No Fluke

Bottom fishing is family fishing fun

By Captain Dave Monti
Posted 8/17/16

Now is the time to bottom fish in the mid or lower Narragansett Bay area or along the coastal shore. The water is too warm in upper Narragansett Bay. Most of bait and fish have moved or come into the mid and lower bay. Areas around Aquidneck Island, the

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No Fluke

Bottom fishing is family fishing fun

Posted

Now is the time to bottom fish in the mid or lower Narragansett Bay area or along the coastal shore. The water is too warm in upper Narragansett Bay. Most of bait and fish have moved or come into the mid and lower bay. Areas around Aquidneck Island, the Newport, Jamestown and Mt. Hope Bridges as well as off Narragansett, Jamestown, Newport and along our coastal shores are generally good to fish this time of year.

You can bottom fish when anchored, on the drift or from shore. Bottom fishing for black sea bass, scup and summer flounder (fluke) can be fun for the entire family. This type of fishing is not stressful in any way and is great for all including casual fishermen and children. The best part is the down time between bites, which serves as a great opportunity for family and friends to talk and socialize.

Many times I have anchored or drifted on Great Ledge about a third of a mile to a mile northeast of the Jamestown Bridge. Water flow there is good and you are up on a ledge in about 15 to 25 feet of water with 45 to 60 feet of water on one side and lower water on the Jamestown side of the ledge. This is one of my “go-to” places to catch scup and black sea bass when I have children on board. The best strategy for children and fishing is to hook them up with fish quickly and within minutes to keep their interest.

Anywhere there is structure and water movement is good for bottom fishing. This includes places in the mid bay area as well such as Providence Point, Prudence Island, Colt State Park, Independence Park, Warwick Light, Ohio Ledge, etc.

Drifting under and around the bridges is outstanding for summer flounder and black sea bass in particular. Favorite spots near the Newport Bridge include south of Rose Island where the water is 20 to 30 feet near the green harbor can, before the water then drops off to 60 to 90 feet. The rocky bottom on the south side of Rose Island close to shore has yielded many scup and black sea bass in the summer. The water flow around Rose Island and in and out of Newport Harbor is very good.

Fishing for summer flounder just north and south of the Newport Bridge is good too. Because the water flow is good, depending on the tide and wind I will focus either on the north or south side of the bridge. Both the east and west sides are good. The idea is to stay close to the bridge at the start or end of the drift. Strikes often occur on depth breaks and where the current is strongest near the bridge.

Black sea bass are fun to catch and are a great eating fish. You usually catch them when fishing for summer flounder (fluke) or where there is underwater structure… rocks, wrecks, piers and jetties will attract black sea bass. The larger males are generally found in deeper water.

Gear, baits and hook set for bottom fish

Usually bottom fishing rigs for scup and black sea bass are simple and have two hooks and a sinker. Fluke rigs generally have some type of plastic squid, spinner plate or other covering around or above the hook. I often buy off-the-shelf rigs at bait and tackle shops that sell for about three to five dollars.

The idea is to keep the piece of bail small (often squid) for scup and black sea bass as both species are bait stealers so you want them to bite the hook and bait and then set the hook quickly. When targeting summer flounder with a fluke rig, I believe in larger bait arrangements using strips of squid, silver side fish, with some other type of attractant to hold the squid and silverside on like strips of summer flounder belly, bluefish, sea robin or scup strips depending what you are catching that day. There is no quick hook set when fishing for summer flounder as they eat their way up the hook so if you set the hook quickly you may miss the hook up. I let the fish eat the bait for a second or two and then gently raise the rod an inch or two. If I feel the weight of a fish I firmly but gently continue to raise the rod to set the hook and start reeling the fish in.

I generally use light tackle, spinning or conventional reels are fine with light to medium weight rods with 15 to 20-pound test braids. The idea of most bottom fishing is put on just enough weight to hold bottom.

RISAA meeting moves to The Villa

Lean how to catch striped bass, bonito and false albacore on light tackle from a boat and the surf. Expert fishing guide, Capt. Mike Roy, will talk about a variety of techniques to fish fall run blitzes as well as how to fish live bunker (Atlantic menhaden) and live eels for trophy striped bass.

The meeting is sponsored by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) and will be held at a different meeting place… The Villa, 272 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick. Non-members welcome with a $10 donation to the Scholarship Fund, RISAA members attend free. Separate fee for dinner which is provided by The Villa.

Where’s the bite

Bottom fishing for summer flounder (fluke), black sea bass and scup.

Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Fluke fishing had its ups and downs last week, however, some anglers continue to limit out with one fisherman boating 15 keeper-sized fluke. All customers caught their share of black sea bass averaging in the four-pound range with more and more scup in the two-pound range being caught.” Jimmy Monti and his two boys Jude (9) and Rowan (6) boated fluke up to 24 inches while fishing the Hooter Buoy off Pt. Judith this Saturday. Angler Steve and son Brenden McGonagle fished the Newport area for summer flounder (fluke) last week. Steve said, “We started by Rose island, made our way over to the Newport Harbor area, across the water to the Conanicut mooring field area and then under the bridge and up to Gould Island point. The tide was incoming so the drift was uphill. Brenden's rod doubled over with line pulling fast off the drag and said, ‘Darn, I am tight with a bluefish.’ As the fish neared the boat Brenden saw the leader, then some color from the rig and said ‘it’s a...it looks like it’s a...Dad get the gaff QUICKLY, GET THE GAFF!!! And we gaffed Flukezilla. It was easily the biggest fluke either of us had ever seen in 15 years of fishing Rhode Island waters.” I fished the same Newport areas Saturday and did well with fluke and black sea bass with two anglers on board. John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside, said, “Customers are catching a fair amount of fluke off Brenton Reef in 60 to 80 feet of water, but it is slow going with one customer catching 17 fish to get keepers. Scup fishing is good all the way up the East Passage to Providence.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “Fluke fishing is spotty at the windmills and East Grounds which is an indication the fish are moving out with a better bite east of Pt. Judith, at the mouth of the Bay and off Newport as an indication of this too.”

Striped bass

. Saturday, in five-foot seas, angler Eric Appolonia of North Kingstown said, “We caught three nice keeper fish at the Southwest Ledge trolling a spoon and released two.” Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina said, “The bass bite on Block Island is better at night with eels than during the day.”

Offshore.

Matt Conti of Snug Harbor said, “There are still bluefin tuna at the Dump along with white marlin and occasional Wahoo. The last trip a customer made they did not see any mahi. The bluefin bite has also been good at the Butterfish Hole (south of Montauk, New York).” Offshore fisherman Steve McGonagle said, “(Last Tuesday) my son Brenden spotted a school of BFT cruising just below the surface. It was clear that they were not on bait, which we knew right away gave us a shot at coming tight. He pulled back the throttles and positioned the boat ahead of the pushing fish. The first two bluefin pulled the lines out of my hands as I was setting in and we were tight to two 50-inch fish. Brenden fought one fish and his friend Tyler fought the other as I maneuvered the boat, managed the cockpit and tried to decide if we could gaff or harpoon either fish. The fights went well but we lost the smaller fish at the boat and darted the larger fish, dragging her through the tuna door.”

Cod fishing

is still good on the southeast corner of Cox’s Ledge. “We have anglers using salted clams (which we have) as well as jigs and are doing well,” said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina.

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. 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 www.noflukefishing.com.

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