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View Full Version : RI report 20-22 Bonito show!


LandlockedinMI
10-22-2005, 07:27 PM
Fished Thursday- Sat in RI W/ my personal outfitter CApt JAmes of Bonnet Shores fame.

Thursday was great weather with the fish showing a deplorable excess of restraint. Found em (stripers and blues) in Greenwich Bay but pretty spread out with slow pickings. Headed up to Prov River Lighthouse where we found stripers to @ 8 lbs in a rip.

Friday fished w/ a friend I work with who drove in from CT. Got some intel (thanks DON!!!!!) on Westport and we headed west. Never made it past Sakonnet. Stripers to 12 lbs till about 3pm. My friend got first fly rod striper.

Saturday's weather report was ok in the morning with things going to hell in the afternoon. And they got that right.

We had stripers all morning again to the east of Sakonnet. We were hooking up on fly even with the wind honking and 2-3 footers trying to put James' boat on the rocks and the beach. Not one other boat anywhere all day. We headed around the point after the tide change. Found more striper inside the harbor while we waited for the current to start moving. After the tide started to move we went out front and it was very ugly w/ 3-4 ft slop. So we decided to get in the lee of the east wind and go back by the harbor. We were heading north when we ran over some fish. I grabbed th spinning rod rigged w/ an all white storm wild eye and just threw it back where we ran them over and hooked up to something very different from what we had been catching. Lots of drag taken out of the Qauntum Boca 40 w/ Jerry Brown spectra. After a good ten minutes I tell James:
" I think it's an Albie".
"You're full of it"
"Get the net"
"Huh?"
"Hurry."
.............."OH YEAH!"

One very fat Bonito. Boga read 12 lbs. Now the game had changed- we rerigged the fly rods for bones but never got another sighting after looking for over an hour. Not that it was easy w/ all gray overcast and stiff wind. Well, we put one in the freezer for the trip back to Michigan. I love RI.

The ride back to Bonnet was brutal with a 3-4 ft following sea except at the mouth of the Bay where we ran into some 4-6ft'ers in howling winding and ****ing down rain. Oh good. Got through that and ran up to Quonset and other parts of the Bay but no joy. At this point freezing, wet and beat up we called it.

To all of you that shared intel-I am grateful for your gift. Positive Karma to you and yours.

Next stop- Louisiana in January.

bass3six
10-22-2005, 07:32 PM
12 lb. bonito?
WOW!! Nice catch!

Lightn' Rod
10-22-2005, 10:12 PM
Good for you! Nice to hear you stuck with the fly rod when it was not ideal. Imagine that bonita on a fly rod!

I appreciate the specifics even though I never fish a boat--it is a spirit of good sportsmanship when you get info you give info. That was a report like we use to get...

Thanks!

FlyFishMich
10-23-2005, 07:31 PM
Way to go, Peter!!! --126-3- Put November 5th or 6th on your calendar for some chrome...4 for 6 yesterday and my buddy was 2 for 4 --127-3- It only gets better from here!!!

Albiemanmike
10-23-2005, 08:17 PM
Damn I hit the back button on the mouse and lost a two pager!!!! Nice couple of days of fall fishing you had LIM, AWESOME BONE! I had slow action on Saturday around Watch Hill but got into a 3 hour Albie blitz at Race Pt. off Fishers in the afternoon on Saturday. very picky fish feeding on 4-5 in. Striped Anchovies (Fishbase) I saved a couple as I have never seen them before, biggest small bait I have ever run into.

bdowning
10-24-2005, 08:01 AM
And that big pod of stripers and blues extended all the way back to the New Bedford area on Sunday as well. I think Halloween weekend could be very good in the lower bay and So. County if the storm doesn't do too much damage. Of course I said that for this weekend too, so take that for what it's worth :rolleyes: .

-bd


Friday fished w/ a friend I work with who drove in from CT. Got some intel (thanks DON!!!!!) on Westport and we headed west. Never made it past Sakonnet. Stripers to 12 lbs till about 3pm. My friend got first fly rod striper.

Saturday's weather report was ok in the morning with things going to hell in the afternoon. And they got that right.

We had stripers all morning again to the east of Sakonnet. We were hooking up on fly even with the wind honking and 2-3 footers trying to put James' boat on the rocks and the beach. Not one other boat anywhere all day. We headed around the point after the tide change. Found more striper inside the harbor while we waited for the current to start moving. After the tide started to move we went out front and it was very ugly w/ 3-4 ft slop. So we decided to get in the lee of the east wind and go back by the harbor. .

