2003 ARCHIVED FISHING REPORTS
DECEMBER 14,
2003
The end of the 2003 season is upon us and Block Island Fishworks would like to
thank all our customers and friends for a fantastic season. The striper fishing
was without a doubt EXCELLENT, bluefish were plentiful, plenty of sharks, and a
late run of tuna kept offshore guys happy. The number of large fluke, seabass,
and scup was a promising sight. But I am asking Santa to send for more Bonito
and Albies closer to the Island next year!
We plan on being open for business in May next year - plan your trips early for
choice fishing times. We will be attending four fishing shows in 2004 - The
Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough MA Jan. 16-18, The Greater Philadelphia Sport
Travel and Outdoor Show Jan 21-25, the World Fishing and Outdoor Expo in Suffern
NY March 4-7, and The New England Saltwater Fishing Show March 5-7. Stop by
the Block Island booths and say hello.
We will be carrying a new product lines next year including Albright Fly Rods
and Reels, Temple Fork Rods, St. Croix, Triple Fish Line, Tsunami Lures, Lucky
Craft Lures, and hopefully Hab's and Tattoo Custom Plugs. We hope to release a
mail order catalog in 2004 as well. We will no longer carry Redington due to the
buyout by Sage and a negative change in some policies - but I will continue to
assist customers with Redington warrantee issues (the LAST Brakewater 11/12 reel
is on EBAY for 2 more days if anyone is interested...)
Our Fishing Tournament will be one week earlier in September and we expect
co-founder Mark Northup of Sandy Point Fly Leaders to be in attendance. Our
website has been updated with the info and check out the photo page for 2003
highlights.
On be half of our staff, Guides, and Captains - THANK YOU FOR THE 2003 SEASON
AND HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY.
Tight Lines!
Capt.Chris Willi ~ 'Julia Ryan'
Capt. Matt King ~ ' Hula Girl'
Capt. Mitch Chagnon ~ 'Sakarak'
Capt. Steve Miller ~ 'Storm Petrel'
Capt. Eric Gustafson ~ 'Rooster'
Capt. Greg Snow
Capt. Larry Constantine
Mate Ravi Banerjee
Friday October 31,
2003
The fall fishing has been good
all around with a decent run of bass this week from the beach and boat.
Several 30# class fish caught primarily with live eels, one 40# early in the
week on the same from the boat. Really big tides this week and mediocre
weather. The annual migration of 4x4 beach rigs and all night
anglers is upon us with alot of fish caught but hushed as to were they
are. The fact is Block Island is 3miles by 7miles ~ there are no 'secret
spots', just favorite spots, if your willing to hike the rocky shoreline
you will find fish. Needlefish in the HABS variety and Superstrikes
look to be working well - I lost all my HABS in one week - hopefully my shop
will carry them soon. Working colors have run the spectrum - Parrot (
green/yellow) slammed them on night but not the next. Pink/White -
Black/Purple - Amber - Antique White have all worked. Big (7"+)
shallow swimmers are another choice. Slow fished lures appear to be taking
more fish. Fly fishing is still strong in the backwaters of the Great Salt
Pond and beaches. Big classic patterns in bunker colors have been working
with dark patterns at night. Did some bottom fishing this week as well and
big hit scup ad sea bass at SW point that were simply huge - these scup looked
like hubcaps... This weekend should be very nice so take advantage and get
out and fish. If you want live bait during the fall Twin Maples has it but
call before you come for prices and availability - he can run out of eels
quickly - Fishworks will not be open but you can call me if you need
something. We will do night eel trips this week if anyone is interested -
6 person max... Good
Fishing!
Sunday October
19, 2003
There are plenty of Bass around the Island with a 50lbers taken last week on a
live lined Scup and a 36 trolled up by the Hula Girl. Early morning and
night fishing will get you keeper bass from the beach or boat. The albies
and bonito are all but gone but there has been red hot action at Montauk and the
west wall at Point Judith. Large sea bass have been around the Island for
the past two weeks - 3 to 5 lbers! Scup as large as frying pans as well.
Offshore action was good for the beginning of October with several Yellow's,
BFT's, and albacore taken by Island boats. Mako's and two swords were also
taken in early October.
This is the best time of year for fishing on Block Island as there is good
fishing and plenty of elbow room! Our boats and guides will be operating
into November if you want to head out.
WED.
Well the Albies seem to be
hitting hard in Montauk and
We were finally
blessed with forgiving weather for the Tournament and welcomed the 40
participants that fished hard during the weekend.
Sixteen fish were weighed in
with five prize winners. Over 60
fish were released that did not meet our size minimums - many caught by fly
fishing - however, not one qualifying fish was caught on the fly!
