Category : Saltwater

A Surfcaster’s Tour of Block Island’s Southeast Corner

A detailed look at one of the best stretches of Block Island shoreline for fishing the surf, or just getting away from the crowds.   Be sure and check out the video in High Definition by changing the quality setting button.

Fish Feeding Frenzy in the Fog

Fish Feeding Frenzy in the Fog

What’s better than a microburst of birds, bait and bass materializing right before your eyes? Your boat is drifting with the current through a fog covered rip line and you hear the high pitch squawking of terns just a few yards away. Could they be working over a school of fish? There they are! Is [...]

Dazzling Dorados, Magnificent Mahi-Mahi and Brilliant Bull Dolphins

Dazzling Dorados, Magnificent Mahi-Mahi and Brilliant Bull Dolphins

Call them mahi-mahi, dolphinfish, dolphin, dorado, bulls, chickens, or peanuts, but tie into them on light tackle and you’ll call them one amazing gamefish.  Mahi are among the fastest growing fish in the sea with a short lifespan of only four or five years. They don’t match the strength of a tuna, wahoo, amberjack, Cubera, [...]

False Albacore -

False Albacore – “The Green Angles”

Call them false albacore, little tunny, fat albert, albies, funny fish, or as New Englanders refer to them, “Apple Knockers.” But don’t confuse them with bonito and bring them home to eat. These amazing game fish are members of the tuna clan and can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.  This slide [...]

“The Underwater World of Rhode Island Game Fish”

Free Seminar

striped bass lurking in the waves

Striped Bass Lurking in the Waves

Wednesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m.

North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone St.

Underwater photographer and videographer Mike Laptew will present a high definition, multi-media presentation highlighting the saltwater game fish of Rhode Island, as well as techniques for catching them. Laptew has been diving the Ocean State for over 50 years and his unique, fish-eye perspective seminars have delighted audiences for over two decades. The show will feature breathtaking close-ups of striped bass, bluefish, tautog, fluke, false albacore, and many different species of bait fish. This is a presentation the whole family will enjoy.

Free, but space is limited. Please reserve your seat by contacting Tracy Kennedy at
(401) 874-6800 or e-mailing tkennedy@gso.uri.edu.

This lecture is part of the annual Community Lecture Series sponsored by Rhode Island Sea Grant, the URI Nutrition and Food Sciences Program, the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences, and the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council. This lecture is also sponsored by the North Kingstown Free Library.

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Opening Day of Tautog Season

For New Jersey anglers it’s
opening day of Tog Season 2012

Tautog or Blackfish next to a rocky reef in Narragansett Bay

Tautog or Blackfish next to a rocky reef in Narragansett Bay

 Good luck, but please toss the egg laden females back.

Fishing Our Way Down the Food Chain

The Lion's Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the worldThe Lion’s Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world

When does Jellyfish season open?

Look at the RI landings

Top 10 seafood landings (by pounds)

 

In 2010, more pounds of squid were brought ashore in Rhode Island than any other seafood.

 

Squid (Illex)
Atlantic herring
Little skate
Squid (Loligo)
Mackerel
Scup

12,4231,611
8,279,065
7,616,857
7,446,094
4,355,810
4,300,039

16%
11%
10%
10%
6%
6%

 

When I was young my family and I ate all of the above, but we also had a steady supply of cod, haddock, flounder, halibut, pollock and even swordfish—the majority of which could be called “local” with a straight face. In the fifty years since, overfishing for these prize species—those that fetched highest ex-vessel prices—has done huge and well-documented damage to both our once-abundant groundfish and the habitats that sustain them.

Now that we’ve pummeled the stocks of bottom dwellers and longlining has dramatically reduced apex-predator stocks like sharks, tuna, marlin, swordfish, and so on, the race is on to catch every last critter that can be consumed. Look at the above list of commercially landed species and consider: In my childhood—heck, even now—most would fall neatly under the “bait” heading….

