With water surface temperatures still hovering around 50 degrees off Newport and a bit warmer in Narragansett Bay, fishing was good but spotty for some this past week.  

Al Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown said, "Customers are landing fluke but it will get better as the water warms a bit. We had a 9.9 pound fluke caught along the coastal shore and a 10 pound fish caught on the Southwest side of Block Island but the bite has been very soft… the fish are still lethargic due to the cold water.  As it heats up this week the fluke fishing should improve."

Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, "Water temperatures are still seven degrees lower than where they should be for this time of year. But customers are catching fluke.  We fluke fished everyday last week with some anglers limiting out and top fish each day weighing in the six to seven pound range."

NOAA seeks sanctuary volunteers

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is seeking applicants with recreational fishing expertise to fill vacant seats on its advisory councils at Flower Garden Banks, Monitor and Stellwagen Bank national marine sanctuaries.It is vitally important that recreational anglers participate in sanctuary advisory panels as their point of view is not often heard due to a lack of participation.  The recent New England Council vote on allowing recreational fishing in the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary area was critical to recreational fishing and the charter fishing industry. It demonstrates the importance of angler participation on these sanctuary panels.A sanctuary advisory council is a community-based advisory group with representatives from various user groups, government agencies, and the public at large. The role of the council is to provide advice to the sanctuary superintendent on the designation and/or operation of a national marine sanctuary. Council members include fishers, divers, teachers, boaters, business people, activists, protected area managers, scientists, and elected officials. A successful candidate for the positions noted above will advise the sanctuary superintendent on the recreational fishing perspective.Nominations are due to the appropriate sanctuary council by June 30, 2015. For information contact Russell Bunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries, NOAA Fisheries, at Russell.Dunn@noaa.gov or 727.551.5740.

Where's the bite

"Cod fishing at the East Fishing grounds has been fair when anglers have been able to get there. Anglers are catching shorts with keepers mixed in." said Al Conti or Snug Harbor Marina.

Striped bass. "Keeper bass are being caught with tube and worm and with chunks of Atlantic menhaden in the East Passage near Bear Point, Prudence Island." said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle, Warwick. On RISAA's blog angler Bob Malouin said, "We motored over to Conimicut Light (Saturday). We didn't have any success throwing plugs and I was marking bass so around 0730 I decided to live line a pogy. In less than a minute I hooked into and ended up landing a 30 pound bass. After letting her go we ended up landing four more cookie cutter fish around 30". All fish were caught on live pogies directly south of Conimicut light."    "We weighed in a couple of nice fish, not particularly big but in the 33" to 34" range.  Anglers are catching fish with top water lures such as SlugGo and Cohoes.  Some anglers are live lining and chucking pogies." said Manny Macedo of Lucky Bait & Tackle, Warren. "The worm hatch in Potter and Salt Ponds has been good with anglers landing bass there but things are pretty slow out in front." Said Al Conti of Snug Harbor.  No bass report from Block Island yet.

Summer flounder (fluke) fishing is picking up.  "They are catching fluke right off Warwick Light." said Ken Ferrara of Ray's Bait & Tackle, Warwick.  This is the third spring in a row that we will have had a decent fluke bite at Warwick Light. This spot has not been this active in years.  Angler Mike Swain of Coventry said, "We are landing fluke off Jamestown and Newport with a three to one keeper ratio." Roger Simpson of the Francis Fleet said, "We are catching fluke both on half and full day trips. Fish were spread out better around the boat on some days verses others. Those with experience using buck tails seemed to still have an edge over those using bait rigs on most outings. Always be prepared to fish both." John Stavrakas said, "We arrived at the NW corner of Block Island (NE of "duck head") to find a fleet of boats working. The day started with a light westerly breeze and ended with a steady 15 knots gusting to 25. We worked the incoming tide for a half dozen keepers to 24" and twenty or so shorts. We were using 4/0 circle hooks with a buck tail skirt tipped with squid and spearing. Pink seemed to out fish white and green."

Tautog season closes May 31.  However, if you can get out before then it might be worth a try as keeper tautog are being caught. Many Macedo or Lucky Bait said, "We have and 22" and 24" fish caught by customers this past week.  Don't get me wrong, they are catching a lot of shorts by keepers are mixed in.  Their bait of choice this Spring seems to be crabs rather than worms."

Squid fishing has improved. "Customers are landing big tubes not just in Newport but they have traveled up the Sakonnet and all the way up to Bristol." said Manny Macedo or Lucky Bait.  I fished the Frances Fleet Saturday night and it was a slow pick.  Top angler caught nineteen squid.  Roger Simpson of the Frances Fleet said, "Wednesday night was the best last week with generally one half to one full bucket per angler. Friday night was right behind with quite a few anglers doing one half to three quarters of a bucket and just a handful of fishers doing 20-30 pieces. Thursday and Saturday nights were slower with hi hooks both nights doing 30-40 pieces with most having less." Angler Kevin Robishaw said, "Headed out last night (Saturday) aboard the Frances fleet for squid on the RISAA charter. Went out in front by Nebraska Shoal and anchored. Squid were coming over rail on first drop for me in the bow. This tampered off quickly and it was a pick all night for most in the boat. I never figured out a particular color or depth. I seemed to get them off bottom 4-5 feet but never really keyed in on them. I believe most people got at least a few. I got 10 tubes and between three of us in bow we got maybe a third of bucket full."

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years.  He holds a captain's master license and a charter fishing license. Visit Captain Dave's No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com or e-mail him with your fishing news and photos at dmontifish@verizon.net.