LandlockedinMI
10-24-2005, 08:38 AM
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/078409.jpg

tunnie md
10-24-2005, 08:46 AM
Mother




of




GOD

bdowning
10-24-2005, 08:57 AM
You sure that's not an SBFT? ;) (Nice fish!)


-bd

vossman
10-24-2005, 10:13 AM
That is a beast! Nice catch. --127-3-

bassdad
10-24-2005, 10:21 AM
Filing that pic under "Things to drag out when She Who Does Not Understand Hardtail Fever says 'gee honey, why don't we have a nice quiet weekend indoors with the kids -- you can fish next weekend.'" My fault for listening this time, as my boat was bobbing on the hook not 300 yards from the spot in the pic. Awesome fish!!

Slater
10-24-2005, 10:35 AM
Awesome fish!!!!

For perspective, the largest bone (boat or shore) at the month-long MV Derby was 10.38 lbs. (boat caught) out of 347 bones weighed-in by over 3,000 anglers...! WOW!

jettyjockey
10-24-2005, 10:52 AM
either thats a big bone, or your 4 feet tall... ;) :-%

vineyard fisher
10-24-2005, 12:07 PM
I too did a double-take. Holy mother of all bones! The image of that fish is now burned into my memory and will keep me fishing every time I want to quit casting and get out of the weather. Nice job!

b.clancy
10-24-2005, 01:32 PM
Albiemanmike, or anyone else familiar w/ the area:
What were the water temps around Watch Hill- Fishers Island?
Bob

LandlockedinMI
10-24-2005, 01:37 PM
Yeah, I've caught quite a few in August and September but not like that. I said Albie when I first saw it in about 10ft of water but when I saw the stripes I already started thinking sushi overlooking the frozen Michigan tundra by the roaring fire......GET THE NET! BTW- I am 6'6" 235 (ding) so I do tend to make fish look small....

She who doesn't understand the madness that is hardtail pursuit is most kind and generous. I leave her with 3 boys under 9 for 3-4 day trips to RI a couple of times a year- also one to Louisiana the week before Katrina- that trip yeilded many YFt's with the big one coming in at 142lbs. She is a very special and beautiful lady. Not to mention a true sushi/sashimi aficionado so stocking the freezer with high grade tuna species is the least a guy can do.

Wonder if I can get another hall pass after the next round of storms has it's way with the east coast? :brow

JimW
10-24-2005, 06:28 PM
Holy smokes, that's unreal. The head looks too small for the body. Congrats!

Friday the water temp at Watch hill was 60

LandlockedinMI
10-25-2005, 08:33 AM
If you guys don't get blown out the RI coast may just go off!

frankhuey2000
10-25-2005, 10:19 AM
Hey dude that would make an awesome mount!!!! stick it on your wall!!!!

JoeyM
10-25-2005, 01:04 PM
geezes, compare that to my bonito, which was also caught in RI this weekend. mine was maybe 1/2 lb.

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/3557/imgp06838kb.jpg

ruge13
10-25-2005, 01:16 PM
Before this comes up..... RI is 10 fish per person, per day for Togs as of Oct 15. No need to start the flame wars over legality.

e-sea-e
10-25-2005, 02:54 PM
how tasty are togs? I caught a huge one off m'head a year or so ago that would have given me a couple nice fillets.

zimmjas
10-25-2005, 03:26 PM
Dude, togs are tops for the plate.

Bob Parsons
10-25-2005, 04:03 PM
That looks like it was quite the successful tog trip. Lot of fine eating there. How late are they around? Heck if I can't get cod maybe get tog

aws
10-25-2005, 04:07 PM
how tasty are togs? I caught a huge one off m'head a year or so ago that would have given me a couple nice fillets.


awesome! just bread and cook in butter. Also good w/ cajun rub for fish tacos. IMO, much better eating than bass and blues(except blues on the smoker).

More fun for me w/ the speargun than the rod and reel, though I did catch one once while trolling a clouser from my yak. Keep an eye on their regulations though, as I believe there is a closure to the season in Mass to protect the spawning fish in late spring/early summer. I've definitely speared a few fish that were fat with eggs and felt awful about it.

Amazing bone!!! Must've been a great fight!