If we don’t get our regulatory asses in gear, we’ll soon be dining on spider crabs and jellyfish. Speaking of the food chain—its bottom links in particular–did you take your krill oil today?

 

Early squid?

Longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii)

Will the Longfin inshore squid (Loligo pealeii) spawn early?

I’ll be diving this week to see if I can find the first wave of squid to invade Narragansett Bay for the 2012 squid spawn.

profile picture of a longfin squid

profile picture of a longfin squid

Last year was a mad rush for these valuable eatables, with draggers from all over—some of staggering proportions and horsepower—pummeling the south shore beaches relentlessly, April into July.

Why?

two extremely different colored squid

two extremely different colored squid

Squid landings amounted to six times the volume of lobster that crossed the Ocean State docks last season, but both generated roughly the same revenue: $12.4 million.

pink and pearl colored squid

pink and pearl colored squid

By some estimates, Rhode Island’s commercial fleet produces the largest volume of domestic squid landings on the Eastern Seaboard (some would suggest that Cape May, NJ comes close). Pretty impressive for what once was an underutilized resource (a kiss-of-death designation that generally transitions—at a breakneck clip—to “fully exploited” and soon thereafter to “crashed” or “collapsed”).

squid blows jet of water into the sand

squid blows jet of water into the sand

squid eating blueback herring

squid eating blueback herring

squid lined up in a row

squid lined up in a row

macro shot of a squid eye

macro shot of a squid eye

Point Judith is now the Loligo squid capital of the Eastern Seaboard—its product regarded as among the world’s finest, and in constant high demand, particularly in southern European and Asian markets.

For what it’s worth, the old exit sign off Route 1 to Galilee once designated the port the
“Tuna Capital of the World.”

Galilee Tuna Capital of the World

Galilee was home to the Atlantic Tuna Tournament and even Frank Mundus would weigh in a fish or two.

Quick and Nimble Means a Meal

Tide Line Buffet

This collage of shots shows what happens in less than half a second  

Sandpiper pulls out a worm

Sandpiper pulls out a worm

Sandpipers stalk the surf line and when the waves recede they look for meals in the mud and sand.

Yesterday, I also found a number of ducks at the southeast corner of Mackerel Cove, Jamestown, Rhode Island…including this rather vocal specimen.

Red-breasted Merganser Ducks

A red-breasted Merganser with something to say

Hot Spring – Time Travel

The recent mid-March heat wave led to a trip down memory lane

Do you remember that one special bait shop from a long, long time ago?  I sure do.

 

On a warm spring day, I renewed my fresh water license and my acquaintance with Dick, the long-time proprietor of Dick’s Sport and Hobby Shop

Dick's Sport and Hobby Shop

Dick's Sport and Hobby Shop

Richard Byer, owner of Dick's Sport and Hobby Shop

Richard Byer, owner of Dick's Sport and Hobby Shop

Richard Byer has been doling out fishing licenses and advice since the early sixties and both Captain Jim White (from the Fairlawn area of Pawtucket – just down the street) and myself (living in the Woodlawn section of the City) would visit the original location of Dick’s Hobby Shop.

Now, 50 years later, we returned to say hello to Dick and rekindle old memories.

Dick still remembered Jim’s 1962 special order for a rod and reel combo .  It represented the very best value and performance at the time and he bought one too.

It didn’t take Dick but a few minutes to produce an original invoice from a wholesaler that went back to 1964.

 

A wholesaler's invoice from the 1964

A wholesaler's invoice showing the purchase of 2 reels, 3 rods and 72 other items for $19.93

These days the shop is crammed to the rafters with new and old products for fresh and saltwater fishing.  Over the years Dick has done business with four generations of Whites as well as countless other kids in the neighborhood.

We told a few stories, had some laughs and then we headed out to do a little fishing in the ponds we loved to explore 50 years earlier.

 

Here’s a slideshow of the old shop
slide show

 

Check out my next post “The Sucker Run Re-Visited”

 

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