No Fluke: Tautog fishing seminar; marine monument off New England coast

Posted 9/24/15

Learn tautog fishing tips and techniques from one of the area’s most respected charter captains, Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters.  Capt. Donilon will be the guest speaker at the Monday, September 28, at 7 p.m. Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers …

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No Fluke: Tautog fishing seminar; marine monument off New England coast

Posted

Learn tautog fishing tips and techniques from one of the area’s most respected charter captains, Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters.  Capt. Donilon will be the guest speaker at the Monday, September 28, at 7 p.m. Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) seminar talking about the many aspects of successful tautog fishing including tackle, baits, fishing area and more. Non-members welcome but are requested to make a $10 donation to the RISAA scholarship fund; RISAA member attend free.  A RISAA quarterly meeting will follow the presentation. For details visit  www.risaa.org.

National marine monument or not

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a town meeting last week to obtain public comment on proposed underwater canyons and seamounts becoming permanent marine monuments. NOAA is exploring permanent protections for three deep sea canyons—Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia Canyons—and four seamounts 130 to 200 miles off New England's coast.

Deep sea canyons, which plunge to depths greater than 7,000 feet, and seamounts, which rise thousands of feet above the sea floor, create unique habitats supporting tremendous biodiversity and fragile ecosystems that are home to corals, fish, marine mammals, turtles, and more.  These habitats are well worth preserving as they serve as the starting place for sea life, spawning and breeding grounds for a multitude of sea life.

Hundreds of environmental groups led by the Conservation Law Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts would like the national monument discussion to be expanded to five underwater canyons, four seamounts and a tenth area known as Cashes Ledge 80 miles from Portland, Maine located in the Gulf of Maine.

I thought the public meeting and proposed process was good, although many fishermen and fish policy makers felt it circumvented the New England Fishery Management Council’s authority.  They believe the Council is charged with regulating fishing via the Magnuson Steven's Act in this area.

I understand that it is not all about fishing but believe recreational and commercial fishermen need access to fishing grounds in and near the proposed monument areas.  Fish were put on this earth for man to harvest respectfully and sustainably. I believe fishermen should continue to be granted access to fish in the proposed monument areas as long as they are not impacting the area in a negative way. For example, when recreational fishermen target tuna they are pretty much on the surface, they are not fishing a mile or a mile and a half down to the sea floor where protections are needed for the habitat.

However, I believe drilling, mining, laying cable, certain types of fishing and anything else that could be detrimental to these proposed areas should be restricted.

If the proposed monument areas can continue to allow the area to be fished respectfully, and this is written into the law, while restricting disruptive and harmful uses I am all for designating national monument areas.

NOAA has extended their written comment period for a couple of days, so a press time there still may be time to email NOAA at atlanticconservation@noaa.gov with your comments.

Where’s the bite

Black sea bass fishing is very hot. With the increased limit to 7 fish/person/day, anglers are often catching their limit. Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet reports black sea bass to over five pounds this week as boats made their last fluke trips. We fished off Newport Seal Ledge, Elbow Ledge, as well as at the mouth of Newport Harbor along Rose Island this week and anglers aboard had little trouble reaching their limit or coming close to it with some very nice sea bass.  Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick said, “Customers are catching sea bass in the lower Bay and out in front with Seal Ledge producing some nice sea bass for customers.” Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Providence said, “A customer caught a 24 inch and an 18 inch black sea bass from shore in Newport this weekend.”

Cod fishing is good. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “We boated nearly 200 keeper cod Saturday, on our first 2015 cod trips. Fresh shucked clams worked well with jigs working too. Hi hooks were 7 to 9 keepers with most angles taking home three or four fish each.”

Bonito and false albacore. The false albacore bite remains very strong with anglers boating fish all along the coastal shore and offshore too. Angler Jack Leyden of North Kingstown hooked up with his second false albacore Saturday at 10 a.m. north of Pt. Judith in front of Narragansett. Jack said, “We saw them break the surface and were on them.” Narrow River, Salt Pond and other outflows have been good places to pick up the trail of false albacore. Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle said, “The bonito bite has softened but false albacore is still very good.” Dave said, “Here’s a tip for anglers targeting false albacore: Stay in the area where the fish are rather than chasing their every move.  If you should have down time jig the lure you are using off the bottom and you’ll be surprised. You’ll catch black seabass, scup, even fluke while you are waiting for the false albacore to return.”  Alex Petti of Fin & Feather Outfitters, North Kingstown said, “Anglers are catching false albacore from the Charlestown Breachway to Pt. Judith.  There is more bait in the water than I’ve seen in 15 years—this is a good sign for a strong fall fishing season.”

“Squid are in at Newport with anglers fishing the causeway with success.” Said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle.  When I fished off Newport this weekend the black sea bass were spitting up squid (rather than lobster or crabs) so according the black sea bass the squid are most definitely in.

Skipjack bluefish (baby blues) are everywhere.” said Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle. “Skipjacks are in coves, salt ponds and just about any harbor in Rhode Island.”  John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle, Riverside, said, “I must have sold eight dozen snapper poppers for skipjacks this weekend.  I hadn’t sold many but things exploded this weekend.”

Fresh water fishing for largemouth bass is good but trout fishing is slow as water levels in area rivers, ponds and lakes have been low.  Alex Petti of Fin & Feathers said, “Water levels in the Wood River have been low.  The hope is that once we get a little rain the trout fishing will pick up.”

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing 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.

Dave Monti

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