No Fluke

Sen. Whitehouse, volunteers ... bluefish make for great day for kids

Captain Dave Monti
Posted 6/26/15

“This is the first fish I ever caught.”

“I’ve never been on a boat before.”

“I caught four fish so far.”

“Thanks for taking us …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
No Fluke

Sen. Whitehouse, volunteers ... bluefish make for great day for kids

Posted

“This is the first fish I ever caught.”

“I’ve never been on a boat before.”

“I caught four fish so far.”

“Thanks for taking us fishing.”

These were some of the comments that 150 children between the ages of 7 and 13 had to say about the annual Take-a-Kid (TAK) fishing day Saturday sponsored by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA).

The aim of the program is to give children a chance to learn about Narragansett Bay and the environment, experience the thrill of catching a fish and ride on a boat in saltwater. And, they did. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and four staff members volunteered their time to serve as mates aboard vessels or cook and serve hotdogs and hamburgers along with the 200 other volunteers that donated their time to make the day a success.

Steve Medeiros, RISAA president, said, “The day was a big success, the weather cooperated and the bluefish did too, as the bite was good with all catching fish. We teach the children about the value of catch and release, but many of them want to take the fish home and that’s OK. So we accommodate them and offer to clean and fillet the fish and make sure we have plenty of ice and bags available so kids can take the fish home.”  

Brewer Greenwich Bay Marina in Warwick once again donated their facilities to host the event. This was the 18th annual TAK fishing day.

Atlantic Bonito featured in art show

The Atlantic bonito will be featured in “the Art Drive” Aug. 8 and 9 in the towns of Dartmouth and Westport, Mass. Each year participating artists apply their creativity and style to create large, colorful depictions of popular species of fish. This year, the artists have chosen the bonito. Their four-foot long “Bodacious Bonitos” will be previewed in public spaces and in front of local shops, businesses and other sites in Dartmouth and Westport prior to the ART Drive weekend. The general public will be able to view and bid on the fish on eBay by going to www.the-artdrive.com.

The ART Drive artists will individually donate a percentage of their sales to the Lloyd Center for the Environment, a non-profit organization that provides educational programs on aquatic environments and supports scenic, public walking trails through 82 acres of estuaries and salt marshes in South Dartmouth, Mass.

For more information on the ART Drive artists, sponsors, demonstration times and a map of the “the Art Drive” route, visit: www.the-art-drive.com.

‘Fluke Til Ya Puke’ summer flounder tournament

“Stephane Liberty fishing aboard the Northern Bandit took first place in the 10th annual 2015 ‘Fluke Til Ya Puke’ fishing tournament Saturday with a 10.45-pound fluke,” said Capt. Brian Bacon of Big Game Fishing, tournament sponsors. Over 300 anglers participated this year with over $10,000 in cash prizes. Participants were urged to donate their tournament fluke to the RI Food Bank. Visit www.biggamefishingri.com for details on the winners.

Where’s the Bite

The bluefish bite is very strong with anglers landing fish in bays and coves and along the coastal shore. Greenwich Bay was teaming with bluefish Saturday as 150 children and 65 volunteer boats successfully fished the area during the annual Take-a-Kid Fishing event. A young man named Quincy from the Davey Lopes Recreation Center in Providence fishing on my boat during TAK landed an 11-pound bluefish. John Migliori of Aquidneck Island said he has been landing large bluefish (8-plus pounds) from shore in the Aquidneck Island area.

Striped bass are in the Bay, but you have to work for them,” said Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle in Warwick. This week Jim Stevens of Warwick landed his first large bass on No Fluke Charters … a plump 31-inch fish off Popasquash Point, Bristol, while trolling bubble gum colored tubes and worms. Jim was using lead line and a T-Man keel weighed with one once of lead to get down to the strike zone. Kayak anglers are doing well with bass, too. Angler Bob Oberg said, “So far I’ve landed about 44 fish, some have been nice keepers. This is good for this time of year.” Bob likes to use tube and worm fishing from his kayak.  John Wunner of John’s Bait & Tackle in North Kingstown said, “We weighed in a 34-pound striper this week. The fish was taken mid-bay using eels. The word is that there are still plenty of school bass in the bay with larger fish being taken as anglers work to hook up with them using menhaden, eels, tube and worm and other methods.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marian in South Kingstown said, “The bass bite on Block Island improved this week on the southwest side. There are big fish there, likely up to 50-plus pounds, but they are not plentiful at this time.”

Summer flounder (fluke) fishing continues to pick up with nice fish being caught in the bay and along the coastal shore. Capt. Rich Hittinger said, “We were catching fish fishing the west side of Block Island about a month ago, but things slowed down with the last trip there yielding very few keepers, however, last week we fished off the center wall of the Harbor of Refuge and did very good with fluke.” Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Some really big fluke continue to be found. Top honors this week went to Irene Brown of Sutton, Mass., who decked a fine 12.7-pound doormat on Saturday’s run. The next biggest fish taken went around 11 pounds. Close to a dozen fish so far this season have been 10 pounds or better.” Anglers Carole and Charlie Prisco of Warwick and brother-in-law Joe landed a number of short fluke with keepers mixed at Warwick Light last week. John Wunner of John’s Bait in North Kingstown said, “Fluke fishing under the bridges [Newport and Jamestown] improved greatly this week with anglers. Their ratio to about 50/50 … 50 percent keepers and 50 percent shorts.  Keeper fish have not been huge, but they have averaged about 22 inches. I had a number of anglers in fishing the Fluke Til Ya Puke Tournament Saturday. Most went to the mouth of the Sakonnet River and did very well there where the fluke fishing has been consistently good for the past three weeks.” 

Offshore. The school bluefin tuna bite has been very good.  Matt Conti of Sung Harbor Marina said, “Bluefin tuna fishing has been very good all over … fish being caught this week at the East Fishing Grounds, South of Block Island, at Cox’s Ledge and the northwest corner of the Dump. What is surprising is that the fish were in close with a 44-inch fish being caught off Pt. Judith. Most are trolling, however the in close fish are being fished with spinning reels and lures.”

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Visit Captain Dave’s No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com or e-mail him with your fishing news and photos at dmontifish@verizon.net.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here