No Fluke

West Bay Anglers donate $12K to non-profits

By Captain Dave Monti
Posted 3/24/16

The West Bay Anglers, a fishing club located in Warwick, Rhode Island contributed $6,000 to Impossible Dream Saturday and $6,000 to its ‘Take a Kid Fishing’ Foundation. The Foundation …

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No Fluke

West Bay Anglers donate $12K to non-profits

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The West Bay Anglers, a fishing club located in Warwick, Rhode Island contributed $6,000 to Impossible Dream Saturday and $6,000 to its ‘Take a Kid Fishing’ Foundation. The Foundation funds will be used to take over 300 children fishing on six separate fishing trips this summer on the Seven B’s party boat out of Galilee, Rhode Island.   

Pam Tameo, lobster raffle chairperson and past president of the West Bay Anglers said, “Our supporters were great this year allowing us to raise over $12,000. And I have to thank the Warwick Firefighter’s Hall as they were outstanding setting up the hall and preparing food for each of the 14 Saturday Lobster Raffle events we held there this year.”

Each week the West Bay Anglers would raffle off tables of food, consumer electronics, fishing gear and a host of other items.  Each Saturday event would last over two hours. Traditionally, they were held at the FOP Lodge, however, due to Apponaug construction and difficult access, the venue was moved to the Firefighter’s Hall in Warwick this year.

Tameo said, “On all six fishing trips we will give priority to the children of military families and then focus on other children in need. We already have a waiting list for trips this summer.”

For information about the fishing trips and raffles contact Pam Tameo at wbapamtam@cox.net.

Pabst Tournament now catch & release

Pabst Blue Ribbon announced that its fifth annual Northeast Fishing Tournament will be a catch-and-release event in an effort to make the tournament more sustainable. The 2016 tournament will start on Sunday, June 12, and run through Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. Registered anglers will compete in three divisions: Striped Bass, Bluefish and Fluke. Participants are eligible to catch their fish in the salt waters of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island. 

Rob Reilly of Pabst Blue Ribbon said, “The Pabst Brewing Company is excited to announce the change in format to a 100 percent catch-and-release tournament. This change makes the PBR Northeast Fishing Tournament one of the largest catch-and-release tournaments in America.” 

To be eligible for the season-ending cash prize, a minimum of three fish must be caught, released and submitted to the tournament office. The combined length of the longest three fish submitted will make up the angler’s total entry. At the end of the tournament, an overall grand prize of $5,000 will be awarded in each of the three divisions along with a second-place prize of $1,500 and a third-place prize of $500. There is also a chance to win a weekly prize of $300, awarded to the angler with the longest fish submitted that week. 

Registrations are open at http://www.pbrfishing.com with a registration fee of $35 per adult angler, $20 for juniors (under the age of 15) and $20 for seniors (over the age of 65.) All participants receive a limited edition PBR ruler to use for submissions, a t-shirt, hat, koozie and keychain.

Kayak fishing is hot

Kayak fishing is the fastest-growing sector in the industry and fishermen in Rhode Island are no exception.

In fact, a new organization called Ocean State Kayak Fishing (OSKF) formed last year and has really taken off. OSKF was started with a handful of fishing buddies to communicate and plan fishing trips. The group now serves as a place for people to find new fishing partners, post photos and ask questions. 

OSKF has a YouTube page with videos of fishing trips, reviews and helpful do-it-yourself videos. The goal of the organization is to be a one-stop shop for all kayak fishing information and it does not have a membership fee.  

OSKF has a season-long striped bass tournament for the largest striped bass. For information visit its website at www.oceanstatekayakfishing.com.

Hats off to charter fishing industry in R.I.

Hats off to Captain Rick Bellavance, president of the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association and some of his fellow association members (I am happy to be one of them) that pioneered the electronic recording of fishing catch and effort on charter boats as part of a pilot project they ran for two years.  Last year, Bellavance and his colleagues worked with software developers to perfect the application, making it work to satisfy NOAA’s criteria for mandatory Vessel Trip Reporting (VTR) that charter boat and commercial fishing vessels with federal fishing licenses must complete on each fishing trip.

The software has been approved for use by NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Region and by the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistical Program (ACCSP) as a mobile electronic vessel trip reporting (eVTR) application for the purpose of eVTR submission to the Greater Atlantic Region. 

This development is big in that it will provide federal and state fish managers with a reliable and robust electronic data source to calculate fishing activity for commercial fishing vessels and party and charter boats participating. The manual VTRs required federal license holders to fill out a multi-part carbon paper form and file it via snail mail on every trip taken. 

Bellavance said “Designed by fishermen and utilizing the latest technology, eTrips/Mobile dramatically reduces our reporting burden while providing more accurate and timely industry data to the states and NOAA. The eTrips/Mobile application will increase data accuracy and make data available immediately to fisheries managers, improving their ability to respond to changes in the fishery in a more timely way.”

The software is designed to work in both commercial and charter/headboat fisheries, and is free for anyone who wishes to use it in jurisdictions that have adopted electronic trip reporting through the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System (SAFIS). The app can be downloaded from the Apple, Android and Microsoft app stores. Training videos are available on the ACCSP website. 

Visit www.accsp.org for information on the eTrips/mobile application or contact Captain Rick Bellavance at makosrule@verizon.net.

March 30 Trout Unlimited meeting

The Narragansett Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU225) will meet Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 p.m. at the Coventry/West Greenwich Elks Lodge, 42 Nooseneck Hill Road (Route 3, Exit 6 off of Route 95) in West Greenwich.

Bob Mallard, owner of Kennebec River Outfitters in Maine, will be the guest speaker. Mallard is the author of 25 Best Towns to Fly Fish for Trout and a member of the Winston Pro Staff. He will focus his presentation on catching Maine Brook Trout, and the lakes and ponds in which they live. Those interested may contact Chapter President Ron Marafioti at (401) 463-6162 with questions. 

Where’s the bite

The striped bass bite for holdover striped bass is better than usual this year in saltwater sanctuaries and rivers like Narrow River. Brandon Hagopian, who has been targeting holdover striped bass and has the following suggestions when targeting them, said, “With the sun heating the sediment on the bottom many aquatic invertebrates are emerging getting ready to spawn. Focus on dramatic depth changes such as ledges going from deep to shallow, current breaks into coves and also spots that get the most sunlight, where the water will be warmer than surrounding areas. 

“With many of these fish now ‘spring active,’ if you’re looking for numbers use small baits such as 4-inch paddle tails and zoom flukes or 3-inch stick baits on 1/4 to 1/2 lead head casting into the shallow sections. If your main focus is big fish then fish the deep sides of the drops where the current is moving and where they will sit and wait to abuse prey such as gizzard shad, herring, etc. Use bigger baits (for larger fish) such as a 5- to 7- inch fins fish on a 1/2 to 1 ounce jig head or swimming plugs.”

Cod fishing is still very good and is expected to remain strong into the spring season as in Rhode Island cod fishing has been fairly good all winter. Captain Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Saturday we were back at the dock by 1 p.m. with a full boat limit of beautiful fat green market cod with sizes into the low teens. Other trips were good, too, with plenty short cod. The bite has generally been a bait bite, although a few fish were taken on jigs and there has been a tremendous amount of bait being marked on local grounds.”

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. 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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