No Fluke

Now is the time to fish for fluke

Posted

It’s time to fish for summer flounder (fluke). The bite is likely as good as it is going to get in the mid-bay region before the fish move out to the lower bay and out to deeper, cooler water. The fluke season runs from May 1 to December 31 in Rhode Island with a six fish/angler/day limit and a 19” minimum size.

Rhode Island also has a special shore area provision. Two fish 17” minimum size are allowed in special shore areas only. The total possession limit is still six fish, but two can be 17”, the rest must be 19” or larger. When fishing from shore the special areas are Fort Wetherill, Jamestown; Fort Adams, Newport; India Point Park, Providence; Stone Bridge, Tiverton; the West and East and Walls of the Harbor of Refuge, South Kingstown and Narragansett; Conimicut Park, Warwick; and Rocky Point, Warwick.

Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle Warwick, said, “Anglers are catching keeper fish off Warwick Country Club and in the channel between Warwick Light near the red can. The bite south of the Jamestown Bridge has been OK too.” John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside, said, “Anglers are catching a lot of short fluke with keepers mixed in. The ratio is about eight short fish to every keeper. The Warwick Light and Conimicut Light areas are yielding fish. Anglers are fishing the sand bar for fluke at Conimicut Point and catching some keepers there.”

And, the southern coastal shore is producing some nice keeper fish too with a lot of shorts and good size black sea bass mixed in. The black sea bass season opened June 24 in Rhode Island, so anglers will be keeping sea bass now too (three fish/person/day is the opening limit, 15” minimum size).

Fluke facts

- In May, fluke move inshore from deep Continental Shelf waters where they spend the winter. They stay inland until October and then move back to the deep water.
- Fluke return to the same areas, bays, etc. year after year.
- Fluke are a flat fish with two eyes on the same side of the fish. They are bottom fish that do not look aggressive, but they will chase bait aggressively and eat the same bait that bluefish and striped bass eat. The difference is that they feed off the bottom.
- They can be caught from a boat (usually while drifting) or from shore with little knowledge, so they are an ideal catch for beginners and children.
- Fluke are chameleons, they change color to blend with the bottom.
- Largest fluke on record is 26.6 lbs. and 36” long.

RISAA Take-A-Kid Fishing Day a success

The RI Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) annual Take-a-Kid fishing Day was a success Saturday. 35 vessels took about 90 children from Boys & Gils Clubs, scout troops and town/city recreation departments fishing. Young anglers trolled for bluefish and the bite was on. Each vessel fishing caught fish for the kids on board. The bluefish were in the 2 to 4 pound range. Hats off to RISAA and the 125 volunteers who provided fishing and a cookout for all after fishing. The RISAA/Department of Environmental Management Youth Fishing Camp is this week at Rocky Point State Park.

Where’s the bite?

Fluke (summer flounder) and sea bass bite is in full swing (see above article). Doug Wade of Watch Hill Outfitters said, “The fluke bite off Block Island was not good at the end of the last week. Too many dogfish (sharks) and anglers are having difficulty working their way through them all.” The coastal shore has been good for fluke. Wade said, “Customers are catching fish in the five to eight pound range from Misquamicut Beach to Watch Hill. So the fishing for fluke is good. The Fishers Island bite continues to be strong.” Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “We spent the whole week working the Island. Many anglers left with limit catches or one or two shy. The quality of the fish was great with pool fish being 7-10 pounds every day. More sea bass have been showing up as well. The half days have been off to a slower start. The beaches have been peaks and valleys. We are catching a few keepers and piles of shorts along the beaches. Sea bass are also starting to show up on the beaches.” Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle said, “The sea bass have been larger in the lower bay, south of the bridges.”
Scup fishing has improved a lot this week, particularly in the mid-bay region. John Littlefield of Archie’s Bait & Tackle, Riverside, said, “The white church bridge in Barrington is producing a lot of scup. They are in the upper portion of the water column so anglers getting their bait to float in that area a doing well. One customer caught 30 keeper scup at the white bridge.” Doug Wade of Watch Hill said, “The porgies (scup) are very big. Southern coastal shore anglers are experiencing a great scup bite.”

Striped bass/bluefish bite has been mixed. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Monster striped bass have been showing up in waves as well. Many fish between 30-50 pounds (at Block Island) have been reported by some of the day boats.” “There are bluefish of all sizes all around the Bay” said Ferrara of Ray’s Bait. Last Saturday 40 boats trolling for bluefish in Greenwich Bay as part of the Take-A-Kid Fishing Day hooked up with bluefish. The striped bass bite in the upper bay, the Providence River area, has not been good at all this year. Anglers say there is a shortage of pogies (Atlantic menhaden) which the bass historically follow up the rivers in Providence. Littlefield said, “My avid bass fishermen and commercial fishermen are traveling to Block Island to hook up with striped bass. We are catching a ton of school bass but keepers are far and few between.” Wade said, “Anglers are catching bass along the southern coastal shore but they are small fish. Large bass in the 30 pound range are being caught off the reefs at Watch Hill.”

Freshwater fishing for largemouth bass has been good. Littlefield said, “The trout bite is nonexistent as the water is warm now but anglers are catching sunfish and largemouth in area ponds.” The largemouth bass bite in South County continues to be good, said Wade of Watch Hill.

Dave Monti holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association, the American Saltwater Guides Association and the RI Marine Fisheries Council. Follow Capt. Dave on twitter @CaptDaveMonti. He’ll be tweeting about ‘Where’s the bite’, fishing regulations, national fishing policy, and issues that impact the fish. Forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit www.noflukefishing.com.

Dave Monti

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.