No Fluke

Fishing for a Cause Tournament; tautog tips

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The 7th annual Schwartz Center/Meeting Street Fishing for a Cause Tournament to raise money for students with special needs is now registering fishing participants and dinner guests for their June 23 and 24 fundraiser.

Charter captains are offering their vessels and personal skills as fishing guides to take participants fishing in the recreational tournament.

Fishing for a Cause has raised more than $800,000 in its history. “The incredible success of this tournament is due to the increase of corporate groups over the past seven years,” said John M. Kelly, President of Meeting Street.

More than 100 fishermen and women are expected to participate in the two-day catch and release tournament. Upon the culmination of the tournament participants and guests will gather for a catered seaside dinner in New Bedford emceed by comedian Lenny Clarke.

For more information about this year’s event or to donate your vessel and services visit meetingstreet.org or contact Beatriz Oliveira at The Schwartz Center, 508/742-6425.

Tautog fishing tips from the experts

The spring tautog season opened April 15 and runs through May 31 with a three fish/person/day limit and a ten fish per boat limit (does not apply to charter boats). Tautog fishing is fun and there’s a certain knack to it as it takes a lot of concentration and a quick hook set.

Here are some of my favorite tautog fishing tips I’ve learned from the experts:

—Keep rig simple to reduce tie ups, I prefer an egg sinker rig with one hook extended below the sinker on a swivel, or a one hook conventional rig with a dropper loop and sinker.

—Anchor over or near structure, and fish the entire boat or area, even casting a bit as tautog are territorial, a few feet make a difference, also let anchor line in and out to change position.

—Be prepared to chum as needed, I use a mixture of cut-up sea clams and crushed crabs.

—I use 40 to 50 pound braid line to enhance a direct connection to the fish and the line does not stretch when the fish tries to run back into structure, my fishing rod is a medium action rod.

—Your rig should be on the bottom, be patient, pay attention and be prepared to set hook quickly.

—Be prepared to fish different types of rigs and bait presentations depending on conditions and what fish want i.e. jigs with bait, green crabs as bait, Asian crabs, conventional rigs, etc.

Snug Harbor used tackle sale this weekend

Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown, will hold its annual Used Tackle Sale event on Saturday, April 29, beginning at 9 a.m. The shop will be open for the season starting Sunday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Rods, reels, combos, gaffs and lures are just some of the equipment you are likely to find at the sale. Sell or buy used gear or update your tackle with new equipment. Elisa Cahill of Sung Harbor said, “It’s a great opportunity to sell items and upgrade to some new technology. The way the sale works is that if you sell your used tackle at our sale you give us a 20 percent commission, or you can use 100 percent of the sale price towards new equipment you buy from us. We ask that anglers ideally get their “for sale gear” to us before Saturday so we have ample time to get it ready for the sale.”

For information call 401/783-7766. Snug Harbor Marina is at 410 Gooseberry Road, South Kingstown.

Where’s the bite

“Freshwater fishing for trout is starting to taper off as ponds and lakes stocked by DEM, like Willet Avenue in Riverside, are starting to get fished out a bit,” said John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle. However, fishing for other species such as largemouth and smallmouth bass has been good. Angler Dareus Boragine fished the Stafford Pond, Tiverton this week and landed a three pound smallmouth bass using a Dirty Jig. He fished Spectacle Lake near his home and landed a nice carp this week too.”

Tautog fishing is receiving mixed reviews. Most anglers and bait shop owners are reporting a very slow bite. However, some customers of the Tackle Box in Warwick are landing fish. Dareus Boragine of Cranston, a sales associate at the Tackle Box, said, “We have had keeper tautog caught in the upper reaches of the Providence River and at Jamestown and Newport.” Cahill said, “We have sold some crabs but have no reports of fish being landed.” Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “Customers have had negative results tautog fishing, no one has reported catching anything.” Littlefield said, “Three customers fished the Conimicut Light area this week and had no luck. They caught one short fish. Others fishing the Wharf Tavern from shore got no bites at all.” The hope is that the tautog bite will improve with the warm weather this week.

Striped bass fishing for school striped bass has been fair. Littlefield said, “Customers have caught striped bass in the upper portions of the Providence River.” “School striped bass are in the lower Bay, just north of the bridges out in front to Allen’s Harbor but the fish have not worked their way in mass into Apponaug or East Greenwich Coves yet,” said Ken Landry of Ray’s Bait & Tackle. Cahill said, “There have been more fish on the West Wall (of the Harbor of Refuge) this week and they have been getting larger but it is still hit or miss depending on the day that you fish.”

Cod fishing was off this week. Still a lot of bait on the fishing grounds so party boat captains fishing for cod are optimistic.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association and a member of the RI Marine Fisheries Council. Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at noflukefishing.com.

Dave Monti, No Fluke

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