And, their response made it all worthwhile for the volunteers. As we pulled back into the dock, Daniele yelled to her mother, “We caught four fish — it was great.”Tying braid to braidTying braid to braid line usually does not work. If the knot doesn’t slip, it will break at the knot with a lot less stress than normal. I never tie braid line to braid for fear it may break. I don’t like to use mono as backing either, because it has interfered with retrieving and casting. “I did a little destructive testing using a hanging scale, a five-gallon pail and the hose,” said Larry O’Neil of East Providence Bait Co. “I slowly filled the pail to learn how the line knots act. All testing was done with a 50-pound Power Pro line. I tied a swivel at both ends, filled bucket slow and the line broke at 38 pounds. (I did the ) same test with a Double Uni knot and to my surprise the knot did not slip, but the knot broke at 19 pounds. An Albright knot broke at 21 pounds. This is all I had time to test. The line with two swivels broke at the knot as well.”Striped bass seminarRISAA will hold a special seminar, “Block Island Striper Fishing,” at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 25.The seminar will feature three outstanding striped bass Block Island anglers including Peter Vican, who holds the Rhode Island striped bass record at 77.4 pounds which he caught in 2011. (That broke his own Rhode Island record, which had been a 76.14-pound striped bass in 2008.)The seminar will also feature Peter’s fishing partner Don Smith, who has worked Block Island waters for years, releasing 99 percent of his catch. The third speaker will be Michael Lanni, a striped bass fisherman for 30 years who caught a 64-pound fish on Block Island in 2010. The meeting is open to the public with a $10 donation by non-members to the Marine Fisheries College Scholarship Fund (RISAA members attend free). The meeting will take place at the West Valley Inn, 4 Blossom St., West Warwick. Dinner, offered by the West Valley Inn, is available from 5:30-6:30 p.m.Where’s the bite?Striped bass — Mike Swain of Coventry reported a good striped bass bite at night on Narragansett Bay in the Providence Point/Prudence Island area. “We caught six keepers Friday night, from when the sun went down until about 10:30 p.m., using live menhaden. But during the day (even early morning) it was a different story. The bite has slowed and almost stopped during the day,” Mr. Swain said.Craig Castro of Erickson’s Bait & Tackle in Warwick said his customers are catching bass. “One landed a 36-pound fish off Narragansett and a second caught a fish in the mid-30s right off Warwick Neck light drifting eels around midnight,” he said.Block Island fishing continues to improve. Mike Lanni caught a 35-pound bass near the southwest ledge trolling umbrella rigs. (Umbrella rigs and parachute jibs seem to be working best at Block Island so far.) Capt. John Sheriff reported a strong bluefish bite at Block Island.Fluke (summer flounder) fishing continues to improve in the lower bay and around Block Island. “We caught 22 fluke at a spot just east of old reef and another in front of Pink House,” reported Phil Lizotte. “Started in close and drifted out and west from 25- to 35-foot depths. Used white and green Spin-N-Glo with squid. Only had two keepers.” Ken Robins fished under the Newport Bridge from about 8 to 10 a.m. last Thursday. “It was pretty rough with a northeast wind blowing. Drift speed was about 1.6 mph with a drift sock,” said Mr. Robins, who caught four keepers: two that were 20 inches long, one 22 inches long and another 23 inches long, along with many shorts. “All keepers were caught in 87 to 93 feet of water. Had to use 10-ounce sinkers and it wasn’t enough. By about 9:30 a.m., I went to a 16-ounce sinker.”Black sea bass season opened June 15 and will run through Dec. 31. The minimum size is 13 inches for recreational anglers with a 15 fish/person/day limit. Anglers fishing for fluke have been catching sea bass, too. It should be a good year for black sea bass.Freshwater — Craig Castro and his fishing partner, Richard Verry, took the Coventry Bass Anglers’ Large Mouth Bass Tournament over the weekend, catching just under 19 pounds of bass. Twenty-five boats entered the competition.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.