Plenty of fish just small ones - not characteristic of
RESULTS:
Bass /
Boat / Spin
Rob Browne
24.77lbs
Bass / Boat / Bait
Charlie Gustafson 24.38lbs
Bass / Beach / Spin
Leo Orsi
16.06lbs
Blue / Beach / Spin
Durbin Wells
9.2lbs
Blue / Boat / Bait
Matt King
8.95lbs
****Tourny T -
Shirts are still available for $15 - includes shipping....****
Thank you to
all our SPONSORS:
Wednesday Sept 10,
2003
Fly Fisherman are enjoying bass in
the channel in the early morning and scattered Bonito schools by boat during the
day. Peanut bunker have joined the silversides and sandeels making for a
nice buffet. Flex Cord sand eels and white rabbit candies / deceivers /
half and halves are working. Beach bound plug anglers are sticking to
Southwest Point and coves on the South East and Old Harbor area - amber, black,
and purple are favorite plug colors. After last weeks swell many boats did
well on the South Side of the Island chunking and trolling. There were
Mako, Yellow fin, and Blue Fin taken offshore by Capt. Miller on the Storm
Petrel.
Friday
August 30, 2003
Bonito and Albies are here in decent numbers all
around the Island - most are being taken on the small metal lures. The
recent edition of On the Water has a good article on fishing for blitzing Bonito
and Ablies with some tactics which will prove useful if fly fishing for these
tunoids... The experience so far is fussy fish hitting small (1/2")
bait - the 'injured' presentation seems to work best. Silversides are the
bait present now. Bass are still around and the beach action is starting
to pick up in the early morning hours. Killer sea bass and fluke action
has been the predominant report from our captains with Clayhead, Old Harbor
Point, and Charleston Beach doing well this week. A couple of 38lb
stripers took the tube and worm from the 'Hula Girl' this week as well.
We have our Block Island Inshore Fishing Tournament on September 26, 27, and 28
- check out the tourney page if your interested. We need SPONSORS - any
tackle, gift certificates, or other prizes are appreciated - this all benefits
the National Children's Cancer Society. HAB'S custom plugs has joined our
sponsor list last week. Thank You.
Friday August 22, 2003
Well frigate mackerel have appeared in New Harbor with the
bonito with them... large silversides have also come in as the bait
source. Deadly Dicks, Maria's, and Swedish Pimples work well as do the
small yozuri crystal minnows. Mitch on the Sakarak got some nice Fluke
this week and Matt on the Hula Girl managed a 38lb bass on one of his many
trips. Shore fishing has concentrated on Charleston Beach and the CG
Channel with anglers scurrying for their first Bonito... Once this front passes
we should get into a full on bite next week, the consistency this week just
wasn't there. One night live eels worked well the next it was
clams... but the fish are still around. Offshore water temps are 74+
just 10 miles off the Island. The pursuit of Giants has begun by Island
fisherman but none brought to the dock yet. The summer is almost over
meaning Fall fishing is around the corner - Block Islands finest time of year...
Thursday August 14,
2003
The August bass fishing is much better than last year but the fish have moved
off to deeper water. Beach bound anglers can still get fish at night
and early A.M.. Our charter captains are having good success with tube and
worm and live eels. The fluke and sea bass fishing is still
good as well with good size fish caught up and down the West side. Our
offshore fly fishing trip on Tuesday yielded Dorado and large Blue sharks -
great fun for fly fishing, the one mako of the day was on conventional gear and
a whole squid (pictures on the photo page). A staff trip on Wednesday had
another small Mako and several Blue sharks. The Tournaments in the first
week of August were plagued with bad offshore weather - the largest tuna didn't
break 50lbs. Wahoo, bluefin, and dorado were also caught. No bonito
or albies have hit the surface yet... it's about that time for them to
heat up and we hope they appear soon.
Thursday July
31, 2003
The action has slowed a little inshore but the past few
days have been good. Capt Matt King on the Hula Girl and Capt Steve Miller
on the Storm Petrel are both getting fish in the 20-30 lb range. Capt
Mitch on Sakarak is reporting good fluking and nice sea bass around the
Island. The promising Bonito sightings have not fully developed but Capt
Mitch did get one on an umbrella - we just haven't seen any surface action
yet. Paul Caval on the Kahuna boated a white marlin early in the week and
hooked 3 others. the Storm Petrel also boated some longfin albacore and
dorado this week. We have two tournaments coming up next week - the
J&B Tri-State Shootout and the Block Island Billfish Tournament - I will
bring you a report on this next week - Tuna, Shark, and, Wahoo were all caught
last year. On the fly fishing front we are still in bass and blues from
shore but not as plentiful - the boat action is better with early morning action
the best. Black flies 3-5" are best at night right now.
Sandeels and silversides are still the flies to use but concentrate on the depth
you are working - many fish are staying deeper - particularly on the South side
- but the East beaches have produced during the day in shallower.
One customer this week
forgot to raise his tailgate on his truck and lost two nice fish - both close to
40" - as he headed home.... being a small Island it was a matter of
time when another customer came in and told me his 'luck' - two keeper bass
flopping around in the road! I told him it was the really high tides we
have... He took them home and filleted them up for him and his
guests bragging on how easy the fishing was on the Island. Well the guy
who caught the fish (we will call him Callum) called the Police the next morning
to report the theft of two fish (one of the stranger calls our Police have had)
- well within 24 hours of said fish caught both parties were in contact and all
that was wanted was the weight of the fish - which were never weighed - but they
did have skate in their bellies which was the whole point of this story...
any good skate flies out there?
