DEM to hold fly fishing programs

Captain Dave Monti
Posted 10/3/13

The DEM Fish & Wildlife Division's Aquatic Resource Education program will hold three fly fishing workshops. The programs are produced in conjunction with instructors from Trout Unlimited, Rhody …

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DEM to hold fly fishing programs

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The DEM Fish & Wildlife Division's Aquatic Resource Education program will hold three fly fishing workshops. The programs are produced in conjunction with instructors from Trout Unlimited, Rhody Fly-Tyers, United Fly-Tyers, and with many more organizations and volunteers. Families with children over 10 years of age are encouraged to attend. Programs range for beginner to advanced angler.

"Introduction to Saltwater Fly-Fishing", Saturday, October 5 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Kettle Pond Visitors Center in Charlestown. Fly-fishing instructors will teach participants fly-tying, casting techniques, and knot-tying. All materials and equipment are included with the $35 per-person registration fee. Participants should pack a lunch and bring a pair of waders.

"Fly-Fishing Express," a fly-fishing safari around Aquidneck Island on the Old Colony Train Saturday, October 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The train will stop at several remote public access fishing areas around the island. Fly-fishing instructors will offer advice on the best flies and fly- fishing tactics. The program is designed for advanced beginner, intermediate and advanced fly-fishing anglers, and is perfect for those who have already participated in the "Introduction to Saltwater Fly-Fishing" workshop and would like to hone their fly-fishing skills while fishing. Pack a lunch and your chest waders. All other equipment, including flies, is provided with the $35 per-person registration fee.

"Fall Fly-Tying 2013", held on six Thursdays beginning November 7 to December 19, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the North Kingstown Community Center. Professional fly-tyers will teach beginning and intermediate fly-tying techniques for both freshwater and saltwater fishing. All material and equipment is included. Cost of the program is $5 for each class or $25 for all six sessions. Pre-registration is recommended, although walk-ins are accepted.

For additional information and for registration materials, contact Kimberly Sullivan in DEM's Aquatic Resource Education program at 539-0037 or via e-mail at kimberly.sullivan@

dem.ri.gov.

NOAA releases new summer flounder and striped bass assessments

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, released its 57th Stock Assessment Review Committee report on summer flounder (Paralichthys dentata) and striped bass (Morone saxatilis). The good news is that both stocks were found to be in good condition. Neither is experiencing overfishing or is overfished. Summaries of the two stock assessments findings can be found at nefsc.noaa.gov/

publications/crd/crd1314.

An important aspect of any assessment is the determination of current stock status. The status of the stock relates to both the rate of removal of fish from the population - the exploitation rate - and the current stock size. The exploitation rate is the proportion of the stock alive at the beginning of the year that is caught during the year. When that proportion exceeds the amount specified in an overfishing definition, overfishing is occurring. So a stock can be either experiencing overfishing or overfished or both.

Where's the bite

Striped bass. Dave Sweet and Craig Picard fished off Pt. Judith Sunday morning with great results. Dave said, "Using a small silver spoon, my first fish was a 16 lb. bluefish on light tackle, what a workout! We each managed a couple of nice stripers, from about 23" to largest at about 36"… Looks like the Fall Run is on." Capt. Al Anderson of the charter boat Prowler reports similar results with striped bass and blues off the center wall and in front of Scarborough Beach Sunday. Both Capt. Anderson and Sweet/Picard tagged and released their bass. Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters (who I saw give a great presentation on shark fishing at a RISAA meeting this week) said, "Striped bass fishing the past few days has been the best ever at Block Island We would drop in the umbrella rigs and they wouldn't even fall 50 feet from the boat and we would get a hit. We caught 80 bass in one trip this week." However, John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle, East Providence said, "It has been hit or miss at Block Island the fish are there and the next day their not. One customer fished the southwest side at night with no bites and then the next day the bass bite was on with eels." Capt. Tracy Terrien said, "Drifted eels for six bass 35- 51 pounds on the southwest side. Broke off on three and when bringing the fish up there was numerous monsters swimming with them… only one eel chopped up even with the (good) amount of blues around." Ken Landry of Ray's Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, "School bass with keepers mixed in are being caught at early morning and at sunset in Apponaug Cove. Anglers are using storm shad." Angler Ron Nalbandian fished out in front of the Charlestown Breachway Monday said "Birds all over the place. Fished 9:00 a.m. to noon, 14 Stripers 20"- 34" all on metal and 6" shads… Not a Blue to speak of…no cutoffs at all."

Tautog. The big news this week is the sixteen pound, nearly 30" tautog, caught by angler Scott Kiefer of Exeter, RI. Ken Landry of Ray's Bait & Tackle weighed the fish in and said, "I have never seen a tautog this big… it was a great looking fish. They caught some nice six and seven pound fish too but I couldn't take my eyes off this big one." Landry said, "They fished Hope Island for about an hour and half and the action was great with big fish and then things slowed down with a lot of shorts being caught." Congratulations Scott, this is a great fish. John Littlefield of Archie's Bait said, "The tautog bite is good at Conimicut Light, Rocky Point, and the bridges in Barrington and Warren but there are a lot of shorts mixed in with a ratio of about one keeper size fish (16" or larger) to eight smaller undersized fish. Saturday I fished just north of the Seal Ledge red bell of Newport and managed three keepers with six shorts and a lot of small black sea bass. Other boats were fishing south of Brenton Reef and another cluster was hitting fish off Castle Hill Light.

Cod fishing continues to improve with fish to twenty pounds being taken on the Frances Fleet this week. Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, " We are seeing tremendous amounts of herring, squid and even some sand eels on the ground so there should be more fish showing in the weeks to come. Cod fishing sails Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 7:00 a.m. weather permitting."

Offshore. Angler Eric Weybrant said, "(Friday) The drift was North to South (at the Mudhole) and we were 1/2 mile or so South of the deep spot when we had our first taker which turned about to be a 177 lb mako. It was gut hooked and never jumped so we were not sure what it was until it was close to the boat."

Fresh water fishing. See DEM's fly fishing programs (above) starting this month.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain's master license, a charter fishing license, and is a member of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council. Your fishing photos in JPEG from, stories, comments and questions are welcome… there's more than one way to catch a fish. Visit Captain Dave's No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.

com; his blog at www.noflukefishing.blogspot.com or e-mail him at dmontifish@verizon.

net.

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