Block Island tournament a big success

The Block Island Inshore Fishing Tournament ended Sunday, July 26, with a winning shore stiped bass measuring 47.5” caught by Sean Hughs of Waterford, Conn. What was amazing about Sean’s striped bass is that it was the largest striped bass caught in the tournament, topping the largest boat fish of 47” caught by Tim Heekin. Then Sean Hughes did it again with bluefish, taking first place with a 34.5” fish from shore, topping the first place 28.5” bluefish caught on a boat by Bob Saraco.

“There were nine black sea bass entered in the 18” to 19,” range so judging there was extremely tight. With the largest black sea bass going to Michael Kandrysawtz with a 20-inch fish,” said Capt. Chris Willi, tournament director and owner of Block Island FishWorks.

The First-Place Team this year went to team ‘Flapjacks,’ led by Taylor Ingraham and his three sons, who took the Youth Boat Division for both bluefish and black sea bass as well as the Adult Bonito Division.

Capt. Chris Willi said, “The tournament expansion to nine species and an expanded area from the mainland off Rhode Island to about 15 miles south of Block Island helped made the tournament a success. We had about 140 anglers participate, the most ever.”

The tournament was held in memory of Wendy Northup, a longtime supporter of fishing and conservation on the island.

More than $13,000 in prizes, gift cards and tournament swag were awarded at the ‘After Party.’

 Where’s the bite?

Striped bass and bluefish: Capt. Chris Willi of Block Island Fish Works said, “The striped bass and bluefish bite has been good, but shark predation is starting to become more of a problem this year.” East End Eddie Doherty, Cape Cod Canal fishing expert and author, said, “The good news is that there is not much seaweed in the Canal to sully your hooks, but the bad news is that there aren’t striped bass on those hooks either.”

“It's been great seeing more smaller fish in our local waters. Most are coming from the breachway rocks, beaches, and inside the salt ponds, ranging from roughly 12–25 inches. Some quality larger bass were also landed from the surf during this week's rough weather. Mid-summer storms often stir up the shoreline, pushing bait tight to the beach and giving surfcasters a chance at aggressive fish that normally stay deeper,” said Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown.

Summer flounder (fluke), black sea bass

Fluke and keeper black sea bass were hard to come by this weekend around Block Island.  The fish were there, but anglers had to work to find them. “Fluke fishing continues to improve. Several customers checked in with quality fish this week, including fish pushing 12 pounds. That's exciting to hear because those are truly fish of a lifetime. Southern Rhode Island once produced these fish much more regularly, and hopefully we're seeing signs of that quality returning.  As water temperatures continue to rise, don't hesitate to explore deeper structure after checking the shallows. Black sea bass fishing along the coastal shore remains strong. Bucktails and slow-pitch jigs continue to outperform traditional bait rigs over rocky bottom,” said Declan O’Donnell of Breachway Bait & Tackle.

Tuna

Bluefin tuna fishing remains spotty.  However, when fishing in the Revolution wind farm Saturday, we had a vessel next to ours catch a 350-pound bluefin early in the morning.

Dave Monti holds a master captain’s license and charter fishing license. Forward fishing news and photos to dmontifish@verizon.net  or visit www.noflukefishing.com .