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“I sat there on Beavertail Point, Jamestown with a pair of binoculars looking toward Narragansett Beach. What I saw was astounding: fish after fish, bluefin tuna jumping, one here, and then two over there,” said Capt. Jim White.

The odd thing about his sighting was that it was the end of January.

With many documented reports of tuna, menhaden and striped bass in Narragansett Bay this winter it made me wonder why. The answer seemed obvious: The weather and the water temperature has been warmer than normal. In fact the Bay temperature has been heating up for nearly 40 years, but this is a lot warmer than usual.

How warm you ask? Well, it used to be very cold. In 1740 Rhode Island Gov. William Green of Warwick said in a note, “the Narragansett Bay was soon frozen over, and the people passed and re-passed from Providence to Newport on the ice, and from Newport to Bristol” (Upkike, 1907).

The crew of the Brenton Reef lightship measured water temperature at the mouth of Narragansett Bay every day from July 1878 through January 1942. In the coldest winter recorded (1917-18), the water temperature from December through February was 33.2 F. The average for the whole period of their record (64 years) is much warmer at 39.1 degrees (Nixon, Granger and Buckley, “The Warming of Narragansett Bay,” 2003).

However, even this temperature of 39.1 degrees is far from the warmer water temperatures recorded Sunday: Conimicut Point, 45 degrees; Newport, 42; and Block Island, 46.

I mentioned Newport and Jamestown as this is where bluefin tuna have been crashing schools of herring this winter and a number of dolphins have been spotted off these shores and further into the Bay. And, I mention Conimicut Light because from the light all the way up the Providence River, schools of Atlantic menhaden have been around all winter along with an unusually large amount of striped bass that recreational anglers have been catching.

This week I asked Jason McNamee, marine biologist of the Marine Fisheries Division of the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, his thoughts on the appearance of menhaden, striped bass, tuna and warm water this winter and here is what he had to say:

“Yes, this is all strange indeed,” he said. “Our trawl survey has been seeing these menhaden as well, which is quite unique relative to other years. Just as a quick, off-the-cuff type response, the warm winter we are having has provided an adequate temperature for these species to stay, and survive, over the winter.

“The bluefin that were spotted (and caught in some instances) I’d say were directly related to the herring population that came in to our area waters. It is a well-researched hypothesis that there is a strong correlation between bluefin tuna and strong water density gradients and I have heard people indicate that there was a rapid change in water temperature from inshore to offshore this winter, thus creating a density gradient. What happens at these density gradients is that you get a collection of things like plankton, so species like herring and menhaden will take advantage of the collection of food by schooling and feeding in these areas, and species like striped bass and tuna take advantage of the aggregation of their food source. It has been a very interesting winter to say the least.”

I have to wonder what this might mean for fishing this spring and summer. There is no doubt we can start to fish earlier in the upper portion of the Bay as we can continue to fish the bass that have decided to stay as anglers have done all winter. Also, one might think that our coastal waters, the Bay and estuaries that are holding more bait than usual for this time of year, would attract new migrating striped bass more than usual, too. We will just have to wait and see.

However, I am also interested in what effect this warm winter water might have on the fish in the summer. We know warm water, excessive nutrients and low oxygen levels have had devastating effects (fish kills) in the summer in the upper portions of the Bay, particularly Greenwich Bay and Cove.

Striper school canceled

Capt. Jim White has canceled Shallow Water Striper University scheduled for Feb. 18 and 19. “Advanced registrations were slow so we had to cancel the event,” he said.

Hearing on fish regulations

Make your voice heard at a public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. in Corless Auditorium at the URI Bay Campus. The agenda will include proposed changes to the management plans for most saltwater species including fluke, striped bass, tautog, menhaden, scup and more.

Let’s talk about fluke

Tips on both fishing and cooking fluke (summer flounder) will be featured at the R.I. Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) meeting on Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.

Yours truly will offer fluke fishing tips from expert guides, charter captains and anglers, while Chef Ralph Battista, owner of Luigi’s Restaurant and Gourmet Express in Johnston, will share fluke cooking tips. (When not cooking at his restaurant Ralph spends time with his family aboard his boat, Hook’n & Cook’n.)

RISAA members can bring a friend at no charge; non-members are asked to make a $10 donation. The seminar is at the West Valley Inn in West Warwick, with an optional dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.risaa.org for details.

Where’s the bite?

Cod fishing on both the Seven B’s and Francis Fleet vessels has been good. Larry Norin filed this report on a cod trip he took last Thursday aboard the Island Current out of Snug Harbor:

“We left the dock around 5 a.m. and headed to the East Grounds off Block Island. About 15 to 20 total people on board. One captain, two mates, about 10 regulars and a few first-timers. We dropped the first clams down while on anchor around 6:30 a.m. Bent rods all over the place with mostly dogfish and the occasional cod. We moved and re-anchored on the structure and got away from the dogs. We moved one other time and headed west and very close to the island. It was a slowish pick all day. I managed four dogfish (most caught way more), two conger eels and 12 cod. Two were released that were 21 inches; the rest were 24 to 28 inches.” 

Capt. Dave Monti has been fishing and shellfishing on Narragansett Bay for more than 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing photos in jpeg form, stories, comments and questions are welcome. Visit Capt. Dave’s No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com or e-mail him at dmontifish@verizon.net.