Recently two articles appeared in local newspapers about global warming and its impact on fishing in Narragansett Bay, near coastal waters off Rhode Island and New England shores. So, I struck up a conversation at my local Starbucks with a coffee shop acquaintance and I got an ear full. Folks still have very mixed views about global warming… some still do not believe in it at all. Others cannot believe the non believers.

So I started to poke around on-line. I found an article that appeared in the Providence Journal this past march by Wayne Miller titled “Could global warming turn R.I into the under-Ocean State?” The article talks about how a portion of Newport will be under water due to the effects of global warming by the year 2100. Miller related “This is the most optimistic real-life projection that scientist today make for the year 2100… a less optimistic scenario calls for the sea to rise 19 feet... If that happens, fish would swim where this article was written, in downtown Providence.”

Yikes! What struck me about this article was not the point of view, but the spirited comments it received from readers, particularly those that are not global warming believers. Here are a few of the comments:

From Dave in Ashaway…Talk about scare tactics, I’ll bet Al Gore helped write this piece. Next it'll be "Sea rising will hurt women, children and the elderly most"

From a Mr. Miller critic…In case you missed it, the AGW team in the arctic had to be rescued before they froze to death. But before they were air-lifted out what did they find? The arctic ice sheet is growing thicker. Please explain.

From Chowda… Sea level has been rising steadily since the end of the last interglacial period at a rate of 3.2mm/yr, or roughly one foot per century. This is a well known fact. See for yourself at sea level dot Colorado dot edu. The U of C are the keepers of the data. This rate was the same before the industrial revolution as it is now with one exception. In the last four years the rate of increase has dropped to about 1.6 mm/yr because the world's oceans are COOLING. Check out the Argo buoy system managed by NASA which validates this result. My, my. Amazing what you can find out when you research on your own rather than believe everything that the IPCC (a purely political body) tells you.

So the entire global warming issue is complex. A lot of studies out there, so I plan on devoting some time to the subject. For now here are five personal observations about global warming with no scientific evidence to support them:

1. I am warmer every year when I go tautog fishing in the fall. To me, things are staying warmer, longer.

2. The AP story by Michael Casey about the giant 450 pound jelly fish off Japan’s coast that appeared last week concerns me. Scientist believe climate change, the warming of the ocean, has allowed some of the almost 2,000 jellyfish species to expand their ranges appearing earlier in the year and incensing in numbers.

3. For fifteen years on Nantucket I have scalloped in the water with waders throughout the winter. It is very cold in the water in January and February, but I can stay in longer now, the water does not seem as cold.

4. Twenty-five years ago cod fish were plentiful right off the beaches on the Rhode Island coast. Fishermen now are traveling father and father off shore to catch cod. A species that likes cold water.

5. Narragansett Bay is warming, three degrees Fahrenheit since 1950 as reported by a 2007 DEM Division of Fish & Wildlife study.

I know my life of 50 plus years is a small snapshot in time. The earth has had cyclical period of cooling and warming and many believe we have just been in a warming cycle. So enough for now, I will gather the data, information, and studies from articles both pro and con on global warming and report the findings to you. Particularly how the local fishery in Narragansett Bay and nearby coastal waters are being affected.

Fishing Seminar

Here’s more scoop on the fishing seminar “Shallow Water Striper University” taking place March 12 through the 14 at the Sheraton Motor Inn, Warwick. This three day seminar is being produced by Captain Jim White, author of Monster Shallow Water Striper and a very popular charter fishing guide on Narragansett Bay. The entire seminar is on how to find and catch more striped bass. It will feature such topics as rigging and fishing soft plastic lures, fishing live bait, live eel fishing and menhaden fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, controlled depth fishing, tube and worm trolling and a lot more.

The show will open Friday, March 12th from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a live pool demonstration on how to rig and fish the most popular soft plastic baits for stripers. Show hours on Saturday, March 13th are from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 14 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This is a unique opportunity to see firsthand how certain baits should be used, rigged, and worked in the water.

A dozen of the best experts will show and explain how they catch striped bass consistently year after year. The educational value of this seminar series is priceless. The cost for the entire weekend seminar series is $89 per angler. Each angler will get a tackle bag of goodies.

To register, send your check made out to Shallow Water Striper University, C/O Wood Boat & Motor, 3630 West Shore Road, Warwick, RI 02886. Attention Debbie Wood. You will receive a letter of confirmation when your check arrives.

No bell needed for class one and two vessels

Last week Captain Nick Butziger of the Rhode Island Party & Charter Boat Association shared a note the related effective 11.13.09 the Rhode Island Senate passed a bill that eliminates the requirement for Class 2 (boats 26 to 40 feet) and for class 3 motor boats (over 40 feet) to carry a bell. The bill was passed by the House on 10.28.09. It is now law with no veto from the Governor.

Where’s the bite

The weather last week made fishing difficult but when things settled down fishing was good.

Tautog bite this weekend was excellent at the stone wall off Portsmouth, North of Coddington Cove. Landed several nice sized fish when water was moving with a decent current at this spot. Nice fish continue to be caught off Newport and RI coastal beaches.

Striped bass fishing was good before all the storms last week with fish being taken off coastal beaches and school bass taken at the mouth of Narrow River and off the east wall of the Harbor or Refuge. Sand eels seem to be the primary bait, so use needlefish plugs as they are a good imitation.

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.