It took 2 hours driving over to Rhode Island. We planned on arriving at 5:30 to keep spots. When I got to the dock, my friend had already kept spots at bow.
Although I didn’t have a rod for fluke, I didn’t feel like buying one because it was once-a-year event. The question was which substitute rod I would use. Weather forecast said that Saturday would be windy. I worried about higher drift speed. Heavy sinker is the key to keep the bottom in such condition. I decided to carry cod tackle, which can handle up to 16 oz of sinker. A conventional reel also works better in choppy condition. In addition to it, I brought in a medium rod, Shimano Sojourn 7’ with a spinning reel with 30 LB power pro. This rod was the sturdiest in medium rods I had. It was good for an option when the ocean calmed down. It can handle 4 oz SPRO or a lighter sinker. The only risk was bluefish, which might break the rod. Rigs were high-low with 4/0 baitholder hooks. I also stocked 3-4 oz SPRO bucktail jigs and Gulp swimming mullet 2.5’’. For bluefish, I carried 2-3 oz metal jigs such as Crippled herring and Hopkins.
Gail Frances left the dock at 7. It was choppy from the beginning and I got mildly sick when I took a nap in the cabin. Soon after I got out to the deck, the boat arrived at the first spot, I started with the light rod and SPRO. However, it didn’t work well and the rig tangled with the one on the other side of the boat. A few nice keeper fluke showed up in the bow area soon. I switched to the original plan, cod tackle with a bait rig with a 16 oz sinker. After catching an undersize seabass, the rig broke with a snag. I reset the rig with an 8 oz sinker. After one reset of the drift, I felt a bite. After waiting 10 seconds, I set a hook. I thought it might be a dog because it ran well. However what I found after reeling was a decent fluke. A mate brought the fish in the boat with a net.
Fish was on here and there steadily. The trouble was that we got snag very often. I lost two 16oz sinkers and two 12 oz sinkers. After running out triangle swivels, I had to use a dropper loop for a sinker. This type of rig was damaged on rough bottom sooner and I lost rigs even faster. Occasionally I tried the light tackle but I didn’t feel like keeping the bottom. It was waste of time. Overall catch on the boat was not so bad and my friend got a jumbo door mat, 27’’ fluke! The mate said it looked 10 LB. I saw a few similar size of fluke in bow after that.
When I got a keeper seabass with bait, I ran out of hooks. I gave up fluke and started blue fishing. I hadn’t had big bluefish so I was interested in catching one. I took the light rod and set a 3 oz Crippled Herring with a gulp on a single hook. I casted the jig and bounced at the bottom. I felt something but couldn’t hook up. In the meantime, I got a clear hit near the boat. I thought it was a big seabass because it didn’t run. What I found, however, was a keeper fluke. It was smaller than the first one. I found the metal jig worked for bottom species as well and it was fun!
I jigged with the same action and got a strong hit. The fish pulled the drug, should be a blue. However, the leader broke after 3 seconds. Although my friend advised me to use a wire rig, I didn’t have any that day. I reset the rig using a snap swivel and a 3 oz Hopkins with a long shank single hook and a tube. It would be better as long as I hooked up before a blue ingested it. After slow time, the boat moved to a spot near Block Island. I switched to the bait for a while but didn’t have any actions. In the meantime, my friend using a jig got a hit of blue and lost the jig. I replaced a tube on Hopkins with a gulp and started jigging. I got another keeper seabass soon. Around 1:30, a bluefish hit during reeling the jig. I set the hook firmly. Although the fish ran well, the line was OK this time. The rod tip ran toward the bottom of the boat and drug was pulled with the noise. Holding the rod was a tough work. I managed to pull the fish from the other side of the boat and a mate picked it up with a gaff. It was an average size, looked like 28’’ and 8 LB. Because of the right drug setting, the rod didn’t break.
In the last 30 minutes, a boy came over to the bow. He hadn’t caught any keepers so far. I advised him to keep the rig at the bottom as other fishermen did but he copied me, jigging the rig. Under the condition that day, beginner’s luck wouldn’t happen. You had to keep the bottom on the rolling boat, avoid snag and pull the rig as the drift went. You did need the skill. If you could keep doing it diligently, you had a few chances during 6 hours of trip. It was such a trip. After I caught an under size fluke, the captain called the end a little past 2 pm. I kept 2 fluke, 2 seabass and one bluefish. I brought them home without cleaning.
Regulars said Saturday a week before was crowded and no catch. This Saturday was moderately windy with showers but there were less people and the catch was decent with several jumbos. I thought it was a good trip. The fleet reported the trip as quality rather than quantity. Larger fluke I got was 22’’ and smaller one was 21’’ both were good size to eat. Black seabass was not so big. Bluefish had a lot of fat line. I removed the dark meat and took pieces of fillets. Belly meat looked oily and delicious. I tried sashimi with ground ginger and found it was very good! It was similar to albacore. I also made a marinade using loin. It was different from any other local fishes. Although it becomes fishy soon, super fresh one is unique and delicious!
