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2007 BLOCK ISLAND FISHING REPORTS
Archived Reports for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

Call us at 401-466-5392, email,  or to join our email list for reports.

November 29, 2007
Plenty of tog around and some cod being caught within 5 miles of BI.  Whale sightings within 1 mile south of the Island as well.  Surf fishing has produced nothing spectacular, small fish mostly, very strange fall actually.  I did get to fish in Kauai, Hawaii - for large and smallmouths of all things.  A fun little trip up one of the many rivers with guide Tom Christy, an old Detroit Tiger ball player from 20 years ago.  But the season is pretty much at an end - here are some of the highlights and learned lessons of the BI Fishworks 2007 season...

Lesson - always carry a 1" squid pattern; We witnessed a feeding frenzy that stretched from New Harbor channel to SW Pt that lasted a good part of two hours, my customer and I fished like made throwing every fly we had - only to land one Albie on an ugly squid like pattern... the fish coughed up 1/2" - 1" squid.  I've seen this at the rip but not on the SW end.
Highlight - seeing 10 acres of feeding fish and giggling like schoolkids

Lesson - Honesty's the best policy ;  Two hometown BI teams had winning fish for the J&B Tri State Canyon Shootout, a 245# Big Eye and a 145# Big Eye. One team broke a rod, one team hit the fish with the prop - both teams were honest and the fish, by rule, were DQed... great sportsmanship is refreshing.
Highlight - Landing a personal best tuna, 145# bigeye, in just over 20 minutes, thanks to a ringer OHO crew on the FV Sea Reba...  even after it was hit by a prop we got the fish in the boat.

Lesson - Fishing is fishing, not catching exactly what you want;  Had a customer that wanted to catch his first striped bass on the fly.  We managed to get him bluefish, fluke, seabass, scup, and a bonito - but no bass.
Highlight - Watching someone catch the most convoluted array of fish without a single scrappy striper.

Lesson - what happens in New Orleans stays in New Orleans;  Fished Grande Isle, La. aboard the FV Island Lady but got blown out the last day and had the 'great' idea to spend it in new Orleans...  needless to say we boarded our nearly missed flight at 7am - still intoxicated...  we still are piecing together the events of the day/night/morning.
Highlight - a fantastic trip 100 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, fishing the rigs, landing a personal best 42# Mahi, eating a gourmet meal on the boat and having a great time with friends on the Island Lady.  I'm pretty sure New Orleans was fun too.

Thanks to everyone for a great season and a happy and safe Holiday - see you in 2008...

October 6, 2007
Again I have to report that the bass fishing is a bit slower than it should be.  Fished all week and only picked up a few bass and an albie.  Friends headed to Montauk to fish for a day since it was so bad here and reported plenty of ablies and bass but way to many knuckleheads with boats.  So to keep the fishing interesting we changed gears and started targeting seabass and cod off the Amanda Mel and have had a ton of fun and fresh fish.  The Mudhole has had some BFT's mostly on the troll but no reports of GBFTs since August.  

Sept 17, 2007
Oddly, it's been slow fishing lately...  you have to put in the time to find them - even with eels.  Bass have been picked here and there around the Island with no 'one' spot producing.  Plenty of bait though... New Harbor is full of baby bunker.  Fluke is now closed but the Sea Bass fishing is good.  A bunch of large scup have been caught as well - 3lbers and fat.  The 2007 Tournament results are below - only 5 qualifying fish caught...

2007 Tournament Results

The 7th Block Island Inshore Fishing Tournament was was once again blessed with good weather and eager fishermen. Over 40 anglers participated raising  $1400 for the National Children's Cancer Society.  This event would not be possible without our generous sponsors - some of which have supported the tourney from the beginning.  They are;  Old Harbor Outfitters, Linesider Charters Inc.,  B.I. Fishworks, Hula Charters, Twin Maples, RonZ Lures. Sampson Lures, Pt Judith Lures, Fish Hard Live Long, Amanda Mel Charters, Paynes Dock, The Beachead Restaurant, Edward’s Marine, J&B Tackle in Niantic, renowned angler George Gilbert, Block Island Boat Basin, Pizza Plus, Datasport Inc., and Sandy Point Fly Leader Company.  A special thanks to Peter Vican for his generous contribution of sports memorabilia for our raffle.  Thank you to all our participants and sponsors!

We will have the tourney next year - same time and place...  hope to see you there!