Tuesday July 15,
2003
Once again we had some big fish taken this week. The Capt. Matt King aboard the
Hula Girl whacked em hard with a 50lb 6oz bass taken by customer Steve Cozzolino
from Jersey (check this picture out on the photo page)... the next morning
his customers get a 45, and two in the 30's! Capt. Matt has his tube and
worm technique perfected and he is keeping his people real happy - this is the
first 50 taken on BI this summer!! Lots of large fluke have been taken in
and around the channel with sand worms, sand eels, and smelt being the
bait of choice. We took some new comers to saltwater fly fishing out this
week and were successful with several 30" to 36" bass - all hitting
sandeel colors and patterns. The easiest and most successful fly is an
Easy Body sand eel pattern - use pearl easy body, flex cord or similar
tubing material - some greenish flash tied in one end, run the hook through the
other, tie off the head and add some eyes - run an olive marker down the back
and your done. One bluefin was taken on the fly last tuesday as
well.... and their are reports of bonito in the New Harbor - let get ready
for some reel screaming good times.....
Wednesday July 9,
2003
Another couple of slobs were weighed in this past week. Most notable was
Pete Alarie's 43 pounder on a surface plug just after sunset in skinny water
from the his boat. He was fishing with guide Greg Snow who scouted a
school of big bass earlier that day and put Pete on the fish (see photo on photo
page). Capt Larry Constantine put his customer on a 45 lb bass using a
snake, followed by a 30 and a 20. Large bass are here - let's see if they
stick around. Light tackle anglers are having plenty of action on the
south side with bass from 30-34" with bluefish becoming a little annoying -
yet still fun. Baby bluefish seem to be the quarry for some of these bass
and the holographic bluefish colored bomber is working. The fly fishing
has been good in early morning form the beach and boat. We had several
trips with larger bass hooked but not landed. They are shying away form
small patterns and prefer the large 6"-8" bunker/herring patterns on
the south side and sand eels on the west. We have had great
weather the past week - I hope we stay this lucky!
Sunday June 29, 2003
This week was fantastic for fishing
with good weather, cooperative fish, and eager anglers. Never mind the
number of bluefish around - the bass have come in strong and hungry.
Anglers from the boat and shore are having tremendous luck with sluggo's and
bombers but the hefty fish this week hit needle fish. Yozuri's, pink
bombers and rainbow trout sluggo's were money at the North rip all week at
dusk. Flies of choice were large sand eel patterns and olive deep clousers
fished with sinking line. Notable catches were Dan Seligson with a 20lber
on 10lb test at Black Rock, a 40lber caught by Rob Casino on the South West side
from the beach, and Jake Hall with his first fluke at the Coast Guard
Channel. Check these photo's out on our photo page.
Tuesday June 16,
2003
Holy Cow! We've haven't seen
this many bluefish in a long time... little 2-6lbers have ravenged the New
Harbor entrance all week and larger fish have appeared off the jetties in Old
Harbor. Lots of fun, especially for the youngsters. The West side of
the
Saturday June 7,
2003
Good numbers of fish have arrived
and are being taken from the beaches around the Island. Harbor Blues and
schoolie bass are feeding heavily on schools of sand eels. 6" all
black Bombers, smoke Kalins, Yozuri's, and Fin S's have all worked this
week. South East, South West and North point are all holding fish.
Calm nights have made for some exciting fishing as many of the fish are right on
the surface. Most luck has been had on the incoming tides with the action
shutting off at slack tide. The fly fishing has picked up with bluefish
chomping off their share of flies and leaders. Sinking line has proved
successful in getting down to bass lurking below.
The weather seems to be slowly improving along with the fishing! Stop in the
shop or email for daily updates if your heading out!
Sunday
June1, 2003
After a long, lousy spring, fish are
finally here in decent numbers and within striking distance with light tackle
and those fly fishing. Bluefish and bass have congregated on the South
side and up to the North Rip and are being taken with light tackle on soft
plastics like Sluggo's in alewive and shiner colors. Our fly/spin trip
yesterday produced several bluefish and bass on the fly and light tackle.
The largest was 20lbs using a 6" Sluggo. Fly fishing was
successful using a 2/0 baitfish pattern with a black back, white kinky
hair body, some pearl flashabou, with a large eye. Fish have been taken in
the great salt pond on the high tides as fish come in to forage in the inner
ponds. The larger charter boats are having success in the usual locations
like SW Point and the Ledge. Snakes on wire line are working - as well as
umbrella rigs - nothing new here.
If you headed to the Island email, call, or stop in the shop on Ocean Ave in New
Harbor for the latest report. We are currently working on getting our
scale certified for RISAA tournaments... more to follow.