been pretty good for stripers along the south shore reefs for their customers who are fishing the dusk through dawn bite with live baits such as scup, hickory shad and eels. Thom himself said he was catching stripers over the weekend on live bait that were in the 20- to 30-pound range. Steve McKenna, who also works at the shop, continues to do well by slinging Slug-Gos at night off the beaches in the Narragansett area.
Bluefish are all over the place. Fish of all size classes from one pound to over 10 are chopping eels, shredding soft plastics and generally raising hell with anyone who is not targeting them. One of his buddies had a bluefish take a four-inch-wide bite out of a fluke that was being reeled up to the boat on Sunday. Bluefishing is, for all practical purposes, a “can’t miss situation” along the south shore, as well as up inside Narragansett Bay.
Fluke fishing is slowing down, but there are still fish coming in from the drifts at Pt. Judith, Newport and Sakonnet in 60 to 70 feet of water. There was a 12-pounder caught over the weekend out in front of Point Judith during what was a pretty fair bite. Anglers are also taking sea bass up to five pounds while fluke fishing off the beaches.
Bottom fishermen are killing big scup off the east wall at Point Judith Harbor in closer to the rocks. One scup fisherman caught a stray triggerfish, a migrant from the south that is commonly caught in our waters late in the summer. With water temps so high, it seems like oddball species such as angel fish, jack crevalle, cobia, wahoo and even tarpon might show up in our waters this year as they have in the past during hot long summers. However, other than some wahoo reported offshore, reports of southern migrants locally have been scarce so far. No solid reports on false albacore and bonito in the area, and no one has even mentioned Spanish mackerel yet this fall.
Rob at Saltwater Edge, Newport reported that nothing much has changed since last week’s report, other than the fact that the striped bass action is picking up, with fish weighing in the mid-twenties. These fish have been hitting well on topwater baits, such as Zara Spooks and Poe’s walk-the-dog lures, as well as on larger Slug-Gos.
Lots of big eight-pound and better blues are also hitting well and are easy to find around the Newport area.
Rob heard that the albies are starting to move down along the Long Island shore, but not much in this area so far. The fact that there’s peanut bunker everywhere and some mullet up to about seven inches swimming around to bring them in and hold them when they show up bodes well for later in the fall. He thinks something big is about to happen after the hurricane blows up the coast. This week has been the calm before the storm, so to speak.
John Swienton, owner of Twin Maples Tackle out on Block Island, told us the big waves stopped earlier in the week, so anglers could get back out to fish. One friend from Line Sider Charters caught seven big bass just south of Southwest Ledge up to 42 pounds on Tuesday by drift-fishing with live eels. Everyone else on the ledge was getting fish, as well.
John went to Black Rock with a buddy and easily limited out using eels over the weekend. There are loads of big fish around the island at the present time and plenty of bait in the form of anchovies and baby bunker to keep them around for a while. The area around Sandy Point is also producing fish to 20 pounds and better on poppers and swimming plugs.
There are bluefin tuna southwest of Sharks Ledge, running between the 90- and 120-foot line. These fish are in the 20- to 50-pound range, and most are being caught by trolling offshore lures such as Hex heads, Green Machines, etc. The false albacore are still ripping in and out of New Harbor with the tides at the Coast Guard station and vicinity.
Fluke fishing was slow this past week, due more to the lack of anglers targeting them than to lack of fluke. There are good numbers of sea bass being caught along the west side of the island incidentally by fluke anglers and by a few sharpies who are targeting sea bass around the rock piles and drop-offs that hold them in high densities.
Captain Don of Captain Don’s Tackle in Charlestown, Rhode Island, reported low angler activity levels so far this week, but the weekend saw plenty of activity and catches of bass, bluefish, porgies and fluke from Quonny Pond and vicinity.
There are some very big slammer bluefish around ranging from 12 to 15 pounds being caught off the shore from Charlestown Breachway down to East Beach and the Andrea Hotel at Misquamicut.
The Watch Hill Reef complex has been producing consistent catches of both bass and bluefish, mostly on eels and by trolling with tube and worms, although anglers tossing plugs are taking their share of smaller fish. Fred and Trish Dewolfe of Westerly caught an 18-pound bass off the Charlestown Breachway at two in the afternoon on a tube and worm. These things are so easy and effective they break all the rules. My son caught his biggest bass to date, a 33-pounder, using a tube and worm on a hot July day at around 3 p.m. at dead slack low tide, a time I wouldn’t bet on being able to catch a dam porgy. Yet over the years, we’ve consistently caught decent stripers at times when they weren’t supposed to be biting.
Fluke are still being caught along the south shore but at a greatly reduced pace over the past week or so. Bigger fish have been caught in 60 to 70 feet of water off the beaches, with smaller fish coming in from the salt ponds where they appear to be chasing peanut bunker. One customer and a friend caught fluke of 27 and 29 inches and about nine pounds while fishing out off the shore from Weekapaug Breachway over the weekend. No one has been out fluking so far this week.
Bill Jolley caught a 3-pound weakfish off Weekapaug Beach on Sunday using a Kastmaster. Another angler took a 5.25-pound sea bass in 50 feet of water off the beaches while drifting for fluke.
The Swamp Yankee Classic Tournament is underway. This is an event that runs from September 5 through November 13, with weekly prizes for both bass and bluefish in the shore and boat divisions.
There are still some good scup around the breachways, as well as off the beaches and local reefs, for anyone who wants fast fishing action and edible fillets.