2007 WINNERS
Shore Division    
Albie / Artif.   Ted Loughman  6.92lbs

Boat Division
Bass / Bait       Kyle Fister 33.04lbs  *won in 2006*
Bass / Artif.     Jason Levy 20.71lbs
Blue / Artif.      Glenn Skalubinski  10.65lbs

Fluke             Ned Connelly  2.42lbs

Sept. 4, 2007
Albies and bonito have made an appearance finally with what was decent action for about a week.  Super fussy fish on the fly or with LT  - feeding on squid as well and peanut bunker but mostly squid.  The best action has been found on the entire west side of BI particularly right after sunrise.  The rip has regularly seen boiling bass and blues making for great topwater action.  Again the closer to sunrise or sunset and a moving tide was when they where there.  Big bass are still in deep water - parachute jigs and tubes are preferred by a few local captains.  Offshore was pretty good the 2nd week in August and GBFT were around with a few caught south of BI.  Four days of cold NE weather shut things down for a bit, but things are turning with Atlantis and West Atlantis having decent reports.  The mudhole had some BFT's as well.  

The BI Inshore Fishing Tourney is coming up on Sept. 14-16.  Info can be found on the Tournament page at www.bifishworks.com.  Registration is Sept 14th.  Feel free to call us with questions - leave a message if we don't answer...

August 9, 2007
The Tri-State Canyon Shootout finished up yesterday with plenty of good fish caught and stories to tell.  A 267 lb Bigeye by Infinity took first place...  another notable catch was the 118 wahoo which may be a new RI record.  Block Island local boat Donny's Diamond landed a 249 bigeye and stood to take 3rd but a broken rod while fighting the fish DQed the catch. The Old Harbor Outfitters team of local capts Ned Connelly, Chris Willi, & Andy Dodwell fished with Pat Brown and owner Steve Tempini - landed 4 YFT 3 Mahi and a 4th place 145 bigeye - but withdrew the fish due to a prop cut while landing the fish...  local boys were close but no cigar.  Most were fishing in Atlantis in around 500ft of water.  Check out the pictures on our website.
Inshore fishing has certainly slowed down with bass hard to find in shallow water.  Luck has been had in deeper water fishing eels.  Fly fishing is decent as long as it is hazy or just dark...  bonito have been reported again, but not landed, and the albies have not shown themselves - should be any day now?  There have been reports of these fish off Matunick, Charlestown, and Stonington.  Sharking has been pretty good with Capt Ned getting a couple Mako's last week and plenty of blue sharks.

July 27, 2007
Wow - what a week...  great weather and fishing has kept all the fly rodders and light tackle guys and girls happy all week.  We've had little or no wind with decent tides and plenty of fish.  The South side has been loaded, arriving at 4:30am we generally had a non stop bite, in close to shore, for two solid hours.  Working the SW point and up to Dories had less action but bigger fish.  Top water spooks and soft plastics are lure of choice - squid pink, black, and purple are the working colors.  The past three days had bass feeding on the 'krill' or shrimp as big as a size 20 trout fly - and they didn't want much else.  Amanda Mel charters says the bluefish are thick on the SE side but big bass can be found once you get past them.  Plenty of sea bass and fluke around as well.  The BIVFD fishing tourny was last weekend with Peter Vican of RISAA winning with a 40lb bass, the complete results will be posted Monday.  The weathers here, wish you were beautiful.

July 12, 2007
It has been a busy couple of weeks here -  with the 4th of July falling on Wednesday, BI was filled to capacity for about 8 days straight.  The fishing has been good overall with a couple of very slow days mixed in.  A few highlights; Lou Eagle, a long time customer, spent four early mornings on the beach with Capt. Chris with the best day on July 5th.  Fly fishing in a driving rain and 25kts of wind Lou landed over 30 22"-25" fish at the Cut...  There were four other hearty souls there catching as well.  Long sand eel patterns were the ticket. Al Pellinni and Jamie Johnson weighed in a 30# class fish for the Striper Cup.  Rooster had several fish in the high thirty's fishing the East side.  Looking around offshore has not been to productive yet but we will keep looking for those BFT's.  Eeling has been the preferred method for bigger bass.  Light tackle guys are slaying them on topwater plugs - all white has been working best.  Most luck for fly and LT has been before sunup - except for the East side which hold fish accessible from the beach in the middle of the day.  We have enjoyed 65-70degree weather as well... not the sweltering 90-100 as the mainland has had.

