Opening Day a big success

As I walked through the woods there were no other humans in sight. Yet, there were tents, trucks and barbecue grills scattered all around my field of vision. The scent of smoking camp fires permeated the air as an eerie silence fell over the wooded area leading to the lake. Just ten more steps and I could hear the laughter, the talking and fishing activity going on as hundreds of anglers lined the shore on Opening Day of trout season this Saturday at Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown.

“I got one” said Liam Farrell (13 years old) from Jamestown as his uncle Sean FitzGerald looked on with pride. It was Liam’s first Opening Day fishing experience. “It was tough getting up early but well worth it,” said Liam. Billy Enright of Cranston said, “We have been coming here for ten years. We haven’t missed a year. The three of us have about a dozen fish so far.” It was 6:30 a.m. and they had been fishing for about 30 minutes.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) did an outstanding job stocking ponds with 80,000 hatchery raised brook, brown and rainbow trout this year. Over 100 waterways have been stocked and this year three new locations were stocked. Janet Coit, director of DEM said, “We are proud to add three new locations and offered a children-only fishing derby, so more families were able to experience our beautiful freshwaters and have fun catching a hearty rainbow trout.” The new locations on the Ten Mile River, marked by white trout fishing signs, include the intersection of 114A and Hunts Mill Road and just below the John Hunt House at 65 Hunts Mill Road.

“This is the first time we have fished Opening Day.” said Jeff Feighery of Barrington. He and his son Matt (14 years old) fish together often, but this was the first time they have fished on Opening Day. Jeff said, “Matt was up and ready to go at 3:30 a.m. this morning.” Matt said, “Getting here (Willett Avenue Pond, East Providence) early was a good decision we have about seven fish so far.”

John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait and Tackle, Riverside, said, “It has been a good winter and Opening Day business was good too. Customers bought a lot of worms, which seems to be the bait of choice today.”

Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “Business has been good all week. John Burch, who repairs and builds rods at Watch Hill Outfitters, is a big trout fisherman. He and others are fishing today at Carolina and Bradford Ponds. They have been getting ready all week long. The baits of choice on Opening Day and for a couple of weeks after are what the hatchery-raised trout are used to eating. When in the hatchery, trout feed on trout nuggets and eggs so these are the types of bait used early in the season. Once the trout have been exposed to the environment for a couple of weeks they switch to natural baits. Fly fishermen do well at this time and most other anglers move to the natural baits such as worms.”


Proposed BIWF and sea2shore safety zones clarified

The scope of the draft Safety Area (a 500 yard safety zone) that the USCG has published in the Federal Register pertaining to the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) and the sea2shore cable run was clarified last week by Ed Leblanc (USCG). In a note to Elizabeth Marchetti, fisheries liaison, from Mr. Leblanc said "The Coast Guard's intent with respect to the proposed safety zones is to enforce each individual safety zone only when construction vessels are on-scene at an individual turbine.  As discussed in the proposal regulation, the Coast Guard intends to create individual, 500-yard radius, safety zones around each turbine. In essence, five safety zones, one for each turbine.

Vessels (other than BIWF construction vessels) will be precluded from entering safety zone only when construction vessels are on scene.  So, for example, if there are construction vessels working on turbine #3, but no work vessels at any of the other turbines, mariners must stay at least 500 yards away from turbine #3, but are free to approach as close as they want to turbines #1, 2, 4, and 5 (consistent with prudent and safe navigation, of course).

If there are work vessels at both turbines #1 and #2, mariners must remain clear of those two turbines but have full access to waters around the other three, and so on."

A copy of the Federal Register Notice and the place to submit comments on the proposed regulation by April 17th is here.

Captains donate food and cash to Jonnycake Center

The Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association (RIPCBA) held their annual captain’s banquet at Spain Restaurant in Narragansett, RI with their favorite charity being recognized with donations. John Rainone, RIPCBA past president and donation coordinator said, “Captains and their guests attending the event donated 242 pounds of food and $130 in cash to the Jonnycake Center in Peace Dale. The Association has done this for the past several years and we were happy to do it once again this year. Great Job all.”


Roddy Fly Rodders to Meet April 19th

The Rhody Fly Rodders will hold their annual cookout get-together on Tuesday, April 19th at 6:00 p.m. Members, guests and new comers are welcome to attend, enjoy the food and talk about the upcoming fishing season. A short film about fly fishing adventures will be shown, followed by a brief presentation by Mike Bucko who heads of DEM’s new department administering the Access Point Angler Intercept Survey (APAIS). The meeting will take place at the Riverside Sportsman’s Association, 19 Mohawk Drive, East Providence. Contact president Peter Nilsen with questions.


Where’s the bite

Freshwater fishing was hot this week with many bait & tackle shops reporting brisk sales. Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle said, “Customers did very well at Willet Avenue Pond, East Providence but found the Brickyard Pond, Barrington was not yielding the fish it had in the past. Many had seen cormorants and other birds working the pond and leaving with a lot of fish so many anglers didn’t even fish there. Popular baits this year included scented Power Baits such as chunky cheese and other scented flavors. These worked well in MA but in some Rhode Island ponds like Willett Avenue the fish were biting just about anything anglers put in the water. In addition to the Power Baits a variety of small silver lures were working well as well as spinner baits of all types.” Tom Giddings of the Tackle Box, Warwick said “We sold out of just about all trout baits this weekend including trout worms and meal worms and had to replenish our inventory in a hurry.”

Spirited bass migration continues to move north. On-the Water’s Striper Migration map indicates that the school bass are in southern Connecticut. However, there have been some reports of migrating school bass being caught in the Pawcatuck River in Westerly. Mike Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters, Westerly said, “There have been migrating bass caught right here in downtown Westerly at the bridge (crossing the Pawcatuck River).” Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren said, “I checked with the On-the-Water migration map, it was pretty reliable last year but also believe that we can have some advanced schools of bass and it is very possible they are in southern Rhode Island now.”

Cod fishing remains good in local waters offshore. Boats did not sail often last week due to bad weather, but when they fished boats had fair trips, with lots of bait and cod on fish finders. With improved weather all hope the good cod bite continues.

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 or visit his website.