As of Wednesday, the surf was kicking up, so many anglers are anticipating good action as the effects of Hurricane Ophelia are felt.
Don at King Cove Marina, Stonington told us they have been seeing tons of bluefish and some good striper catches from the waters between Watch Hill and Stonington. One kayaker caught a 46-incher, along with eight other keepers while trolling a tube-and-worm rig on Tuesday evening. Everyone who has gone out lately has been taking some nice bass and blues off the reefs, as well as from the Stonington flats.
Fluke action has died off big time throughout the eastern Long Island Sound area, with many anglers switching over to sea bass or scup for their frying material.
Kevin, who fishes out of the shop, said he spotted schools of tunoids off the reefs on Monday, but they were not on top long enough to get a hook into them. Customers and the guys at the shop are hopeful this may be a sign that this fall’s albie run is finally beginning. Maybe they will be about three to four weeks late, which puts their arrival about the middle of next week – or maybe due to the presence of tuna earlier in the summer they are not going to make a major showing this season.

RI Provo, 9/9/05

1. BAY:"Fluking is the name of the game," said Sam Toland of Sam's Bait & Tackle. "I've never seen a season like this one where it gets progressively better. Normally, it's just the opposite." Fluke have been biting at the mouth of the Sakonnet River and off most of Aquidneck Island's beaches, off Goat Island, and near the Newport Bridge, he said. Off Bailey's and the other beaches, fluke are taking squid strips on flashy rigs in 50 to 75 feet of water. In the upper Bay, the fluke bite is "pretty good" near Conimicut Light, said John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle.
2. Bluefish are also biting in the lower Bay, particularly in the East Passage. The bluefish bite is virtually guaranteed in the Sakonnet River, off Sapowet, Fogland and Sandy points, said Joe Latinville of Riverside Marine, noting that the blues frequently shoot into the Tiverton basin, too. Shore fishermen have been taking blues along Burma Road in Portsmouth, said Toland. In the upper Bay, the bluefish bite has been iffy at best.
3. Bass fishing is terribly slow throughout the Bay, although Ed Hughes said he found stripers among blues off Castle Hill. Latinville said he weighed fish as large as 37 pounds. He recommended Taylor Lane in Little Compton on the Sakonnet for shore fishermen and the waters off Lands End and Sakonnet Point for boaters. Tube-and-worm rigs and eels have been luring the big fish, he said.
4. On the reefs off Newport, Tiverton and Westport, sea bass are huge. John Dubois caught a 6.24-pounder this week. Triggerfish fish have appeared, too.
5. Scup aren't numerous, but they are large. Look for them off the Clambake Club, Sakonnet Point, north of Third Beach in the Sakonnet, and around the Dumplings off Jamestown. In the upper Bay, the White Church Bridge in Barrington has been a fairly consistent spot.
6. BEACHES AND SALT PONDS: Gil Pope, a commercial rod-and-reel fisherman, caught a 13.55-pound fluke last weekend. The fish was 31 inches long, 16 inches wide and 3 inches thick. "I caught it south of the center wall of the Harbor of Refuge about a mile out or so, on a combination of fluke and squid strip," he said. "It was in the afternoon and the current was moving pretty fast and I had to use a 12-ounce sinker to keep the bait on the bottom. It was just one of those days when the larger fish were biting. I had a 7-pounder, a 5-pounder and a 4-pounder in the same area on that same day and quite a few 3-plus-pounders as well. The next day, same spot, same baits, same tide. There were just a few smaller fish and not such a great day. Such is fishing."
7. Fishing the Narragansett surf over the weekend, Bill Nolan took a 41-pound bass on an eel. Ron Mouchon of Breachway Bait & Tackle has been finding small concentrations of large bass on the reefs off South County.
8. "Anglers have been treated to full coolers of jumbo scup," writes Frank Blount, skipper of the Frances Fleet out of Galilee. "There has been a nice mix of sea bass and a few fluke mixed in. The fish are bigger then we have seen at this time of the season in years. We will be sailing daily at 8 a.m. The jumbo fluke and sea bass trips continue to do well and will sail through the fall. Sea bass should take over as the fluke start moving to deeper water. Night bass fishing has turned on again. The fish are the biggest fish that we have seen for the season. On one recent trip we had several fish in the 40-pound class, and the pool fish top out in the 50s."
9. OFFSHORE: "There's a monster slug of good water in Oceanographer's [Canyon] that must hold a massive amount of fish," said Sam Toland. "It's working its way toward the Fish Tails. There's also some nice water moving into the Dump. It should hold some albacore and mahi."
10. The bite between the Dip and the Fish Tails has cooled, Toland said, but it should improve within two weeks. "Overall, the fishing is not good," he said, "but it's certain that it's going to improve."
11. FRESHWATER: Bass are striking weedless frog and mouse lures in the middle of the day on Turner Reservoir in East Providence, according to Bill Quatrucci of Bill's Bait & Tackle. The Yum Buzz frog has been especially effective, fished over the heavy weed cover.
12. On Stump Pond in Smithfield, a lot of undersized pike, and occasionally a keeper, have been taking heavy-medium shiners, according to Rudy D'Agostino of the R&Y Shop. At night, large bass are nailing surface lures near the inlet.
13. BEST BITES:Sakonnet River:Bluefish, scup
14. South County reefs:Bass, bluefish, seabass, scup
15. Stump Pond:Pike, bass