June 29, 2007
High winds have plagued the small boat afternoon fly fishing, 4-5am has been the departure time for the past week to avoid the strong SW winds.  Sandeels are everywhere - small patterns are working on the fly.  Rainbow trout is still king for sluggo colors, but black is working well too.  RonZ's new squid color did well for us at the N. Light and the Dump...  Topwater action has been awesome; White Jumpin Minnow and the Heddon Super Spook - I tried a Chartreuse / White Top Dawg and murdered them - the whole West side has been holding fish.  The new 2007 light tackle setup for BI Fishworks consists of a Diawa BG20, 20# power pro, a three ft floro leader (12-20#), on a 7'6" Block Island Edition rod made for Fishworks by H&H in TX.  These rods have a backbone yet light top end and a 14" cork.  Awesome for topwater and other lures up to 1.5 oz.  The channel has been packed - early risers certainly reaped the bennies this week  - bass and blues loaded the harbor entrance with the action stopping at sunup, so you got to get there early.  Spear fishermen are reporting big bass, 40#ers along the entire south side.  A 62# was shot last weekend during a tourny.  The CG and DEM have been patrolling the SW with citations being handed out regularly so stay within the 3 mile boundary and stay within your limits on fish!

June 20, 2007
I apologize for the delay in reports but I've been busy with getting married.. but that hasn't stopped the fishing.  Big fish have been caught around the Island - Matt King on the Hula Girl reported several 40#ers eeling at night and Art Johannis did very well with RISAA trip winners tallying several in the 40# class, the biggest at 48.  The North Light has been choked full of bass and blues feeding on sandeels, and the new harbor channel has been very good when the sun is down.  Fly fishing the coves has produced alot of nice fish in the 20# class - Chris 'Moose' Benin, of Old Harbor Outfitters, has been working the West side with small deceivers and just slaying them.  Last week we had a the wedding guests out for a mini tourney with 22 of us fishing the rip and the dump for a couple hours in between the thunder - everyone caught and a 30" fish won the pot.  The newest addition to the fleet arrived today; Capt Ned Connelly and the Amanda Mel, a 32' Mitchell Cove docked in Old Harbor, will be offering fishing charters and lobster charters this summer.  
Fishing is good - see you soon

May 29, 2007
A good Memorial Day weekend for anyone who fished BI  - Bass on the SW corner on the surface feeding on sandeels, bass in the Harbors and back ponds hitting small flies on 6wts... plenty of fish around.  Large schools of small sandeels are the main course at this time.
Fished Grand Isle, LA on the 'Island Lady' last week.  We toughed it out in 20knts and 3-5's for 24 hours.  Landed a 41# Dorado on the troll broke off a 100# Yellow on the junk, and messed around with the cobia and sharks around the rigs.  Capt. Ned landed a big jack crevalle, close to 30#'s - A great time was had.  Got blown out the last day and went to New Orleans for great bloody marys and shrimp... 

May 18, 2007
Charleston Beach, New Harbor Channel, OH Point, North Light - all have bass from the beach... some keepers but mostly schoolies.  All black gurglers, clousers, and decvr's working for  the fly guys.

May 11, 2007
Well the first fish have arrived with Gary Censorio, co owner and chef at Sharky's, landed the first schoolie for BI Wed. night.  Jamie Johnson, landed his first the following morning, and Rick Hall landed the first keeper the next night.   When the Shad Trees bloom the bass should be here and it was right on the money this year.  As to what is being used - one guy said soft plastics, and with the abundance of squid in Old Harbor lure selection shouldn't be to hard. 

January 21, 2007

Returned from Grande Isle, Louisiana where we fished the Island Lady once again.  Of course we leave New England and expect warm weather and somewhat calm seas however it was anything but when we went to leave the dock at Pirate Cove.  It actually wasn't much different than fishing off BI - 50 degrees and rougher then shit.   But we managed to work our way through  the hundreds of rigs to a spot called the lumps and anchor up for the chunk.  After few albies were turned into bait some Blackfin showed up and we landed a couple.   We took one to many swells over the bow and decided to start getting ready to leave - then the YFT started in and we were able to land three 70# class within an hour.  Had a couple baits shredded - probably the spinner sharks jumping off the stern which was really something to see for the first time.  Lots of life down there - even with the abundance of industry - quite the paradox.  

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