Shore fishermen are patient and dedicated. They fish a lot of hours, often at night and often for several days in a row during peak fishing season. I asked three shore fishermen four questions.

Their responses were insightful. So last week we ran two of the interviews. Here is the third from Harold Hemberger of Providence, Rhode Island. Harold is both a fresh and salt water fisherman.

What do you wear when you fish?

Harold: I wear insulated chest waders with heavy wool socks and a (long sleeved) tight fitting shirt that is designed to wick the sweat away. I wear an LL Bean shore fishing jacket with plenty of pockets and depending on the time of year a baseball hat or a wool hat.

Where do you fish?

Harold: During the month of April I fish the west wall at Jerusalem and the Barrington Beach.

In the months of May though August I am at deep hole in Matunuck, Narragansett Beach from the wall to Narrow River. Also the mouth of Narrow River, the Avenues in Narragansett and Rhode Island State beaches all from May through August. In September and October I fish the Barrington Beach, Seekonk River and Narragansett Beach. From November to January I fish the Providence River.

What type of rods, reels and other equipment do you use?

Harold: My favorite gear includes a 10’ one piece St. Croix rod and a Penn 6500SS open face spinning reel with 40 lb. test braided line. I also like my 8.5’ one piece St. Croix fishing rod with a Penn 5500SS open face spinning reel with 20 lb. test braded line.

The con of a one piece rod is you have to use a roof rack. However, the pro of a one piece is that it telegraphs the movement of the plug better than a two piece rod. The other big one is that you don’t suffer the embarrassment of casting and having the rod tip of a 2 piece rod going half way to Block Island – just because you didn’t check the connection.

Braided line is much stronger than the same diameter of mono, however, you do have to be careful of small knots forming as you begin the retrieve. I avoid this by flipping the bail manually as I end the cast.

I use an LED headlamp for dark maneuvers. However, I wear it as a collar and not on my head. In doing so, you don’t broadcast the beam on other fishermen or on the fish.

My plug bag holds about 10 big plugs in separate tubes. Everything in the bag other than the plugs is in plastic zip lock bags. When fishing the surf, the bag is in an out of the water several times.

All of the equipment gets washed down with fresh water from the house when I get home. The reels spend about 10 minutes in 5 gallon buckets filled with fresh water and a bottle of Simple Green. They are rinsed with fresh water after removal. I remove the spool of line prior to dunking them.

What species do you fish for?

Harold: I basically fish for stripers and bluefish. I am just as content catching blues as I am stripers. I know a lot of fishermen feel that bluefish are a nuisance fish that just get in the way of catching stripers. However, I love the fight a bluefish gives and enjoy the chase.

What do you use for bait?

Harold: I use a variety of baits including 2 & 3 oz Kastmasters, 4 different colors of single and jointed needlefish, Gibbs Deep Danny, Gibbs Surface Danny, Pencil Popper,

6” and 9” Tandem Rigged Sluggos, Gibbs Casting Swimmers and Gibbs Polaris Poppers.

Fishermen protest in Gloucester

Commercial fishermen protested this past Friday in front of the National Marine Fisheries Service office in Gloucester, MA. Hundreds of Northeast commercial fisherman from Maine to Maryland demanded changes in the “dysfunctional" management that they say is destroying the industry said an Associated Press report. Regulators are moving from a system that reduced fish days at sea to regulate the industry to a “sector” management system in May of 2010. The new system allows fishermen to work together in sectors to divide and manage an allotted catch of industry species. Regulators claim the new system gives fishermen more autonomy while holding them to strict catch limits. Fishermen attacked the science behind the changes saying it gives an inaccurately bleak picture of the fishery said the AP report.

Where’s the bite

Striped bass. Met fly fisherman Lenny Lake of Warwick at Starbucks Sunday. Lenny and his friend Shawn McDermitt of East Greenwich were going striper fishing off Montauk. Last week they caught 12 school stripers there using a 9 weight fly rod with sinking line. The best bait of the day was a Deceiver. Bass bite on Block Island still good with fish being taken with eels, tube and work and umbrella rigs.

Tautog fishing continues to be very strong. Captain Charlie Donilon of www.snappacharters.com said the tautog bite off Newport was outstanding this past weekend. Sea conditions were heavy on Saturday but those that came out and fished did very well. Good sized keepers reported off Castile Hill and Narrangansett Beach and at the rock wall north of Coddington Cove. I took Jose Navarrete and Steve Quirk of Cranston fishing for tautog this week at the Plum Point lighthouse next to the Jamestown Bridge and took one keeper. Fished with tube and worm for stripers along Narragansett Beach and Beavertail with no luck.

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years.

He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at ¬¬¬dmontifish@verizon.net .